Nirvana “Nevermind The Singer” @ The Crown & Anchor, Adelaide 23/2/2019
It’s been 28 years since successful grunge band Nirvana released their second studio album Nevermind, subsequently selling more than thirty million copies world-wide. I had come prepared to listen to the album that defined my youth.
The long-standing popularity and influence of Nirvana was evident with fans at the show ranging from original teenager fans now in their 40s, to newer fans who have more recently discovered Nirvana.
Opening with a soliloquy on the brief history of the band and the album, set the tone for the evening the voland exposed a clear passion and adoration for Nirvana.
Smells like Teen Spirit was the opening track on the album and for the night’s performance. This teenage anthem is always a definite crowd pleaser to get everyone singing along word for word.
The re-creation of Nevermind had six musicians unlike the original band with three members. At times this was distracting and didn’t always manage to bring depth or layers to the music as expected.
The lead vocals provided by Dan on In Bloom provided the dirty, edgy sound synonymous with grunge style rock that I felt was missing when the female vocalists were singing lead. The drummer, Sean, singing lead on Polly again brought the raw and lower tones on vocals.
A slight glitch with a lost bow for the cello player for the last song of Something in the Way didn’t distract the band from losing their focus or playing well.
The performance had a raw sound reminiscent of a high school garage band. It was not polished and nor should it be to be true to the genre. Nirvana – Nevermind the Singer was a solid performance that delivered a worthy tribute to honour Nirvana.
Fringe Review By Ilona Schultz