After the last song Kurt swings his guitar over his shoulder then sets it down on stage, lights a cigarette and begins to walk out before he pauses and begins walking around the audience signing autographs.
It shows just how timeless sincere and well performed music can be. The actually performance of the song is a haunting rendition that showcases the pain and angst in Kurt's voice and plays perfectly into this classic blues song. Krist suggest a donation from the audience to help. Before they begin the song Kurt notes that Leadbelly is his favorite performer and laments that despite his rock star status he couldn't come up with the five- hundred thousand dollars that the Leadbelly estate wanted for his guitar. The last song played was a cover of the traditional blues song "Where Did You Sleep Last Night." The most known version, and the one that inspired Nirvana was by '40s blues man, Leadbelly, whose music Kurt had recently fallen in love with. It perfectly shows how vocals can entirely set a song's tone even in the guitar dominated (punk) rock genre. Their jaunty cover of the Meatpuppets' song about damnation features strained and screeching vocals with a piekey inflection that needs no electronic modification to get the punk sound across. Another is "Lake of Fire." The recording of this song would go on to be one of Nirvana's best remembered and for good reason. Kurt's singing on this song is so soulful that it could almost bring a tear to your eye. One of the highlights includes a cover of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold World." It's an emotionally charged version of the song that takes Bowie's original to an entirely new level. Only the first two songs of the 14 performed were top hits, "About a Girl" and "Come as You Are." The rest of the songs were either less popular Nirvana songs or covers from classic rock and songs composed by their contemporaries in grunge. Kurt however wanted to do something different and new, that was more melodic and better utilized their acoustic limitations. MTV wanted them to play the songs that Nirvana was famous for. Another point of contention was the show's setlist. If anything it beautifully highlights the juxtaposition of a punk band playing without the screaming aid of electrically enhanced instruments. Watching the performance, it doesn't look like a wake. They were concerned it looked too much like a funeral but Kurt held his ground. The show runners were not fans of this choice. So he was very particular in the way he wanted to have the show set up, a crystal chandelier above them and stargazer lilies all around them. He felt they just tried to play acoustic instruments like they did electric ones. Kurt was initially hesitant because he disliked most unplugged performances by rock bands. Naturally MTV jumped at the opportunity to have Nirvana on their show MTV UNPLUGED. Nirvana had succeeded in becoming the biggest band of their era. By 1993 with Kurt Cobain in the lead, Kirst Novoselic on bass, Dave Grohl on drums and starting that year, Pat Smear on rhythm guitar, Nirvana had taken grunge, the often-stigmatized offshoot of punk and heavy metal, out of the underground Seattle clubs where it was born and brought it to the mainstream music scene.
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