Twenty-five years ago, April 5, 1994, the world lost grunge luminary Kurt Cobain to suicide. Just a short time before that on March 1st, Nirvana played their final show ever with Cobain in Munich, Germany, kicking off the nearly 90-minute set with a dirtied-up pair of Cars covers, "My Best Friend's Girl" and "Moving in Stereo" before launching into the driving rhythm of In Utero's "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter."
In the video above, the grainy footage focuses on mainly Cobain, who maintains his staunch position behind the mic during the mostly percussive verses with his greasy blonde locks blowing about dramatically. That iconic image – of the reluctant rock god seemingly at the top of his game – is seared into the collective conscious now as the tortured genius behind one of the Nineties' biggest acts. Long before there were Nirvana shirts in Forever 21, there was Kurt, his guitar, and the two guys behind him laying down the perfect filthy racket for his gruff, melancholic voice to ask, "What is wrong with me?"
This clip in particular cuts to just audio after the next track, "Drain You," fades out. The short but valuable footage is enough to bring back a rush of emotions for those deeply influenced by Nirvana's relatively brief run as the rulers of heavy music.
The trio ends the wrenching performance with "Heart-Shaped Box," an eternal heartbreaker given new depths of despair when viewed through the lens of his hastened death that would come just over a month later. Taking a bit of creative license with his vocal delivery at certain points and seeming almost despondent at times during the performance, Cobain wraps things up with a bit of snarling feedback and a simple "thank you," before leaving the stage for good. Skip to 1:17:48 in the video above, or watch below for an isolated recording of that track.
