While the late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain had a heart of gold and was a friend to many, he had his moments of starting shit. In 1991, Nirvana played a show at a venue called Trees, and it was during that performance that Kurt got into one hell of an altercation with a bouncer.
Per the documentary Everything is A-OK, a promoter who worked that show explains how this fight came to be. He starts off by saying how, earlier that day, Nirvana was asked to sign some posters brought to them by the record label Geffen (for the sake of promotion).
Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic sign these posters with no issue, but when it came time for Kurt to sign, there is a problem. Per this promoter, Cobain apparently just sat at the first of these posters and started drawing on it for some time (and continued this with the next poster). Folks associated with Geffen get irritated by the Nirvana frontman, wondering why he was screwing around.
After this incident, it seems that Kurt (or someone associated with Nirvana) asks if there will be a barricade for the show; when Nirvana is told there isn’t one, the promoter is then told that some guys will need to stand in front of the stage. One of the bouncers who stands in front of the stage is named Turner, who will be important to keep in mind for later.
Later that night, during the band’s set, there comes a point where Kurt jumps into the crowd; this threw off some folks, including Turner, given that earlier that day, Kurt had made a big deal about not having people onstage. So Kurt is in the crowd, and as the audience pushes him back to the stage, this Turner guy decides to shove Cobain back (just because he’s pissed off about the whole matter).
Well, Kurt then ends up hitting the guy in the face with his guitar! So once this bouncer recovers from the hit, he gets onstage with Kurt and punches him right in the head! Dave and Krist jump in and break up the fight, and per the promoter’s words, Kurt is to the side acting like a “whiny bitch.”
After this, much of the show falls apart. At one point, the promoter goes off to look for Cobain (who had left the stage); he ends up finding the Nirvana frontman, who is off in another room snorting heroin.
Needless to say, this was not one of the brightest moments for Kurt Cobain. Below we have included some footage uploaded from the Everything is A-OK documentary that not only features an interview with that promoter sharing this story, but you can also check out footage of that fight itself! There is also an interview with the bouncer who punched Kurt.
"He was too screwed up to finish working on the record": Melvins Singer Talks Firing The Late Nirvana Singer Kurt Cobain
