By CLTure
February 20, 2025 (updated)
Photo: Jason Ferguson
Since 1969, The Milestone has been a rite of passage for Charlotte live music purists, hosting a range of storied indie rock and punk bands in the ’80s and ’90s like R.E.M., Fugazi, Black Flag, Dinosaur Jr., and Violent Femmes. One of the most iconic bands that played The Milestone in the ’90s was Seattle grunge rock pioneers, Nirvana.
The band performed at the intimate rock venue on May 2, 1990, and a bootleg vinyl record was even created from the recordings that evening, titled All The Kings Horses. According to Setlist.fm, Kurt Cobain and his budding indie rock band played 18 songs, including “About A Girl,” “Love Buzz,” and “Polly,” as well as an unreleased track at the time, “In Bloom.”
Prior to Dave Grohl joining the band in September 1990, Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and drummer Chad Channing toured extensively across the States and Europe following the release of their debut album, Bleach, released through the burgeoning Seattle indie rock label Sub Pop. The band made two North Carolina stops during that tour: Chapel Hill’s Cat’s Cradle on May 1 and The Milestone on May 2. They returned to Cat’s Cradle on October 4, 1991, following the release of Nevermind.
Nirvana recorded their sophomore album, Nevermind, in 1991 with producer Butch Vig, releasing it on September 24, 1991. The album ushered in the grunge movement and helped shape the alternative rock explosion of the ’90s. Along with releases by contemporaries Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains, it ended the dominance of hair metal and mainstream rock.
Raw and unpolished, with Cobain’s deeply personal lyrics, Nevermind resonated with the disaffected youth of the ’90s, making grunge the defining genre of the decade. The music video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” became one of MTV’s most-played videos, and the album surprisingly topped Michael Jackson’s Dangerous for the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200. With hits like “Come as You Are,” “Lithium,” and “In Bloom,” it sold out over 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling rock albums of all time. In 2004, it was added by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry.
Nirvana’s third studio album, In Utero, released in February 1993, was produced by the late Steve Albini and took a more minimalist approach, featuring tracks such as “Heart-Shaped Box,” “R*pe Me,” and “Dumb.”
Passing away at the age of 27, Cobain’s work with Nirvana remains highly influential today, having shifted the direction of rock music in the ’90s.
The YouTube channel Elite Toaster recently remastered the original recording from 1990:
0:00 – “Here She Comes Now”
(The Velvet Underground cover)
8:31 – “Floyd The Barber”
12:36 – “Love Buzz”
15:57 – “Dive”
20:54 – “About a Girl”
24:31 – “Polly”
27:55 – “Scoff”
32:46 – “Stay Away”
36:32 – “Molly’s Lips” (The Vaselines cover)
38:31 – “School”
41:33 – “Big Cheese”
45:42 – “Spank Thru”
49:20 – “In Bloom”
53:54 – “Sappy”
58:04 – “Been a Son”
1:00:03 – “Stain”
1:02:28 – “Negative Creep”
1:05:32 – “Blew”
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