Nirvana live at the London Astoria Lame Fest, Sunday 3 December 1989: Gig ticket-inspired memories from my first ever grunge gig… plus my surprise discovery 36 years later that there exists a photograph with both Kurt Cobain and me in the same frame.
The ticket may not look like much. Mudhoney were and are a well loved and respected band for some, but very far from a household name, then or now (their Superfuzz Bigmuff record is still a seriously good listen, though). However, the words “Plus support” on the ticket could almost be accused of that journalistic sin: burying the lede. The support acts were (in reverse order of appearance) Tad and Nirvana. The above gig was somehow 36 years ago this past week. When I came across the ticket stub the other day, the memories flooded back. And yes, this ticket to see Nirvana and two other bands really did cost only £6!
In the run-up to this gig, of the three bands playing I was most excited to get to see Nirvana. I sought out tickets for me and some of my more grunge-loving schoolfriends (although the word “grunge” was not yet used to describe this music) as soon as I saw an ad in the Melody Maker live listings pages. I’d tracked down and loved their debut album Bleach a few months before, after hearing the lacerating song Negative Creep on John Peel’s BBC Radio One show at some point in the summer of 1989. After that one and only radio hearing, this song spoke to and stuck with me. I was coming out of my first metal phase, and Negative Creep had one foot in metal, one foot in the indie world I was now discovering.
Cut to the chilly Sunday night of the gig itself (Sunday 3 December 1989), the event now billed as something of a showcase for bands on the Seattle-based Sub Pop label, who dubbed the show “Lame Fest”. This was my second ever gig in London (first being the thrash metal band Anthrax at the Hammersmith Odeon in March 1989), and my first ever grunge gig. The show was sold out, the crowd enthusiastic. Prior to doors opening, an excitable atmosphere built in the queue down the side street next to the Astoria. At one point a very drunk (and clearly Nirvana-loving) Scottish punk flagged down a passing car and pounded on its bonnet shouting “FOCKUN NEVANNUH!”
Filing in to the gig, I had the amazing feeling of going from being one of (I presume) only a tiny handful of people from my small town who knew these bands (nearly all of whom who had accompanied me to this show), to being part of a crowd of thousands of folk who absolutely knew and absolutely loved this music.
No recess
Nirvana were the opening act, ambling onstage to greet what was at that early point in the evening still a decidedly less-than-full Astoria. Kurt Cobain (or possibly “Kurdt” as I think he preferred at that point) greeted what small crowd there was with the following words, referencing the Astoria’s location on the edge of Soho:
“Hello. We’re one of there official representatives of the Seattle Sub Pop scene from Washington State. Is that the red light district out there?”
Won’t you believe me? It’s just my luck. For 16 year old me, this Sunday gig was a school night. Kurt started the set with the Sabbath-esque riff of School. Nirvana were very enjoyable live, but – as heretical as it might seem – they were by no means the best band of that night. Mudhoney were easily the stars of Lame Fest. The crowd went significantly more wild for them than for either Nirvana or Tad. Indeed, I saw Nirvana two further times (again at the Astoria when they headlined in October 1990, and then at what would prove to be their final UK show, closing out the Reading Festival in August 1992). Based on each of those three shows, they were always very good live, but never outright great, never amazing. However, Nirvana’s December 1989 Lame Fest set did boast a spectacular ending. We were treated to a last-night-of-the-tour moment of complete equipment destruction. Drummer Chad Channing (this was the pre-Dave Grohl days) demolished his kit while a spontaneous guitar baseball game saw Kurt Cobain throw his guitar directly at Krist Novoselic, who swung his bass in the manner of a baseball bat, doing ungodly damage to both instruments and creating an ungodly, exhilarating noise in the process. A very good set to kick off the Lame Fest evening.
I am glad I was there and will always cherish the memory of that gig. But honestly, if you never saw Nirvana in concert, you did not miss a live band of world-changing brilliance.
Evidence of Kurt Cobain and MJCarty in the same place at the same time
I was able to quote Kurt Cobain’s opening words from this gig as – while writing this post in December 2025 – I found a recording of Nirvana’s entire set from that particular night, 36 years ago this week. The video is uploaded to the Elite Toaster channel on YouTube, and I have embedded it above. The audio recording of the gig is accompanied by a montage of photographs from the evening, although sadly there does not seem to be a credit for whom the photographer(s) might have been.
I was stunned to find that in the first photograph on this video, you can clearly see 16 year old me. I can be located in the audience (obvs), directly to the right of Krist Novoselic’s forearm. I had more in the way of hair then.
I also found a shot of a Lame Fest stagediver (presumably later in the evening, as the crowd looks a lot more tightly packed in this picture). This picture is on Pinterest, although the photographer would once again not seem to be credited.
I can also be seen in this picture, fortuitously just outside of the stagediver’s downward trajectory. To quote a 1991 song from one of Kurt’s favourite bands, REM – that’s me in the corner (bottom right) of the picture below.
There are hardly any photographs whatsoever of me at this age, so these pictures were quite an unbelievable thing to see. Thank you to whatever spirit of music guided me to be at that concert all those years ago, and further guided me to find that picture this week.
I look forward to wherever this spirit of music might lead me next. Ears and mind always open to the next thing.
May you be nothing but kind today, to others and to yourself.
May today be nothing but kind to you and yours.
IMAGES
- Image of Nirvana live at the London Astoria, Sunday 3 December 1989 (with MJCarty in the audience) taken by an uncredited photographer and used as one of the images in Elite Toaster’s YouTube upload of the audio of Nirvana’s set. Similar story with the stagediver pic, which I found via Pinterest. I have screengrabbed these images from the aforementioned sources. I make no claim to the copyright for these images, and will remove them from this post immediately if required.
- Mudhoney ticket photograph by MJCarty.
MJCarty 