"Good evening..."

The greeting is awkward, unsmiling, barely audible through clenched teeth. White lilies adorn the stage amid flickering candles and microphones.

"This is off our first record. Most people don't own it..."

Nirvana's About A Girl begins, and the rest - as they say - is history.

Freeze it.

See that guy on the stool in the tattered librarian sweater and black Converse? The tall dude behind him playing acoustic guitar, and the grinning kid with the ponytail and turtleneck on drums?

That's called a band, Millennials. A mind blowing, artistically authentic, generation changing ROCK BAND.

And, I've just got one question for y'all: Who the hell is filling the void since they left??

It's been over 14 years since Nirvana appeared on MTV's Unplugged (a sparkling, new DVD has finally been released this Christmas season), but I'll be damned if I've come across a band over the past decade that has created as much sway and heat as this 3 piece outfit from Olympia did back in the early ‘90s.

I repeat my challenge: Please name me a band over the past 10 years who has come close to Nirvana in sheer impact and talent since Kurt put shotgun to mouth above garage in 1994? (and, I'm not talking about some indie band that hardly anyone listens to or some ring-tone fueled, Top-40 creation who no one will remember in 6 months. I'm talking IMPACT here, people. Combining art AND commerce. Both big AND authentic. Dig?).

Here, I'll even help you out -

Let's see...
RADIOHEAD, sure, I'd put them on this short list.
KANYE WEST, definitely, he's doing some of the coolest and most innovative stuff in music today.
OUTKAST (when they were going good there wasn't a better group on the planet).
U2.
LIL WAYNE.
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS (sometimes).
ALICIA KEYS.
FOO FIGHTERS (there's that drummer again).
EMINEM.
OASIS.
PRINCE (when he wants to).
???

C'mon, you know you have a couple other favorite artists you are just dying to make a case for. Teach me. Enlighten me. Prove me wrong...

But, we all know where this is heading, don't we?

If we apply cool-headed logic and truth to this quandary, we all know we are going to have one hell of a time coming up with a band that over the past 10 years or so has approached Nirvana in raw talent, resume, passion, impact on the musical landscape, and lasting cultural effect.

Call me old (40, born the same year as Kurdt), call me cynical (sorry, The All-American Rejects and Elliot Yamin somehow don't do it for me), but don't call me stupid (I'd love to be wrong, I really would - I just don't truthfully see anyone out there possessing Nirvana's unique and devastating blend of songwriting, sales and significance).

If you don't know what I'm talking about - if you are too young (Millenials??) or too old (Boomers??) to know what Kurt Cobain and Generation X was/is/means - then I strongly urge you to get your hands on a DVD of Nirvana Unplugged In New York, throw on a flannel shirt, drink some Pennyroyal Tea, and push play.

It's what a true rock band looks and sounds like...

By Matthew Sidney Long

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