Back in September 11, 1992, nearly one year on from Nevermind making them the biggest band on the planet, Nirvana returned home to perform a stadium show in their native Seattle, which was already undergoing a mass transformation – both culturally and commercially – as a result of the grunge boom.
Capturing Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl’s first hometown show since their second album made them a household name was MTV News, who headed to the Seattle Center Coliseum on 11/09/92 to interview local fans, friends, and even family about the band and their success.
The footage, resurfacing online after 22 years thanks to legendary Seattle label Sub Pop (via MTV), is equally fascinating both as a 90s time-capsule (check out the tartan-wearing kids playing hackysack) and in offering perspectives on the impact of Nirvana’s success on Seattle and the music world at large.
“I don’t think they’ve sold out,” remarks one young fan in the video. “I think the stupid creepy alternative faggots that come here are a bunch of shitheads,” he spits. Another older male ranks them as hometown heroes, “there’s no other music like Seattle music: Nirvana, Helmet, Screaming Trees!” “I’m glad that [Kurt] made enough of a success to make a living, but some of it is too much for him, I think. For all of us, really…”
Interestingly, one person “kinda” bothered by Nirvana’s sudden worldwide attention in the 11-minute clip is a very young Phil Elverum, who would go on to become a cult indie hero as part of lo-fi pop bounds The Microphones and Mount Eerie (that’s him on the right with a friend at the 1:50 mark), who tweeted he “quietly headbanged” up the back of the 1992 concert.
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More eerie however, is the interview with Kurt Cobain’s mother, Wendy O’Connor, arriving at the concert with an entourage of family and friends.
“I have mixed emotions about [Nirvana’s success]. Because I’m glad that he made enough of a success to make a living, but some of it is too much for him, I think. For all of us, really, it’s a little overwhelming,” she says (at around the 9:22 mark).
“But I’m very proud of him,” she says, adding that Kurt’s “baby is beautiful.” There’s also an awkward plug by Cobain’s cousin for his own band; “the next big alternative rock band” boasts Kurt’s uncle as his son brandishes a cassette for the MTV cameras.
Nirvana, who were inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame earlier this year, ended up playing a 24-song set to 15,000 patrons at the Seattle Center Coliseum that night. The rest, of course, is history…
Watch the unaired footage in full below.
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Nirvana, Music News
