JANUARY 16th, 2019, LOS ANGELES, CA
THEY BUSTLED AROUND her in groups of two and three, speaking frantically into headsets and pushing anyone aside who got in their way. The stagehands were quite obviously not putting up with anyone's shit that night. But Lindy had planned ahead; she'd sidestepped the commotion early on and was waiting in the backstage area of the Los Angeles Forum in the shadowed darkness of the stage wings, anxiously watching the crowd from a distance.
It was everything she had expected and more.
Lindy would have never insulted the memory of Chris Cornell by assuming that his tribute concert would be a small one. Aside from the star-studded lineup performing that night, the outpouring of fans in the audience was staggering. The energy of the entire forum was electric, unlike anything Lindy had ever felt. It was every possible human emotion folded into one night — sadness, longing, happiness, celebration, and even repressed anger.
Those who adored Chris had really shown up for the occasion, and they'd come with full intent to honor him.
There were obviously many lovers of Soundgarden present in the forum that evening, but Lindy had gulped when she and her family had arrived earlier in the day only to see swarms of people donning Nirvana shirts. Even the younger generation of fans who were there proudly sported the smiley face logo that had become a famous attribute of the nineties.
This was strange, considering that no one had formally announced that Nirvana would be performing.
It was meant to be a surprise. That had been decided from the start. With Chris in mind, Kurt, Dave and Krist were going to take the stage and absolutely shock the world. But the media mongers who'd been awaiting the event for weeks were smart. Someone had placed the seed of thought into the public that Nirvana would make an appearance — clearly, someone who was very good at eavesdropping — and then the frenzy had started.
Besides fans, reporters were there that night too. Most of them had been sent with the job of recounting the evening's performances, but everyone had the same anticipatory thought in mind — was Nirvana going to perform?
The only people who knew for sure were those backstage and the few family members that Kurt, Dave and Krist had invited. Somewhere in the VIP section of the audience, Kim, Beth, Trae, Allie and Hannah were waiting and watching along with Dave and Krist's family.
Lindy, Charlie and Frances were all backstage with Kurt and the rest of the band, standing by while other performances took place. Danny had first suggested that Nirvana close out the night by being the last group to take the stage, but Kurt had fought against this. He insisted that in doing so, Nirvana would be stealing the spotlight away from Chris's memory. Lindy had agreed.
Instead, they were going to be performing after Chris Stapleton, who was slated to cover Chris's song 'The Keeper.' After that, Nirvana was going to make their second debut to date.
Lindy continued to linger by the side of the stage, watching Nikki Costa and Alain Johannes wrap up their rendition of 'Disappearing One.' She gnawed on her thumbnail, feeling like she herself was about to go out there and perform.
"You haven't left this spot all night."
Having not been expecting the company, Lindy jumped as Charlie joined her. He was smiling, amused by his mother's persistence in hanging by the stage.
"I'm trying to watch the show," Lindy quipped back irritatedly. She didn't want anyone to know just how nervous she actually felt, least of all the most confident one of the bunch.
"With your thumb in your mouth?"
"Alright," Lindy griped, facing her son fully and folding her arms. "Who gave you the right to be so nosy?"
