Nirvana: Live at the Paramount

This recording documents the concert Nirvana played at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle on 31 October 1991. Nevermind had come out a few weeks earlier and the band did not yet know what was about to happen; within months they would be the most talked-about group in the world. It is the only known Nirvana show shot on sixteen millimetre film, which makes its image quality markedly different from other recordings. The energy on stage is raw and untidy, and that roughness between sound and performance is something the later arena shows do not have. It was released to coincide with the album's twentieth anniversary. It is regarded as the best document of Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl as they were at that moment. Who it's for: Nirvana listeners and anyone curious about the early nineties music scene. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a documentary or a narrative; this is purely a concert recording.