Live at Reading is a live CD/DVD by Nirvana, released on November 2, 2009. It features the band’s headlining performance at the Reading Festival in Reading, England, on August 30, 1992. Bootlegged for years, the new issues present the performance for the first time mastered and color corrected.
Live at Reading marks the first time that Chet Powers received songwriting credit on a Nirvana release for the use of his lyrics from the song “Get Together” as the intro for “Territorial Pissings”.
Nirvana‘s appearance at the 1992 Reading Festival was the band’s second performance at the annual music festival and their first since the success of their second album Nevermind. It was also their final concert in the United Kingdom. The band’s first appearance at Reading had been on 23 August 1991, when they played an approximately 40-minute set on the afternoon of the first day of the festival, during their two-week European tour with Sonic Youth.
With Nirvana closing the third and final night of the festival, Cobain had programmed the day’s bill, which featured acts like the Melvins, the Screaming Trees, L7, Mudhoney, Teenage Fanclub (who allowed Eugenius to play one song after the tent they were due to play in blew down), Pavement, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Bjorn Again, and intentionally excluded what Cobain called “lame-ass limey bands.”
The 1992 Reading Festival which Nirvana headlined was sold out and it was reported that the co-existing British music festival held at Donington Park had suffered an attendance loss of 10,000 as a result. According to Grohl, there was an audience of 50,000 in attendance at Nirvana‘s 1992 Reading Festival appearance.
Mocking the rumors of his poor health, Cobain was pushed onstage in a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown and wig, by English music journalist Everett True. He was met by Nirvana‘s bassist Krist Novoselic, who shook his hand and told the audience that “with the support of his friends and family, he’s gonna make it.”
Cobain pretended to struggle to his feet as he stood up in front of the microphone, sang a line from the Amanda McBroom song “The Rose”, then collapsed to the ground. After lying motionless briefly, Cobain returned to his feet, put his guitar on and the band immediately started their set.
The performance included most of Nevermind (everything other than “Something in the Way” and “Endless, Nameless“), along with several songs from their 1989 debut album Bleach, the Sub Pop 200 compilation track “Spank Thru” and set list regulars “Aneurysm“, “Been a Son” and the 1990 single, “Sliver“.
It also included a cover of the Wipers‘ “D-7”, which had been released as a b-side on the “Lithium“ single in July 1992, and Fang‘s “The Money Will Roll Right In”. The band also performed the unreleased songs “tourette’s”, “All Apologies” and “Dumb”,all three of which appeared on their final studio album, In Utero, in September 1993. Cobain introduced “All Apologies” by announcing:
“This song is dedicated to my 12-day-old daughter, and my wife. She thinks everybody hates her,” and then encouraged the crowd to chant, “Courtney, we love you!”.
A large part of the audience sang along to the lyrics of the band’s current single “Lithium“ which Grohl would later cite it as one of the band’s biggest moments. The performance of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” the band’s 1991 breakthrough single from Nevermind, incorporated part of the 1976 Boston single “More Than a Feeling” at the beginning, a reference to the similarities between the two songs’ main guitar riffs. The show ended with Cobain playing the American national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the band smashing their instruments.
Tracklist:
- Breed
- Drain You
- Aneurysm (Written by Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic)
- School
- Sliver
- In Bloom
- Come As You Are
- Lithium
- About A Girl
- Tourette’s
- Polly
- Lounge Act
- Smells Like Teen Spirit (Written by Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic)
- On A Plain
- Negative Creep
- Been A Son
- All Apologies
- Blew
- Dumb
- Stay Away
- Spank Thru
- The Money Will Roll Right In (Written by Chris Wilson, Tom Flynn)
- D-7 (Written by Greg Sage)
- Territorial Pissings (Written by Chet Powers)
Credits
Kurt Cobain: vocals, guitar
Krist Novoselic: bass guitar, backing vocals on “The Money Will Roll Right In”, intro vocals on “Territorial Pissings”
Dave Grohl: drums, backing vocals
Antony Hodgkinson: dancer
Production
Nirvana: executive producers
Michael Meisel: producer
John Silva: producer
Jeff Fura: DVD producer
Nathaniel Kunkel: 5.1 surround and stereo mixes
Bob Ludwig: audio mastering at Gateway Mastering
Concert originally filmed by Fujisankei Communications International
CCI Digital West: DVD production facility
Kelly McFadden: menu design
Matt Ferguson: authoring
Jared J. White: editorial
Vartan: art direction
Ryan Rogers at Oddopolis: design
Charles Peterson: photography
Monique McGuffin Newman: production manager
Adam Starr: product manager
Kurt Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994)
