Nirvana's MTV Unplugged appearance is great and rightfully beloved and all that, but it also plays into the tragic narrative that haunts the band, with moments of beauty and humor but also an overwhelming sense of impending finality. By contrast, the trio's other major, myth-fueling performance — their 1992 headlining turn at England's Reading Festival — sounds full of life. There's Kurt Cobain's infamous entrance, rolled onstage in a wheelchair wearing a hospital gown, a playful eff-you to answer the gossip swirling around the group and his health at the time. There's the knowing self-mockery of bleeding a riff on Boston's "More Than a Feeling" into "Smells Like Teen Spirit." There's Kurt dedicating "All Apologies" to his then-12-day-old daughter and asking the entire audience to say, "Courtney, we love you!" And there's the sheer amazement that comes from seeing a truly great band deliver a powerhouse set — three guys coating a field of thousands with a blend of melody, distortion, sarcasm, and heart.
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