The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
These memories never fade away
Some 23 years on, the death of Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain still affects Scots band The Vaselines, who are performing at Tae Sup Wi’ A Fifer at the Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy, on September 16
They are the alternative rock band from Glasgow known for their “scuzzy folk rock”.
But The Vaselines’ co-founder, Eugene Kelly, doesn’t have a problem with the fact so many people discovered their music through American grunge gods Nirvana.
The band rose to prominence after being cited as an influence by Kurt Cobain, with Nirvana releasing covers of Son of a Gun and Molly’s Lips on Incesticide and Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam (retitled Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam) on MTV Unplugged in New York.
Now, as The Vaselines prepare to bring some of the world’s most famous rock anthems to a special acoustic set at the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy, Eugene revealed he will never forget where he was on April 5 1994 when he heard Cobain had committed suicide, aged just 27.
“I was on tour in America with Eugenius when it happened,” said Eugene, 52, who supported Nirvana on their 1991 European Tour and was invited to join the band on stage during their Reading Festival performance that same year, around the time the Seattle band’s iconic album, Nevermind, was released.
“We had just checked in to a hotel and we got a phone call telling us his body had been found. It was a long day, just trying to get any information, because it wasn’t clear at that stage it was Kurt.
“It was a pretty horrible time. We had to go on tour for another couple of weeks, just knowing this was happening. It was pretty grim – a sad, sad end to his life.”
“It was just great to know them at that time and be part of their story
Eugene – whose Eugenius band also performed under the name Captain America – said there is no doubt that being linked with Nirvana gave them a “leg up”.
They were “just great guys to hang about with”, he said, adding that he doesn’t recognise the portrayal of Cobain and bandmates Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl as the “serious, angsty artists” they have often been cast as, adding that he hung out with Novoselic at a festival in Seattle a few years ago.
He added: “It was just great to know them at that time and be part of their story. I get a buzz when I see younger fans at the front of our gigs who know about us through Nirvana. Nobody does the stage diving anymore but moshing is good!”
Eugene has been to Anstruther quite a bit over the years, to visit his friend Roy Lawrence who used to play in Eugenius. This will be the first time The Vaselines have performed in Fife, though, and it will also be the first time he’ll have met or worked with Tae Sup Wi’ A Fifer founder James Yorkston.
He said: “I think we might have been suggested to him by our friend Rob Cotter who owns the Analogue Catalogue studio (in Northern Ireland) where James has recorded quite a lot with Julie (McLarnon), who also owns the studio and engineers things.
“I think Rob might have heard we were doing an acoustic show and he’s suggested us to James, and James approached us. We thought: ‘why not!’”
Until recently, Eugene and Vaselines co-member Frances McKee hadn’t played in two years and, then, it had usually been average-sized venues or theatres. But Eugene says he also enjoys the smaller, more intimate venues, which are better suited to an acoustic show.
“We had a record out and toured it a wee bit and nothing had really happened. But we got an offer to play Newcastle... The guy suggested doing it acoustically and we thought: ‘why not, we’ll give it a shot’. On the back of that, we’ve got the Kirkcaldy show and we’ve got a Glasgow show.”