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hirty years ago this month, on October 16, 1991, Nirvana played its first and only t Louis gig at the beloved and now-bygone venue t ights ississi i cool and was a clear Wednesday autumn when the trio of Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl pulled into the late, famous Landing nightclub he band as in the middle of a massive metamorphosis from underground unkers to generation-defining, international superstars; its
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landmark album Nevermind had been released 22 days earlier on e tember , , by major label C ecords nd the accomanying music video for its first single, mells ike een irit, had remiered as a Buzz Bin cli on ’s late-night alternative video show 120 Minutes on e tember he grou ’s une ected ascension to a garish grunge commodity was as close to a viral sensation as anything got in the time before dial-up internet, largely due to een irit almost immediately leaving the Buzz Bin and landing in continuous rotation on n the fe eeks bet een the album’s release and the tour
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sto in t ouis, the relatively small 1,000-capacity venue was completely oversold (tickets cost just $8 to $10!), and anticipation as at a fever itch for eattle’s greatest annel-clad e orts to play their debut gig in the river city What happened that night has gone do n in t ouis history as one of those legendary gigs, a show that now everyone claims to have attended but only a lucky fe actually itnessed rom the start, the crowd erupted into a cacophony of blood, sweat and passion as slam-dancers and crowd-surfers ransacked the pit, sto ing the gig more than five times before Cobain got frustrated or inspired (perhaps both)
and invited the whole audience onto the stage mid-sho Naturally, the crowd enthusiastically complied, with chaotic results ear as stolen he fire marshal as called rohl booked it backstage and giddily watched as anarchy engulfed his fellow bandmates, who were pinned to the walls with their instruments, and a near-riot broke out choolyard legend among ’ s stoners has it that Cobain wanted to cause a stir that would rival uns ’ oses’ infamous iverort iot fe months earlier, on uly , , l ose had stormed off stage after attacking
