Looking back at Nirvana’s ‘ferocious’ Edinburgh gigs
They may have been few, but Nirvana's performances in Edinburgh continue to hold a special place in the memories of fans lucky enough to have witnessed them.
Comprising Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and the then newly-recruited Dave Grohl, the American grunge trio first arrived in the Capital way back in October 1990, when they played the legendary Calton Studios with L7, Shonen Knife and the Vaselines.
The group would then return in November the following year to play a ferocious show at the same venue.
It was during this show the band - not long having appeared on Channel 4's The Word - would perform then-unreleased tracks from their next album, the era-defining Nevermind, including Lithium, In Bloom and Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Then, days later, on December 1, two-thirds of the group (Kurt and Dave) turned up at The Southern Bar in Newington to play a now fabled acoustic set to raise money for the Sick Kids hospital.
Bootleg audio of the Edinburgh shows are out there on the internet for those who wish to hear them for themselves.
Recalling the Southern Bar gig, music lover Alan Edwards told the Evening News in 2018: “It was just epic. When Kurt screamed out the lyrics to his songs, I’ve never heard anyone with a scream like that. He could’ve stripped paint off the walls.”
Responding to an audio clip of the Southern Bar gig on YouTube, @craigbrown9987 commented: "I went to their stonking electric gig the night before, where the rumour was going around that Nirvana were going to play an acoustic gig at the Gilded Balloon the next night.
"We were all pretty sceptical about this - there was no reason to believe they'd hang around in Edinburgh for longer than necessary, no matter how much Kurt was said to like the city - and decided not to risk precious beer money on a no-show.
"You can imagine how stupid we felt when we heard a few days later that they'd turned up and played a blinder, so it's nice to finally get to hear a bit of it after all these years."
In the early days of their career, Nirvana toured relentlessly, making regular forays across the pond to play intimate venues in cities and towns up and down the UK.
The intimate Edinburgh concerts represent a crucial chapter in this journey, marking a period of growth and evolution for the band as they honed their sound and solidified their place in music history.