This is Flashback, the place we’re reminiscing about a few of the most iconic and obscure moments in alt-rock historical past. This week, we’re homing in on Nirvana’s 1993 efficiency of “Dive” and the way in which they embraced gender expression.
In their explosive time collectively, Nirvana deconstructed and challenged the thought of gender, significantly frontman Kurt Cobain. The vocalist regularly wore attire onstage (and in their music movies), and members of the band even kissed one another on nationwide TV. Their 1993 efficiency at Hollywood Rock in Brazil was no exception, with the trio ripping by means of their early B-side “Dive” whereas Cobain wore a black dress and tiara onstage.
At a time when the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” coverage — a discriminatory legislation that allowed homosexual Americans to serve in the army in the event that they stayed closeted — was solely a yr away from being enacted, the band’s need to blur gender boundaries felt extra prescient than ever. By tearing up the music whereas dressing femininely in this clip, which landed in the band’s 1994 live performance documentary Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!, Cobain as soon as once more rebuffed the more and more masculine power that permeated heavier music in the ’90s.
Read extra: Nirvana’s 1992 cowl captures a band breaking into the mainstream
Nirvana’s embrace of gender expression was groundbreaking, however 20 years on from that incendiary present, it’s being restricted by the federal government. Earlier this month, Tennessee handed an anti-drag invoice that bans performances from “topless, go-go or exotic dancers, strippers, or male or female impersonators” on public property. To adjust to the invoice, areas that permit these kinds of performances have to be designated as “adult cabaret” venues. The new legislation additionally makes it unlawful in locations the place minors may watch.
Still, festivals like Bonnaroo denounced the invoice, stating that they “have and will always be a place for inclusivity,” and artists like boygenius and Kid Cudi are carrying Nirvana’s torch.
Watch Nirvana play “Dive” beneath.
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