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Yes, it's actually been 14 years since Unplugged in New York aired the first time, on the TV channel that once stood for Music. Fourteen years since you perched on the edge of the couch, possibly stoned, wearing intentionally crappy clothes, your bleary eyes glued to the set. Since Kurt Cobain had just a few months left of his short, tortured life.
Today, you can buy/rent/rip the DVD.
If you're like Seattlest, you haven't seen Nirvana's Unplugged set in its (aired) entirety since 1994. And watching it now will unlock some clunky adolescent memories--where you were, who you watched the show with. Where you were when you heard about Kurt's suicide that following April, maybe.
This melancholy acoustic performance plays right into that shadow of retrospect. Nirvana wasn't ever accused of writing joyous marching tunes, but these songs--the dozen aired and two that weren't, "Something in the Way" and "Oh, Me"--combine to form a kind of slow (but melodic) dirge. It's a great effing set. It just isn't a jubilant, energetic one.
Plus, there's the pall of smoke from Kurt and Dave's cigarettes. And the heavy red drapes, copious stargazer lilies and white candles. The appended (but not new) MTV doc Bare Witness reveals that Kurt requested the decor for its "funeral" vibe. Well.
Kurt doesn't look so hot, either. He's greasy-headed, heavy-lidded and appears exhausted throughout. Someone in Witness says he was terribly nervous, and he looks it through the first verse of "Something in the Way," working his chin as if gnawing on sandpaper. But Kurt and his guitar--and the band--sound great. His voice was not worse for wear, even if his stomach and mind were.
Something we'd completely forgotten: The Kirkwood brothers' (of Meat Puppets) appearance for "Oh, Me," "Plateau" and "Lake of Fire." (Cris and Curt are blatantly slighted in Witness; apparently both crew and crowd thought "special guests" meant other Seattle luminaries. They were disappointed.)
In all, the uncut Unplugged runs 66 minutes. It's in 5.1 Surround Sound, too, so it sounds fantastic. The disc, though, is sadly short on previously unseen or original material. There are five rehearsals that show the band being goofy and cold: Kurt asks before they start "Come as You Are," "Can we get on with this?" Dave's background vocals dominate "Polly." Krist screws with guitarist Pat Smear's mic.
If you want interviews with Dave and Krist or reflections on Kurt, you're out of luck. But you won't be disappointed with Nirvana: Unplugged in New York. The fabled slice of Seattle-band history is just as good--and sad--as (what little) you remember.
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