Smells Like Alternative

The west coast got lots of action this past weekend by some of my favorite 90’s acts, so let’s have a quick wrap up of the festivities.

On Saturday night, July 12, VH1 honored legendary rockers The Who with performances by the Foo Fighters, the Flaming Lips, Incubus, Tenacious D, Pearl Jam and of course The Who at the Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA in L.A . There were also a slew of celebrities at the event, which also raised over a million bucks for various charities.

Foo Fighters kicked the night off with their renditions of “Young Man Blues” and “Bargain”, which also featured Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes. The Flaming Lips then brought back their take on a Tommy medley that included “Pinball Wizard” and “See Me Feel Me”.

Incubus followed the Lips with “I Can See For Miles” and “I Can’t Explain”. Funnymen Jack Black and Kyle Gass delivered an acoustic version of “Squeeze Box”. Finally, Pearl Jam closed the tribute performances with “Love Reign O’er Me” and their first crack at “The Real Me”, both included the addition of a string section. The Who then concluded the night with their own hit filled set.

You can check out some great pics from the event right here, which include some sweet shots of Vedder with Tenacious D and Gave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins and Matt Cameron hanging out. Don’t forget to catch the show this Thursday, July 17, on VH1, VH1 Classic and MHD beginning at 9 p.m.

The other big event this past weekend was the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary bash at Seattles’ Marymoor Park.

Mudhoney and The Vaselines (the band that Kurt Cobain loved and covered 3 times with “Molly’s Lips”, “Son of a Gun” and “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For a Sunbeam”) seemed to have stolen the show. However, there was also that little Green River reunion to make the event that much cooler, man, I bet Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard were beat!

Check out Billbaord’s review of all the fun in Seattle.

Here’s a live performance of Green River’s return from Sub Pop’s 20th Anniversary. Enjoy!

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