Show Review: Grungefest
I've been on a bit of a hiatus recently due to an insanely busy schedule, but I'm back and going to try to keep up with this site in a more effiencient way (hopefully). So without further ado, here is a review on the show Grungefest.
The Bands: Grungefest is a show that includes performances by various 90's grunge tribute bands. Bands included Allison Chains (Alice In Chains), Sliver (Nirvana), Fooz Fighters (Foo Fighters), and Oceans (Pearl Jam).
The Venue: The show was held at The Van Buren in downtown Phoenix.
The Show: We had gotten the tickets to this show for free and I was hesitant to go because sometimes these types of shows can be a little too corny for me, but I decided it could be fun to check out.
Allison Chains was the first band to play. They're an all-female band and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by their performance. While the singer doesn't sound much like Layne Staley (not an easy feat) her range was very similar and she put on a forceful vocal performance. However, the strength of their set was delivered by the rest of the band. Their guitarist's rifts were literally spot on with Jerry Cantrell's, rife with heavy metal licks. Their bassist and drummer were also impressive and overall their performance absolutely brought the feeling of being in a dirty Seattle basement in 1990 - in a good way.
Their best covers were "Man in the Box" and "Nutshell". Nutshell is one of my favorite Alice in Chains songs because it was such a departure from the band's typical style at the time they first performed it and the emotional component is hard to capture, but Allison in Chains did remarkably well in their rendition.
The next band up was Sliver and once again, I got more than I expected. This band clearly takes things seriously, as each one of them were styled in the exact way their particular counterpart would have been. Their lead singer even had the teal Fender guitar Kurt could often be seen playing.
They opened their set with "Lithium" and ended with "Smells Like Teen Spirit," which ironically, is a song I'm not that fond of (Nirvana much better songs than that, but I get why they play it). Their versions of "Come As You Are" and ""In Bloom" were as close to the real thing as you can probably get and they added a few lesser-known songs like "Even In His Youth." All in all, it was a great performance and I would definitely recommend seeing them to any Nirvana fans.
Fooz Fighters followed Sliver. If I'm being honest, I wasn't a huge fan of this band. I like a lot of the 90's Foo Fighters music, but since they're still an active band, the concept of having a tribute band to them just seems a bit silly. We didn't stay for their whole set and I didn't see the band Oceans at all, because I'm sorry, I'm not a huge Pearl Jam fan. I get grief for that often, but I'm just not. That's the wonderful thing about music, everyone reacts to it differently. For me, Eddie Vedder's voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard during a blizzard. It's unintelligible, cold, and generally unpleasant.
Until next time....keep on rocking in the free world.