Bootleg tape uncovered from Nirvana's sole Calgary tour stop in 1991 – months before they skyrocketed to fame

On March 4, 1991, a young Calgarian with his dad's Dictaphone (a small cassette recorder) in hand headed to the Westward Club, now the location of Hotel Arts, where a Seattle grunge band was scheduled to play. 

Jason (Jay) Pay who had just turned 18, had no way of knowing that the band — Nirvana — was only months away from skyrocketing to fame with one of the best-selling albums of all time, Nevermind.

In the middle of a Calgary snowstorm, Pay and his group of friends made up much of the small crowd there to see Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl. Pay recorded the show on his device.

"I think it was probably one of the last shows where they had to pack up their own gear," Pay said.

Little more was publicly known about that Calgary concert — until now. 

A copy of that tape was recently uncovered, 34 years later, by Nirvana enthusiast Mike Jenkins, who was on a mission to find evidence of the now historic concert. He found it at a recent Calgary Music Collectors Show. 

"It's amazing to hear it," Jenkins told the Calgary Eyeopener. "You can really hear that tension building and that intensity of Nirvana."

The set list included: Love Buzz, Sliver, Dive, Floyd the Barber, Breed, Scoff, About a Girl, School, Swap Meet, Been a Son, Negative Creep, Blew, Lithium, Molly's Lips, Territorial Pissings, Spank Thru and Mr. Moustache.

As Pay recorded the concert on his Dictaphone, the red light on the device gave him away to the bassist, Krist Novoselic, who kept yelling at Pay from the stage. He was swearing and telling him to stop recording, Pay recalled.

Wanting to get permission, Pay approached Cobain after the show.

"Krist was kind of pissed, but I went to Kurt Cobain and he was like, 'you're pretty cool.'"

"He said: 'We didn't play any new songs. It's OK, but please just don't sell this.… I don't want to see this in stores."

Now 34 years on, Pay has kept his promise.

Friends Geoff McFetridge and Silas Kaufman were with Pay that night and can be seen in a photograph of the concert that has resurfaced on social media.