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For many, the ‘would they/wouldn't they’ atmosphere just led the intensity of the night. Of course, play they did
Speculation circulated at the time of this now infamous gig, suggesting it wouldn't happen due to Kurt Cobain's affection for narcotics, and as the time grew closer, whispers that he had actually been hospitalised after an overdose, were rife. For many, the ‘would they/wouldn't they’ atmosphere just led the intensity of the night. Of course, play they did.
Construed by some members of the press as another rockstar junkie along with wife Courtney Love, the ever-humorous Kurt Cobain begins his band's headline show at Britain's best-loved rock festival with a little joke; he is pushed onto the stage in a wheel chair, (wearing a long blonde wig and hospital gown) by music journalist and friend Everett True, and then pretends to collapse. As gasps of confusion fill the crowd, it does seem an oddly comical way to start the 25-song set. This is Nirvana, and odd is fitting.
‘Breed’ kicks off the music and instantly, the thud of drummer Dave Ghrol is automatically spin-tingling. Many fans refer to earlier shows, Reading ’91 when the band were much lower down the bill, gigs from the continent etc as being more groundbreaking and vital in gaining new fans, but by 1992, their music was so widespread that it’s this very show which spawned one of the most bootlegged music DVDs ever – and that’s all the more reason to see it in good quality now.
The digitally enhanced colour correction and audio CD (containing all the songs from the DVD apart from ‘Love Buzz’) is obviously going to be a Christmas earner for Love, but if you’re a fan, you’ll need to ignore the perfectly timed commercial aspect and just bag a copy. The set includes songs from one of grunge's most prolific albums 'Bleach', and the album, which propelled Nirvana into the spotlight forever, 'Nevermind'. At the time of recording, lesser-known songs such as 'Dumb' and the public début of 'tourette’s' would later make the In Utero album where as 'Sliver' and 'Aneurysm' would appear on 'Insecticide'. They also cover ‘The Money Will Roll Right In’ by California punks Fang and The Wiper’s ‘D-7’, with Nirvana accrediting both bands for inspiring their formation.
Bearing in mind ‘official release’ doesn’t mean ‘never before seen camera angles’; the DVD was still filmed 18 years ago, so don’t expect any sudden fancy camera work or extended crowd shots for your money.
Also gracing the main stage that weekend were bands that left a mark on the music fans of the nineties; Smashing Pumpkins, Rollins Band, Nick Cave, Mudhoney, Teenage Fanclub, L7, Beastie Boys, Pavement, Screaming Trees and The Melvins to name a few, yet it's Nirvana who continue to be a must-have in the record collections of every new generation of music buffs. With the transition from punky outbursts to softer, twisted pop songs, coy smiles and between song joke-telling, the appeal of Nirvana is still as present as ever, and for a moment, this DVD (which due to minimal camera angles also fails show the enormity of the crowd) allows fans to disengage from the tragedy that would follow and enjoy a defining moment of the band’s legacy.
Throughout the show there's a man on stage that, along with Kurt's attire, looks like a mental patient who despite medication, can't stop dancing. He gets an introduction of “Our friend Tony” and is in fact Anthony Hodgkinson of 90's Brit rock band Bivouac. It's weird, but it works. Why not show the world your crap haircut and dance like a maniac of TV? The sound is brilliant; all the guitar noise and imagination of Ghrol's drumming sounds immense, and the vocal pitch hiccups are, thankfully, left in. Nirvana were all about the raw aggression and ability to present the most unperfected musicianship in a way which made it even more listenable the world over, even if it was a sort of accidental fame.
Perhaps music aside, the most romantic moment of the footage is when Kurt declares his joy for his then 12-day-old daughter, and confides in the army of fans that his wife thinks everybody “hates her”. They oblige in a message to Love that simply says, "We love you Courtney". The smile on Cobain's face is satisfied, but no doubt the chant is to make him feel better rather than contain genuine affection for his wife. This leads into 'All Apologies' and it’s a heart-warming moment.
If you've owned a bootleg copy for years, then maybe this won't be top of your Dear Santa list, but it should be. It's fair to say there's less energy from Kurt at this gig than in footage of other performances, making it somewhat less notorious for the snobby, yet it still resonates as being really very special. This was of course the last time Nirvana would ever play on British soil, and maybe that magnifies its importance to UK fans. Because all in all, Nirvana’s 1992 Reading appearance still is undoubtedly special for us.
Watch the official trailer here:
Tags: nirvana live at reading 1992 kurt cobain dave ghrol courtney love everett true nevermind bleach in utero insecticide reading festival official nirvana trailer kelly murray candid fever
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