Post Malone & Travis Barker Just Tore Down The House With Their Nirvana Tribute Show And Raised $2.5Mil For COVID Relief
Kate wrote a great blog about this earlier in the week, but to quickly sum it up, Post Malone announced that he'd be putting on a Nirvana tribute show with a couple friends of his (Travis Barker on drums, Brian Lee on bass, and Nick Mack on guitar) - and people were FURIOUS about this! Absolutely furious!
Nirvana is one of those bands that a lot of people hold sacred, and love to cover-gatekeep (kinda like Led Zeppelin or Prince), where most fans would prefer nobody attempt Kurt Cobain's classics than hear a butchered cover, and sometimes that's for good reason...
Other times, though, artists prove that nobody's body of work is 'uncoverable', and that's exactly what this livestream did!
Post & Co put on suuuuuch an enjoyable hour and a half of classic Nirvana grunge that Courtney Love (booo) & Krist Novaselic (yaaaa) were both watching from home, and I already know I'll go back to this show to watch it again! That's mostly thanks to Travis Barker being the monster than he is on drums, and the mind-blowing clashing of worlds I had seeing him play Dave Grohl's parts, but still! Post had to hold up his end of the bargain there for this to work and he did!
Personally, I've always leaned more on the side of, "Eh, fuck it! If it's bad I'll forget I ever heard it!" when it comes to covers overall, because the positive lasting effects that a great reimagining of a song could have on ya will always greatly outweigh the bad. I don't even know how a bad cover of a song could personally bother ya that much, or how anyone could be mad at this lifelong diehard Nirvana fan who considers Kurt one of his biggest songwriting idols trying to pay tribute to the band for a good cause - but that's enough about the haters - who they shut up very quickly...
Post had an incredibly impressive outing for a dude who doesn't really claim to be a good singer or guitar player - especially considering he was hopping into a completely new genre and attempting to sing songs 90% of vocalists wouldn't touch. He'll be feeling 'School' in his esophagus tomorrow for sure.
Oh, and speaking of, the setlist selection showed his very legitimate knowledge and fandom of the band, as well, full of deep cuts you'd never expect to hear. I can't imagine how many people he introduced to those tracks tonight.
By the end of the stream, they raised about $2.5mil for COVID relief, and honestly - I think Post bought himself a ticket into the next Nirvana "reunion" gig they do with a rotating cast of lead singers (usually Joan Jett/Beck/St. Vincent)…
He'd fit right in and it would be an awesome generational clash for a big show like the Grammys or something.
Moral of the story? Don't question Post Malone anymore. Mothafucka threw Ozzy on a track with Travis Scott this year that was tremendous. He knows what he's doing. I can't wait for his eventual punk/rock album.