Concerts: Part 1

Concerts Part 1: Classic and Grunge

Classic makes plans with Grunge to see a Heart concert at the civic center, where she reminisces about her past.

CULTURAL REFERENCES

1. The drug Classic is on at the King Crimson show is crystal meth, which makes people see dragons. Normally drugs like these were taken to enhace concert experiences. This is unusual for someone like Classic because the hippies of that time were against methamphetamines, but Classic was willing to try anything at least once.

2. Heart was originally from Seattle, the same city that Grunge hails from. Although Heart is an American band, they recorded their first album "Dreamboat Annie" living in Canada.

3. Burt Sugarman's "Midnight Special" was a live musical variety show that aired after The Tonight Show on NBC in the 1970's. The show aired many famous musical acts as well as a few stand-up comedians.

*Here's a link of Heart on the Midnight Special, so you have an idea on what it was like! www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoZUQ0…

4. Beaded curtains were popular in the 60's and 70's. They were hung in place of a door and they could be really loud at times.

5. Classic's friend Grace gets her name from Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane. Not the same person though.

6. "The Boston Garden" (or simply the Garden) was an arena in Boston, home to several famous rock bands. It was demolished somewhere in the 1990's.

7. "Magic Man" was the first track of the album "Dreamboat Annie", which is why they played it first in the show.

8. Ann Wilson recorded guest vocals on Alice in Chains' second studio EP "Sap". Specifically, the choruses of "Brother" and "Am I Inside".

9. "Stay Away" is the title of a Nirvana song.



AUTHORS NOTE

I saw an hour block of classic rock music videos on VH1 Classic. I was suprised to find the first song they played was "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvava. I thought "When did they become classic rock?" and "How could a song that came out the year I was born, be considered "classic"?" I thought about it and I guess it had been innovative long enough for them to be considered classic rock, but because of the dramatic shift in rock music since the 90's, some grunge fans might not see it fit. That's why Classic wanted to give Grunge a hug, and Grunge resisted. It's also noted that Heart's "Bad Animals" studio helped kickstart the Seattle music scene, with bands like Soundgarden, Candlebox, and R.E.M. recording there.