Grant Hart (Husker Du, Nova Mob, solo): RIP*

I dug out my cassette (yes dears, cassette) of that show and just gave it a spin. Here's the set list:
Something I Learned Today/It's Not Funny Anymore/From The Gut/Wheels/Everything Will Fall Apart/Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill/I Apologize/Books About UFO's/If I Told You/What's Going On/Broken Home A Broken Heart/Diane/Sunshine Superman/In A Free Land/Statues/Eight Miles High
As a certain former FBI Director would say, Oh Lordy. Talk about your maelstrom of sound, after 33 years this is still one of the best shows I've ever seen. That run of 4 songs from the as yet unrecorded New Day Rising took my breath away. I turned to Guy E and said something about them being a hard core Beatles, then got lost in the noise again. The power blew during Sunshine Superman, the walls were sweating, the slam dancing was making the whole place vibrate, Grant was playing drums from the corner of the stage, barefoot, and it felt like the building would implode from the energy raining down from everywhere. On that night, in that club, I would have put them up against any band past present or future. They flew to the sky on that constant beat Grant was pushing out, on the guitar crush, on the sheer muscle and musicality of their songs.
Hope you rest in peace Grant, your talent and hard work will always be out there in the world for everyone to hear.

 

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day posted a few words on his Instagram page:

 

I don't remember the power blowing, but that explains why I missed 95% of Sunshine Superman on my cassette.

That was an extraordinary show. They were as powerful as any band I've ever seen.

 

This photo struck me as a little odd when I first saw it, almost as if they were photographed separately and then photoshopped together. Then I noticed that the shadows on their faces fall in different directions, making it seem like a different light source is illuminating each person. It could just be a trick of the light, I suppose...

 

I think you're right. This looks like a composite photo.

 

that's a shame

i wonder when they were last photographed together

 

I'm guessing the last time they were photographed together is the photo that I posted. I'm not an expert on photo editing, but I think it's extremely unlikely that Mould would post a fake photo edited to look like they were together when they really weren't.

 

I wonder when they crossed paths if that is the case

 

I sent the picture to my photography expert friends for further analysis.

 

I didn't realize it had come from Mould. I agree he wouldn't do that. Photo does look a bit weird though.

As far as the background that looks like an airport to me. Maybe they just ran into each other at MSP

 

That photo is from Bob's Facebook page, and if you look there, it's obviously not doctored. I read somewhere that Mould flew in to have dinner with Hart shortly before he died so maybe that's where the photo is from.

 

This whole thing has really inspired me to embrace the fact that we're not all going to be here forever, so we should make peace with people when we can, while they're still here. I have a couple of active grudges in my personal life that I've nursed for years, and this makes me feel like that's a luxury that only people who are going to live forever can afford.

I'll never know the full circumstances behind all the personal stuff between those guys. Maybe the way things ended up was really the best they could get it. I don't know. But I have to imagine that with Grant gone, there has to be some kind of regret about the fact that things weren't somehow patched up a little better a long time ago. Time passes quickly.

 

^this

Though from what I've heard I think they were never going to be 100% with each other, they got as close as they could and were ok with that.

 

And yet when it mattered most they made their peace with each other.
Maybe they were fated to be in a band together and make amazing music but never more than that. Maybe the tensions and the ensuing rupture between them was an inevitability.
I'm just thankful for what we got while they were together.

 

Worth noting that Forster covered (Grant Hart's) 2541.

 

Listening to Candy Apple Grey for the third time in succession currently and what an underrated album. It represents the final phase of the band in terms of their adopted and matured sound, songs like No Promise Have I Made by Grant and Hardly Getting Over It from Mould represent astonishing growth within their writing and in light of Grant's passing on(which I'm still stunned by), these songs in particular really hit home. While I think Flip Your Wig is better as it still has some vigor of the younger Dü, Candy Apple Grey has a more refined feel but they step up in quality performances with solid, melodic material. Grant's 4 songs are really special and help to balance the dominance of Mould or rather compliment him.

Now I'm listening to Good News for Modern Man, man I miss Grant...RIP

 

Has Greg Norton posted anything yet on Grant's passing?

 

He posted this on Facebook:

We were friends first, and it was a wild ride, great times, bad times, through all of it, you were my friend first. I will always remember you as my friend.
We'll see you further on down the trail.
Peace

 

Thanks guys for the info and link. Strange, I'm not on Facebook but could read Bob's message but not Greg's...

 

oh No , terrible news , not surprised but what a blow
RIP Grant

 

I deleted my post with the Facebook link because I discovered Greg's page doesn't load unless you're logged into Facebook.

 

Did Grant and Greg have a friendly relationship?

 

So I am playing Candy Apple Grey now and once again " No Promises Have i made " is bringing tears to my eyes

 

That was my first thought too. Bob flew to Chicago to meet Grant once he learned about his condition.

 

As far as I'm aware yes they did.