LiveNIRVANA.com > Sessions History > Television Appearances & Related Rehearsals > September 9, 1992 - Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, US
LIVE NIRVANA SESSIONS HISTORY:
September 9, 1992 - Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, US
Artist
- NIRVANA
- Cobain, Kurt (vocals, guitar)
- Grohl, Dave (drums)
- Novoselic, Krist (bass)
Crew
- Carvey, Dana (host)
- Gallen, Joel (producer)
- Gowers, Bruce (director)
Soundcheck
- [X] Lithium
Set
- [U] Rape Me (intro only)
- [U] Lithium
Transmission
- 09/09/92, MTV, 1992 MTV Video Music Awards
Best available sources
| Source | Quality | Complete | Runtime | Lowest Gen | Tracks Featured | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRO #1 | 9.5 | Yes | 0:16:23; 0:05:09 |
TV>SVHS(1)>DVDR; TV>SVHS(1)>FLAC |
• Rape Me (intro) • Lithium |
MTV broadcast. |
| PRO #2 | 9.0 | Yes | 0:06:04 | TV>VHS(2)>DVDR | • Rape Me (intro) • Lithium |
Channel4 broadcast, features different camera angles than PRO #1 |
Notes
Following a stand-off with Cobain at rehearsals the previous day, MTV's executives were visibly surprised when NIRVANA showed up at the Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion for soundcheck. The band did a run through of Lithium, to which the network's staff clapped, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. (1) We didn't want to fuck everything up for everyone so we decided to play Lithium,
Cobain told NIRVANA biographer, Michael Azerrad. Instead of bowing out and keeping our dignity, we decided to get fucked in the ass.
(2)
Soundcheck over, the band moved to the backstage catering area, where a fracas between Cobain, Courtney Love and Guns N' Roses frontman, Axl Rose, quickly ensued.
In the days leading up to the Video Music Awards, Rose had launched into bitter and public tirade against both Cobain and Love. Performing at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL, Rose had told fans, [Kurt Cobain] is a fucking junkie with a junkie wife. If the baby's born deformed, I think they both ought to go to prison; that's my feeling. He's too good and too cool to bring his rock 'n' roll to you, because the majority of you he doesn't like, or want to play to, or even have you like his music… I don't know. You can tell me that you really like to be alienated but I think, underneath it all, you're probably nothing but a double-talking jive motherfucker.
(3)
Bumping into Rose backstage at the VMAs, Love could barely contain herself: Hey Axl, will you be the godfather of our child?
she gibed. Riled by the obvious taunt, Rose pointed at Cobain and screeched, You shut your bitch up or I'm taking you down to the pavement!
A crowd of onlookers guffawed as Cobain turned to Love, deadpan, and parroted, Shut up, bitch!
(2)
Rose's girlfriend, Stephanie Seymour, then attempted to save face with a bitchy put down of her own: Are you a model?
she asked Love, thick with sarcasm. No, are you a brain surgeon?
came Love's immediate riposte. Rose and Seymour shuffled away. (2)
When time came for NIRVANA to take to the stage for the live telecast, Cobain defied MTV's executives by opening with the first few bars of Rape Me, Just to give them a little heart palpitation.
(2) Startled MTV VP, Judy McGrath, made a dash for the production trailer but, just as they were about to cut to a commercial, the offending tune segued into Lithium. (2)
As the song ended, Novoselic hurled his bass high into the air, attempting a sensational bass toss
. The trick went awry, the instrument came down on his forehead, and he staggered offstage with a concussion. Krist near knocked himself out and we couldn't find him afterwards,
recalled NIRVANA guitar tech, Earnie Bailey. We were worried he'd done himself harm. So I went looking for him out at our trailer—I figured he was probably there duct taping his head back together—when Kurt came in, laughing his ass off. He told me he'd spit across the keys of Axl's piano as he left the stage. So we're laughing about that, watching the ceremony on TV, when these two pianos come up and Kurt goes
(4) Bailey remembered, Oh fuck, I spit on Elton's piano by accident!
I'm not sure which was funnier, Kurt's horror at what he had done, or the sight of Elton John hammering away on that piano.
(5)
NIRVANA opted not to go onstage to collect the award for Best Alternative Music Video, sending a Michael Jackson impersonator in their place. All three bandmembers did, however, collect the award for Best New Artist, with Cobain using his acceptance speech as an opportunity to rebut the Vanity Fair piece that had been published earlier that month, You know, it's really hard to believe everything you read.
References
- Cross, Charles R., 2001. Heavier Than Heaven. Hodder & Stoughton, London. ↑
- Azerrad, Michael, 1993. Come As You Are: The Story Of Nirvana. Doubleday. ↑
- Bozillo, Carrie, 2000. Eyewitness Nirvana: The Day-By-Day Chronicle. Carlton Books. ↑
- True Everett, 2006. Nirvana: The True Story. Omnibus Press. ↑
- Holmen, Rasmus, 2002. Nirvanaclub.com Interview with Earnie Bailey, [online] Available at: http://www.nirvanaclub.com/articles/nfcinterviews/eg_bailey.htm. ↑