![]() Cobain's performance revealed an unexpected side of his genius to the world and hinted at even greater potential that was never realized. Appreciation for Cobain’s performance that night has only grown with the passing years. Both the guitar and its case were personally customized, by Cobain, prior to his MTV appearance. Cobain purchased this guitar and its vintage hardshell case at Voltage Guitars in Los Angeles. The "brush" chosen by Cobain was his 1959 Martin D-18E guitar, and it was the only guitar he used throughout the entire MTV Unplugged performance. Perhaps the most important decision Cobain made for his MTV Unplugged performance was the "brush" he chose to paint the self-portrait that would ultimately be recognized as his greatest work. ![]() ![]() The audience always seemed oddly out of place. But that is the kind of band that Nirvana was throughout their career. It was truly more like a peek into a personal jam session than a concert. In that sense, Cobain’s performance was a flawless masterclass in self-expression on every level. Rather, Cobain sought to be perfectly raw and authentic. All recorded in one take (a first for the Unplugged series), Cobain’s performance was not about technical perfection. No one can know what was going through Cobain's mind at the time he planned and meticulously crafted all of the elements that made his MTV Unplugged performance, but Rolling Stone's reflection seems on point: “Surrounded by lilies, the flowers of death, Kurt Cobain sat on a soundstage almost five months before his suicide and made his last self- portrait.” Brush stroke after brushstroke, Cobain masterfully put his soul to canvass with this Martin D-18E guitar. Cobain’s purpose was to be seen and remembered for who he was and what he valued. The critical and commercial success of his MTV Unplugged performance was likely not even a distant concern to Cobain. It was not a mainstream performance, nor was it about pleasing the mainstream. Cobain gave voice to his mounting dissatisfaction about Nirvana being known principally for songs released during their “mainstream” period when he told the MTV Unplugged audience that the first song on the setlist was from of their first album, and noted derisively that, "most people don't own it." At its heart, Cobain’s MTV Unplugged performance was about taking control and being himself memorializing what his music, his career, and his life were all about. Just before he was about to finish, Cobain sighed fast and opened his eyes in one last, panicked stare, as if someone had told him a secret he never wanted to know.” Stefany Anne Golberg, The Smart Set In truth, the MTV Unplugged audience was somewhat incidental to Cobain’s purpose that night and Cobain drew little energy from the mostly passive crowd that encircled the studio stage. “In the last verse of the song, Cobain leaned forward in his gray office chair and broke into a scream. Cobain’s performance of Lead Belly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” has been described as both fragile and powerfully heartrending. The setlist included 14 songs, including six covers by The Vaselines, David Bowie, Lead Belly, and three by the Meat Puppets (who joined Nirvana on stage). A glance at the setlist only underscores the fact that Cobain was not there to play to the crowd as much as he was performing songs that were meaningful to him. Cobain’s choices were all as personally significant as they were deliberate. Nothing about the event - from the lighting and stage dressing, to the setlist, the sound, and Cobain’s choice of the Martin D-18E - none of these critical decisions were made to please either the audience or MTV itself. Fundamentally, it was all about Cobain and without compromise. Kurt Cobain’s approach to his MTV Unplugged performance seemed to be a break from all that came before it. Cobain’s mastery of this guitar along with Nirvana’s flawless acoustic and vocal performance propelled the MTV Unplugged in New York album to multi-platinum certification and it won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1996. Billboard charts and is consistently ranked among the top ten live albums of all time. Cuts from the album, released seven months after Cobain’s death, would go on to become the most celebrated and defining versions of Nirvana’s songs, “All Apologies,” “Come As You Are,” “About A Girl,” and “Dumb,” as well as covers of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World” and a haunting rendition of Lead Belly’s “Black Girl” renamed “Where Did You Sleep Last Night.” MTV Unplugged in New York debuted at No. JULIEN’S AUCTIONS 11 Nirvana’s acoustic performance that night produced one of the greatest live albums of all time, MTV Unplugged in New York.
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