Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Day 222 House of Blues - Cleveland, Ohio-90’s Grunge Experience


I think that I missed the whole 90’s grunge music era. I was stuck in the 80’s during the 90’s except for the songs that hit the top 40 charts.  Since this blog is  all about trying something new, I accepted an invitation to “The 90’s Grunge Experience" at the Cleveland House of Blues to hear three 90’s tribute bands:  Hollow (playing Alice in Chains), Seven Circle Sunrise  (playing Nirvana) and STP2 (playing Stone Temple Pilots). I thought that it might be fun to experience  the music  of  an era that seemed to have passed me by!


Hollow playing Alice in Chains tribute

As I said in Day 220, tribute bands  are popular because they give fans the live musical experience that they crave  but that they can no longer have.  In this 90’s grunge genre,  several  bands’  lead singers  met an early demise and thus there was an early end to the music.  The bands  “Alice in Chains” and “Stone Temple Pilots” lost Layne Staley and Scott Weiland  from drug use in 2002 and 2015 respectively, and  Kurt Cobain of “Nirvana” from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1994.  The music now lives on with  tribute  bands. 

Seven Circle Sunrise 
Hollow played Alice in Chains hits like, “Man in the Box” and “Rooster”. I have to admit that I did not  remember most of their songs,  but I enjoyed the energy from the crowd as they were played.  Seven Circle Sunrise's  music set included  Nirvana’s  “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “All Apologies” and “Come As You Are”. This band seemed to have a following and they also played some good originals. I was impressed with their fantastic female drummer.

STP2

STP2, Mick Blankenship
STP2 not only recreated the sound of Stone Temple Pilots with songs like  “Interstate Love Song”, “Sex Type Thing” and “Plush” but they had the stage presence of the original band.  SPT2’s lead singer, Mick Blankenship, made at least 4 costume changes and  he even  wore  lipstick and women’s attire  reenacting the  “shock value” trademark of rock icon  Scott Weiland for the audience.

The House of Blues is a great intimate setting to hear bands (see events).   The  Cleveland House of Blues  has theater seating in the  upper  balcony or you can get VIP seating for  a few dollars more,  which I recommend for the stage view and food and bar service.  Also, I have to admit that the food was much better than I expected. We tried the Cajun popcorn shrimp and chicken wrap which were both  excellent.

It was fun to “rock in the 90’s”  for the  first time in 2017 thanks to these tribute bands and the House of Blues' “90’s Grunge Experience"!

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