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April 5th
April 5 is a dubious day in rock history: it’s the day we lost Kurt Cobain in 1994 and Layne Staley in 2002.
We’re paying tribute to both artists all day on ROCK 92.9. With both of them on our minds, those legendary live performances that have marked themselves indelibly in our memories need to be revisited. So let’s do that.
We’ll start with the obvious: Kurt Cobain, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” Nirvana MTV Unplugged. Enough said.
Layne Staley had a similar “Unplugged” moment with his heartwrenching vocal on “Down In A Hole.”
Let’s head to Seattle next for Kurt’s gritty version of “Lithium” from their 1993 Live And Loud set.
That same year, Alice In Chains played Lollapalooza, and Layne Staley absolutely crushed this performance of “Man In The Box.”
One more from Kurt, back in Seattle: live at The Paramount in ’91.
And one more from Layne, as he raspily howls his way through “Junkhead” at the movie release party for Singles in 1992.
Recorded just five months before the untimely passing of Kurt Cobain, the band’s performance would later be released as the live LP MTV Unplugged in New York. It was Nirvana’s first release following Cobain’s death, and it would go on to win the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.
Equal parts extraordinary and bitter-sweet, AIC’s 1996 performance on MTV Unplugged was the band’s first performance together in over two years due to Staley’s issues with drug abuse. It would also be one of the band’s last high-profile gigs with the singer. In spite of that and Jerry Cantrell famously battling food poisoning, AIC’s set served as a reminder of why they were the first band to really break out of the fruitful Seattle music scene.
MTV Unplugged is just a goldmine of remarkable performances for anyone that loves rock from the ’90s. Stone Temple Pilots recorded their set in 1993, which marked the first time they performed “Big Empty.”
R.E.M is responsible for two marvelous MTV Unplugged performances from 1991 and 2001, which were both released in 2014 as Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions. Below is a performance of “Fall On Me” from their 1991 set.
Pearl Jam simply crushes it in this set from March 1992, about seven months after the release of Pearl Jam’s debut album Ten.
Later episodes in MTV Unplugged’s history are tragically overlooked, but this incredible set from Thirty Seconds To Mars more than holds its own thanks to Jared Leto’s dynamic vocal performance.
