← Back

Smells Like The Pyramid Club

Poster from Nirvana’s second show at The Pyramid Club, April 26, 1990. Image courtesy of Twitter.

Nirvana is one of the most influential alternative rock bands of all time.  They helped to popularize this genre of music and brought the Washington State grunge scene that emerged in the 1980’s-90’s to the masses.  Though most closely associated with that other coast, on April 26th, 1990, the band played a highly important gig at The Pyramid Club at 101 Avenue A in the East Village.  

Nirvana at The Pyramid Club, April 26, 1990.

This would actually be the second time that Nirvana played at The Pyramid Club, the first being on July 18th, 1989, three days after the release of their debut album “Bleach.”  Their April 1990 performance at Pyramid was also part of their Bleach club tour.  In fact, The Pyramid Club was one of just a handful of venues the band played in New York City.  While more has been written about their first performance at the venue in 1989, their second one is notable as the band ended the gig by smashing their equipment in frustration at the appalling sound quality and their perceived poor playing.

Kurt Cobain smashing his guitar at Pyramid Club after their show on April 26, 1990. Image courtesy of Pinterest.

You can hear the audio from the show that night by checking out the video below:

Here is the setlist from that show:

  1. School
  2. Floyd the Barber
  3. Love Buzz
  4. Dive
  5. Spank Thru
  6. Breed
  7. About a Girl
  8. Big Cheese
  9. In Bloom
  10. Scoff
  11. Stain
  12. Negative Creep
101 Avenue A, image by Barry Munger.

Nirvana’s show that evening is one of only countless times history was made at the Pyramid Club and at 101 Avenue A.  Village Preservation has had a longstanding relationship with the building and its history, and got it landmarked in 2012 as part of the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. You can read more about the building’s history and our efforts to preserve it here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *