LAST UPDATED: January 27, 2023 at 3:30 PM
Exactly 29 years ago, Nirvana 's MTV Unplugged in New York filled the shelves of the world's biggest stores on CD, cassette tape, and VHS. At that time, Kurt Cobain had already been gone for almost seven months, and the release felt like a farewell ceremony for the vocalist.
The Sony Studio stage was decorated with flowers and candles to evoke the "funeral setting" that Cobain had requested from the show's producers. But that was just one detail among many others that gave the performance a farewell feel. The guitar Cobain held echoed sentimental versions of "All Apologies," "Come As You Are," and covers of bands the musician admired, such as Meat Puppets , The Vaselines , and Lead Belly .
In 1993, a pre-social media era, those lucky enough to attend the recording didn't know what to expect. Today, with the access to information we have, we know that Kurt Cobain was suffering from withdrawal that day and was at one of his worst points. At that moment, the only thing that was public knowledge was the pain and discontent he felt at being a rock star , but none of that prevented him from delivering one of the most iconic performances in music history.
Unplugged program was not just a television show, but a major and important step in the record labels' marketing plan. Paul McCartney , Eric Clapton , Neil Young , and Aerosmith were some of the names that passed through the studio to promote a newly released album. With this in mind, many believed that Nirvana would perform the greatest hits from In Utero , which had been released a month earlier.
Thanks to the internet, we now know that this idea hadn't even crossed the band members' minds. Dave Grohl revealed years later that they were determined to present something different: "We watched a lot of Unplugged where groups played their songs in acoustic versions, without changing anything, as if they were doing an acoustic show at Madison Square Garden." And indeed, Nirvana innovated.
Contrary to what everyone imagined at the time, they delivered a setlist composed of only a few of their hits and many covers. Furthermore, they invited Cris and Curt Kirwook from the Meat Puppets to play “Plateau,” “Oh, Me,” and “Lake of Fire,” while MTV producers expected Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam to join the band on “Come As You Are” or some other hit.
Of course, we know that Kurt Cobain couldn't care less about what others thought, but at the same time he was extremely concerned with delivering the covers perfectly. David Bowie received an incredible and moving reinterpretation after the singer's outburst: "I hope I don't mess this song up." At that moment in the show, Cobain had already entered his own mind and created his own world. What nobody knew was that this was the last time they would have the opportunity to walk through his dark and heavy thoughts.
For those born into a world without Kurt Cobain – like this writer – MTV Unplugged was not only a farewell but also an introduction to grunge. The sincerity, the rawness, and the anguish of a generation being expressed in a way other than the heavy, gritty sound of 1980s punk.
Considered one of the best live albums, Unplugged showed what Cobain was feeling five months before committing suicide. "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" was difficult to perform, as the singer had already expended all his energy, but the last song of the set was delivered perfectly. The song was Kurt Cobain's salvation, until it wasn't.
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