Never-before-seen Nirvana concert footage is now available as part of Bonhams Los Angeles’ Unplugged and Unforgettable: Music Auction, running through September 25.
The clip captures a feral February 17, 1990 performance by the Grunge icons at Iguanas in Tijuana, Mexico — a raw, unfiltered glimpse of Nirvana in their pre-Nevermind era, still touring behind their debut album Bleach.
Untouched for 35 years, the 45-minute master tape includes full US copyright via deed of assignment, making it a rare opportunity for collectors to own a piece of music history.
Estimated between $100,000 and $150,000, the video documents 13 blistering tracks including About a Girl, Negative Creep, and Blew. Late frontman Kurt Cobain, clad in signature flannel, dives into the crowd seven times and destroys two guitars in a frenzy of distortion and sweat.
The set captures the pure chaos of the brand on the cusp of reshaping rock.
Cobain’s interaction with the crowd is minimal but memorable. He opens with a quiet “gracias,” closes with a simple “goodnight,” and lets the music do the rest. At the start, he plays his Epiphone ET270 — later famously smashed in New York — before switching to a homemade pink Mustang, which meets a similar fate just ten minutes in. By minute 34, he’s wielding a 1970s Gibson SG, only to obliterate it live on stage ten minutes later.
The footage even shifts from colour to black and white during Stain, adding a surreal layer to the already gritty aesthetic. At one point, a fan climbs onstage, lost in the moment, only to be hurled back into the crowd by security.
Bootlegs have teased this show for years, but this is the first time the full master video and audio — with legal ownership — is up for grabs.
Check it via www.bonhams.com.