‘Come As You Are’: Cape Breton performer to play Nirvana tribute show

Musician Robbie Simms plans to bring Nirvana’s iconic ‘MTV Unplugged in New York’ show to life at the Highland Arts Theatre in Sydney.

He’s not Kurt Cobain, but for one night at the Highland Arts Theatre in Sydney, N.S., Robbie Simms just might be close enough.

“I will certainly do my best to be the next best thing,” the well-known Sydney area performer said with a laugh.

Nirvana’s ‘MTV Unplugged In New York,’ which first aired on December 18, 1993, remains one of the most iconic concert performances of the 1990s.

More than 30 years later, Simms – who was 15 when Unplugged first came out in stores in November 1994 – still remembers the impact it made on him.

“On its release date, I begged my mother after school that day, ‘I know we don’t have a lot of money, but do you think just maybe we could go to Zellers and get a copy?’” recalled Simms.

Now, Simms will perform his own tribute show called “Where Did You Sleep Last Night? – a nod to the final track on Nirvana Unplugged.

He said the plan is to play the album note for note, unplugged of course, on April 18.

Wesley Colford, artistic director of the Highland Arts Theatre, said the show will make for a nostalgic night out. He added tickets are nearly sold out.

“You’ve got a whole bunch of people who grew up listening to Nirvana – they’ve got kids, they’ve got work, they’ve got commitments,” said Colford. “And so, to get to go on a little trip down memory lane, maybe people that didn’t get a chance to see Nirvana live they can see this.”

Simms and his band Pennyroyal Breed – inspired by the Nirvana songs ‘Pennyroyal Tea’ and ‘Breed’ – performed the show at the HAT Theatre once before, in 2024, and knew they wanted to come back for an encore.

“We all grew up together and we all cut our teeth on Nirvana,” Simms said. “We all cut our teeth on Unplugged. In fact, I know just about every member here at one point or another put on that album as a kid and just played along for hours figuring out those songs. So, it’s very important to us in that it helped us become musicians.”

Simms has one final message for those planning to attend.

“Come one, come all and ‘Come As You Are,” he said. “It’s going to be a great time.”

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page