-??/??/85 Olympia, WA GESSCO Hall NOTES: Kurt's first performance, reciting poetry over improvised music by Dale Crover and Buzz Osbourne, under the name "Brown Towel" -12/??/85 Moclips, WA Spot Club NOTES: "Fecal Matter", the band with Kurt, Dale, and Greg Hokanson, opened for the Melvins. -??/??/87 Redmond, WA House Party -03/??/87 Olympia, WA Gessco Hall -04/17/87 Olympia, WA KAOS Radio Broadcast FORMATS: Audio Cassette QUALITY: A- Radio Broadcast TIME: 35 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: The earliest known recording of the band, at this time labeled as Skid Row. This is the "remarkable live midnight show" performed for KAOS Radio at Evergreen State College. Aaron Burkhardt is on drums, and it's really cool to hear the band with his drumming. Only known recording of "White Lace and Strange" a cover of a Thunder and Roses song, as well as rare recordings of "Anorexorcist", "Pen Cap Chew", and "Downer". This was done a little after the band first formed, and it shows. While their performance isn't superb, it's a great tape to own. SETLIST: Love Buzz / Floyd the Barber / Downer / Mexican Seafood / White Lace and Strange / Spank Thru / Anorexorcist / Hairspray Queen / Pen Cap Chew -??/??/87 ??????, WA Party FORMATS: Audio Cassette QUALITY: B+ Audience Recording TIME: 45 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: An early house party, this show is incomplete. I believe Aaron Burkhardt is on drums by the playing on "Downer" and "Pen Cap Chew". The audience at this party is obnoxious, and most of the people are drunk, stoned, or both. Krist can be heard playing bass lines like "Floyd the Barber", "Louie Louie", "Walk This Way", and "Wild Thing", and before "Hairspray Queen" he sings a bit of "Sound Of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel. Kurt plays a riff over and over again, which may be another song they chose not to play. Kurt introduces "Spank Thru" as "Breaking the Law", making fun of the Judas Priest song. After "Pen Cap Chew", Kurt plays the intro to CCR's "Who'll Stop the Rain". I believe more songs were played. SETLIST: Downer / Aerozeppelin / If You Must / Heartbreaker / How Many More Times / Mexican Seafood / Pen Cap Chew / Spank Thru / Hairspray Queen -08/??/87 Olympia, WA House Party -12/14/87 Tacoma, WA Community World Theater NOTES: Even under tremendous pressure, I'm not changing 1/23/88 back to this date. There are many reasons. You can see my argument on Alex Bender's Cherry Flavored Antacids page. I wonder if the band ever even played on this date. -??/??/88 Seattle, WA Central Tavern -01/23/88 Tacoma, WA Community World Theater FORMATS: Many tapes, CD as "Tacoma 1987" Cracker QUALITY: B- Audience Recording, Video (unsurfaced) TIME: Approximately 50 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: The show played the same day after the band recorded their first full-fledged demo with Jack Endino. Dale Crover is on drums. The original recording isn't great, but Kris Sproul has taken the original "Tacoma 1987" CD, fixed the speed so the guitars are in normal tuning, and he removed some hiss to make the sound quality a little better. Rare performances of "If You Must", "Downer", "Beeswax", "Pen Cap Chew" and "Anorexorist". Another rare song, which is titled by many as "Raunchola" was played to close the show, along with a jam of the Led Zeppelin song "Moby Dick". Dale Crover told my friend Rick that this show was videotaped, meaning the audio may come from an unsurfaced video of the show. SETLIST: If You Must / Downer / Floyd the Barber / Papercuts / Spank Thru / Hairspray Queen (stopped) / Aerozeppelin / Beeswax / Mexican Seafood Pen Cap Chew / Anorexorcist / Hairspray Queen / unknown (Raunchola?) Moby Dick (jam) -01/24/88 Aberdeen, WA Radio Shack FORMATS: Video QUALITY: A- semi-PRO video TIME: Most likely about 30 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: Well, this isn't really a show, but actually very early music videos. An Aberdeen online site shows pictures of this Radioshack with a caption that Nirvana had some early music videos recorded there. I didn't think this was real until I ran across an episode from a TV show with clips from this video, an interview with the man who taped them, and clips of him giving the complete music video to Courtney shortly after Kurt's death. So, there probably is a slim chance that the whole video will circulate. But what it actually is is the band pretending to play while overdubs of the demo made the day before are played. On the copy I have, there are only the two songs listed below (actually, clips of them), and it looks like the band is having a ton of fun. Dale Crover has told my friend Rick that only a few songs were done, and he would love to get a full copy of the video since he doesn't have it. SETLIST: If You Must / Papercuts (so far....the whole demo probably had music videos made for it.....) -03/19/88 Tacoma, WA Community World Theater -??/??/88 Tacoma, WA party -04/24/88 Seattle, WA The Vogue -05/??/88 Seattle, WA Central Tavern NOTES: First show with Chad Channing. -05/??/88 Seattle, WA Squid Row -05/??/88 Olympia, WA Evergreen State College -05/15/88 New York, NY New Music Seminar NOTES: If anyone says they have this, be skepticle, because there is a 10 minute version of 4/10/89 floating around that claims to be this. -06/05/88 Seattle, WA Central Tavern -06/15/88 Seattle, WA The Vogue -06/17/88 Ellensburg, WA Hal Holmes Center -06/29/88 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre (Lame Fest) -07/03/88 Seattle, WA The Vogue (Sub Pop Sunday) -07/10/88 Seattle, WA Comet Tavern -07/23/88 Seattle, WA Central Tavern -07/30/88 Seattle, WA Squid Row -08/29/88 Seattle, WA The Vogue -10/30/88 Olympia, WA Evergreen State Dorm Party -10/31/88 Seattle, WA Union Station NOTES: Chad Channing recalled that for this show he was extremely sick, and some girl he knew was taking care of him next door, and when it came time, walked to the next room and played. He said it was a good performance. -11/23/88 Bellingham, WA Speedy O'Tubs -11/26/88 ???????, WA ????? -12/01/88 Seattle, WA Hollywood Underground -12/21/88 Hoquiam, WA Hoquiam Eagles Lodge FORMATS: Video (2 edits, one 20 min., one 40 min.), Audio QUALITY: B Audience Recording, C+ 40 minute video TIME: 60 minutes complete HIGHLIGHTS: Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" and the Smack's "Run Rabbit, Run" are the highlights of this show, plus many first recorded performances of "Bleach" songs, like "School", "Sifting", and "Blew" The video is the real highlight of the show, where Chris strips down to his underwear and Kurt has his hair in a pony-tail. Very eery performance of "Big Cheese". Newer, B/B+ version has surfaced, with all the songs on there and are good quality. Supposedly a full video exists, but has never surfaced. Chris jams on Dazed and Confused briefly before School on some videos. SETLIST: School / Love Buzz / Floyd the Barber / Mr. Moustache / Papercuts / Mexican Seafood / Spank Thru / Aerozeppelin / Sifting / Hairspray Queen / Run Rabbit Run / Big Cheese / Immigrant Song / Blew -12/28/88 Seattle, WA Hollywood Underground FORMATS: CD as "New Year's Eve", "Live In Seattle", "Christmas in Seattle" QUALITY: A- Audience Recording TIME: About 45 min. HIGHLIGHTS: No really rare songs, but an incredible sounding "School" an eery "Papercuts", a hard to find "Hairspray Queen" live performance, plus incredible quality for an early show makes this one great. Some CDs include Jesse Bernstein's full introduction. SETLIST: School / Love Buzz / Floyd the Barber / Mr. Moustache / Paper Cuts / Mexican Seafood / Spank Thru / Sifting / Hairspray Queen / Blew -01/21/89 Portland, OR Satyricon Club -02/??/89 Olympia, WA Evergreen State Dorm Party -02/08/89 Tacoma, WA ????? -02/10/89 San Francisco, CA The Covered Wagon Saloon -02/11/89 San Jose, CA Marsugi's -02/17/89 San Francisco, CA ????? -02/25/89 Seattle, WA HUB Ballroom -04/07/89 Seattle, WA Annex Theater -04/14/89 Ellensberg, WA Hal Holmes Center -04/26/89 Seattle, WA The Vogue NOTES: Got some info from a Backlash issue, courtesy of Rick: "They played with Flaming Lips and Steel Pole Bathtub. There is a review for whole show, but it's like five lines long! 'Olympia gods Nirvana, who delievered their usual screams and nasty guitar riffs.' Great review huh? Oh well..." -05/09/89 Seattle, WA Central Tavern -05/26/89 Tacoma, WA Lindbloom Student Center @ Green River Community College NOTES: Information on this show has started to surface ever since the 3/90 Evergreen videos surfaced. Supposedly the band had this show PRO-shot for themselves. Small clips of this show can be seen in the background of the Evergreen State Music video for "School" done in March of 1990. Features first known performances of early favorites. SETLIST: Dive / School / Love Buzz / Scoff / Sifting / Big Cheese / Floyd The Barber / Spank Thru / About A Girl / Negative Creep -??/??/89 Olympia, WA Reko/Muse NOTES: The photo on the cover of Bleach is from this show, so since Bleach was released on 6/15/89, this show must have been played before June of '89. -06/09/89 Seattle, WA Moore Theater (LameFest '89) NOTES: The July 1989 issue of Backlash talks about this show a little: "but only two things were not up to excellent standards. The first was Nirvana’s sound. The vocals were too far back in the mix and there was a huge rumble that seriously needed adjusting. It’s a bad thing, too, as the band utilizes a lot of melody within their grunge. As for their performance - totally intense. Hair explosions, pratfalls, jumps, body writhing and a trash-a-thon finale that left instruments and bodies strewn about the stage. Quite riveting." -06/21/89 Seattle, WA The Vogue -06/22/89 San Francisco, CA The Covered Wagon Saloon -06/23/89 Westwood, CA Rhino Records FORMATS: Video, Audio QUALITY: B Audience Recording (first 3 songs horrible quality) TIME: 35 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: Features the first recorded performances of "Dive", "About a Girl", "Polly", and "Negative Creep". "Sifting" is featured in "MTV's Tribute to Nirvana" Also, Jason Everman is on second guitar. This show is good but not great. The sound quality of the video brings the recording down. I believe this show to be PRO-shot by the record store because the circulating video has a different camera angle during "Sifting" than what appears on MTV's Tribute to Nirvana. SETLIST: School / Floyd the Barber / Love Buzz / Big Cheese / About A Girl / Sifting / Spank Thru / Dive / Polly / Negative Creep / Blew -06/??/89 Los Angeles, CA Al's Bar -06/??/89 Long Beach, CA Bogart's -06/27/89 Rockin' T.P. Santa Fe, NM -07/??/89 Fort Worth, TX Axis Club -07/??/89 Dallas, TX Concrete Jungle NOTES: This show was 2 days after the Fort Worth show. -07/??/89 Madison, WI O'Cayz Coral -07/06/89 Minneapolis, MN Uptown Bar -07/07/89 Chicago, IL Club Dreamerz FORMATS: Audio, CD as "Bleach Out, Break Out" QUALITY: B+ Audience Recording TIME: 45 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: The best of the early live show recordings. First known performance of "Scoff". This is a great show with great sound. Most early cassette copies lack "Blew", which the newer CD includes. Date moved from 7/8/89. SETLIST: School / Floyd the Barber / Love Buzz / Mr. Moustache / Paper Cuts / Polly Big Cheese / Spank Thru / Dive / About A Girl / Scoff / Negative Creep / Blew -07/09/89 Wilkinsburg, PA The Sonic Temple NOTES: This tape was supposedly recorded by a gentleman that refuses to trade it. Also, there is a tape circulating claiming to be this show but is infact a butchered version of 7/12/89, thanks to Joe Hinchcliff. -07/12/89 Philadelphia, PA JC Dobbs FORMATS: Video, Audio QUALITY: B+ Audience Recording (Decent Video) TIME: 65 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: A good show, it features the only known live recording of the scrapped B-side, "Blandest". Since the B+ version of the show hasn't been around long, be wary of traders who may have the older, D+ version. This show may be PRO-shot, since televisions hanging above the stage show a different shot than the video circulating. SETLIST: School / Floyd the Barber / Love Buzz / Scoff / About a Girl / Spank Thru / Paper Cuts / Mr. Moustache / Big Cheese / Polly / Sifting / Blandest / Dive / Negative Creep / Blew -07/13/89 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell's FORMATS: CD available as "Hoboken '89" QUALITY: A-/B+ Audience Recording TIME: 45 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: This is a really good show. Great recording. The "Polly" and "Papercuts" are both great. Jason Everman on second guitar. SETLIST: School / Floyd the Barber / Love Buzz / About a Girl / Scoff / Spank Thru / Big Cheese / Polly / Paper Cuts / Negative Creep / Blew -07/??/89 Jamaica Plain, MA Green Street Station NOTES: Pictures of this are circulating with Kurt singing with no guitar, while Everman plays solo. -07/18/89 New York City, NY Pyramid Club (New Music Seminar) FORMATS: Video, Audio QUALITY: B Audience Recording TIME: 25 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: A short set with second guitarist Jason Everman. A drunk guy gets up on stage during "Floyd the Barber" and yells "fucking shit" into the mic before being thrown off the stage. Everman follows him and beats him up. Watch the time on the video: for some odd reason a lot of time passes between Dive and Blew, meaning that this video is incomplete for now. SETLIST: School / Floyd the Barber / Love Buzz / Dive / Blew -08/26/89 Seattle, WA Center on Contemporary Art FORMATS: Audio QUALITY: C+ Audience Recording TIME: 45 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: Typical early show, featuring the first performance of "Stain". Decent show with a lot hiss in the background. SETLIST: Spank Thru / Scoff / Love Buzz / Floyd the Barber / Dive / Polly / School / Big Cheese / About A Girl / Stain / Negative Creep / Blew -??/??/89 Springfield, IL ????? NOTES: Krist mentions this show on 12/8/93. I'm guessing this maybe took place around 9/9/89, both shows were in Illinois. -09/??/89 ???????, IA ????? -09/09/89 Chicago, IL Cabaret Metro FORMATS: Video, Audio QUALITY: B/B- Audience Recording TIME: 35 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: There is a 60 minute video circulating, but is only half Nirvana, and half Sonic Youth. The Sonic Youth performance IS from this date. Nirvana did open for them (so says Chad). He also told me that this recording is incomplete, and they played, in addition, atleast three songs. SETLIST: School / Scoff / Love Buzz / Floyd the Barber / Dive / Polly / Big Cheese / Spank Thru / About A Girl / Swap Meet / Negative Creep / Blew -09/13/89 Denver, CO Gothic Theater FORMATS: Video, Audio QUALITY: PRIV shot/B+ Audience Recording TIME: 60 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: Another great early show. "Token Eastern Song" and "Even in His Youth" are played for the first time. Pretty good video, few heads. Brian Johnson pointed out that if you listen right at that the start of "Token Eastern Song", somebody in the audience yells out "Swap Meet!" and then Krist replies "No, Token Eastern Song". That about solves that mystery completely. First known performance of "Imodium", too. SETLIST: School / Scoff / Love Buzz / Floyd the Barber / Dive / Polly / Big Cheese / About A Girl / Token Eastern Song / Even In His Youth / Imodium / Spank Thru Stain / Been A Son / Negative Creep / Blew -??/??/89 Toledo, OH Frankie's -??/??/89 Louisville, KY The Machine -09/23/89 Milwaukee, WI The Unicorn -09/??/89 St. Louis, MO ????? -10/03/89 Ann Arbor, MI The Blind Pig (w/the Flaming Lips) -10/06/89 Cincinnati, OH Murphy's Pub FORMATS: Audio cassette QUALITY: B Audience (bass very loud) TIME: 60 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: One of the newer shows. Good performance, with rare live versions of "Token Eastern Song" and 'Even In His Youth'. Some girl keeps yelling for an encore, so they play "Stain" and "Papercuts". Excessive bass on the recording takes away from the tape. SETLIST: School / Scoff / Love Buzz / Floyd The Barber / Dive / Polly Big Cheese / About A Girl / Token Eastern Song / Even In His Youth / Spank Thru / Negative Creep / Blew / Stain / Paper Cuts -10/07/89 Lawrence, KS The Outhouse -10/08/89 Omaha, NE Lift Ticket Lounge FORMATS: Audio/DAT QUALITY: A- Soundboard TIME: 45 minutes HIGHLIGHTS: While the whole show is being hoarded, this is the band's first real soundboard recorded show. Clearest version of "Token Eastern Song", plus "Even in His Youth", and "Papercuts". Great sound, although some sounds bleed through. Some believe it's actually the Tad performance from the same night on the opposite side of the tape. That would explain why the recording is cut on both ends. The same guy who taped 5/13/90 taped this show, and has not circulated the complete copy. SETLIST: Dive (cut-in) / Polly / Big Cheese / About A Girl / Token Eastern Song Stain / Been A Son / Negative Creep / Blew / Paper Cuts / Even In His Youth / Imodium (cut-off)