From: (Chad)
Subject: HSMB:CHAT: New to List, Met Kurt.

I just started receiving this list yesterday, and I must admit, it is pretty mature discussion compared with others I've seen. I got the pleasure to meet Nirvana Oct. 22, 1993 in Davenport, IA (YES IOWA!!!) While I had been a "fan" of Nirvana's since the early days (still own a very worn out cassette of a "hot new band" my cousin in Seattle saw one winter night in '88) I was a little nervous about meeting them. I was the alternaive rock director at my college radio station (KALA 88.5/105.5 Davenport) when they came through. Not to brag, but I have met alot of bands through this job, they all seem to stop here on their way to Chicago for a warm-up, and largely for the most part they all seem to be a bunch of assholes (Billy Corgin (EGO), Layne Staley so strung out on smack he could hardly stay awake, Bush (Poseurs) etc.). Well, security let us (the media) backstage for the whole show, on behalf of the band!!! I watched backstage for awhile and then went into the pit. After the show we waited for about 15 minutes (a rarity, usually 45 min to an hour) before their road manager came out and said "You guys are lucky, Kurt and the Band are in a super mood." (They had a really tight show, check out the boots) "They want to talk to college press first" That was me and only me. The manager and I were walking back to a lounge when Kurt came walking out of the bathroom with Frances (Courtney was in GA recording her album and Kurt had a nanny on the road with her) he looked at me and said "Can you hold her a sec. I gotta tie my shoe." So here I am, holding Frances, Kurt's tying his shoe, and the road manager looks at me and shrugs his shoulders and leaves. We went back to the room and talked for over 20 mins, we talked about the new tour (third show in, doing it right, taking three buses, lots of rest blah, blah, blah) In Utero (A very freeing and liberating experience) my favorite song "Radio Friendly Shifter Unit" (A throw away song, almost didn't make the album, but translates well live so we kept it,) Drug use (clean and sober) I believed him, too. Everyone was drinking backstage except him and Dave. I tried to talk him into saying "this is Kurt Cobain from Nirvana and your listening to KALA" but he wasn't much into it so I didn't press him. I then talked to Dave (a really funny guy, a riot) and Pat Smear. Pat was really quiet and during the show, was not very sure of himself. He never sang back-up like he does in later shows. We talked a lot about Black Flag and how he got into this gig (basically Kurt was a big Black Flag fan). A wonderful experience all in all. Kurt was an extremely nice, down to earth guy, who was a father that happened to be in the hottest band going. After the interviews Dave asks if there was a Taco Bell around. I told him how to get there and he invited me to go. So I met them at Taco Bell. Kurt bought for every wide eyed kid in the dump (including me) ate his burrito, signed a bunch of autographs, (Dave said he hated that part, so I grudgingly didn't ask. A scene I replay in my head to this day) and left. That was my night with (in) Nirvana. I am sorry if this is long, and I know I'm probably not the only one on this list who has met them, but Kurt Cobain left an incredible immpression on me and I felt like I lost a friend when he died. He was 180 degrees from what his state of mind was in April, just 6 short months later. The thing I'll never forget was that he called me by my first name, during the interview, and later at Taco Bell. He made me feel like a person, like I like to think I made him feel one slightly chilly October night in Iowa.

Chad

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