Philly Photographer Faith West captured Nirvana at J.C. Dobbs in 1991. Her never-before-seen images of the band will go into auction as NFTs later this month.
On February 20, in commemoration of the late Kurt Cobain’s 55th birthday, a handful of never-before-seen live Nirvana images will go into auction as NFTs via the Pop Legendz website. Those with a cryptocurrency wallet or a credit card can purchase the photos whose bids begin at 67 Ethereum (presently that’s a quarter-million US dollars) for the GIF artworks. There is also an opportunity for the “Nirvana Fan Club,” where limited edition GIF artworks as NFTs, crafted from four images, will be sold at $499 (US) each, plus 150 copies of each of 17 still images will be sold for $99 (US) each, in both black and white and acid-washed color.
Fine. Oddly enough, that’s not the news where Philly is concerned, because these Nirvana’s live images were captured on October 1, 1991 – six days after Nevermind dropped – at the original J.C. Dobbs on South Street, by local photographer Faith West. I’ve had this conversation in the past, so, this one is on me, but I don’t have the dramatic recall of this gig that so many others did. I went to the show, and enjoyed them, but I wasn’t a fanatic for Nirvana or Cobain at that time, nor did I think that my advance of Nevermind was changing my mind that quickly. To this day, I am still far more of a fan of In Utero than I am Nevermind. But that’s me. I never thought that a movie about a shark biting people or an old huge boat sinking would make money. Eh.
West and dosage MAGAZINE got the scoop on how this auspicious live photo jam came to pass.
A.D. Amorosi: What is, was your connection to the Philadelphia area at the time you shot Nirvana? Faith West: I still live in Philadelphia today. I love Philadelphia. I was living in Philadelphia in 1991 and was a fan of the indie rock scene. In October of that year, I was lucky enough to take these photos at J.C. Dobbs when Nirvana took the stage in front of 150 people.
A.D. Amorosi: How did you contract the gig of shooting Nirvana? Working for the pub? Independent? Did you go through Geffen or management?
Faith West: I was friends with Tom Sheehy, the promoter at J.C. Dobbs, who unfortunately passed away in April 2020. He allowed me to stand on the bar to take photos over the heads of the crowd! Back then it was really unusual to show up to a club gig with a camera, but Nirvana had a buzz about them already and I wanted to record the show.
A.D. Amorosi: What did you think of Nirvana before the shoot, and what changed when you shot them?Faith West: I wasn’t sure about Nirvana when I showed up at J.C. Dobbs that night. Nirvana had only released Nevermind six days prior to the show at Dobbs. Nirvana’s earlier album on the SubPop label, Bleach, was better known at the time, and had a grittier sound than Butch Vig’s production on Nevermind. That grittier sound of Bleach made Nirvana less distinctive among grunge bands. At that time the whole Seattle grunge scene was exploding, and there were bands that were considered to be just as promising as Nirvana. Tad, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees and Soundgarden, to name a few… But as soon as I heard the songs from Nevermind from the stage that night, those now-iconic pop hooks, heavy metal bass, and punk-rock guitar licks, delivered with such clarity of purpose and passion, it was clear that rock history was being made. It made me nervous that I was holding a camera. I wanted to get the photos right, to capture this clearly important event.
A.D. Amorosi: What fun circumstances, interactions or events do you recall about the evening?
Faith West: I could hear that Dave Grohl’s backing vocals in the mix were remarkable. Now we all know how terrific a singer he is with Foo Fighters, of course. But it was unusual for a drummer to make that big a vocal contribution to a band, so it stood out. And then there was Kurt’s megawatt smile, plus the fact that he kept checking the active mosh pit in front of him between songs, to make sure everyone was OK. The tragic end of Kurt’s life tends to overshadow how thoughtful he was, and what a great smile he had.
A.D. Amorosi: What are the greatest aspects of the NFT tech when it comes to what you do or hold the rights to?
Faith West: One of the coolest things about NFTs is the royalties that accrue to the original artist over time as the piece increases in value and is sold. Numerous digital artists have quit their day jobs because NFTs finally give them the opportunity to prove authorship of their own work as it changes hands. Additionally, NFTs bring a unique opportunity to merge the fun of trading cards with the record of ownership afforded by art collecting. Most investors know that serious art collecting, which comes with a ledger of all the owners of the artwork, has been the best investment opportunity of the past twenty years. NFTs merge the seriousness and investment potential of art collecting, and its immutable record of ownership, with the fun of collecting art, photography and collectibles for pleasure.
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