To ask for your 90s grunge music stories!?

[Chloedancer]

Please indulge me if you're of an age to have seen the 90s grunge bands back in the day! I'm early 30s and deep into a nostalgia-fest about this time I have no memory of (because I was still in nappies...) Have been watching YouTube bootlegs of some insane looking shows including Eddie Vedder jumping all over the place, Layne Staley's insane vocals, Chris Cornell's habitual shirtlessness... it was such a great time for rock music and now they're all in their 50s and I'm sad.
Pearl jam, Soundgarden, mudhoney, nirvana, Alice in chains, sonic youth (I know it's not really grunge), hole, smashing pumpkins, etc... anyone see any of these bands in their 1991-1993 ish heyday? How was it, any gig memories, did you meet them, etc etc....

@graffitiartist I went to Phoenix festival, I remember sitting next to Caitlin Moran on the bus to the site from the train station, I think it was 1993.

Cool!!
Yep- 93. I have the program somewhere- will look!

Just looked at the line up for Phoenix - Sonic youth, Hole, Butthole Surfers (they were brilliant), Silverfish (loved them), Dinosaur Jr, Faith no more, The Wedding Present (insane moshpit), Shonen Knife, senseless things - what a weekend. I have a few photos and I remember Mercury Rev and Consolidated particularly well. House of Pain were annoying very one note.

The 90's was perhaps the last innovative music era. Nothing 'new' has made the same impact as this genre.

If time allows, I'll come back with some grungy tales but I wanted to let you know that the 'Godfathers of Grunge', the Melvins, are still very much active and touring and are worth a look when social distancing allows. Likewise Pixies (but without Kim Deal) tour regularly (you can catch Kim with the Breeders though, also still touring).

Given the bands you mention, I wondered if you've discovered Toadies yet?

m.youtube.com/watch?v=EkwD5rQ-_d4

graffitiartist - yes I went to Phoenix festival, just the once! Can't remember the precise year, but do remember it was BOILING and I saw Leftfield, The Prodigy and Bjork..I think?

And also saw Nirvana at Reading on that muddy Sunday night, memories are very hazy though

He he- I wish I could "like" posts!!

@Quackersandcheese3

No stories as such. I love a bit of grunge but don’t like listening to it too often because I feel my teenage angst kicking off again! I’m 36 ffs.

I'm same age as you and listen to Nirvana on the school run and feel all deep and angsty. Until the DC pipe up and tell me to stop singing.

My 7yo dd told me to turn off the nirvana mtv unplugged because his voice sounded “horrible”! (Oddly she enjoyed snippets of AiC unplugged... I think it was Layne’s pink hair)

I am also having a revival as both my kids are into the music but more of the punk bands like Green Day etc but they also like Nirvana - went to many Reading & Glastonbury festivals including ‘92 which was a highlight as Nirvana played - hoping to take them to see Green Day next year COVID depending

Didn’t get to see Nirvana live, or Butthole Surfers, but off the top of my head have seen:

Babes in Toyland x3
L7 x3
Smashing Pumpkins x3
Sonic Youth x3
Mudhoney x3
Melvins x2
Soundgarden x2
Alice in Chains with Duvell x2
Pearl Jam x2
Hole
Courtney Love solo
Flipper
Bikini Kill
Dinosaur Jr

@Pixiemeat wow! was that all in the U.K.?

I have a scar on my knee from climbing through Nirvana's dressing room window at Glasgow QMU in November 91. Dave Grohl gave me a plaster from the first aid kit and a beer :)

Dinosaur Jr and Mudhoney still my grunge faves though.

@Chloedancer Yep! 😊

Also plenty of bands not quite grunge but thereabouts -Shellac, Kristin Hersh, Queen Adreena, Sebadoh, Pixies etc

We used to refer to the more melodic grunge as munge...

Nice to see Queen Adreena mentioned @Pixiemeat. Cold Fish is one of my favourite songs of all time.

Was lucky enough to see Katie with Daisy Chainsaw supporting Hole (with Therapy as special guests at ULU (tiny venue)).

MsRinky!!!!! Wow

I got my finger dislocated watching Rage Against the Machine at the Feile 1994 (for any Irish posters who are familiar with that one). The crowd were jumping up and down and the guy in front of me jumped out of sync and caught my hand. Oh, the pain.

When the husband and I reminisce about grunge we always end up doing the 'is he/she dead?'. And it's depressing how often they are. Mind you, we were convinced for years that Jerry Cantrell was dead and he's not...must have been mixing him up with Layne Staley.

@everythingbackbutyou I think I was only a year older, first time I stayed away from home without a responsible adult!

And my 12 year old recently asked for my old turntable after stumbling across my vinyl collection in the attic. I went up to her room and she was rocking out to a Nirvana B side, and asked me if I had any Sonic Youth!! Proud parenting moment.

Grunge IS my Uni days , 91-94. I lived and breathed Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Nirvana L7, Hole, RHCP etc. Most of the other students were into Britpop/Manchester. But I lived for Grunge! And I lived in short dresses and DMs. I've seen Pearl Jam about 6-7 times in my life now but the best one was actually Milton Keynes c.2013. It was outdoors and I had a really great view. They still got it!

I was into rock as an 80s teen - Bon Jovi etc (cringe), but as soon as Grunge turned up they just blew all them out of the water. The 90s bands were all about the music and lyrics, no stupid hairspray, naked chicks, etc. I haven't looked back since.

@BinkyBoinky tell me about some of your pj recollections!! And did you ever see any of those other bands??

(Can you tell I’m avoiding work right now......)

There's not much I can say about the music from that time that hasn't already been said (and yes, Buffalo Tom were excellent and I still listen to them) - but I just wanted to say that I feel incredibly lucky to have had my formative teenage years at that time. Such amazing fun, freedom and really strong female role models. Fashion was about looking cool rather than sexy for the boys and hardly any cameras around to capture my youthful (i.e. drunken) mistakes.

Does anyone remember Donita from L7 whipping out her tampon on The Word, though?!!

I saw Pearl Jam live back in 1996. I've seen them in recent years as well but the energy was totally different back in the 90's

Does anyone remember Donita from L7 whipping out her tampon on The Word, though?!!

I do! That was quite the event!

I'm also glad to have been young at that time, it was a golden age as far as I'm concerned.