In a new interview with UK rock mag Kerrang!, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic discussed their experience reuniting the surviving Nirvana members for a six-song performance at the Foo Fighters Cal Jam festival earlier this month. The performance featured Grohl, Novoselic, and Pat Smear, along with guest spots from Joan Jett and Deer Tick’s John McCauley. As NME notes, Grohl explained that he had been becoming increasingly amenable to the idea of a string of Nirvana reunion shows.
“After we played the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I considered the idea that, if there was an opportunity, we could do it again”, Grohl told Kerrang.“…But it’s delicate territory, and you can’t treat it like just another show. It’s very complicated, and very special. In those moments, when it just happens naturally, I think is the best way.”
In the interview, Grohl also described playing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at Cal Jam as being like “being shot into outer space. Being able to play that drum fill and break into the chorus…it’s spiritual, physical, emotional.”
“Personally, it was great to play with those guys again, and to play those songs,” Novoselic added, but said that he wouldn’t want it to become a “full circus” or a “regular thing.”
The Cal Jam performance was the first time the former Nirvana bandmates have officially reunited since the band’s Rock Hall induction in 2014. In December of last year, Grohl, Novoselic, and Smear shared the stage at a Foo Fighters show to play the ’90s Foo track “Big Me,” which Grohl and Novoselic originally played together. Grohl and Novoselic also collaborated on a rendition of Nirvana’s “Molly’s Lips” at a Seattle Foo Fighters show in September of this year.
