If one of your favorite outings is to gather with 300 of your music-loving friends and rock out to The Seattle Sound for several hours, then you understand the ingredients for a perfect experience!

Obviously a show like that needs fans and bands. But there is more to it, and I’ll bring that up later.

On Saturday May 20th, The Tractor Tavern hosted 90s Night – and brought Wicked Garden, Outshined, and Washed In Black to their stage for sharing the epic music of Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam. And the show sold out!

A solid wall of music lovers makes for a group that seems to ebb and flow like one giant organism. A Grunge Amoeba if you will; singular in its pursuit of music and the enjoyment thereof. The crowd is truly part of the experience when these band team up to pay a worthy Grunge tribute; the interaction of the bands and the crowd just feels right, as if that giant Grunge Amoeba is assimilating the singers as they hold the mic out over the masses – or when the musicians stand on a PA to get closer to the people who love them so much. This creates The Seattle Symbiosis.

Don’t laugh; it’s science!

Wicked Garden opened the show with their high-energy music from Stone Temple Pilots; while STP wasn’t from Seattle, they still hold a cherished place in the hearts of local fans for embodying musical edginess, an infectious groove, and heavy HEAVY fuzz.

Their stage craft is dead-on, and the music is as powerful as a fan would expect. I’ve been chasing after Wicked Garden now for eight years; their show just keeps getting better and better!

Outshined followed up Wicked Garden with their on-point celebration of Soundgarden’s music. Vocal duties were shared that night between guest Aisha Elmehdaoui of the band AISHA. and Keven James Hoffman.

Both vocalists have power throughout their broad range, and bring out the nuances of Soundgarden’s music and lyrics so easily. The band was a tight squad that kept the Grunge Amoeba swaying and swelling throughout the set.

Finishing out the show for the night was Washed In Black – paying homage to one of the most prolific rock bands in modern times!

With a solid set of classics that shared the magical sauce that made Pearl Jam famous, Washed In Black performed with all the energy and charisma that came with the shows of the early 1990s (without the rafter climbing though LOL). As a longtime listener – I always hear Mother Love Bone in the licks; but there’s more to it – an organic entity with its own sense of melody, subject and detail. MLB is always in their mix, but as an worthy addition to what the resulting band created after the death of Andrew Wood.

Washed In Black understands the importance of this music, and the work that goes into bringing to the fans continuously. Like Wicked Garden and Outshined, WIB flat-out nailed it that night.

The only way to truly know The Grunge Amoeba is to be part of it. The science of bringing together fans who move and celebrate in unison and the bands who they love is a true gift. It’s likely no one has coined the term Grunge Amoeba before me; I better register it asap, because these bands will be playing again soon!

Love you all. See you at the stage!