Who'd have thunk it? A rodeo arena didn't exactly sound like a promising place to look for punk-rock nirvana, but most patrons found it anyway (along with the Seattle act of the same name).
When 1992's breakthrough kings Nirvana last played Salt Lake City, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was still a few months away from going multi-platinum, and the young trio was opening for Dinosaur Jr. at the 250-capacity Pompadour. My how things have changed!This time, the band (with new rhythm guitarist Pat Smear, formerly of L.A.'s legendary punk act the Germs) was headlining at Ogden's Golden Spike Arena, which has housed a few more rodeo events - and then some - than it has concerts. Surprisingly, not only did Nirvana stun most of those in attendance with their sensational live prowess, but they also made a good case for more concerts being held in Ogden.
Despite having dirt for its floor, the arena is much more acoustically sound than many other large concert venues - especially since the Salt Palace has been abandoned in favor of the Delta Center, which is a concert reviewer's and sound purist's nightmare. In addition, it has more than adequate parking for patrons and there isn't really a bad seat in the house.
However, those few thousand in attendance at Thursday night's show wanted nothing to do with seats. Instead, they wanted to dance, thrash and mosh (although the crowd was woefully bad at the latter), and Nirvana gave them plenty of fodder for that.
Flanked by eerie props out of their "Heart-Shaped Box" video, as well as a couple of the winged cadavers that adorn the cover of their "In Utero" album, and at times augmented by a psychedelic (and sometimes psychotic) light show, the band easily won over the most cynical (this critic included) within minutes, although their entire set lasted almost 80 minutes.
Drawing mainly from their major-label efforts ("Nevermind," as well as the afore-mentioned "In Utero," although the band did also draw one song apiece from "Bleach" and "Incesticide"), Nirvana's set at times pummeled listeners with brisk punk like "Positive Bleeding," "Drain You" and "Lithium" and at other times the band resorted to a much more subtle approach.
For evidence of the latter, "Polly," a cover of the blues standard "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" and "Dumb" all featured the band in at least semi-acoustic mode. So fans who missed the band's appearance on MTV's "Unplugged" to go to the concert got to have their cake and eat it, too.
Best of all, though, was Cobain's impassioned "Rape Me," which despite its title, is an ode to the families being murdered and terrorized in Bosnia-Herzegovina, including relatives of bass guitarist Krist Novoselic. Cobain's emotional shriek at the end was particularly chilling and memorable.
On any other night, the Breeders might have stolen the show, but they were probably happy with a close second-place finish.
The quartet's too-brief, 40-minute set contained both old and new material - including the alternative-rock smash "Cannonball." But best in a set of gems was the bopping "Hag," playfully dedicated to misogynistic rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, and a superb cover of John Lennon's "Happiness Is a Warm Gun."
Even Seattle trio the Melvins, who were last seen beating an ignominious retreat after classless Primus fans booed them offstage early this year, got a warm crowd response.
Their half-hour set revolved mainly around songs from their major-label debut, "Houdini."