Nirvana and Kurt Coubain in Tijuana: Unreleased Video Revealed After 35 Years and Up for Auction

The discovery of a previously unreleased video documenting Nirvana’s 1990 performance in Tijuana has rekindled interest in one of the Seattle band’s most intense periods. The recording, which remained hidden for 35 years, shows Kurt Cobain and his bandmates on stage at the Iguanas club, a venue renowned for its laid-back atmosphere and its ability to attract rebellious youth from both sides of the border with San Diego. This footage, which will be auctioned online by Bonhams, is estimated to fetch between $100,000 and $150,000.

The recorded performance dates from the time when Nirvana had just released their debut album, Bleach (1989), and the band was on the rise. During the 45-minute concert, the group performed early songs like About a Girl and Negative Creep, while Cobain, dressed in his signature plaid flannel outfit, interacted with the audience, rolling on the floor, smashing two guitars, and throwing himself into the audience seven times.

The recording includes both the original audio of the show and a professionally edited video, a selection of still images and collectibles, including a white Bleach vinyl and an original tour poster, recovered by one of the filmmakers from a wall in Los Angeles.

The filming was conducted by Peter Tackaberry and Elizabeth Voss, film students at the University of California, San Diego, who befriended the band after meeting its members in a record store in Los Angeles. After attending a Nirvana concert in Long Beach in 1990, Tackaberry requested permission to record the performance in Tijuana, to which the group agreed.