It might be a bit difficult for those who feel like it was just yesterday to admit, but 90s music has now achieved classic status. One genre that stands out is grunge — the Seattle sounds of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains have left a lasting mark on music history.
A new age of music
On Saturday, November 16th, Back 40 will pay tribute to the grunge greats.
“It's an amazing period in music,” says Scott Bell, a member of the Back 40 board and a band member of Faces for Radio, a group that will perform Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots music on Saturday. “We usually do tribute shows for eras from the 60s and 70s, even 80s, but music really changed in the early 90s with the grunge movement, so we thought it was time to pay tribute to those amazing artists.”
Bell says that within the Back 40 board and outside of it, there has been interest in doing a grunge show for a while. BK of BK & the Bad Habits is one of the musicians who is enthusiastic about the idea.
BK's group will tackle Nirvana on Saturday.
“Nirvana has always been [my] favourite band, so that falls right into place,” he says. “We've been trying to do [a grunge show] and we don't have the facilities to do it, but luckily the Back 40 folks came along and said, ‘Hey, we're doing this, would you guys want to be a part of it?’ and [that was] music to our ears.”
Back 40’s grunge show takes place at the P.W. Enns Centennial Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, $20, can be purchased online here or at the box office at the Meridian Exhibition Centre.
Songs from a formative time
In addition to Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, and Nirvana, Saturday’s show will also feature music from Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Liz Phair, and Neil Young. For Bell, these 90s groups are linked to a different stage of life for him and his bandmates.
“Given the vintage of the people in the band, this was the music we were listening to in university. It kind of just hit when we all graduated high school and then all of a sudden, these bands exploded,” he says. “[It’s] music that meant a lot to me. It was the music I was learning when I started playing in bands.”
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For Bell, preparing to play grunge hits has been a learning process that has added to his appreciation for the groups.
“[The songs] are surprisingly hard to play, like rhythmically complex, lots of fast riffs, and over top of that some pretty stunning vocals, so just the challenge of the music has been kind of the main thing we've been paying attention to for this show to make sure we get it right,” he says. “Maybe that's part of the skill of the songwriting of these musicians. They do make it sound simple, but it’s actually quite advanced musically. It’s pretty cool that way.”
Just as the rise of grunge is memorable for Bell, it is for BK, too.
“After hearing Nirvana [as a kid], it changed everything,” he says, adding that "Lithium" is one of the songs he’s most looking forward to performing. “That's how I feel about grunge music. It killed the old people's music and in came our music.”
For BK, an added dimension of Saturday's show is the challenge of performing with a talented group of musicians.
“It's almost like a competition too, because you're going up with the best of the best,” he says. “You better bring your A-game or you're going to get washed. That's how I kind of think about it.”
As for the setlist from BK & The Bad Habits, expect the hits.
“We're actually going to try to do the big ones so people can't go up there and complain that these guys did B-sides and whatnot,” says BK. “If you like Nirvana, we're going to give you the big Nirvana songs.”
The nostalgic music on Saturday will be delivered by a thriving group of musicians who enjoy watching others perform as much as they enjoy performing themselves.
“The fun in these shows is backstage, hanging out, watching each other's bands playing, having opportunities to touch base with people you haven't seen in a while — there's a really great local music scene, and so you're among friends,” says Bell. “Everyone's supporting each other. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and I think the audience picks up on that.”
To keep up to date on other Back 40 events as they approach, see the board's website.
~With files from Ty Hildebrand~