On August 25, 1991–one month before Nevermind came out–Nirvana performed the opening 11 AM set at Belgium’s Pukkelpop festival. They replaced Limbomaniacs, who were supposed to open the festival, and played before Ride, An Emotional Fish, Dinosaur Jr., House of Love, Sonic Youth, The Pogues, and headliners the Ramones. (The fest came in the midst of Nirvana’s storied Europe tour supporting Sonic Youth, which was immortalized in the film 1991: The Year Punk Broke.) Their set was split between Bleach material, non-album singles “Sliver” and “Been A Son,” and some Nevermind material, including “Polly” (which had been in their repertoire since ’89) and two of the earliest performances of “Come As You Are” and “Drain You.” They ended with the explosive noise of Nevermind‘s hidden track “Endless, Nameless.” It wouldn’t be long before everything for Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl–and the world–would change, and the archival pictures in this post of the band at Pukkelpop ’91 capture the raucous trio just as they were about to explode.
Kurt is equipped with his iconic “Vandalism” Strat (emblazoned with the words “VANDALISM: BEAUTIFUL AS A ROCK IN A COP’S FACE”), and he and Krist can be found climbing all over each other, rolling around the stage, crashing into their amps, and even standing at their microphones.
Nirvana @ Pukkelpop 1991 Setlist (via)
Polly
School
Sliver
Drain You
Come as You Are
Floyd the Barber
Love Buzz
(Shocking Blue cover)
Been a Son
Negative Creep
Blew
Endless, Nameless