Unplugged In New York - Nirvana (US)

“This song’s off our first record, most people don’t own it”

Kurt Cobain never wanted credit, he never wanted acclaim and most evidently ……he never wanted the fame either. He was a man that was in the music business for his fans, to give them all he could and be the best he could be, ensuring longevity within their relationship. That longevity, still stretching with each passing year, was threatened when MTV offered Cobain and his ...
...live audience in New York City. Kurt grimace with this offer was that he had never been a fan of the franchise and had openly loathed at the purpose of such a company, whilst believing that accepting the offer would alienate his fans against him. It’s a known fact that the most loyal music fan is a Nirvana fan, and Cobain, being the uncertain individual that he was, would believe nothing other than his own opinion no matter what professional opportunity ... more

“This song’s off our first record, most people don’t own it”

Kurt Cobain never wanted credit, he never wanted acclaim and most evidently ……he never wanted the fame either. He was a man that was in the music business for his fans, to give them all he could and be the best he could be, ensuring longevity within their relationship. That longevity, still stretching with each passing year, was threatened when MTV offered Cobain and his band the chance to perform an ‘Unplugged’ set for a live audience in New York City. Kurt grimace with this offer was that he had never been a fan of the franchise and had openly loathed at the purpose of such a company, whilst believing that accepting the offer would alienate his fans against him. It’s a known fact that the most loyal music fan is a Nirvana fan, and Cobain, being the uncertain individual that he was, would believe nothing other than his own opinion no matter what professional opportunity it jeopardised. MTV, as a franchise, are known to be less than perfect, yet this was still not the opportunity for Kurt to turn his nose up to, luckily with persuasion and an improved salary for the show, Cobain was convinced to perform in front of an audience that were by no means Nirvana fans, yet they were music fans. Kurt believed this was more of a ploy to discover his flaws rather than enhance his reputation as one of the greatest musicians of his generation……oh how wrong he was.

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Cobain looked a picture…..trademark cardie, tattered jeans and converse sneakers, perched aloft on his wheelie chair, he truly was the anti-hero. The set design, in this case more a funeral parlour than anything else, was formed through Kurt’s input, a factor that when joined by choice of song, lends largely to what was to happen in the coming months. When I say choice of song, I mean the coincidental fact that 4 of the 6 covers the band performed, all hand picked by Cobain, covered the topic of death, something Kurt was to become more than familiar with. The audience, lacking of an real interest in the evenings proceedings, seemed less than excitable, even when Cobain was bellowing out some of his greatest individual moments since 1989, again lending to the ‘there to look good’ claims made by Cobain less than a fortnight prior to the performance. In large, the performance was lacking of any of the bands best material, including absences of both ’Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and ’Lithium’, yet plain fact will tell you that some songs just don’t sound the same when taken away form the electrical pleasure land with which they are conceived. Despite the couple of omissions, Cobain and his band were not to let this opportunity go to waste, and commenced with the first of 14 tracks that would enhance their reputation as the greatest rock band of the 90’s.

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Kurt’s indecision of his own music was evident less than 20 seconds after taking his seat upon the stage, muttering a comment that gave the impression he believed no-one knew their music, when in fact it was he that seemed oblivious to the world around him and the success with which his band were having. Another in a long list of points Cobain had made as to how this performance would go less than smoothly was the fact he believed his close proximity to the audience would show up the faults he knew were evident within his guitar playing. Now fact will tell you that he was nothing like the best, but in time of need he gave the most accomplished performance anyone could have done under the pressure (which he had placed upon himself), and is heard throughout praising himself, as if he had just defied the odds., when in fact he had little to worry about in the first place. As his confidence lifted he seemed to get even better, flowing performances of About A Girl, Come As You Are and Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam all came and went, before the undoubted highlight of the night. That highlight, a cover of a classic David Bowie track, was also Kurt’s personal highlight and seemed to be the one that finally put him at ease with himself. ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, a track that had already gone down in history as a legendary Bowie track, was, for 4 minutes a Cobain track and one that he more than made his own.

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‘Pennyroyal Tea’ again showed Kurt’s bad assumption. ‘Here’s another one I could scr*w up’, when in fact the performance once again went by without a single fault. It seemed if anything, that his own misgivings were making him stronger and that the ‘front’ he was conveying was just that, a way to fool both the audience and himself. The performance as a whole was so sound that tracks seemed to fly by and be gone before you’d heard the first note. Dumb, Polly and On A Plain all zipped by, each as immaculate as the previous, before we hit one of Nevermind’s biggest weapons, Something In The Way. The song that talks of Cobain’s time under the Wishkah river bridge, and one presumed very personal to Kurt himself, was the one true moment of emotion from him throughout this hour long performance. Performed with slightly, and I say slightly, more passion than any of the previous songs, he seemed to take great personal pride in getting this one spot on and was more than ready for what lay next. What lay next was a collaboration with Curt and Cris Kirkwood, alternatively known as the Meat Puppets, a band that had been long time idols of Cobain’s from an early age.

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When Kurt broke the news to the MTV executives that he planned to bring someone else onto stage with him to perform a few numbers, they went into a mad frenzy as to who he could have gotten to duet with. Rumours shot round the building that it was to be Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, a man that Cobain had many issues with. That was however to be proved incorrect, and when Kurt commented that it was to be The Meat Puppets, the sound of jaw on floor could be heard within the distance. Surely this was of no benefit to the company itself, surely this wouldn’t portray ourselves as the ‘cool’ music franchise that we are, but they should’ve known by then that Cobain never disappointed. The songs themselves were as good as anything else on the night, all 3 taken from a previous album that Cobain did his best to promote throughout the 15-minute stint that they had together, however you get the feeling that the audience had little intention in purchasing such an album. With the three - Plateau, Lake Of Fire and Oh Me, all passed, it was time for Cobain to resume what he did best, performing his own tracks. ‘All Apologies’ was the ultimate anti-climax, giving the feeling that nothing would better it, nothing would get Cobain higher than he already found himself, but then came along a little number with which he was to make his own.

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Leadbelly, an iconic blues legend of past times, was another artist that Cobain held very dear to his own heart, taking great interest in his music and his career in general, and as his final port of call, Cobain took an already good song and made it great. ’Where Did You Sleep Last Night’ brought to a close one of the most influential, inspirational and memorable performances of recent times, and one that to this day, eleven years on, is yet to loose any of it’s relevance. Cobain was a man that had little confidence in his own ability, little respect for his own music and almost no faith in the music business in general - yet when called for, he gave the performance of a lifetime on the grandest stage of all.

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Track Listing

1. About A Girl
2. Come As You Are
3. Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam
4. The Man Who Sold The World
5. Pennyroyal Tea
6. Dumb
7. Polly
8. On A Plain
9. Something In The Way
10. Plateau
11. Oh Me
12. Lake Of Fire
13. All Apologies
14. Where Did You Sleep Last Night

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PEACE, LOVE, EMPATHY…… KURT COBAIN R.I.P.

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Thank You 

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