Never-before-seen Nirvana concert footage is now available as part of Bonhams Los Angeles’ Unplugged and Unforgettable: Music Auction, running through September 25.
The clip captures a raw February 17, 1990 performance by the Grunge icons at Iguanas in Tijuana, Mexico — providing an unfiltered glimpse of the band in their pre-Nevermind era while still touring behind their debut album Bleach.
Including the full American copyright via deed of assignment, the 35-year old, 45-minute master tape contains 13 tracks – including ‘About a Girl,’ ‘Negative Creep,’ and ‘Blew’ – and features the late frontman Kurt Cobain dressed in his signature flannel shirt as he dives into the crowd seven times and destroys two guitars.
However minimal, Cobain’s interaction with the crowd is memorable as he starts the performance with a quiet “gracias,” and closes with a simple “goodnight.” At the start, he plays his Epiphone ET270 – later famously smashed in New York – before switching to a homemade pink Mustang, which meets a similar fate just ten minutes in. By minute 34, he’s wielding a 1970s Gibson SG, only to obliterate it live on stage ten minutes later.
During ‘Stain’ the footage shifts from color to black and white, and at one point, a fan climbs onstage, only to be thrown back into the crowd by security.
Though bootleg visuals have teased this show for many years, this is the first time the full master video and audio – complete with legal ownership – is available and is expected to sell for $100,000 and $150,000.
For more information visit www.bonhams.com
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: P.B. Rage from USA