Review of Nirvana: Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! (1994) by Luke S — 21 Oct 2009

This is easily my favourite Nirvana video. It was originally conceptualized by Kurt Cobain but had to be finished by Krist and Dave because of Kurt's death. The video shows a lot of Nirvana's live performances as well as some interviews and behind the scenes footage. The behind the scenes footage and interviews all help to show people the spirit of this band. The big giant rock band that didn't want to be a big giant rock band and fought back against the mainstream music industry at any opportunity they could get. It also helps to show that Kurt Cobain wasn't always the miserable, depressed artist people generally think of him as. From a lot the books I read (and I've pretty much read them all) he was actually quite happy a lot of the time, but definitely had his demons. This video is nice because it shows a happier, more playful side of Kurt Cobain. And of course the performances speak for themselves. They didn't have a reputation as one of the best live bands in history for no reason. This band is partly responsible for one of the biggest musical revolutions of the modern era and I count myself very fortunate to have lived through it. The band may be no more but fortunately the music and video will last forever.

One other thing I like about this video is the bonus materials. I just got this on dvd last Christmas as I finally wore out my VHS copy with all the repeated viewings. There are 5 extra songs included that were performed in Amsterdam. The Amsterdam show in question is actually the show they used for a lot of the songs on their live CD, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah. After listening to said live performances for so many years it was finally nice to see the video that goes along with it.