The Day Seattle Died

Many people do not realise that April 5th is a significant day in this Grunge Rock history. The reason being is, that April the 5th was the day that both Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley, sadly, left us. Different years (1994 & 2002), but coincidentally the same date. For those of you that already knew, you will appreciate that it is a sad time of year for die-hard Grunge Fans around ‘the day that Seattle died.’

Music has always been an ever-evolving beast, from rock and roll in the 50’s, psychedelia in the 60’s, disco and punk in the 70’s and electronic music in the 80’s…then something happened in the air over a town in the north of the USA…perhaps a touch from the Rock Gods? Whatever it was, a new movement began to grow in Seattle, which became a seedbed for some truly astonishing new music by extraordinary musicians with other-worldly lead vocalists.

Spearheaded by a meteoric rise of a local 3 piece that you may have heard of…Nirvana…other bands rode the wave and became global stars themselves; particularly Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. And so Grunge was born…not so much a ‘sound’ (although Seattle Sound has been used to describe it) but a collective movement, all hailing from the same remarkable breeding ground. Some have even said…that Grunge is in the soul, not the sound!

Like many musical movements, some fantastic music was produced and many fans acquired, but perhaps one of the truly great things about this new music was the power of the vocalists…truly iconic voices. Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder – do we need to go on?! All playing in the same town (OK, grunge purists – we know Eddie wasn’t technically from that area). What was in the water there?!

Sadly, we have lost many of these star talents far too early. Many of us remember where we were when we heard the news that Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley had died. More recently, we’ve suffered the grief of losing Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots) and tragically Chris Cornell last year. Even before all of these, Andy Wood from Mother Love Bone; the pre-cursor band for Pearl Jam. Many people have joked about bubble wrapping Eddie Vedder, but perhaps it’s not such a bad idea. We’ve lost too many already.

Whilst we acknowledge that April 5th is a sad time of year for Grunge Fans, our band likes to get out and gig around this time, to help celebrate the lives of the late greats.

Grungecase – celebrating the lives of Layne Staley and Kurt Cobain.

We are honoured to be playing The Sussex Music Festival (SMF) again this year. Partly as a Showcase (or Grungecase) for bands playing at the festival this year, they have joined us in organising a gig to celebrate the lives & music of the legends that we lost, on the 5th of April! What better way to remember KURT COBAIN & LAYNE STAYLEY than by playing their music…LIVE & LOUD!

The night will feature three of the hottest new original grunge acts around, who will be paying tribute to NIRVANA and ALICE IN CHAINS,  but at the same time reassuring you that Seattle Sound is very much alive and well!

SMF Grungecase – 5th April – Line Up

From Fire – will be the first band to be slapping the audience around the ears as they open the night with their badass blend of alternative rock and epic melody-driven sounding songs. These boys are local to Guildford, and we can’t wait to see them rocking the Star!

Echoes in Red – from West Sussex, Echoes in Red are a solid three piece hard rock band, creating highly accessible hard rock sounds, with soaring choruses and melodies. For fans of Nirvana, QOTSA, Dinosaur Pile-up, Foo Fighters, Royal Blood and many more. These guys are also rocking the Sussex Music Festival this year, and boy, are they an electric act to catch!