Nirvana Tribute (UK) Ready To Rock Australia

Silverback Touring is thrilled to announce the return of Nirvana Tribute (from the UK) for the highly-anticipated performance of Nirvana’s iconic album, In Utero, in full, as part of its thirtieth anniversary celebrations. The band, which has been hailed as one of the best Nirvana tribute acts in the world, and is the only world touring tribute to the Seattle trio, has mesmerised audiences across the globe with their powerful performances, capturing the raw energy and essence of Nirvana.

This upcoming tour promises to be no different, and is the bands third visit to Australia since 2019 having amassed a new legion of fans with each tour. In Utero, which was released in 1993, was Nirvana’s third and final studio album, and is widely regarded as a masterpiece, showcasing the band’s incredible songwriting skills and Kurt Cobain’s unmistakable vocals. Fans will not only have the rare opportunity to hear the album played live, in its entirety, but will also experience a selection of Nirvana’s hits and deep cuts. HI Fi Way talks to Jon O’Connor about the tour.

The last tour of Australia was huge, are you looking forward starting your Australian tour in Adelaide this week?
I am really looking forward to returning to Australia, I’m not looking forward to the flight or flights but I am definitely looking forward to returning to Australia.

With all the touring you have done do you think Australia is right up there as some of the biggest Nirvana fans in the world?
I think so, there’s plenty dedicated for sure. We see all ages coming through but with shows in Australia are over eighteen and we get people outside venues trying to get in with their younger kids the whole time. We find that there are three generations of fans that attend our shows, grand kids then the father and his father. It is an amazing thing and we certainly see that in Australia with the dedication of the fans is crazy. I had a request that someone wanted to get their child in to our sound check so they could see it.

What has always been the attraction to the music of Nirvana for yourself?
I think it is the sense of freedom that the music gives. There is no other band like it, there’s a whole range of emotions experienced when you listen to a Nirvana album. They bring everything to somebody, they certainly bring passion and energy, some angst and a bit of anger as well.

Is there a particular album or period of time that has been the most influential on you about Nirvana?
The first album Bleach was more influential on me because I knew they didn’t have that much money and I know that they were skimping and saving trying to eat food and they managed to make a record like that. I think still to this day it is amazing that they managed to do that. Kurt was writing some of those lyrics in the studio as the songs were not even finished. It is pretty amazing when you think about it.

It is amazing that Nirvana’s Nevermind album is still in the vinyl charts proving that good music will never die.
It is true, legends will never die.

Is playing In Utero start to end, is that one of the more challenging Nirvana albums to learn and play live?
It can be a little bit, it is mostly some of the effects and to nail the sound of the record we try to do that faithfully on stage and try to recreate the sound that you would have got with Nevermind and recreate the sound you would have got through Bleach as well. The hardest thing is not learning the songs or performing the songs so much it is just reproducing that sound that would have been on the album and In Utero tour. I think we have got very close to that.

Are you looking to play that album start to end or mix up the order a bit?
If we were to play the album start to finish and do a whole host of hits afterwards it wouldn’t be the same or have the same vibe. The energy wouldn’t be there the way you would want it to be there with a live show. We will be mixing in some old classics that you are not going to expect to hear. Those will be mixed in a long side In Utero. We have been working on a new set list with a bunch of new songs and we are really looking forward to taking them to the stage in Australia.

Have you found any interesting facts or trivia about Nirvana that you didn’t know before?
I guess you do, I find out little bits all the way along, things about their recording process and stuff like that. Funny little things about when they were in the studio and they seemed like they really enjoyed their time together when they recorded. Forgetting the stresses of being on the road and stuff like that I think they really enjoyed their time as a band having a lot of fun together.

How deep do you go in to the back catalogue?
There are a couple of tracks, there are some demos that didn’t make it to the record and one of those we really wanted to take to the stage as well. We are playing around with a couple of ideas and the set list is not quite finished yet. We are trying to include some surprises in there.

Have you watched countless Nirvana live performances on YouTube trying to get greater insight in to how they played?
Not so much any more, when I was a kid growing up certainly I was studying a lot and that’s what gave me the base of knowledge of what I have got on stage. A lot of what I do on stage is me being me, being free and throwing myself around, screaming my heart and soul out. It is cathartic and it is good for the soul. I certainly try to bring as much of Kurt to the stage as much as I possibly can but there is quite a bit of me up there as well. I try to give the fans an impression that they have seen something close as they can get to the real thing. We have had Aaron Burckhard from Nirvana say that about us which I thought was a really nice compliment that we are the closest to the real thing. As long as I can keep delivering those performances and getting compliments like that we are doing ok.

Has Dave or Krist ever come and seen you play?
That would be great and to have Dave or Krist give their two cents on the whole thing would be good. All we want to do is stand up there and play these songs to the best of our ability but we certainly want to do justice to the memory of those songs and to the man that wrote them. If we can do that and keep doing that I think that’s all we can ask for.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Nirvana Tribute (UK) on the following dates, tickets from Silverback Touring…