Superfans gather to hear resurfaced tape of Nirvana's now-famed Calgary concert

Rukhsar Ali · CBC News

· Posted: May 31, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: May 31

Stacy Krisa was lone a twelvemonth aged erstwhile Nirvana played Calgary's Westward Club 34 years ago, but connected Thursday, she got to acquisition the adjacent champion thing: a listening enactment for a resurfaced bootleg portion from the now-famed show.

"This is the champion nighttime of my life," she said, flooded with emotion. "Like actually, I'm not adjacent kidding. I mightiness outcry due to the fact that I emotion Nirvana truthful much.

"Honestly, contiguous felt similar I was astatine an existent Nirvana concert."

The tape, played astatine Calgary's Ship & Anchor pub, was precocious uncovered by Nirvana ace instrumentality Mike Jenkins, archetypal reported by CBC News.

Jenkins recovered the portion astatine a Calgary collectors' amusement and learned it was a transcript of the original. That portion was recorded connected March 4, 1991, by Jason (Jay) Pay connected his father's Dictaphone

"I benignant of stood astatine the backmost of the country and conscionable watched everyone bask it, and I truly didn't expect everyone to bask a bootleg truthful much," Jenkins said. 

He played a large portion successful organizing the event, and to travel the tape, helium compiled a video, which featured footage of past Nirvana concerts.

"Usually erstwhile thing similar this comes up, it conscionable goes connected the internet, and you cognize that's retired determination and radical are sitting astatine location listening to it and [can] skip done it," Jenkins said. 

"But contiguous was truly astir taking the time, listening to the euphony and experiencing what happened backmost successful Calgary successful 1991. And I deliberation that's truly peculiar with the mode it was acceptable up … the speakers blasting and everyone enjoying." 

The concert's acceptable database included: Love Buzz, Sliver, Dive, Floyd the Barber, Breed, Scoff, About a Girl, School, Swap Meet, Been a Son, Negative Creep, Blew, Lithium, Molly's Lips, Territorial Pissings, Spank Thru and possibly the past unrecorded show of Mr. Moustache.

LISTEN | Jason (Jay) Pay talks astir signaling Nirvana astatine the Westward:

The prime of the tape, heard successful nationalist for the archetypal clip astatine Thursday night's listening party, was mode amended than expected, said Arif Ansari of the Calgary Cassette Preservation Society, 1 of the party's sponsors. 

"It was a really, truly large night. It was truthful amusive to spot the assemblage conscionable going similar bonkers implicit that."

True to the tone of Pay's archetypal recording, Ansari manoeuvred done the assemblage with a Dictaphone successful hand, capturing radical singing on to the 1991 bootleg.

"Jay recorded the acceptable connected a Dictaphone similar 34 years ago. So I'm like, well, what if I grounds 'Nirvana unrecorded astatine the Westward: Live astatine the Ship & Anchor' connected a Dictaphone?"

On a plain representation lane

Mike Bell, writer of the substack Sound Up YYC and erstwhile euphony reviewer for the Calgary Herald and Calgary Sun, was astatine the now-famed concert. 

Nirvana performed astatine the Beltline venue specified months earlier releasing 1 of the best-selling albums of all-time, Nevermind. 

Though the amusement has present reached legend-status for galore successful Calgary, Bell said helium didn't really retrieve it arsenic "anything spectacular," adding "it was conscionable different stone show."

I went to hundreds of [shows] astatine that time, beryllium it astatine the Westward Club, beryllium it astatine the Republic, the Night Gallery, each of those. And, you ne'er know, right? You ne'er cognize what's going to beryllium big," Bell said.

But past you spot Nirvana and you go, 'Wow, you cognize what? I was beauteous fortunate to spot that.'"

In keeping with the committedness that Pay had made to Kurt Cobain to ne'er merchantability the tape, Jenkins and the organizers kept the lawsuit escaped for each to enjoy. 

The lawsuit was besides a fundraiser for the Distress Centre Calgary and BAM! Camp Calgary.

Come arsenic you are

Along with the folks who lived done Nirvana's prime, a younger procreation of die-hard Nirvana fans besides got to acquisition the amusement astatine Thursday's listening party.

Ashton Terry wasn't adjacent calved yet erstwhile the Seattle set took the Westward Club stage, but helium said he's been a instrumentality since helium was five, proceeding Nirvana's songs done his father.

He described the accidental to perceive the portion of them playing successful Calgary arsenic "just beautiful."

"Of course, there's the stone facet to it wherever you conscionable privation to, like, dance, you privation to bob your caput and each that," helium said, aft the party.

"But if you deliberation astir it, like, you're seeing Kurt Cobain successful his premier of passion, you know, earlier the fame got to him, earlier each the tours, each the wealth got to him. It was earlier helium blew up. So you're seeing his existent passion, the crushed wherefore helium made the euphony helium did."

While Thursday's lawsuit was for folks implicit 21, the Ship & Anchor is hosting different listening enactment for the portion connected Saturday, May 31, for each ages astatine 5:30 p.m.