Nirvana legend Krist Novoselic has entered into the controversy over Eddie Vedder’s perceived “anti-Israel diatribe” at the Milton Keynes Bowl in July.
I already posted extensively on this subject, having been at that show, the last of Pearl Jam’s 2014 European tour. Now Novoselic, a friend of Vedder’s, has written in support of the Pearl Jam frontman’s position in his excellent blog This Is Krist Novoselic.
“Thank you Eddie Vedder for speaking up for peace in our world,” the former Nirvana and Sweet 75 bassist said in an article that further explores the highly divisive and toxic Israel/Palestine issue, further saying that “it is the knuckleheads on both sides that should be criticized and not the singer from a rock band.”
It’s remarkable that all these weeks later there are still people making highly corrosive comments about an ultra-liberal rock singer making some anti-war statements, while failing at the same time to address the larger issues of, for example, the death toll from the military operations in question.
It’s as if those sorts of people are more comfortable focusing on someone like Vedder speaking his mind than having to focus on the actual political, social and religious issues that are actually the root and cause of the crisis; easier to have a scapegoat to vent their frustration and anger on than to actually look at cause, effect and solution.
Blind zeal and zealous patriotism in regard to any nation is pretty stomach turning at the best of times, even more so in a nation actively engaged in military operations with heavy collateral damage (polite term for civilian casualties).
Here is a comment, for example, that was posted in response to my initial article on this blog in July; “There are people who can be so dumb and in denial. Not so for the 40k plus fans who liked DJ Ben Red’s facebook page & who felt slandered by the “erudite”, pseudo intellectual and drunken speech by Eddie Vedder. Vedder should teach magician David Copperfield the trick of making a stadium full of (Israeli-Jewish) fans disappear from the PJ fanbase in just one night. Oh, I forgot, David Copperfield is also Jewish. Maybe Vedder would make him disappear, too. Bravo as*hole Vedder.”
I’ve already defended Vedder at length on this blog, so I won’t go over old ground here; suffice it to say, Eddie Vedder is not an “anti-Semite” or racist. Anyone who actually thinks he is is really, really stupid.
Eddie Vedder is the most liberal, socially conscious rock star in decades.
Also, again, that anti-war rant in Milton Keynes didn’t mention Israel at all.
You can read the full Novoselic post on Krist Novoselic’s blog here.
On other matters, Novoselic and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl have both hinted earlier this year that a Nirvana ‘reunion’ may be on the cards. The rumours began around the hype over Nirvana’s induction into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in April, with various singers fronting the reunited band in place of Kurt Cobain both for the Hall of Fame performances themselves and for a ‘Nirvana show’ later the same night.
Both former band members have hinted at a more pronounced form of touring being a possibility in the near future, and there has also been talk of a ‘Tupac’-like Cobain hologram being used, though this latter rumour hasn’t been substantiated despite having been announced on several websites.
I tend to think the hologram idea is probably a false rumour; the notion doesn’t seem to fit with Cobain’s or Nirvana’s sensitivities and I can’t imagine Krist Novoselic being comfortable with it.
