Nirvana reunites w/o Kurt Cobain

Nirvana is the ultimate goal in Buddhism, the peak, the summum bonum.

Punk was fresh and rebellious and underground.

Long, long ago, in the early days of LA's hardcore punk scene, the Germs (one of the first hardcore bands with a female musician) used to play in Redondo Beach. They were banned from most places in Hollywood. I remember sitting on stage in front of Pat Smear's amp as he struggled to play even rudimentary guitar.

Darby Crash could not be convinced to use a microphone. He would yell and cut himself as he contorted on the stage, giving the crowd a show. Then years later Seattle vomited up Nirvana. And they would play around LA in small clubs. I resented Kurt's choice of a band name, a cheap shot, a low blow, exploitation, thinking that sacred attainment out of bounds for such a worldly purpose as a band name. Like Darby and I, Kurt at least understood the Buddhist significance of the word.

The Germ's punk tribute to Buddhism "The Slave"

Bam! Where did the shotgun blast come from?

Nirvana literally means "the end of all suffering." So on that basis it was a good name for a depressive grunge band from the mighty banks of the muddy river that runs through rainy Seattle. The Germs had a great album, "G.I.," a punk classic. Reading the liner notes, I was shocked to see that Joan Jett of all people had anything to do with it. She put it together. Joan Jett always just seemed like some rough gal who made out with child actor Dakota Fanning in a film about The Runaways, amazing she could extend her 15 minutes of fame to a lifetime of playing in front of an audience. (Of course, she didn't play herself in the biopic, but that's how I remember the female rocker).

• Dave Grohl joins lineup: LA FireAid benefit concert

The Germs live, "Lexicon Devil," with Darby Crash intoxicated as usual

Then, when Dave Grohl wasn't going to let Cobain's suicide (or murder by drug addled Courtney Love as the private investigator hired to investigate the death concluded and got in a lot of trouble for coming on the Kevin & Bean Show on KROQ and talking about it, now that Love was a rich heir that could sue anyone who dared to imply she was guilty of anything, as she went on to try her hand at acting in a movie about Larry Flynt) stand in the way of his musical career and went on to form Foo Fighters, bassist Krist Novoselic put together a band. I won tickets to see the group at The Troubadour in West Hollywood. I should have stayed home. They were horrible and boring and an insult to any expectations. Who, other than his mom, knew that Great Hair Dave was the secret power source of the group?

Whatever Cobain was channeling, it sure didn't seem Krist was contributing much. Though, of course, every member of a band contributes something ineffable even if people can't see it, maybe just energy and past life connections. So for all that time to pass, and all those Nirvana tee-shirts to be sold and worn by people who may never have heard the band, it's an inspiration to see the reformation go down like this. Pat Smear was a legend, and Dave Grohl knew it, so inducting him into the Foo Fighters was no accident. And it's almost as if he finally learned to play the guitar.

Dave Grohl and Pat Smear visit L.A.’s holiest David Bowie sites*

When people said the greatest grunge drummer in history would be playing the benefit, it seemed like a natural assumption that it would just be him on guitar with his very young daughter on drums like before. But this is Violet Grohl, not the little drummer girl (Harper). So what a treat to see all the effort that went into putting this together with Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and St. Vincent with a defective earpiece still pulling out a fabulous performance. All hail, Dave (a kind of Don Bolles), a cheating cheater who cheats but that seems part and parcel to rock 'n roll. They all loved British Buddhist and almost-Scottish Buddhist monk David Bowie.

Vajrayana Buddhist David Bowie on spirituality

Dave Grohl, extreme metal fan of Sepultura

• *Millions have heard Nirvana’s cover of the David Bowie classic “The Man Who Sold the World” from their Unplugged album. Drummer Dave Grohl and guitarist Pat Smear (like Kurt Cobain and Darby Crash before them) are devout Bowie fans. But who knew that Smear and his bandmates in the Germs used to stalk Bowie all over 1970s' Los Angeles? Join Smear and Grohl as they drive around L.A. (in a custom and, as Grohl says, “totally ‘90s” Ford Bronco) visiting Bowie’s L.A. homes, both personal and creative. Along the way the two bandmates reminisce, nerd out on Bowie trivia, and even pick up a legendary passenger. (They also call Joan Jett at home.)
• Eds., Wisdom Quarterly; Germs; Dave Grohl, Nirvana (reunion), Joan Jett, FireAid LA Fire benefit