Flashback: Dave Grohl Plays First Gig With Nirvana in 1990

“Kurt was kind of a drummer himself. When he would play guitar or write songs, if you ever looked at his jaw, he would be moving his jaw back and forth, like he was playing the drums with his teeth. He heard in his head what he wanted from a rhythm, and that’s a hard thing to articulate,” Grohl told Rolling Stone in 2001 about the group’s difficulty in choosing a drummer and his eventually joining the band. “I think one of the reasons they wanted me was that I sang backup vocals. I don’t remember them saying, ‘You’re in the band.’ We just continued.”

Less than a month after their first session, Nirvana’s classic lineup was solidified and they played their first live show together on October 11th, 1990 at North Shore Surf Club in Olympia, Washington. In a clip filmed during that performance, the band is seen playing to a sweaty, engaged crowd and it showcases their new drummer, shirtless and hair flying as he propels the songs’ frenetic, thunderous beats. Grohl’s live Nirvana premiere included a rendition of Shocking Blue’s “Love Buzz,” which Nirvana had recorded as a single in 1988. The trio also performed Nirvana’s “Scoff” and “Sliver” as well as a cover of Devo’s “Turn Around.”

One year later, Nirvana would shape the alternative rock landscape with the release of their sophomore studio album, 1991’s Nevermind, which climbed to the top of the charts with the help of their hit, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Reflecting back on that “whirlwind” time, the Foo Fighters frontman called it “the greatest achievement of my life.”

“There would be times when we would really connect — smile and laugh and feel like a band. And there were times when you felt lost and questioned what you were doing there,” Grohl told Rolling Stone of the first album he recorded as part of Nirvana. “There were times when I had to back off completely and think, ‘I’m just the drummer in this band.’ And there were other times when we’d all share something really beautiful, like a show or recording or just a vocal harmony. That’s when you really felt like you were part of something great.”