The release last month of Nirvana Unplugged in New York on DVD was a great moment for Nirvana fans lucky enough to have captured the original airing on VHS. Unlucky was it that VHS tapes don't age all that well, and my copy has aged like it has Progeria syndrome.

This DVD release presents the original performance, both as-aired and the unedited full recording, in 5.1 Surround. The full performance includes previously unreleased versions of "Something In The Way", "Oh, Me", and a deceptively credited 30-second joke of "Sweet Home Alabama". Two new songs isn't exactly a windfall of recordings. The crown jewel of this DVD is the banter and material between songs. At one point, Kurt Cobain asks, "Any requests?" and is answered with "In Bloom" (replying, "How can we play that acoustically?") and "Free Bird" ("I was waiting for that" he deadpans).  Is the audience clapping sarcastically when the response to "Free Bird!" is a mumbling "Sweet Home Alabama"? More valuable, and almost endearing, is the obvious nervousness that Cobain is covering up with his aloof interactions with production staff and audience.

The bonus featurette with production staff and audience members is, at times, evidence of why Cobain was so reluctant to accept adoration from his public. As some audience members recall being excited to hear "Smells Like Teen Spirit", critics who were present recall the palpable energy in the room, making the viewer even more jealous they couldn't be present on this day in November 1993.

A career-defining moment for Nirvana, Unplugged in New York was a goodbye for Cobain, who committed suicide all of six months after this performance. Amidst candles and stargazer lilies, Kurt and Co. did Leadbelly a service in their rendition of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?", which still, 13 years later, brings tears to my eyes when Cobain stops in his climactic howl, just for a split second, his cold stare piercing through the television camera and into my pubescent (and now somewhat mature) soul.

Tags: any given tuesday, concert reviews, nirvana