2 different shows at 2 different venues on 1 night!

Friday the 13th is a day which superstitions hold to be either good or bad luck. This year, November 13 just happens to fall on a friday, but luck would definitely be on our side in Seattle. Originally, we were only going to do the 3 hour drive to see The Pixies in concert, until we discovered that there would be another show in town just down the road that same night, Mudhoney. Why are these 2 legendary bands playing on the same night in the same city but at different places? Would it be possible to catch both shows? I’ve never seen 2 separate shows on the same night at 2 different venues before, especially 2 bands of this calibre, so this would be some accomplishment. We are ambitious enough to make the attempt.

3:30pm
-I take off from work early to meet Clayton in downtown and pick up the van
4:45pm
-We struggle past traffic to pick up Steph in Langley
5:15pm
-Touring Van drives through downtown Langley for the first time ever
6:00pm
-Approach the Aldergrove border crossing for the US. There is zero traffic.
7:00 to 7:30pm
-Driving through an intense rain storm and monsoon near Skagit County
8:00pm
-Stop at Wendy’s for a quick bite. Overweight American families on display here.
8:30pm
-Arrived in Seattle and quickly find parking
8:45pm
-Enter The Paramount Theatre, a lovely concert hall
9:00pm
-The lights go off and the screens light up with clips from the film “Un chien andalou”
9:05pm
-The Pixies take the stage with a number of b-sides starting with “Dancing The Manta Ray”
9:20pm
-They go into “Debaser” and march through the entire Doolittle album in order
10:10pm
-“Gouge Away” is played and the band leaves the stage
10:15pm
-They return to the stage for the encore and play “Wave of Mutilation” for the second time in the show
10:40pm
-The last notes of “Where is my mind?” are played and the show ends

10:50pm
-We pick up the van and drive several blocks up Pike Street to the next venue and find parking
11:15pm
-We enter Neumos, a very cool looking little place. Tad is already on stage ripping it up
11:20pm
-Check out the merch stand for this release party for the book “Grunge” featuring photographs by Michael Lavine and text by Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth.
11:35pm
-Waiting patiently, sipping on a couple of beers, with a perfect view of the stage, until a giant 6’4″ 300lb asshole decides to stand in front of us blocking the view for all 3 of us. We adjust our positions
11:45pm
-Mudhoney hits the stage for a ripping set beginning with “The Money Will Roll Right In”
11:45pm to 1:00am
-Crowd is going nuts and moshing as if it was 1989. The band is on fire.
1:15am
-Mudhoney finally runs out of energy and the show is over, we are completely drained out and dead tired.
1:30am
-Eat yummy hot dogs outside of Neumos
2:00am
-Roll into the van and drive out to Wallmart parking where we sleep in the van for the night

Rolling into Neumos, with a full crowd on hand and Tad on stage already, was an electrifying experience. We had just been blown away by an awesome performance from The Pixies, who had a huge influence on alternative rock music in the late 80s leading into the early 90s, and now we are in the midst of a Grunge party, headlined by one of the biggest and original grunge bands there is, Mudhoney. This is what it must have been like in Seattle in the early 90s, where people would just go from venue to venue to see quality bands all night long. In the crowd, I spot many musicians from the Seattle scene during that era. I can’t put names to them, but definitely recognize faces from the movie “Hype”. It was very surreal to be in this environment, almost like a dream.

A few weeks ago, a little Seattle music history took place in Los Angeles, when Chris Cornell and Jerry Cantrell joined Pearl Jam on stage at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal Studios for a reunion of grunge icons. On friday the 13th, we witnessed 2 of the major influences largely responsible for the grunge movement in the very city that it began in. After the last show of the night, I suggest that we had 4 hours to get to Perth, Australia to make it to our a 3rd show of the night, Pearl Jam at the Members Equity Stadium. Now that would have been some achievement.