The magnolia blooms so sweet

Mark Lanegan rolled into town with his band earlier this month as part of his solo European tour, playing the Electric Ballroom in Camden.

In grunge terms Lanegan is probably best known as the lead singer of Screaming Trees, a band that brought a warm-toned, psychedelic-inflected spin to the burgeoning early 90s Seattle scene.

Where the most interesting stuff happens…

Tuatara. Barrett Martin is, umm, he’s, errr, you figure it out.

With his jazz background, Barrett Martin has always been a different type of drummer to other well-known Seattle mainstays wielding their drumsticks: during his time in Screaming Trees and with Mad Season, he revealed his ear for tribal rhythms, never better exemplified than how live he added extra depth, groove and propulsion to the lengthy jam of ‘All Alone’ and ‘November Hotel’ from the latter band’s timeless Above album.

Understands the weather of the winter on its way

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Radio Seattle are back on the road again – for me it’s quite a short road, as we’re playing tonight at the Railway Tavern in Crouch End (my own leafy north London enclave).

We’re there for John’s 40th birthday bash, but all are welcome, and we’ll be on 9pm-ish. We’re debuting a couple of new songs: there’s a clue in the post title for one of them…

Did you hear the distant cry

As you’ve probably guessed from the poster, Radio Seattle are back in action this month. We’re thrilled to be supporting Pearl Jem for two of their tour dates, upstairs at the Islington O2 on Wednesday 10 September, and at the Waterfront in Norwich on Saturday 13 September. Along with being top blokes they are an excellent Pearl Jam tribute act.

You could do anything

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The August Bank Holiday has swung round with its usual, startling annual regularity, so that means it’s time again for the Reading Festival (these days strictly the Reading and Leeds festival, doubtless brought to you by some bland and ubiquitous corporate lager – the spirit of alt rock endures). This year’s main stage headliners are Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys and Blink 182. (Blink 182 headlining? For the second time?!?)

Inevitably, as a greying fortysomething nostalgist blogging about music that was most in vogue twenty years ago, without even a madeleine moment my mind drifts back to Readings past. I’ve just spent a few minutes losing myself in these old line-ups, both the festivals I attended (92, 94, 98, 03) and those I missed (err, the others).

Get me to the stage – it brings me home again

Radio Seattle, the band attached to this blog, are looking for a new lead vocalist. It’s with regret that we announce that we have parted company with our singer, Dave. His time in Radio Seattle has been a pleasure for us all and he’s contributed greatly to the band’s growth in the last 18 months.

Radio Seattle will of course continue, so we’re busily looking for a new singer. We’re based in London and play songs by the bands you’d expect from looking at this blog: Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Winger, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden…

Radio-shed!

Radio Seattle are playing tonight (19.10.12) at The Shed, Leicester.

Tickets £5, we’re on at 8.30pm with some of grunge’s finest songs for your delight and delectation.

Demos

Right, we have a couple of demos for your delight and delectation!

Go to the Demos tab, and click on our covers of classic grunge songs by Stone Temple Pilots and Screaming Trees.

We recorded the two songs in rehearsal on 16-01-12. Richard carefully placed a his recording device in the optimal sound position in the rehearsal room… ok, we stuck a mike in the middle of the room and pressed record. Zeek then topped and tailed the files and made a few minor tweaks to the overall sound. One-track technology at its finest.

So please allow for the, err, raw feel of the songs, but we think they sound pretty damn good for what they are, and hopefully they give you a taste of how we’re getting on!

We’re going to record some demos in a grown-up manner in the coming months.

Here we are now, entertain us

Welcome to my blog, a collection of ramblings on all matters grunge.

I’m the guitarist in a grunge covers band based in London. We’re still in the chrysalis stage, and will be gigging from early 2012. Once we get out of the rehearsal room, I’ll try to post photos, setlists, maybe live tracks.

What was grunge? Cue much chin-stroking… I’ll posit (and post) my own thoughts in the coming months. But with this month marking both the 20th anniversary of Nevermind and the release of PJ20, it’s as though checked shirts, goatees and ti-dye leggings never went away.

And what great music come out of (or was influenced by) the early 90s Seattle scene: Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees, Mother Love Bone, Mudhoney, Citizen Dick…