LYNN TRUELL: In Tijuana, Dave was not feeling well and wanted to nap in their van, so he asked me to do sound check for Nirvana that day. Pretty cool for me. I think we played “Love Buzz,” and another one or two songs... One of the nuttiest things I have ever seen was in the Tijuana club: It was three levels, and people were jumping into the pit from the second — even third — level. It was horrible, scary, and amazing; surely people were hurt! But the energy of the band and crowd was uncontrollable.

GARY FLOYD: Mexico, that was a completely, 100-percent nuts, out-of-control thing to witness — packed with kids who walked over from San Diego, drunk as hell, no real number on how many or crowd control. Lynn Perko [Truell] and I were standing behind the curtain right behind their drummer in this walkway... Outside were hundreds of kids beating in a huge folding door. We looked out at the crowd with tons of people jumping off the third-floor balcony and the band super-loud and right behind us, the beating on the folding metal door — we were just hugging each other and laughing. I was yelling, “We’re here! We are here in this time seeing this!” It was one of the big spiritual moments in my very spiritual life!

ERIC ERLANDSON, HOLE: There was this “golden calf” air about them at the time. But they seemed to be having such fun, and enjoying the attention while still trying to fuck with the system the best they could.

It was also the beginning of Courtney and Kurt’s relationship. So that new love, push and pull of romance, was also happening concurrently. I remember running out onstage during Nirvana’s encore at the Palace show and jumping on Kurt and pulling him down. Dave and Krist both jumped on top of us and it became a sweaty dog pile. Just fun fucking around!

Given the strong bond between L7 and Nirvana, plus the latter’s genuine interest, it made sense that they paused to be the only all-male group at a Rock for Choice Benefit on the way home.

LYNN TRUELL: It was absolutely intentional that women were represented at this show. L7 had a lot to do with Rock for Choice — they were its major organizers. We all felt strongly about a woman’s right to choose, at that time and now. It was pretty obvious what was being highlighted — a woman’s rights to choose and to rock! And we did and still do.

JILL EMERY, HOLE: Sad to say I have to even think it’s an issue this far in the future, if the Republicans had their way, they would close down every clinic. It shocks me there are Republican women in office who are fine with them being involved in women’s reproductive rights... Honestly, at that time, it felt like a swooping-in whirlwind: All you could do is play, hold on, and watch your back... Kurt seemed OK, but basically Courtney sprayed the scene. As the drug thing escalated, no one was emotionally available. Dave and Krist were super nice dudes, I would say Krist was a sweetheart and completely down to earth; I remember Dave just enthusiastically daydreaming about his own band, guess it wasn’t too much of a daydream... It got to the point where both bands were forced (mentally) into onstage antics, Courtney being stripperish and Nirvana feeling like they had to break their instruments, it even happened with Mazzy Star just seeing how little light they could use onstage, it just happens.

Although they played the Paramount Theater in Seattle on Thursday, October 31, Nirvana were onstage in Bristol, U.K., the following Monday. At least they weren’t alone in feeling rushed.

PAUL THOMSON, MIDWAY STILL: At midday nothing was happening, I was sitting at home in south London; five hours later we were sound-checking in Bristol using Nirvana’s backline! I think the call came from Lawrence Bell, who said that Captain America’s van had broken down and did we fancy opening for Nirvana? Duh... yes! That was it, all in the van and on the road within an hour. Played a great gig to an amazing crowd and then got to see one of our favorite bands rip the place up from the side of the stage. Result! But it was just luck that we were Captain America’s label mates that we got the call... By the time they were due to play here (our gig with them was the very first of the Nevermind tour), it was clear that this was an extremely popular record, but I don’t think anyone thought it would be so massive. I remember first hearing it at our press agents’ and people being genuinely blown away. The audience at the Bristol show confirmed what we thought.

It was a packed and very excited crowd. There was a lot of Novoselic jumping about and Dave doing his head down drumming. The whole thing looked and sounded great... I don’t imagine they would think twice about what they were doing onstage, just not that kind of band.

They just did what came naturally. I don’t think they even smashed up their gear that night! The U.K. tour, like the U.S. shows over the previous two months, had been booked without any expectation that Nirvana was anything worth worrying about.

The Bierkeller wasn’t particularly pleasant: in a dodgy part of town, dark, smelly, maybe 500 capacity? But for us, that was a step up. Venues in the U.K. for bands like us were generally small, hot, dark, and smelly. If you got a dressing room, that was a major bonus. But it suited the music and the audiences at the time. The place was rammed full by the time we started and everyone was buzzing that they were going to see Nirvana. I think there were people all around the stage with little or no security. I don’t know what other venues they played, but the Bierkeller was exactly that, a mid-level indie venue. In London they played Kilburn National, which was maybe 1,000 people?

GORDON KEEN, CAPTAIN AMERICA: Witnessing, firsthand, venues being packed night after night, the amount of people locked out and trying desperately to get in to see Nirvana, the palpable feeling of expectation and excitement from the audience inside the venues — more so than any other gigs I’d witnessed as a musician or as a fan — all led me, and the other guys in Captain America, to realize that this was special.

ANDY BOLLEN, CAPTAIN AMERICA: They played decent-sized venues in London at the Astoria and Kilburn National, but in Edinburgh, for example, they were playing in a really small club. I also remember the Glasgow QM show; we must’ve snuck in hundreds of people it was so jam-packed. One show at Nottingham Rock City there were literally people weeping in the streets outside the venue, hundreds of people who couldn’t get in. You could’ve played two nights at venues twice the size and still not met the demand.

NAOKO YAMANO, SHONEN KNIFE: When we toured with them in 1991, the capacities of their venues were between 1,500 to 2,500, but all shows were sold out and the audience was very enthusiastic for the band. They were just breaking. The members of Nirvana, especially Kurt, were very busy for promotion booked by the record label…We hired a van with a Scottish band, Captain America… We basically toured in our own van, but a few times, we had a ride in Nirvana’s tour bus from hotels to venues. They were very kind to us.

DAN TREACY, TELEVISION PERSONALITIES: The gig at the Astoria was a very last-minute thing for us. We got a phone call out of the blue from Kurt’s manager. Apparently Kurt had asked for us. We were supposed to be on first, but ended up going on before Nirvana. I got the impression the other support bands were a bit pissed off about that. Nirvana were lovely guys… They played very loud! We played quite well… Kurt watched us from the side of the stage. We got some of their fans on our side… Had a brief chat with Kurt at some point…

I couldn’t understand him very well, but it turned out we had a mutual love of the Terry Jacks’s song “Seasons in the Sun”… Kurt asked, and I think he was testing me, what the B-side was: “Put the Bone In.” We connected… I had no inkling at all he had issues, but Kurt in particular seemed a little uncomfortable with the sudden success.

But I couldn’t say what that was down to. He was very introvert[ed], shy… He and the rest of the band were a little unsure, but also enjoying it. Their time on the road was starting to show, with the band beginning to tire. In one petulant moment Cobain would turn a performance of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” into sarcastic comedy when irked by the demands of a TV show’s directors.

ANDY BOLLEN: The demands placed on them had increased. They were very busy doing promo work for TV, radio sessions, interviews all the time. I recall a general conversation and the band were on basic wages, on a tight budget and still hadn’t received any royalties. At the time, the figure may have been $250 a week, a grand a month or something. I was impressed but looking back, it’s not life-changing.

The effect of fame at that level for Nirvana just meant more and more time on the road, more shows; they grew tired but kept the momentum going.

GORDON KEEN: It was wonderful to share the time we did with a band who were genuinely blown away by the reception they were receiving and before the media madness surrounding them got to the level it did. I remember us driving round and round outside a hotel in England in our tour van with Dave Grohl clinging onto the bonnet shouting for us to drive faster. It was hysterically funny... We also sat with Kurt, Krist, and Dave watching their Top of the Pops recording when they intentionally hammed it up. At the time that was a big thing. They were worried they had gone too far, and we were reassuring them that it was just the right thing to have done.

PAUL THOMSON: We hardly saw them, really. We had to walk through their dressing room to leave, and I remember Kurt was prostrate on a sofa like he was asleep. The others seemed happy enough. I don’t think they were aware of what madness was coming, they were just playing their gigs and pleased they were busy. We went to a very crowded after-show party in London after they had played Kilburn a week or so later and Dave Grohl made a point of coming over to us to tell us he thought we’d been great in Bristol, which was nice. And Dec [Kelly] ended up going out to a club with Kurt. Kurt fell asleep with his head on Dec’s shoulder... They seemed fairly nice, normal guys at that point. A bit sleepy, though…