Nirvana - Would they have headlined?

[stuartbert two hats]

Course they would. Nirvana transcended the whole grunge scene in popular consciousness. They were ace, and would have been amazing.

[The Nal]

Alice in Chains were better.

[stuartbert two hats]

1 hour ago, The Nal said:

Alice in Chains were better.

Without quite the same cultural impact!

[Matt42]

I highly doubt without the tragedy Nirvana would have become a constant touring band. I reckon they would of split eventually.

[clarkete]

Seems an odd question to me, as there were obviously years they could have played but didn't.

[Homer]

On 4/5/2019 at 3:54 PM, Stocksey said:

Driving back to Portsmouth from a weekend trip to Plymouth this past on Sunday. Glorious sunshine, over green fields somewhere in the middle of Dorset and a very festivally kind of day. A couple of Nirvana tracks hit the wife's Spotify playlist back to back (Heart shaped box and one other I cant recall). It really got me thinking... what would have happened to Nirvana had Kurt not died? Would they become a bigger band, stadium tours etc? or had they reached all they ever would have? - would they have burned out? Would we still have had the Foos, due to split/break-up? And ultimately would they have played or even headlined at the Farm?

I know many of these questions are unanswerable, but i would be interested on peoples thoughts and opinions.

No, the band were split anyway when Kurt shot himself. He was going off to do his own acoustic thing with people like Michael Stipe. That's according to this very good book anyway, which I finally got around to reading last year after watching Montage of Heck:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heavier-Than-Heaven-Biography-Cobain/dp/0340739398

[Quark]

11 minutes ago, clarkete said:

Seems an odd question to me, as there were obviously years they could have played but didn't.

There were, but in terms of appeal outside the US they were pretty fleeting. 

[Homer]

On 4/5/2019 at 4:04 PM, caballosblancos said:

Interesting thought experiment. I had a ticket for the Cardiff gig  (April 9th I think) and always mourn not seeing them. Such a loss. 

He clearly had a huge cultural impact. Maybe far beyond his talent...? Glasto never embraced Nirvana’s contemporaries so hard to see how they would have embraced Nirvana too. But maybe like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden they would have got much bigger, but not any better. And they had probably peaked in cultural impact terms. 

I like to think he’d have embarked on a Neil Young like solo career. And one day played Pyramid.

Personally Foofighters don’t interest me but fairly sure Grohler would have ended up making some kind of supergroup at some point regardless - he’s too talented and charismatic not to. 

Foo Fighters were kind of on the way anyway. Dave and Krist spent some of their later sessions, when Kurt went AWOL and didn't turn up, working on demos that became the Foo's first album. They also did some other sessions when Kurt did turn up with Kurt on drums and Dave singing and playing guitar.

I think the latter were some of the few fun times they had in the end. Anyone who thinks Courtney had Kurt killed (?!), Krist says that the last time he tracked down Kurt and begged him to quit heroin, etc, and Kurt refused, when Krist walked off he knew that was the last time he'd ever see him alive. Kurt was doing a lot of heroin.

[whitehorses]

@Homer

“Foo Fighters were kind of on the way anyway. Dave and Krist spent some of their later sessions, when Kurt went AWOL and didn't turn up, working on demos that became the Foo's first album. They also did some other sessions when Kurt did turn up with Kurt on drums and Dave singing and playing guitar.“

Didnt know that, interesting, thanks 

[fred quimby]

40 minutes ago, Homer said:

 Anyone who thinks Courtney had Kurt killed (?!),

has to be time for this. Not sure how to add Youtube so just the lyrics from narcissistic cookbook

 

oh maybe it did work

 

[eastynh]

If Depeche Mode have never headlined then I don't know why people automatically think Nirvana would have. 

Now Nirvana were big but their legendary status only occurred after Kurt killed himself. The whole grunge scence fizzled out. Pearl Jam have never headlined, Nirvana could have had exactly the same career trajectory as them if Kurt had not passed away.

[Homer]

1 hour ago, caballosblancos said:

@Homer

“Foo Fighters were kind of on the way anyway. Dave and Krist spent some of their later sessions, when Kurt went AWOL and didn't turn up, working on demos that became the Foo's first album. They also did some other sessions when Kurt did turn up with Kurt on drums and Dave singing and playing guitar.“

Didnt know that, interesting, thanks 

No worries - once again, got that from here!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heavier-Than-Heaven-Biography-Cobain/dp/0340739398

[stuartbert two hats]

1 hour ago, eastynh said:

If Depeche Mode have never headlined then I don't know why people automatically think Nirvana would have. 

Now Nirvana were big but their legendary status only occurred after Kurt killed himself. The whole grunge scence fizzled out. Pearl Jam have never headlined, Nirvana could have had exactly the same career trajectory as them if Kurt had not passed away.

That's not how I remember it.  For me, Nirvana were the massive breakout act from grunge, almost how Stormzy is now the breakout act from grime, albeit grunge being the much bigger scene.

I remember people saying at the time things like "Nirvana aren't a proper grunge band anyway, Pearl Jam and Mudhoney are much better"  That was bollocks, Nirvana had a greater intensity and were far more melodically strong than the cock rock crap that preceded them and the dirgey grunge-lite crap (like the Foos) that followed.

Nirvana were fucking brilliant, in a different league to all their contemporaries, and that was already obvious before Kurt died.  Provided the band stayed together, then I'm sure they would have headlined eventually.

[eastynh]

5 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

That's not how I remember it.  For me, Nirvana were the massive breakout act from grunge, almost how Stormzy is now the breakout act from grime, albeit grunge being the much bigger scene.

I remember people saying at the time things like "Nirvana aren't a proper grunge band anyway, Pearl Jam and Mudhoney are much better"  That was bollocks, Nirvana had a greater intensity and were far more melodically strong than the cock rock crap that preceded them and the dirgey grunge-lite crap (like the Foos) that followed.

Nirvana were fucking brilliant, in a different league to all their contemporaries, and that was already obvious before Kurt died.  Provided the band stayed together, then I'm sure they would have headlined eventually.

Stu I am not going to disagree with you in regards to the quality of Nirvana. They were not this massive behemoth that they have become though till after Kurts death. No one knows what would have happened. The Stone Roses never headlined and everyone thought they were going to take over the world. Depeche Mode never headlined and they did take over the world.

Kurt may have become money mad and they might have become the IOW house band, they might also have gone really shit and fizzled out. Its not certain they would have headlined.

The situation with Stormzy is totally different. He is headlining in an attempt to increase ethnic diversity at the festival and rightly so.  It is something I have complained about on this very forum for a long time. 

[Homer]

22 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

That's not how I remember it.  For me, Nirvana were the massive breakout act from grunge, almost how Stormzy is now the breakout act from grime, albeit grunge being the much bigger scene.

I remember people saying at the time things like "Nirvana aren't a proper grunge band anyway, Pearl Jam and Mudhoney are much better"  That was bollocks, Nirvana had a greater intensity and were far more melodically strong than the cock rock crap that preceded them and the dirgey grunge-lite crap (like the Foos) that followed.

Nirvana were fucking brilliant, in a different league to all their contemporaries, and that was already obvious before Kurt died.  Provided the band stayed together, then I'm sure they would have headlined eventually.

Yeah, Nirvana were far bigger than Pearl Jam - they'd already headlined Reading (and absolutely smashed it) for instance.

Dying made Nirvana more mainstream, but in the world of alternative music, they were pretty much the biggest band on the planet surely? (Depends if you include REM, I guess.)

[Quark]

Just now, Homer said:

Yeah, Nirvana were far bigger than Pearl Jam - they'd already headlined Reading (and absolutely smashed it) for instance.

Dying made Nirvana more mainstream, but in the world of alternative music, they were pretty much the biggest band on the planet surely? (Depends if you include REM, I guess.)

By that time I'd say REM were mainstream. Think Peter Buck basically said there were two REMs, pre- and post-Out of Time.

[The Nal]

Nevermind knocked Michael Jackson off number one.

In Utero debuted at number one less than two years later. 

They could've headlined 1992, 93, 94. Or any year after if Kurt lived. They had already played big 60k gigs before In Utero and Unplugged even came out. 

[stuartbert two hats]

12 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Nevermind knocked Michael Jackson off number one.

In Utero debuted at number one less than two years later. 

They could've headlined 1992, 93, 94. Or any year after if Kurt lived. They had already played big 60k gigs before In Utero and Unplugged even came out. 

They were arguably too big for Glastonbury back then.  Glasto wasn't exactly booking huge american acts in 1992.

[priest17]

I don't think saying Smells Like Teen Spirit would only be played headlining the pyramid is overstating anything, it's most people's first rock song.

Even shovel's love it

 

[The Nal]

3 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

They were arguably too big for Glastonbury back then.  Glasto wasn't exactly booking huge american acts in 1992.

True but in those years they still had a few. Rage Against the Machine, Lenny Kravitz, Beastie Boys, Chili Peppers etc. Chilis didnt end up playing granted but still. 

[stuartbert two hats]

3 minutes ago, The Nal said:

True but in those years they still had a few. Rage Against the Machine, Lenny Kravitz, Beastie Boys, Chili Peppers etc. Chilis didnt end up playing granted but still. 

I must admit, I've no idea how big those acts really were back then.  I know they were all sizable and in my schoolboy world, Nirvana were the biggest band out of all of those, but by how much?  I honestly don't know.  They seem massive now, but I guess that selection bias because they stuck around.

I expect they'd have come round eventually.  Lots of bands never played Glastonbury until they did.

[The Nal]

7 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

I must admit, I've no idea how big those acts really were back then.  I know they were all sizable and in my schoolboy world, Nirvana were the biggest band out of all of those, but by how much?  I honestly don't know.  They seem massive now, but I guess that selection bias because they stuck around.

I expect they'd have come round eventually.  Lots of bands never played Glastonbury until they did.

Chili Peppers were absolutely massive back then. Under the Bridge, Give it Away, Back to the Future, Point Break et al.

I actually cant think of a bigger early to mid 90s rock band. U2 aside. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Pumpkins and that lot opened for them.

[stuartbert two hats]

17 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Chili Peppers were absolutely massive back then. Under the Bridge, Give it Away, Back to the Future, Point Break et al.

I actually cant think of a bigger early to mid 90s rock band. U2 aside. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Pumpkins and that lot opened for them.

That's true.  When were they lined up to play? I thought that was a few years later, after the TV coverage had kicked Glastonbury up a couple of gears.

[The Nal]

34 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

That's true.  When were they lined up to play? I thought that was a few years later, after the TV coverage had kicked Glastonbury up a couple of gears.

Just reading there, 93. Pulled out late doors due to Fleas exhaustion and replaced by Lenny Kravitz. Glasto HQ not happy apparently. 

[Xeph1995]

Nirvana where just a poor mans stooges. Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Smashing Pumpkins where all loads better, that being said they probably would have headlined.

I always found Kurt to be disingenuous and a bit of a hypocrite.

On 4/7/2019 at 11:03 AM, The Nal said:

Alice in Chains were better.

Laynes Voice was something else man, his and Jerrys vocal harmonies are some of the best any rock band has produced. 

Edited April 8, 2019 by Xeph1995