Shortly after completing the recording of their second album, Nevermind, in 1991, Nirvana pulled up to a last-minute concert. The gig ended up being one of rock music legend, and it happened on this day 35 years ago.According to grunge lore, on May 29, 1991, Nirvana played an impromptu show at the Jabberjaw coffeehouse in Los Angeles. They’d literally just finished the recording of Nevermind. the day before. The show was unplanned, as the band was playing to help Mikey Dees from Fitz of Depression, who was going to have his own show canceled by the venue.As for why the gig ended up being so legendary, it was the live debut of one of Nirvana’s biggest songs: “Come As You Are”, though at the time it had diffeerent lyrics.The impromptu gig was also the debut of Nirvana’s “On A Plain”Out in the crowd was L7 bassist Jennifer Finch, who was dating Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl at the time. She’d brought her friend, who was also a musician: Courtney Love, from Hole. (There has been specualtion that this might have been the first time Love and Nirvana’s Kurt Coabin ever met. That is, however, uncomfirmed, and there are differning stories of ther initial meeting.)Additonalyl, one of Kurt Cobain’s rock ‘n’ roll heroes was also in the crwod: Iggy Pop. The story goes that Cobain was wearing a shirt of the Stooges, Pop’s iconic proto-punk band. After the show was over, Cobain was alerted that Pop had been in the audience. He immeditaly felt embaressment that his idol watched him perform while he weas wearing Pop’s merch.The night was also a notabe one in Kurt Cibain lore, because he has some of his equipment was stolen. Following the performance, Cobain’s renonwen “K Strat” guitar was taken, along with some other gear.‘Nevermind’ went on to be one of the biggest rock albums of all timeWhile their last-minute post-recording concert was mixed bag of experiences, Nirvana’s album, Nevermind, has since gone on to be one of the most successful and acclaimed rock albums ever made.Facinatingly, jus ttwo years ago—in Decemeber 2024—it was still sitting on the Billboard 200 Chart, spending 700 weeks on the chart at the time.Released in September 1991, Nevermind first landed in the Billboard 200 top spot in January 1992. It knocked Michael Jackson’s Dangerous out of the number one spot. To date, Nevermind has sold over 30 million copies.The post On This Day in 1991, Nirvana Played a Last-Minute Gig Where They Debuted One of Their Biggest Songs to a Star-Studded Crowd appeared first on VICE.