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....

Didn't see the Pixies the first time around, but did see them at Reading in 2005 with Kim and at Primavera about 10 years later with another bassist - Paz Lechantin, I think. I preferred them with Kim cos I love her, but they were fun both times.

I have an urge to listen to Where Is My Mind? now.

I'm 'that' age.
I've seen nirvana, mudhoney, sonic youth, dinosaur jr etc many many times. They were some of the best gigs I've ever been to and I feel bloody lucky to have seen so many amazing bands.

Apparently it also makes me 100% the 'coolest' mum, so that's a bonus

Great to hear so many personal stories and memories. Fwiw, I think bands were just more accessible then - they were more than happy to hang out after a gig and have a beer, no massive egos were in the way of connecting with their " fans". I especially love to see how many of you were into girl fronted bands - hole, bikini kill, l7, babes etc. My fellow riot grrrrls!

hello! I was at Reading in 91, 92 and 94 and went to the Big Day Out in Australia in 93. It's a bit hazy now, but I think I was at Glastonbury in 95 or 6 and again in 97??

Highlights were Carter USM, who were on before the headliners James, but no one wanted Carter to leave and were chanting We hate James, the L7 tampon incident, the Kurt in a wheelchair incident, The Foo Fighters in the tent (how crushed?!), The Offspring, Ash flying in by helicopter having just finished their GCSEs, sitting on some guys shoulders to watch The Cure, discovering The Prodigy, Evan Dando (phwoar!) playing an acoustic set, getting groped whilst watching the Chillies, getting crushed watching The Wonderstuff, splitting my lip moshing to Ned's Atomic Dustbin... so many happy memories!

I really regretted having never seen the Pixies and then they kindly came down to the Eden Project, where I finally got to see them. The weirdest thing happened too, I found myself down at the front standing next to my ex who had been the one to introduce me to them when I was 17! It was all fairly surreal!

I still see the Pixies live whenever I can. Of all the bands I've seen live, they are my favourite. Some brilliant bands just die when they're live on stage. One example is the band Interpol. What a great band! I've seen them live several times but they kinda suck live, tbh. But the Pixies! God that band is just amazing. Black Francis is a force to be reckoned with.
The 90s... I used to see Sonic Youth live a lot. Pavement too. I regret never seeing Nirvana because I really loved that band.
This is such a boast (because he's really gorgeous) but I had a brilliant fling with Brian Bell from Weezer (not grunge, but since we're talking 90s). I wasn't even really a Weezer fan at all. I just thought, "That one! I want that one!" and crazily enough, I got that one. It was great fun. I was like 21 years old. He'd probably shrivel up and run away crying if he saw the state of me now.

L7's Shitlist is still one of my favourite Angry Tracks!

@TheVanguardSix

L7's Shitlist is still one of my favourite Angry Tracks!

Haha min e too ! Everyone needs their own shit list 😁

@Bluesheep8

Just read more of the thread...I saw Babes In Toyland in Stoke in 1992 or 93, Jacobs Mouse were the support band.

I was there, snuck out the house underage and parents thought I was "listening to music". Well, I didn't lie...

@TheVanguardSix love it! I always liked weezer!!

Was '92 at The Wheatsheaf, looks a little different nowadays :(

I’m very jealous of those of you who actually got to meet some of these bands. This thread has also inspired me to listen to some Mudhoney who somehow passed me by - I think I was a bit too young to really appreciate them in the early nineties.

Also, I really recommend Chris Cornell’s cover of Patience by Guns N Roses - amazing vocals!

@Clytemnestra2 also Chris Cornell doing nothing compares 2 u. What a voice.

*simplysteve

Was '92 at The Wheatsheaf, looks a little different nowadays*

Happy memories, albeit vague of that gig. Was in my 1st year at university

DH and I have a long standing debate on which version of Billie Jean is the better. Chris Cornell all the way for me! 

On the back of this thread (thanks @Chloedancer) I'm now suggesting we spend my 40th in Seattle next year

@nuggles apparently there’s a grunge tour called Stalking Seattle where they take you to all the places! Must- do

@Chloedancer that definitely sounds like a must do, thanks for that. Have added it to my list 😀

Loving this thread, so many great memories and such great music.
I wasn’t a pure grunge fan but did love Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead amongst others. Sixth form common room jukebox was full of grunge.

I was at Phoenix festival in 1994 and saw REM play in Huddersfield in 1995 with the Beautiful south as support.

The 90s was such a groundbreaking era for music. Nothing has come close since. Grunge plus Indie plus trip hop and rap.

I’m still a huge fan of New Order, the Stone Roses, The Charlatans, The Mondays, Inspiral Carpets etc. Manchester girl through and through.
I’ve lost count of how many gigs I’ve been to.
Anyone else on here go to many raves/rave clubs in the 90s?
I remember being in too many at a very young age (first sneaked into our local rave club age 15!).
Saw Jamiroquai at the Hacienda in June 1993 too. They played then it turned back into a dance all nighter afterwards. What a night.

I agree too with others about the fashion and beauty of the time. We wore ripped 501s, suede jackets, docs, tea dresses and some ‘smaller’ stuff for raves. I can remember shopping for vintage stuff at Afflecks Palace and other vintage shops around.
Girls were gorgeous without all the fillers, fake tan, boob jobs, lips, hair extensions.
Hair was loose and wavy, make-up was natural and a bit ‘Kate Moss’ barely there. We didn’t need to try to hard.

Anyone else on here go to many raves/rave clubs in the 90s?

Oooo just one or two I also hit every major club in Ibiza in the 90s, which developed by deep-seated love for trance music. I want to go back but DP says I'm too old.

You're comments about dress, makeup and girls stands out too. There was a timeless elegance.

@Bluesheep8

*simplysteve

Was '92 at The Wheatsheaf, looks a little different nowadays*

Happy memories, albeit vague of that gig. Was in my 1st year at university

:)

My family's heritage is tied up in that building. I still get pissed off when I drive past and see the marks left from my great-great-grandad's statue removal. Grrr.

Ahhh 501s! I bought a pair of secondhand grey ones in Seattle, with “36 inside leg, so ultra-stylish with double turn-ups! I wore them to death. Also another pair that I cut off into shorts. Worn with MASSIVE checked shirt and metal tshirt. And converse all stars.

Apparently it was very obvious that I was European!

And I was occasionally mistaken for a bloke.

And wot about the Oasis in Brum? I loved that place. Spent many a happy Saturday afternoon bimbling round there with a friend, buying tie-dye leggings, thigh length boots, etc.

Got my ears and my nose pierced there too, both very exciting rites of passage.

Am I the only person on this thread who used to love Mercury Rev?

@ScottIansEyebrows LOVED Oasis in Brum! I used to get the train and we'd spend ages mooching around there!