



On September 23rd, 1991, Nirvana headlined a sold out show at the Boston nightclub Axis, with support from Smashing Pumpkins, and area acts Bullet LaVolta and Cliffs of Dooneen. The occasion was the birthday party for local alternative rock radio station, WFNX. At the time, Nirvana were on the rise. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was released to radio on August 27th, then to retail two weeks after that, and MTV was airing the “Teen Spirit” video here and there, though it wasn’t ubiquitous on the channel—yet. It was the eve of the U.S. release of Nevermind, which would come out September 24th.

Excitement about Nirvana was growing at a fast pace. The night of the gig, a line formed outside of Axis as far as the eye could see. Once everyone lucky enough to have a ticket was inside, the club was so packed the fire marshal nearly shut it down. But the show did go on.







While a few minutes of video from Nirvana’s September 23rd gig at Axis has been online for a while, previously uncirculated footage from the show has recently been uploaded to YouTube. This new video is of the first four songs from their set, “Aneurysm,” “Drain You,” “School,” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” plus the closer, “Negative Creep.” Only “School” is complete, with the footage synched up with an audience recording of the show; for the remaining initial numbers, still images from the gig were added where there isn’t any video. The conclusion of “Negative Creep” was essentially tacked on at the end. In all, there’s fourteen minutes of footage in the clip, which is just shy of seventeen minutes total.

Though it’s incomplete (it’s possible it’s all that was taped that night), and the camera work is messy at times, the picture quality is incredible, appearing to be sourced from a low generation tape. The footage we do get to see is blistering, captured as Nirvana were on their way to becoming a cultural phenomenon. Enjoy.





H/T: LiveNIRVANA.com

Previously on Dangerous Minds:

Audio surfaces from a Nirvana acoustic gig that took place in a bar during the ‘Nevermind’ tour

Nirvana playing ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ live for the very last time

Watch Nirvana sabotage Buenos Aires stadium show, opening with (still) unreleased song, 1992

