Gigs of Glasgow: When Nirvana played Queen Margaret Union

Hot on the tails of the release of Nevermind in September 1991 and the explosion of Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana embarked on a European Tour that saw them play both Edinburgh’s Carlton Studios and Glasgow’s Queen Margaret Union on back to back nights..

The QMU gig, which took place on 30 November 1991, has become something of a legendary gig amongst Scottish Nirvana fans, it marks the only time the band played in Glasgow, and one of the few times they played in Scotland at all - twice in Edinburgh and the QMU gig itself.

It is perhaps surprising that Nirvana were not more frequent visitors to the city given the profound influence Glasgow bands had on Cobain. He even went as far as to dub one of the city’s bands the “best band in the world” - however there is a certain level of scepticism.

“We weren’t even his favourite band from Glasgow. That was The Vaselines,” Norman Blake,  Teenage Fanclub singer and guitarist, later told the NME.

And it was a former member of The Vaselines who opened for Nirvana ahead of the QMU show. Eugene Kelly, by then playing with Captain America, opened the show with Japanese all-girl punk band Shonen Knife the other support.

Andy Bollen, drummer for Captain America, kept a diary of the tour and described the gig in his book Nirvana: A Tour Diary - in particular the song that had sent the band heading on their way to becoming rock icons.

“At Glasgow QMU, Smells Like Teen Spirit is played with respect and gusto, and probably the best performance of any of the dates so far. Previously on each night it has been perfunctory, played with a mild form of frustration and irritation,” Bollen says. “Maybe the band have felt a bit embarrassed by it or more likely just bored, but tonight the song that redefined a generation - or at least made them buy ripped jeans, Converse All Stars and steal their uncle’s cardigan, is outstanding.”

However, he notes the contrast between the onstage persona and the offstage realities. “The performance tonight is all the more remarkable because we know they are nervous and tied. Backstage, they seem jaded, almost splintered, yet on stage in that zone, Nirvana are exhilarating and full of intensity,” Bollen says.

There has remained an interest in the show in the intervening years. In 2002, audio from the show was uncovered and released as a bootleg, which can now be found on YouTube. And in 2014, a setlist, handwritten by Dave Grohl, sold for almost £6,000 at auction.

For decades, there was little pictorial evidence from the show. However, in 2018 LiveNirvana, a Nirvana fan Facebook group, tracked down and posted an image of Cobain from the night - standing at the microphone with his typically grungy cardigan and Fender Jaguar guitar.

By January 1992, Nevermind would reach number one in the Billboard charts, unseating Michael Jackson’s Dangerous along the way, and the band would be well on their way to being cultural icons.

Three years after the QMU gig, in March 1994, the band were set to return to Glasgow for a show at the SECC - by that point one of the biggest bands in the world. However, ill health saw the gig cancelled. Within two weeks, Cobain was dead.