Nirvana at Maxwell's (07-13-1989)
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.”
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:
- School
- Floyd the Barber
- Love Buzz (Shocking Blue cover)
- About a Girl
- Scoff
- Spank Thru
- Big Cheese
- Polly
- Paper Cuts
- Negative Creep
- Blew