“[Cobains] came from County Cork, which is a really weird coincidence, because when we toured Ireland, we played in Cork and the entire day I walked around in a daze. I’d never felt more spiritual in my life. It was the weirdest feeling and I have a friend who was with me who could testify to this. I was almost in tears the whole day. Since that tour, which was about two years ago, I’ve had a sense that I was from Ireland.”
The words of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain in an interview with a US magazine in July 1993. Less than two years beforehand, his band and the equally legendary Sonic Youth played a show at Cork’s Sir Henry’s that has left an indelible imprint on the Cork music scene.
To mark the 25th anniversary of that show, Circa ’91 will host a special one-off show at Deep South on Grand Parade (the former Sir Henry’s nightclub) on Saturday, August 20. With an outdoor stage in the beer garden at the back of the venue, Cork alt-rock band Paradox will play a full set of Nirvana songs from 9pm until late. Admission is free.
To coincide with this event, there will also be a week-long fanzine exhibition taking place at the Cork City Library from August 16th to August 27th, entitled Sunny Days Are Here Again. The exhibition will feature various original Cork fanzines from the end of the 80’s/early 90’s as well as various posters, photos and artwork.
Kurt Cobain outside Sir Henry’s, August 20, 1991
Stream a full bootleg of the Cork show below.
