Description

Club Dreamerz, Chicago, IL, USA 8th July 1989

　1989 was the year Nirvana released “BLEACH,” marking the start of their countdown to turning the world upside down. Now, a new master recording has emerged that allows you to experience a live performance featuring the legendary member, Jason Everman. It will be released on a permanent, limited-edition pressed CD.

　This album features a recording of the “Chicago concert on July 8, 1989.” It’s a powerful audience recording. Everman was a guitarist credited on ‘BLEACH’ but didn’t participate in the recording, though he accompanied the band on subsequent tours. For about six months, Nirvana was a four-piece band. This album is a live album that allows you to experience that fleeting era in the best possible way. First, let’s look at the schedule at the time and determine the position of the show recorded on this album.

・January 6: Portland performance
(January 24: “BLEACH” completed)
(Jason Everman joins)
・February 7 – February 25: North America #1 (5 performances)
・April 1 – 26: North America #2 (4 performances)
・May 26 – July 18: North America #3 (23 performances) ←★HERE★
(Jason Everman fired)
・August 26: Seattle performance
・September 26 – October 13: North America #4 (12 performances)
・October 23 – December 3: Europe (37 performances) ←※VIENNA 1989 etc.

[The hidden treasure that brought the much-talked-about “Jacobs Collection” to public attention]
　This is NIRVANA in 1989. BLEACH was completed in late January, and Everman joined in early February. After that, they went through the warm-up shows “North America #1” and “North America #2” before moving on to the full-fledged “North America #3”. This Chicago performance was the 18th show of “North America #3,” which was towards the end of Everman’s time with the band.

　This recording of such a show is the original master tape from the now-famous collection of Adam Jacobs. Jacobs has been documenting Chicago’s club scene with just a tape recorder for over 40 years, since 1984. “If I’m going to a live show a few times a week, I might as well record it”—with this unpretentious attitude, he has accumulated over 10,000 recordings, capturing the entire history of Chicago’s underground music scene, from indie rock to punk, and sometimes even hip-hop, sealed onto cassette tapes.

　In recent years, Jacobs had retired from live recording due to health reasons, but he decided to donate his tapes to the Internet Archive before they deteriorated. Digitization has been underway since the end of 2024, with volunteers working to complete approximately 2,400 tapes to date. This album is the Nirvana recording that emerged from that enormous archive. It has become synonymous with the “Jacobs Collection” and is a first-ever live album that is spreading its impact worldwide.

[An incredibly thick and intimate sound that surpasses even soundboard recordings]
　Of course, it’s not just about being rare; the sound that actually hits your ears is tremendous. The recording itself was known before, but the original master has been significantly upgraded in both length and sound quality. At first listen, it might sound like a wall of roaring sound, but this is probably not distortion from the recording, but the sound itself. In fact, the vocals that cut through the solid mass of performance are clear and crisp down to every single word, and they come through with an almost disproportionate clarity. It accurately records the noise art that reverberated at the venue.

　And the directness of the sound surpasses even that of a soundboard recording. Our store cherishes the authentic soundboard album “VIENNA 1989,” but this album is even more on-stage and powerful than that masterpiece. The physical intimacy of the “Club Dreamerz” venue creates a sense of density that transcends the realm of recording techniques.

[A scorching hot stage that delivers 100% authentic BLEACH]
　This incredibly powerful and realistic sound brings to life BLEACH, with its stage energy amplified to the max. Let’s compare it to our familiar VIENNA 1989 and see how it all unfolds.

●Bleach (9 songs)
– School / Floyd The Barber / Love Buzz / Mr. Moustache (★*) / Paper Cuts (★*) / About A Girl / Scoff / Negative Creep / Blew
●Others (2 songs + 2 songs)
– Single: Big Cheese (*) / Dive
– Others: Polly (★) / Spank Thru
*Note: “★” indicates songs that were not played on ‘VIENNA 1989’. “*” indicates songs that were not played after the release of ‘NEVERMIND’.

…And that’s how it is. Nine out of the 14 tracks are from ‘BLEACH’. The setlist, which throws out every number from their first album released less than a month ago, is a perfect representation of the raw, initial energy of their debut work. “Mr. Moustache” and “Paper Cuts,” which weren’t heard on ‘VIENNA 1989’, are both repertoire that disappeared from sets after ‘NEVERMIND’, and can only be experienced at this time. Also noteworthy is the inclusion of “Polly,” which would later be featured on the album ‘NEVERMIND’. It had started being played in late June 1989, so this recording is from just over two weeks after its premiere. The seeds of what would become a masterpiece were sprouting in the club space.

　Adam Jacobs, known as “an important figure in Chicago culture” for his vast recordings, presents a stunning live album that showcases the incredible quality of his collection to the world. This groundbreaking first-ever release features the legendary Jason Everman era of Nirvana, delivering a powerful sound that surpasses even soundboard recordings. Experience it to the fullest.

★The first-ever complete audience recording of the “July 8, 1989 Chicago concert.” This groundbreaking release, which introduced the sensational “Jacobs Collection” to the world, boasts an incredibly powerful sound that surpasses even soundboard recordings. Featuring the legendary Jason Everman, this is a permanent preservation pressed CD that will imprint the initial energy immediately following ‘BLEACH’ into your brain.

(46:46)
1. Intro
2. School
3. Floyd The Barber
4. Love Buzz
5. Mr. Moustache
6. Paper Cuts
7. Polly
8. Big Cheese
9. Spank Thru
10. Dive
11. About A Girl
12. Scoff
13. Negative Creep
14. Blew

Kurt Cobain – Guitar, Vocals;
Krist Novoselic – Bass;
Chad Channing – Drums;
Jason Everman – Guitar