Description

On December 13, 1993, Nirvana performed at Seattle’ Pier 48 for MTV’s Live And Loud, a concert that would more than live up to its name. Sets were destroyed, cameras spat upon, and, at the end of 70-odd minutes, amidst all the carnage, Kurt Cobain invited the hometown crowd onto the stage, resulting in pure chaos. To this day, it remains one of the most raucous, raw performances ever captured by our cameras … a definitive Nirvana show that has never been seen in full. This album captures most of the show, unfortunately not complete. Amy Finnerty, director of talent relations: Actually, I had been travelling with the guys before they got to Seattle, and the night before that Seattle show was the night they played in Minneapolis, where Kurt and Kurt Loder smashed up the hotel room. And the next morning, I found Kurt and I told him, ’We have to get out of here before the hotel calls the police!’ So we took his credit card and bought plane tickets to Seattle!’ And then Eddie Vedder ends up getting sick. I think he had the flu; he wasn’t trying to pull out of the show, he was genuinely too sick to perform. Salli Frattini, executive in charge of production: When Eddie didn’t show up, there was this huge standoff that happened. I remember people were freaking out, because he backed out. But MTV was like, Well, if he’s going to back out, let’s get Nirvana to step up. McCarthy-Miller: Again, it was a hometown crowd and people were freaking out, and in the middle of all the panic, Kurt offered to play a longer set, and it turned into what ended up being Live and Loud, which was pretty much a discography of Nirvana. And he was just, I think, in a zone; he couldn’t have been more helpful and lovely to me; during sound check, he was just awesome, just asking ’Beth do you need more?’ Finnerty: After they did sound check, I was with Dave Grohl, and he had his car because I think he was still living there. But we left and went to 7-Eleven to get hot dogs, just ran around Seattle together for a while. And both of us had somehow lost our backstage passes, so when we came back [to Pier 48], the security guards would not let either of us in. Dave was standing there, like ’I’m actually in the band’ — he said he sounded like such a jerk for saying that — and then he told the security guard ’I play this song; dun-dun-dun …’ you know, just did the opening chords to ’Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ and the security guard was like ’Oh, you’re that guy!’ And he let us in. It was really funny.McCarthy-Miller: I think Live and Loud’ was the pinnacle of Pat [Smear] being part of the band. They were just incredible that night. Recently I was in the edit, watching the iso [shot] I had of Dave [Grohl] on drums, and he was amazing. And Kurt was having so much fun that night and was being pretty animated; there’s a shot where he walks up to the camera guy on stage, a guy named Charlie Huntley, and I’m in the booth directing, telling [Charlie] ’Stay with him!’ And the Kurt ends up spitting in the lens. It was a moment.” Finnerty: “I was standing on the side of the stage, it was an incredible view, the way they built the set the fans were able to get really close, so, at the end of the show, Kurt was grabbing their hands and pulling them onto the stage. I’ve seen them trash a lot of stages, and they did it again here, but that one was pretty amazing because the audience was just so close to it all.” Frattini: “I knew that he was a true artist; people loved Kurt Cobain, fans and people at MTV. I always thought there was something about him that reminded me of the Beatles, and obviously at the moment, I remember thinking that the band did an awesome job. But I never could have predicted it would have become something legendary; who would have ever known we had gotten one of his last shows?” This limited album also features 4-tracks recorded at the Pat OBrien Pavilion in Del Mar California on the 28th of December 1991. This show was recorded only a few months after Nevermind was released, before the melodrama and insanity really kicked-in, and so the band was tight and powerful, focused on the songs. At this point they hadnt become the band that had to meet the unrealistic expectations of the audience every time they took the stage. Yes, here theyre just a rock band, and writing that reminds me of how sad this story turned out. But let it never be said that Nirvana did not help to bridge the generations. As I said, this was a great night for the band, rarely in the groups stage career had there been a show so aggressive and still so controlled and its certainly no coincidence that the compilation Live From The Muddy Banks contains various pieces of this supercharged show. Kurt Cobain impresses with his torn but determined voice. Listen to Aneurysm, School and Teen Spirit and feel the power and intensity that night. Even if grunge has become yesterdays news, the legend of Nirvana still lives on. And for many Nirvana fans, this period just before the success of Nevermind took over and turned them into media darlings is the real deal.

Track list:
1. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
2. Drain You
3. Breed
4. Serve The Servants
5. Rape Me
6. Heart-Shaped Box
7. Pennyroyal Tea
8. Scentless Apprentice
9. Lithium
10. Aneurysm-Pat O Brien Pavillion
11. School-Pat O Brien Pavillion
12. Come As You Are-Pat O Brien Pavillion
13. Smells Like Teen Spirit-Pat O Brien Pavillion