Nirvana: Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! is a live video by the American rock band Nirvana, directed by Kevin Kerslake, and released on November 15, 1994, on VHS and laserdisc. It was re-released on DVD on November 7, 2006.
Conceived by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain, the film was intended to document Nirvana's unexpected rise to fame following the release of their second album, Nevermind, in September 1991.[1] After Cobain's death in April 1994, it was salvaged for release by surviving Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, who completed it with editor Steve MacCorkle.
Kerslake, who had been in communication with Cobain during the film's development, revealed that Cobain's concept for the video was "much more evolved" than the version that was released, featuring "more of an interior sense of what it was like to be in the band," but "obviously, we never got to the point where that part was shot."[2]
The video includes live performances, as well as interview clips, news footage and the band's home movies.[1] The live material is drawn largely from the band's 1991 Nevermind tour, with their shows at the Paramount TheatreinSeattle, Washington, on October 31, 1991, and ParadisoinAmsterdam, Netherlands, on November 25, 1991, featured most prominently. This tour is also represented by appearances on the British music show Top of the Pops on November 27, 1991, and the British talk show Tonight with Jonathan Ross on December 6, 1991.
It also includes footage from the band's Pacific Rim tour in early 1992. One song, "On a Plain", is from their headlining appearance at the Roskilde FestivalinRoskilde, Denmark on June 26, 1992, which had an attendance of 64,500 people in the audience.[3] One song, "Lithium", as well as other footage, is from the band's headline performance at the Reading FestivalinReading, England on August 30, 1992, which, according to Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, had an attendance of 50,000 people and that hearing the audience chant the lyrics to "Lithium" was one of their biggest moments.[4] Two songs are from Nirvana's headline appearance at the Hollywood Rock festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on January 23, 1993, which had an attendance of over 100,000 people in the audience.[5]
Three of the songs "Aneurysm," "Love Buzz" and "Territorial Pissings" are edits of two different versions each, with the Paradiso, Amsterdam version being used as one of the two versions for all three songs. The first part of "Love Buzz" is taken from a concert at TreesinDallas, Texas, in which frontman Kurt Cobain got into a fight with a bouncer.[6][7]
The "Aneurysm" edit, which features the Paradiso and Hollywood Rock versions of the song, was used as a music video for promotion of Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! in 1994, but also for promotion of the band's 1996 live compilation, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah.[8] Although it was actually a different version of the song that appeared on the From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah album that was recorded at Del Mar FairgroundsinDel Mar, California, on December 28, 1991.
Recording locations of Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!Show map of Earth
Paradiso, Amsterdam
Hollywood Rock Festival
Paramount Theatre
Trees Dallas, Texas
Top of the Pops
Pinks Garage, Honolulu, Hawaii
Kokusai Koryu, Osaka, Japan
Reading Festival
Roskilde Festival
Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! (the United States)
Show map of the United States
Paradiso, Amsterdam
Hollywood Rock Festival
Paramount Theatre
Trees Dallas, Texas
Top of the Pops
Pinks Garage, Honolulu, Hawaii
Kokusai Koryu, Osaka, Japan
Reading Festival
Roskilde Festival
Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! (Northern and Central Europe)
Show map of Northern and Central Europe
In 2002, an unsent letter to "Kevin & co" was published in Cobain's Journals, which contained numerous requests for changes to the film, none of which appear in the final version. Among Cobain's instructions were the inclusion of the song "Sifting," from the band's show at Rhino RecordsinLos Angeles on June 23, 1989, and "Molly's Lips," from their appearance at the 1991 Reading Festival on August 23, 1991.[9]
Allmusic's Greg Prato wrote that the film showed "how great the trio could be on stage," and offered "great insight into the group, just as they were hitting it big."[10] Charles Aaron of Spin wrote that it captured "the dizzying silliness of the times, as well as Nirvana's fractious magnetism."[11] According to Noah Davis of PopMatters, the film showed that despite the band's "position as world beaters," they were rarely serious, and "never played along" to the traditional rules of fame.[12] Dan Martin of the NME wrote that it showed "Nirvana as they should have been experienced: a raw, visceral, devastatingly sexy way of life."[13]
The original 1994 release of Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! peaked at number 6 on the BillboardTop Video Sales chart,[14] and at number 1 on the BillboardTop Music Videos chart.[15] In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number 2 on the UK Top Music Videos chart.[16][17]
"Aneurysm" (In two parts: 1991.11.25 - Paradiso, Amsterdam, Holland, and 1993.01.23 - Hollywood Rock, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Incorrectly labeled 1993.01.16 São Paulo, Brazil on inlay)
Numerous other fragments appear throughout the video, including pieces of the band's 1992 performance on Saturday Night Live. An audio clip of the outro of a live performance of the song "Rape Me" that was recorded at the Seattle Center Coliseum on September 11, 1992, plays over a collage of other footage.[18]
The DVD features the same track listing as the VHS release, as well as footage from Nirvana's performance at the Paradiso Club in Amsterdam on November 25, 1991, featuring the songs:
