Pier 48 — Nirvana Live and Loud

Pier 48 on Seattle's Central Waterfront at the foot of Main Street is where Nirvana performed the MTV Live and Loud concert on December 13, 1993. The show was filmed inside the pier's decrepit 120,000-square-foot warehouse along Elliott Bay — a raw, industrial space that matched the energy of the band at their peak.

Live and Loud was pre-recorded for MTV's New Year's Eve broadcast on December 31, 1993. The bill also included Cypress Hill and the Breeders, but it was Nirvana's set that defined the night. The band tore through material from In Utero, which had been released just three months earlier, alongside older songs from Nevermind and Bleach. It was a homecoming show — loud, chaotic, and unapologetic. The full concert was later released on DVD in 2013 as part of the 20th anniversary of In Utero.

The Pier 48 warehouse was demolished in July 2010 to make way for staging during the Alaskan Way Viaduct demolition. The pier itself remains as the last vacant lot on the Seattle waterfront, and the city has plans to reimagine the space. There is nothing to see at the site now, but the waterfront location is publicly accessible and walkable.

Seattle has several Nirvana-related landmarks worth visiting. Reciprocal Recording is where the band recorded Bleach. The Museum of Pop Culture has an extensive Nirvana exhibit. The house where Kurt Cobain died and the last place he was seen alive are also in the city.