Nirvana: A Tour Diary: My Life on the Road with One of the Greatest Bands of All Time
Bollen was the drummer for the Scottish rock band Captain America, one of the support bands on Nirvana’s winter 1991 Nevermind tour of the UK. From Edinburgh and Glasgow to Manchester and London, Bollen was there. A Scot from Airdrie (a small town outside Glasgow), the author is a likable fly on the wall as he ends up touring with the hottest group on the planet—and all by accident. His friends in the band needed a drummer—and fast. Bollen considered himself more a journalist than a musician, but he was game despite being “shy” and “self-conscious.” He recalls the first time he sees Nirvana and finds the band members surprisingly “amiable and approachable.” Bollen’s anecdotes about life on the road with the soon-to-be-famous members of Nirvana are both fun and insightful. Cobain, he writes, spent most of his time either sleeping or writing letters and making journal entries. Even though he had “a persona that made people wary of him,” Bollen recalls that Cobain was generous with fans, making them feel at ease. He learns too that Cobain had a soft spot for the much-maligned Scottish bubblegum band, the Bay City Rollers. A charming and unusual inside look at one of the most iconic bands in rock history. Nirvana fans will love it. --June Sawyers