Over the weekend, the Bourbon and Beyond festival descended upon Louisville, Kentucky, bringing with it droves of people for some great drinks, great food, and, of course, great music, including an excellent lineup of ’90s alt-rock bands.
I was lucky to get an invite to B&B from the good folks at Angel’s Envy, who were a sponsoring brand of the event. Man, was I excited, because, as a guy who began discovering music in the era when radio alt-rock was on the rise, so many of these bands were formidable for me. I was very excited to see them all live again.
There were just too many great sets to go through them all, and, sadly, there was just no way I could catch ALL of them, but here are five that really stood out, in no particular order…
Marcy Playground
Marcy Playground is just cool, man. They don’t try to assault their fans with visuals and antics; they just have fun and let the music speak for itself.
I was particularly impressed with the way they introduced “Sex and Candy,” making it clear that they know it’s their biggest song and allowing fans to get their phones out so they could film. They did, however, have one request: that the crowd sing along with them, and sing we did.
Collective Soul
I love Collective Soul, so I’ll be the first to confess that it’s hard for me to be unbiased here. Literally, the first note I took on their set was: “Still absolutely fucking rock stars.”
They shredded so hard through their set, playing hits like “Shine” (one of the coolest riffs of all time) and “Heavy,” which made me especially happy because that’s one of my top 5 favorite ’90s rock songs, hands down.
By the end of their set, Collective Soul was basically having church, and the congregation was basking in the rock and roll communion.
Blind melon
There is not one doubt in my mind that he most surprising set of the weekend for me was Blind Melon. They had crazy energy, playing more like ’70s rock revival band than the grunge or ’90s alt sound they’re known for. They had fun, never pandered to nostalgia, and their set was an absolute blast.
Third Eye Blind
I have been a fan of Third Eye Blind from almost the very beginning. Their self-titled debut album was one of the first rock albums I remember buying for myself, and their second album, Blue, is one that I still listen to pretty frequently.
All that to say, once again, I am biased here, and, as a long-time fan, I also have lots of thoughts I’ll just stave for now, but I’ll be damned if those guys don’t get a crowd riled up.
I was thrilled to hear “Graduate,” and by the end, they had the entire crowd with their arms around one another singing “Jumper” (shout out to my new buddy Drew, who belted it out with me). It was a very heartening moment that only TEB could have cultivated.
Pixies
Look, I considered not putting the Pixies on this list, not because of their set — it was a top 5 of the festival for me, by far — only because (and some of you are probably gonna hate this) the majority of the songs I like by them are all from their first couple albums, which came out in the ’80s.
Then, my friend Tom Wilmes pointed out that I actually discovered the Pixes in the ’90s when I was a teenager, so *technically* they make sense here.
And let me tell… holy shit, do Francis and the gang still annihilate. They played everything I could have wanted to hear, and more. “Gouge Away,” “Hey,” “Here Comes Your Man,” “Wave of Mutilation,” “In Heaven…” just so many killer songs.
As I stood about 50 feet back in the crowd, I turned around at one point to witness a sea of people just singing along and moving. It was a religious experience.
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