Nirvana DVD Review - Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!

In 1994, not long after the suicide of Kurt Cobain, a VHS tape entitled Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! was released to the general public. Now, a whopping twelve years later, the home video project will be available on DVD format.

This video compilation is definitely not a tool to attract new audiences to the band. It is more of a note in a bottle cast off from a sinking ship. The DVD has little direction and lacks the glossy finish of their major label albums. From one perspective that is favorable, since the video plays like a brutally honest documentary of a band that swerved out of control. On the other hand, Live! would have profited from some sort of narration or timeline presentation.

The program alternates between band interviews and concert performances, and promises to be informative and surprising to most viewers. Lead man Kurt Cobain looks far too comfortable in front of the camera. Meanwhile, bassist Krist Novaselic is enthusiastic about sharing his opinions, but is too inarticulate to convey meaningful information. Seeing drummer Dave Grohl in a state similar to Novaselic, it’s hard to believe that he would go on to do the Foo Fighters so soon (and, for a short while, so well). But the band seems to get along well in interviews, taking turns to talk and complementing each other’s points.

There is a gripping segment explaining how the band dealt with the popularity of their 1991 album Nevermind, but more specifically the radio hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The band is shown playing the song on British music program “Top of the Pops” with Cobain singing an octave too low and barely playing his guitar at all. This section is followed by a barrage of media clips, including the band’s appearance on top 10 lists with Michael Bolton and Michael Jackson. The DVD is painful to watch – especially the closing moments which show the band destroying multiple stage sets – just as their music is often painful to listen to.

There is a lot of talk about the band’s influences. They were punk through their dedication to freedom of expression and rebellion against the music industry. They were pop because of the simplistic, infectious, and sometimes meaningless nature of their songs. They were heavy metal because they were loud and powerful. They were indie rock because of their wall-of-noise style, and passion and integrity. And there are specific bands that inspired them from each of those genres. Pop – the Knack; punk – the Clash; hard rock – Black Sabbath, David Bowie; indie rock – The Pixies, Meat Puppets, etc. Of course the world ditched all those descriptors for two: alternative and grunge.

There is also a lot of talk about “the next Nirvana,” a concept that comes to mind when bands like Arctic Monkeys are made into such a big deal. The band maintains that their music was about fun and freedom. It’s still a mystery how the band could have become such a worldwide powerhouse, but it definitely has something to do with the specific elements they incorporated into their music. Plus, their timing was impeccable. Generation X needed this reckless abandon and meaningless noise. When Cobain spit in and humped the stage camera, thousands of people cheered, smiled…and loved him.

The DVD presents some important questions. First, why did a band so intent on staying perpendicular to the music industry sign with a major label? Could it have been the money? By the way, Cobain topped Forbes.com’s 2006 list of Top-Eearning Dead Celebrities, while money-grubbing widow Courtney Love topped my list of worst human being ever. Second, what is the lasting impact of Nirvana over a decade after Cobain’s death? Does anyone, even former die-hard fans, listen to their albums anymore? Around the new millennium, the opening four chords of “Teen Spirit” could be heard sadly echoing down college dorm hallways and emanating from family basements. And now, the scruffy long-haired kids at their shows are in their twenties and thirties, with kids, careers, and car payments. There is no doubt that Nirvana was an important band. But their import may lie not so much in the public domain as inside of whichever fans can still relate to their craft.

Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! will be released to the public by Universal on November 7, 2006.

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Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! (DVD)