Product Details

• Actors: Kurt Cobain, David Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Jonathan Ross
• Directors: Kevin Kerslake
• Producers: John Silva, Michael Mees, Ted Lapidus, Tina Silvey, Tommy Blatnik
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Geffen Records
• VHS Release Date: November 15, 1994
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303296726
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,893 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With Kurt Cobain's suicide in 1994, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl could've shaped this material into a sappy tribute. On the contrary, as they state in the opening inter-title, "Though circumstances did not allow for the piece to be completed by those who forged its original vision, great care was taken to maintain the integrity and intent of the original edit." Consequently, viewers get a warts and all glimpse of Nirvana as they were, both in concert and off-stage. Live! isn't just a reminder that the Northwest trio was a great band, but that they knew how to have a good time, regardless as to the demons eating away at their frontman. This means Cobain performing in a negligee, clad in a garish gown for MTV's Headbanger's Ball, and stumbling through Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion." Other numbers stem from Bleach and Nevermind, with locations ranging from Seattle to Rio de Janeiro (the five bonus selections are from Amsterdam). In most cases, songs incorporate footage from different shows. Highlights include "Dive," "Territorial Pissings," and an out-of-control "Love Buzz," during which Cobain is attacked by a bouncer--and fights back. The "lowlights" are a screechy version of "Come as You Are" and purposefully sluggish "Smells like Teen Spirit." By this point, the hit had became a burden and the threesome weren't about to pretend otherwise. As Grohl puts it, "For a lot of people, it's like the only Nirvana song, and that's upsetting." This long-awaited DVD reissue features color correction and digitally re-mastering. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nivana fans should own this, June 6, 2003

By 

Samhot (Star Land) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nirvana, Live Tonight Sold Out [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I have to admit, at first, I didn't like this too much. It just seemed too messy and disjointed, as some of the live performances of certain tracks are like cut-and-paste collages featuring bits of footage taken from various different concerts and spliced together - sometimes within a single song. But, after watching this quite a few times, I started to appreciate the artistic quality in this -- as well as having fun watching these three in action.

This footage was mostly recorded during the 1991-1992 era during the release and popularity of their _Nevermind_ album, and as a result, you aren't going to hear any tracks beyond the _Nevermind_ era (_Incesticide_ was mostly recorded in 1990, but released in 1992, so that really doesn't count.) You get to witness the "backstage" or offstage antics of Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, and as you witness their tomfoolery, you realize that these three "weirdos" were meant for each other, as they seem to be in sync with one another, without intent. You also get to hear their feelings on superstardom, witness some nifty performances and other such stuff.

Here's a listing of the live tracks performed on here:

(1). Aneurysm. (2). About A Girl. (3). Dive. (4). Love Buzz. (5). Breed. (6). Smells Like Teen Spirit. (7). Negative Creep. (8). Come As You Are. (9). Territorial Pissings. (10). Something In The Way . (11). Lithium. (12). Drain You. (13). Polly. (14). Sliver. (15). On A Plain. (16). Noise (which is basically comprised of bits from "Endless, Nameless," the hidden track on certain copies of _Nevermind_, added with destruction.)

Some things worth mentioning are: (1). The performance of "Something In The Way" is in a different key than the studio version, as well as being amped-up. (2). During the first clip of the "Love Buzz" performance, Kurt dives into the audience, possibly hoping to do some crowd surfing. It gets a little out of hand as the bouncer is trying to keep things organized, but he gets hit in the head by the body of Kurt's guitar quite a few times, which leaves a bit of a gash in the bouncer's head. I'm not sure if Kurt did this on purpose or not. But, after Kurt returns to the stage, the bouncer comes from behind and punches Kurt in the back of his head, and kicks him once. After that, the concert pretty much stops, as Krist comes to Kurt's defense, and soon Dave is seen flying from behind his drum kit to help out as well.

(3). Anyone wondering where all those concert clips seen in the video for "Lithium" came from, you can find them all on this set. (4). The ending features something Nirvana seemed to love to do: destroy their instruments and equipment. At the end, Krist does a little bit of batting practice - with musical instruments. Kurt chucks his guitar in the air, and when it lands, it breaks in half. Afterwards, Krist picks up the body of Kurt's broken guitar, and uses it as a baseball. He uses his bass as a bat, and chucks the body of the broken guitar in the air and tries to hit it. After a miss on the first shot, he hits on the second shot, and the audience applauds. Some really demented stuff.

Enough of my rambling. Case and point: if you're a Nirvana fan, you HAVE to own this. You get to see other sides of the members of Nirvana that you wouldn't have seen elsewhere. Plus with the fun footage, and performances, how can you go wrong?

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Live ! Tonight ! If only it were true., February 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Nirvana, Live Tonight Sold Out [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Here's the scoop on this video. Its packed full of Nirvana interviews and live performances. Also there is a ton of comic relief in it as well. Dave and Krist keep it light as they lay it on heavy during the shows. This has some great live performances on it. These are just a few of them:

-Dive- (one of Nirvana's greatest but not as well known to people familiar with only Nirvana's most popular songs. Dive is a high energy crisp grunge song and this performance of it was great from start to finish.)
-Love Buzz- (watch this performance closely...you'll get a surprise half-way through it...trust me)
-Come As You Are- (Kurts voice wasn't all that great that day so he changes things up a little by playing the song the same but just basically screaming the lyrics in a raspy voice...still enjoyable however)
-Negative Creep- (great performance of a down-right grunge song)
-Teen Spirit- (which they mocked their own song by having Kurt sing made up lyrics and none of the band are actually playing their instruments, but only because fans at the time were deeming Smells Like Teen Spirit the best and only Nirvana song and they were getting tired of it...this is definately worth checking out)
-Territorial Pissings- (a song they performed on a English talk show. The crowd and cast of the show were expecting the much softer "Lithium" and received quite a shock when Kurt, Dave and Krist burst out with some Pissings.)

This video captures the essence of what Nirvana was and who the band members were at heart by showing their off-stage and on-stage characteristics. The video doesn't waste its or your time interviewing behind the scenes people or fans getting their opinion of what Nirvana is to them or what they're about. The interviews are with the band-members themselves. There are also many clips of all the publicity and media attention that Nirvana was getting world-wide at their height of popularity, which is still taking awhile to subside. It gives you just a slight idea of how big Nirvana really was, and what they were doing to change the rock music industry at a time when rock music was desperate and seemed to be waning.

Whether you were a Nirvana fan, are a Nirvana fan or even if you really never liked Nirvana's music, this video is for everyone who likes alternative/punk/grunge/rock music. This video captures Nirvana at their best and the footage on this video is an important part of rock history. I recommend this for everyone.

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LIVE NIRVANA!! FUN , TWISTED , AND UNCOMPROMISING!, December 1, 2001

By 

Mo Lindsey (Newark, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nirvana, Live Tonight Sold Out [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This videotape helps you relive the ragged glory that was Nirvana with footage from several of their live concerts mixed with behind-the-scene , foreign news , and home video footage in between the concert footage.

Kurt and the boys downplayed their popularity and enjoyed shocking the status qou. Some of the funniest and ironic moments are when Nirvana , unpolished by society's standard , were on these very polished programs like "Top of the Pops" and "Tonight with Jonathan Ross". The boys displayed their rebelliousness and nerve on these two shows by playing WHAT they wanted to play and singing HOW they wanted to sing. Nirvana was not essentially a commercial band but hit it really big in the mainstream anyway and these two clips showed that they weren't going to compromise their grunge integrity nor take their fame seriously. They did whay they wanted to do and didn't care what people thought. In true rock & roll/punk fashion.

The concert footage is terrific , wild , crazed , energetic , funny , and at times disturbing (you can say that , overall , about the tape) from Kurt bashing a stage bouncer in the ear with his guitar and paying the price for it , to a packed stadium crowd wanting Krist Novoselic to shut up and play music(funny) , to Kurt playing a few weary notes on his guitar , dropping to one knee then , quietly , crawling off stage in lingerie. There are two concert clips that might make you cringe but that is part of the shock value of the tape. I won't say what they are but you have been warned.

The things that I don't like about the tape is that near the end they use a couple of clips that were previously shown on the tape and some songs are cut midway and jumps or blends into another concert or video clip. Overall the video is very entertaining on several different levels. Its humorously , shockingly , and nostalgically entertaining. You may find yourself watching this video over and over again and rewinding certain parts to look at again. If you want to see this ground-breaking band in their element during the days of "Nevermind" then this is the video for you.