Grunge Thunder From Down Under

As this post goes up I will probably be finishing up my trip in China and getting ready to head off to Japan. That will be the closest I ever make it to Australia, so I thought I’d share a concert that was recorded down under to mark the occasion.

Why will I never go to Australia? Because I don’t want to be killed by any of the deadly spiders, snakes, insects, fish, jellyfish, dingoes, kangaroos  bats or koalas that seem to roam around that country with impunity.

That, and records cost a fucking fortune there.

Nirvana – Live In Melbourne, February 1st, 1992 (Complete concert link)
Aneurysm
Drain You
School
Sliver
About A Girl
Come As You Are
Lithium
Breed
Polly
Lounge Act
In Bloom
Love Buzz
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Druid’s Jam
Negative Creep
On A Plain
Blew
Been a while since I shared a Nirvana bootleg so I thought I’d ring in the New Year with one.

I do know there are other source recordings for this show, it shows up quite a bit on various bootleg sites in varying degrees of quality. It’s been released on CD at least four times, under the names “In A Land Far Far Away,” “The Druids Jam,” “Melbourne 1992” and “Narcolepsy.” My source for this recording was a 2LP set that came in a plain white sleeve and a sheet of paper with a “Live Wire” logo. Beneath that was the text “Show #57 for the week of October 13.” I can assume then that Live Wire was a radio show that featured live performances, and this was the performance for that week.

I think this version that I have sounds pretty damn good, and the records were very well taken care of so I barely had to do any cleaning to the recordings. About the only problems with the audio are from the source material. Parts of this set are pretty feedback-laden, and Kurt and company didn’t seem to be completely on fire that night, making a few mistakes early on before settling into a nice groove. There is also no talk from Kurt, Dave or Krist for the entirety of the concert. Nirvana was never a band that was chatty with the audience, but most shows I have include at least a little bit of wacky banter from Krist, this one has nothing at all.

As it stands though, this is a pretty good concert, warts and all. It also has an honest-to-goodness rarity, the instrumental “Druid’s Jam,” (a name that a fan probably created). It’s pretty much just four minutes of feedback and noise, but hey, it’s something.

Looking for more Nirvana bootlegs? Well check out this post that has a great Boston show from 1990, and this post for a legendary set from 1991 that was also in Boston.

4 Responses to “Grunge Thunder From Down Under”

  1. Hingehead says:

    You big softy – scared by several dozen species of deadly animals. Well we’re tough enough to survive your rejection 😛

    I remember that Nirvana tour – I was in Canberra when the show at the ANU bar sold out and the people outside pushed the windows in. Still wonder what it was that Kurdt and co tapped into but it worked at the time.

    Thanks for all your sharin’s over the years….

  2. Darren Stuart says:

    I wouldn’t wipe my arse on Australia.

  3. Deano says:

    You could add bird.
    Look up ‘Cassowary’ . Those fuckers will rip you open from head to toe with their claws if you as much as look at them the wrong way.

  4. Ben says:

    Damn right about Australia’s wildlife & creepy crawly’s – I’m fighting off a spider the size of my fist as a I write this!
    And Casuary’s have been known to take small children..
    And Darren, I know that’s Dazza from Dubbo you jokester you!
    And Hingehead, you are a god to me having seen them in Canberrra!!

    This is a pretty good show. The Aussie tour was the tail end of their world tour at the time so maybe this show reflects a tired crew.

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