Take three former members of Nirvana, put them together on a stage with their instruments and a stack of amps, and what do you get? The rock ‘n’ roll reunion of the decade — albeit one that played only briefly, and for an audience of one.

It all happened when lead Foo Fighter and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl invited his old compadre, bassist Krist Novoselic, to come out for a Foos show. During pre-concert rehearsals, as the two were warming up with Foo Fighters/ex-Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear, Grohl realized something special was about to happen.

“Krist is on bass. Pat’s on guitar. I’m on drums,” recounted Grohl in an interview with the Observer. “Me and Pat look at each other. I mean, that’s something I’ve never considered before. I was, like, ‘OK?’”

“Krist says, ‘F– it, let’s do ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ and Pat starts playing, and we kick into it,” Grohl continued. “I haven’t played that drum beat in 17 years. It was crazy. It was like … a ghost. It was heavy. Nobody sang.”

The whole thing unfolded in front of one lucky listener: the Foo Fighters’ studio manager, who responded — presumably after picking his jaw up off the floor — by suggesting “Hey, you should record that.”

Never gonna happen, of course. But it’s nice to know it happened, isn’t it?

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