MOST WANTED UNSURFACED CONCERTS: 08/06/93 - King Performance Center (Mia Zapata Fund Benefit), Seattle, WA, US
Venue Address:
King Performance Center, 2160 6th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121, US
Event Organizer:
Steve Moriarty
Other Performers:
Hell Smells, Kill Sybil, Tad, Voodoo Gearshift
Reviews/Eyewitness Accounts:
"One of the last shows Nirvana played in Seattle was a benefit that I organised to hire a private investigator to find Mia [Zapata]'s murderer. TAD was scheduled to headline it, and they told Kurt [Cobain] they were playing it. So Kurt called me and said, 'I heard you're doing this benefit. Is there any way we can get on and play?' I was like, 'Fuck, yeah!'" - Steve Moriarty, Everybody Loves Our Town
"I was the one who actually called Krist [Novoselic] to ask him to do the show. My friend owned the King Kat Theatre at the time. We had a blast! This was a really cool show." - Geof Sprague, posting on YouTube
"My friend and I paid $7 each to get in, snuck backstage and ran into David Grohl. I asked Dave if Nirvana was going to play and he said 'No.' However, a short time later, Kurt and Courtney walked in of the street into the backstage area. Kurt invited my friend and I to go to the sidestage area and hung out with us the whole time before they went onstage. Chris Novoselic was passed out on the steps leading up to the stage. Kurt was spitting beer on him while he was sitting with us. Kurt gave us autographs, Dave gave us drumsticks, and Chris gave us a pick. Some guys came around and told people to stop recording but I saw a guy with a video recorder hidden in his lap shooting from the side of the stage. They went onstage and played a lot of In Utero (which was the second time anyone had heard it live, I believe. The first time was in New York). They played a great cover of 'No Quarter' by Led Zeppelin and 'Seasons In The Sun' by Terry Jacks. They also jammed on 'Safety Dance' by Men Without Hats." - Roger Hendrix, personal correspondence with Claudio Minotti
"That show was absolutely the most insane oversold-out show I've ever played. We in Tad knew that Nirvana was going to announce their playing the show at the last minute on the radio (I think it was KISW), but no one else knew. Anyway, there was like two hundred people at the King Cat Theater before anyone knew Nirvana was playing and after they announced it on the radio, it seemed like the entire city swarmed the building. There were probably a couple thousand people flooding the streets. It was mind-blowing. Dave Grohl borrowed my drum kit and when I got it back all the drumheads were beat to a bloody pulp." - Josh Sinder, I Found My Friends: The Oral History of Nirvana
"It was a not so secret 'secret' that Nirvana were headlining. My old schoolmate, Ann Hadlock convinced me and Travis Robinson to go, even though we thought for sure there was no way we would get in. Sure enough, we did. I asked Kurt in a fit of fanboyism to sign my ticket, and asked politely if I could have the setlist afterwards. He said 'Yes,' and I asked him about his role in producing the then new Melvins record coming out, he said 'It was almost done,' and then they played. They were awesome of course, and afterwards, Kurt filed off the stage, I begged Mr Grohl for the setlist, and he said 'Kurt is saving for some kid!' I told him it was me and he made me promise, and I got to go home with some cool memories." - Jason Beatty, posting on Facebook
