Nirvana fans attending the FooVana gig last week were treated to a special guest appearance from Krist Novoselic, who joined the Foo Fighters/Nirvana tribute act to play a handful of the band’s songs.
FooVana were performing at Georgie's Garage & Grill in Vancouver, Washington, on Thursday, July 18. Novoselic’s presence was teased ahead of the gig, as the band posted an image of the bass player on their Facebook with the caption: “Show’s about to start! Oh yeah that’s right… Somebody else is here!”
The Nirvana legend accompanied the band for three of the Seattle icon’s hits – Blew,Lithium, and Smells Like Teen Spirit – as the tribute band suddenly got that much closer to the real deal.
Notably, it was the first time Novoselic had played Blew live for three decades, with the Nirvana co-founder telling the audience: “The last time I played that song was 30 years ago”.
KRIST NOVOSELIC (NIRVANA) W/FOOVANA "Lithium" Vancouver Washington 7-18-24 - YouTube
FooVana’s guitarists were armed with a Dave Grohl Epiphone DG-335 and a Fender Jaguar, respectively, as they looked to nail the vibes and tones of both bands. Novoselic, meanwhile, opted for his signature Gibson RD bass.
Novoselic recently said he loves Gibson basses “because they're so dense”, as he unveiled his new band The Bona Fide Band with a rendition of Nirvana’s first-ever single.
KRIST NOVOSELIC (NIRVANA) W/FOOVANA "Smells Like Teen Spirit" , Vancouver, Washington 7-18-24 - YouTube
Between that band and 3rd Secret – his project with Soundgarden's Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron – he's keeping himself plenty busy, but not too busy so that he didn't have time for this surprise celebration of Nirvana's everlasting legacy.
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A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.