Sub Pop from the Inside: 20 Years, 5 Essential Gigs

Tad - Central Tavern, Seattle (1990)

Un-fucking-believable; just this heavy motherfucker making the heaviest music I’ve ever heard. I remember watching him play and thinking ‘I so desperately need to live here and stay here’. I moved to Seattle two months later; this was my selling point.

Nirvana - The Off Ramp, Seattle (1990)

This was right before Nevermind came out and they wouldn’t stop playing. So at 2 o’clock they locked everybody in the club - which is not legal – they played for hours, I think I got home around 3:30. There was just this feeling, like everyone knew that something special was about to happen for them, and it was almost as though they needed to get it out of their system.

The Shins - The Bowery Ballroom, New York (2003)

To see The Shins play the Bowery ballroom in New York City when Chutes Too Narrow came out, it felt like a really special moment. It was like one of those rites of passage, they sold out this club – it’s a killer room for bands to play at – and when you sell that out the next venue is significantly bigger.

Pissed Jeans - Khyber Pass, Philadelphia (2005)

A shitty little pub in Philadelphia, I saw Pissed Jeans play here and it was like a breath of fresh air. Actually, it was probably more like air from a dumpster, but it was exactly what I needed at the time. I felt so energised and excited to see that show, for as much as I love Iron and Wine, The Shins and the Postal Service, this was Black Flag guitars, screaming and a hell of a show – so irreverent in so many ways.

Band of Horses - Carnegie Hall, New York (2008)

This literally brought me to tears. To see them in that venue was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen, they’ve so much developed what they are. The first time I saw them play, Ben [Bridwell, vocals / guitar] was so fucking shy; he couldn’t really look at the audience, his microphone was falling over and his songs were just pieced together, but he just had that incredible voice.