Nirvana at Maxwell's (07-13-1989)

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On July 13, 1989, Nirvana made their first ever appearance at Maxwell's!  At this point in time, Dave Ghrol had yet to join Nirvana and the group was performing as a four piece with Jason Everman on guitar.  At this gig, Kurt Cobain asked Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis to join Nirvana.  In an interview with Spin magazine, Mascais recalled the show:

“Nirvana was playing Maxwell’s and after the show I was talking to Kurt and [Sonic Youth’s] Thurston Moore. Kurt said, ‘you should join my band.’ I think he was sick of the guy Jason [Everman] who was in the band at the time, and thought I should play guitar. I didn’t think much about it. Later, there was also talk of playing drums on a single [1990’s ‘Sliver’] they were doing, but it ended up being [Mudhoney drummer] Dan Peters.”
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The group played a ferocious set of songs from their debut LP Bleach, which was released in June of 1989. They'd also play "Polly," which would appear on their 1991 classic, "Nevermind."

Set list:

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  1. School
  2. Floyd the Barber
  3. Love Buzz (Shocking Blue cover)
  4. About a Girl
  5. Scoff
  6. Spank Thru
  7. Big Cheese
  8. Polly
  9. Paper Cuts
  10. Negative Creep
  11. Blew