Nirvana Soundman Recalls 'Prank' The Band Pulled On The Ramones

Nirvana was very serious about their music, but they also equally serious about not taking themselves too seriously. During a recent interview with American Songwriter, the band's former soundman Craig Montgomery recalled a hilarious story about he and the band pulling pranks on the Ramones and Pixies' frontman Black Francis.

"I think one of the earliest [festivals] we did was Pukkelpop in Belgium," he said. "I remember that day quickly became a lot of fun because we were done playing but we still got to hang out there all day. So, we got to eat food and drink beer and hang out with people from other bands and other crews, and stuff."

"Kurt and I went down into the photo pit, like right in front of the stage behind the barricade when Black Francis was playing," he continued. "I remember that. He and I were both pretty drunk. I had a camera hanging around my neck and he just grabbed the camera off my neck and was just taking pictures with it. Even with it still, like, strung around my neck. So, we were excited to see Black Francis and I think the Ramones played that day."

"Part of that was also one of my favorite pranks," Montgomery said with a laugh. "So, Black Francis was just traveling with, like, two people. But the Ramones had a big touring party band and crew. And in catering, they had these tables set up for each group with placards on them. And they switched the Black Francis placard with the Ramones placard. So, Black Francis had this giant table for 20. And the Ramones had a small table for two. Somebody probably figured that out before too long, but that was a funny prank."


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