Cal Jam ’18 took place last night at San Bernardino’s Glen Helen Regional Park, with Foo Fighters closing out the festival that they started for the second year in a row. But anyone that’s been following the festival’s social media leading up to the event expected something a little different for this show. The Foos teased clips of performances with both Deer Tick’s John McCauley and Joan Jett from Nirvana’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction, leading fans to believe an encore of this occurrence could be in the cards, bolstered by the fact that Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic would be on site.
Well, during the Foo Fighters’ encore (for a set that began with the band’s newest tunes and worked its way backward in time), the impossible became possible. Novoselic, along with fellow former Nirvana members and current Foo Fighters Dave Grohl and Pat Smear, performed a set of six Nirvana classics, ranging from the hits (“Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “In Bloom,” and “All Apologies”) to deep cuts (“Serve The Servants,” “Scentless Apprentice,” and “Breed”). McCauley sang lead on three songs, followed by a surprise appearance from Joan Jett to lead the way on the final three.
Check out clips from the performance below, marking the first time the Nirvana members had played Nirvana songs together since 2014 and one of the only times since the death of lead singer Kurt Cobain in 1994. Speaking as someone that was there, it was simply incredible.
