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Here’s a rare video clip from when Nirvana, then a relatively unknown band, played at Maxwell's in Hoboken NJ. Maxwell's is a cozy club/pub co-owned by Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. (Note: MethodShop is based in Hoboken).

At the time this video was recorded in 1989, Nirvana consisted of Jason Everman (guitar), Chad Channing (drums), Krist Novoselic (bass) and of course Kurt Cobain. Sorry ladies, Dave Grohl didn't join the band until 1990. Yes he was in Nirvana before the Foo Fighters. I'm always amazed how many people don't know that.

The video looks like it was digitized from an old VHS tape someone found in the bottom of a damp box in their basement. So don't expect much in the way quality.

The full clip is about 10 minutes long and begins with the camera man taping their journey from Manhattan to Hoboken on the Path train. Check out the people on the train. Gotta love those giant greasy late 80's hair styles. Even Kurt Cobain had giant hair at the time. You might recognize some of Nirvana's future hit songs like "About A Girl" towards the end of the clip.



The camera is really close to the stage a gets some good shots of Kurt and the rest of the band. Like I mentioned above, Maxwell's is "cozy" meaning small. To get a better feel of how big Maxwell's is, watch Bruce Springsteen's 1985 video for "Glory Days." The bar scenes were shot at Maxwell's.

Personally I'm not a huge Nirvana fan. I'll take Alice In Chains or Mudhoney any day over Nirvana. But you have to respect them. Since Nirvana's debut, the band has sold over 50 million albums worldwide. Hey, someone has to pay for all of Courtney Love's plastic surgery.


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Labels: music, video