Nirvana - Live at Reading [DVD/CD]

Geffen

November 21, 2009, 03:32 AM

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by altsounds [More from this Author]

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When I sit here reminiscing about Nirvana I remember them as if they were a metaphorical ex girlfriend of mine. Someone I loved implicitly and that changed me forever that but for whatever reason became lost to me. Do I still love Nirvana? Sure. Do I remember all the good times past we had? Sure. Would what we had then work now? Not really. Let me digress.

In the hey day of Nirvana I was an uber fan. No one knew Nirvana more than me. I wrote an article for Record Collector aged 14 and the rare Nirvana vinyl they pictured in the aforementioned article was mine. This was before the internet existed when you got your information from magazines, fanzines and record fayres. I was the sucker that would pay £15 for a bootleg CD that sounded shit just so I could hear a new Nirvana song that hadn't been officially recorded yet. The days of the bootlegger seem to have gone and I must say RIP to them. Music in general seems to have lost it's lust. No one lusts after a band and their next move anymore. They just move on to the next melody and the next sound quite comfortably dropping people by the wayside. No loyalty. No love. Not like this. And sadly as times have changed, so have I.

Back in said era I loved Nirvana so much I created what was then a popular UK Nirvana fanzine aptly titled In Bloom. I was a mere 14 or 15 years old and I loved that band so much I spent all my spare time putting this journalistic treat together. I did it all with a rubbish home computer, photocopier and scissors and glue. I advertised it in the NME classified section and before I knew it I had hundreds of subscribers the world over paying me £1 for my work and a copy of In Bloom. If I can recall In Bloom had 6 issues and all were action packed with Nirvana news that literally couldn't be found anywhere else. I can't even remember how I knew so much but I was literally obsessed. Even at such a tender age I had a reviewer go to Reading and review this very show and his reports were glowing. In a nutshell this show changed that reviewers life forever. The way he wrote about it was like as if he had literally experienced 2012 then. But here I am in 2009. Many years later and after experiencing many a band since and the question here is does this show transcend this time frame and is it as impressive as it was back then. And sadly the answer is both yes and no.

One thing I remember from said review is how Kurt graced the stage apparently looking ill and subdued in a wheelchair, wig and hospital patient attire. It was as if he had struggled to make it to the show that night. The whole intro visually does not really compare to how I had imagined it my mind all those years ago and just comes over as unnecessary theatrics. Does it work? Sure. Is it as great as the review I read in my own fanzine? No.


Nirvana kick the set of with the banger that is 'Breed' and the only better song to have chosen to start this off would be the similar drum intro'ed 'Territorial Pissings.' Either way Nirvana kick in with a song that shows they mean business. They deliver well and when 'Drain You' kicks in you are really back in the classic Nirvana vibe. All the memories come flooding back into mind and within two songs you remember why you loved Nirvana so much in the first place. It is at this point however that Nirvana's major flaws become apparent and that is how loose and kind of bad Kurt Cobain was on the guitar. This feeling grows and grows throughout the set and I will broach this in more detail later. The other thing that becomes evidently apparent is the power this 3 piece had with limited members and that is in part due to one thing; the solidity of Dave Grohl on the drums. Throughout the entire "Live At Reading" DVD/CD he is the backbone that underlies often bad performances from both other members.

Nirvana continue their stage entry onslaught with "Aneurysm" which again highlights Kurt's sloppy lead guitar work and Grohl's spine like quality. Thus far however Kurt's vocal delivery is pretty bang on. The one thing I notice in this song is the lack of the original backing vocals, which looking back now you know Dave Grohl could easily have managed. This song ends on a high "She keeps a pumping straight to my heart." And just when you think it can't get any better that very Metal-esque guitar riff intro that is 'School' slams in and you go back 15+ years and it makes you fall in love once again. This is probably one of the best guitar riffs that has ever existed. Is the rest of the song as good as the riff. Hell no but who the fuck cares?

'Sliver' starts off badly with Kurt singing out of key. He laughs and pretends it was all a joke but we all know it wasn't. He then fucks around with a stupid high low thing that sounds awful and is similar to the worst vocal noodling Bob Dylan has ever done [if you've seen him live you will know what I mean]. Sometimes you just want the singer to sing the song how you know it you know? I appreciate they might be bored with certain songs but we all wanna sing along! Just as you are thinking the set is about to lull they drop in 'In Bloom' and you remember just how fresh this song is. Again, Kurt's voice annoys me and I wish he would just drop it to basics and focus a little more. The vocals get worse in each of the verses. The solo in this song is awful. There are about a million mistakes and it is almost cringeworthy. Have the drugs kicked in??? Probably.

The crowd seem pleased. Not me though. Rapturous applause appear as 'Come As You Are' kicks in. Although better, there are moments in this solo that again are very flawed and sound kind of bad. What went from being an amazing set is slowly drooping at this stage and I am looking for a spark to re-ignite my passion for this so called "legendary" festival performance. Lithium begins and again Kurt messes up, this time with the intro riff of the song! This is only shown on the DVD side of it and the CD has conveniently cut off many of the mishaps! The crowd sing back the words to this song as Kurt is singing the verse and you again remember why you loved Nirvana so much. 'About a Girl' lulls for a minute and never really goes anywhere. Great song but I am fantasizing about Nirvana coming back with the raw energy and the emotion of the beginning of this set that they, at this point seem to have lost. 'Tourettes' is played and again I am disappointed with Kurt's guitar work.

'Polly' comes next and the backing vocals in this one are the best on show thus far. There is a moment just before the second verse where the bass and guitar just get well messed up with one another and again I am taken from listening to my rock gods to listening to a covers band in my local pub. I mean c'mon I have been in a band that has done a better version of this song than this. No where near as cool because I didn't write it but it just shows the main problem I have with much of this concert in that it comes over amateurish.

Out of the blue they seem to be back on it when 'Lounge Act' kicks in, which is a welcome addition and gets the set flowing again for me. Next thing, and after some homage to the riff they stole it from, 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' kicks in and after a successful intro Kurt messes up what is literally the easiest lead guitar part of all time. He jests and pretends like he meant to do it, but he didn't. Let me take this moment to state that up until this point Dave Grohl is still without mistake on his drums and still shines as the spine of Nirvana. Would they have been as good without him? Not at all, they might never have transcended the heights they did without him. The lead guitar throughout this song shocks me more and more. Sure it's hard being the rhythm, lead guitarist and vocalist but as I tell kids in the studio "If you can't play it live, don't lay it down now."

When 'On A Plain' hits in it reminds me that I need to write a song on a plane. Next journey I am going with a MIDI controller, USB mic and laptop and will pen my very own On a Plane.' This is a great song and again I am buzzing off this show before being slammed into 'Negative Creep.' It is worth noting at this point their is a fan on stage that they have had dancing ALL the way through their set. Is he good? No. Does he love it? Hell yeah, this is his time too!

'Been a Son' swings by before the beautiful 'All Apologies' riff kicks in to change the mood again. It's a welcome change and showcases how even the most intimate moments of Nirvana transcribe in a live setting. It also showcases how awful their backing vocals were and again Kurt is found to be messing up.

'Blew' sounds pretty good up until the solo sections and I am left wondering why Nirvana ever had solos in the first place. Rapturous applause and this signifies the end of their set. The band leave the stage and come back for the encore they are being demanded to provide. They all eventually resurface to provide an excellent rendition of 'Dumb' that sees them getting their vibe back. There is something about Nirvana's entry and/or re-entry that hits harder than any other part of their set. They slam into 'Stay Away' and bring the energy WAY back up. Next up is a super classic in 'Spank Thru' and man am I transformed back to the early days and this is surprisingly one of the best renditions of the original on display this evening. Then a rarity in 'D-7' follows and it showcases the darker, heavier side to Nirvana that would have surfaced more had Kurt not died. This is a side to Nirvana I wish I could have witnessed especially if they were to utilize the lows of his voice and his screams to their fullest potential.

Luckily they end the set on the song I wish they had begun on but sadly at this point they are no where near as ready and fresh as they would have been had they opened with it. Either way I enjoy listening to 'Territorial Pissings' and the legendary Reading set is now over leaving me to reminisce.

What needs to be noted here at this point is how I had heard of Nirvana "smashing up" their instruments at the end of a set. This is showcased on the DVD and may I say it is nowhere near as amazing as I had imagined it would be. What I had imagined would be a spontaneous guitar headstock through cabinet speaker or dive into drumkit. What actually happened was a feeble knock over of cab followed by 3 minute stack up of drums to knock them down by a cymbal. Probably the worst moment is where Kurt "plays" some sort of version of the American National Anthem. Hendrix this is not.

The point here is that overall this concert sounds and looks a bit dated. I mean I recently watched the MTV music video awards and Muse's performance on that as a live entity made this look like a shit band down their local village hall. In the years passing since Nirvana split, the bar has been risen. Technical skill and ability has increased and a live show of this showmanship just would never make it in the modern world. But then again no band today is as big as these guys were, so go figure. If they existed then maybe said bands would also be as fucked up on Cocaine as Kurt Cobain blatantly was - moving his jaw back and forth between lyrics and disappearing of stage for quite a while in between their set and encore. What was supposed to be an amazing set was, to me, mediocre and what was supposed to be an adrenaline filled instrument smash up at the end of the show was actually like watching some geriatrics slowly but surely breaking their gear. Sure they got there in the end but there was no balls and there was no mad smash up frenzy.

Had I been there when it happened then this whole review might have been different but unlike every other critic out there I, one of the world's biggest Nirvana fans must state for the record that although amazing in originality they were still young, they were still inexperienced and still not serious enough about their instruments to make this a truly legendary and historic show. Had I actually been able to see them live in person I might have a totally different opinion and perspective but as I never got that pleasure and as my first "official" introduction to the live world of Nirvana I am left slightly disappointed wanting to listen to their albums again just to hear why I loved these guys so much.

This DVD/CD combo is great for a fan trying to boost his geeky Nirvana collection but as an introduction to the band it is probably not the way forward. If this sounds like you start at "Bleach" and work your way up because from what I have heard and seen on this release, Nirvana were better on record anyway.