No Apologies: Nirvana, 'Live at Reading' DVD/CD

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SINCE KURT COBAIN'S suicide in 1994, widow Courtney Love has done pretty much everything in her power to sell out his memory — if you've seen the Converses with his handwriting on them or played as him in the latest "Guitar Hero," you know what we mean. For real fans, though, the "Live at Reading" DVD set featuring Nirvana's legendary 1992 performance will be more satisfying than sneakers, video games or anything else Love could get her money-grubbing hands on.

Nirvana's second performance at the Reading Festival was a much-talked about — and plenty bootlegged — affair, coming a few months after Cobain's marriage to Love in Hawaii and the birth of their daughter, Frances Bean. As the concert's headliners, Cobain and Co. ripped through most of the material from their debut, "Bleach," the ridiculously successful breakout album "Nevermind" and the then-unreleased "In Utero," and the performance was later ranked No. 1 on Kerrang Magazine's "100 Gigs That Shook the World" list and voted as the band's greatest moment in a poll by NME.

So, then, it's obvious that "Live at Reading" will be a much-needed addition to your collection if you're still living the grunge dream.

The DVD's quality is fantastic, even if all the work that went into it — such as color-corrected video from original film of the show, layered audio from the original masters of the performance and super-fast editing and transitions — strip away the gritty feel a bootleg would have had. Thankfully, the extra quality control doesn't give the product too much of a polished feel (you're still going to hear the distortion from Krist Novoselic's bass, for example), but it's definitely of a higher caliber than something you would have jacked from your best friend's boyfriend's cousin's half-sister who happened to sneak into the show while studying in England more than a decade ago.

Just don't expect to get reams of information about Cobain as a person or Nirvana's dynamic as a band from watching the gig. That kind of emotional exposure doesn't exist on this release — it's just a quick-hit documentation of the show, and nothing more.

The 25-track DVD starts with no preamble: It opens with Cobain being brought out in a wheelchair, with a hospital gown (which he keeps on throughout the concert) and a long blond wig (that gets lost a few tracks in), as Novoselic talks about how he's not sure if the band can go on with the show. Pretty soon, though, the joke wears thin — and the group launches right into "Bleach," one of the album's most dynamic, fast-paced tracks.

And they continue slashing through songs — "Drain You," "Aneurysm," "School," "Sliver" and "In Bloom" — as the crowd hangs on every word, even though Cobain, Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl aren't saying anything to the crowd. Unlike gab-happy bands like Green Day and Blink-182, Nirvana wasn't much for stage chatter, so watching the first third of this concert is essentially the same as listening to one of their albums. In fact, you could pop in the accompanying CD of the concert and not really miss much.

It's only when Nirvana starts getting into their singles that a little bit of audience interaction begins, and when the fans respond in turn. A humongous sing-along goes down when the group gets into "Lithium," and that kind of appreciation seems to prompt Novoselic to take the plunge and get to talking. Granted, he tells a pretty poor joke about the Invisible Man going to his doctor for a visit and being rejected (punchline: "Tell him I can't see him right now," says the doctor), but it gets the ball rolling.

Soon, he and Cobain are introducing new song "Tourette's," encouraging bootleggers, praising some random guy named Tony (whom they've invited onstage to sloppily dance around) and flirting with a cover of Boston's "More Than a Feeling" before finally giving the audience what they want: "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Although the group sounds like they're rushing to get it done — or maybe that's just our hindsight bias, because in 1994 Cobain told Rolling Stone that "it's almost an embarrassment to play it" — the frenetic pace lends a gritty rawness to the show that wasn't there before. As a result, the song sounds far more ferocious than the recorded version, leaving the viewer with the aural equivalent of whiplash.

And a few tracks later, fans will get their (only) telling glimpse into Cobain as a man when he introduces "All Apologies," dedicating the song to his wife and recently born daughter and urging the audience to tell Love they, well, love her. "There's been some pretty extreme things written about us ... and my wife thinks everybody hates her now," Cobain says. "Let's give her a message — 'Courtney, we love you.'" As the crowd chants it back, Cobain cracks a smile (the only one of the show) but sounds especially pained during "All Apologies," injecting some furious melancholy into his spastic energy.

The rest of the concert steadily rolls on — despite dragging on a bit during the encore covers, such as "Love Buzz" by Shocking Blue (which isn't on the CD version), "The Money Will Roll Right In" by Fang and "D-7" by Wipers — but Nirvana ends on a bang with closer "Territorial Pissings."

As a concert DVD, "Live at Reading" effectively captures one of the best successes of the group's career. As a glimpse into Cobain's life, though, you're going to be left wondering and wanting more from the man who chose to burn out. Let's just hope you're not finding fulfillment through playing his avatar.

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photo by Charles Peterson