Editing Grunge (section)

== Concerts ==
[[File:Pearl Jam Philadelphia 2016 01.JPG|thumb|alt=A male bassist, Jeff Ament, playing upright bass in a concert. He is seated in front of several large, tall speaker cabinets.|Grunge concerts, like the heavy metal, punk rock, and hardcore shows that influenced grunge's development, were loud. Pictured is [[Pearl Jam]]'s bassist [[Jeff Ament]] in front of a wall of [[Bass amplifier|bass stacks]].]]
Grunge concerts were known for being straightforward, high-energy performances. Grunge shows were "celebrations, parties [and] carnivals", where the audience expressed its spirit by stagediving, [[moshing]] and thrashing.<ref name="Henderson, Justin 2016">Henderson, Justin. ''Grunge: Seattle''. Roaring Forties Press, 2016. Ch. 5</ref> Simon Reynolds states that in "... some of the most masculine forms of rock—[[thrash metal]], grunge, moshing becomes a form of surrogate combat" in which "male bodies" can contact in the "sweat-and-bloodbath" of the moshpit.<ref>Reynolds, Simon. ''The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion, and Rock 'n' Roll''. Harvard University Press, 1996. p. 109</ref> As with punk shows, grunge "performances were about frontmen who screamed and jumped around on stage and musicians who thrashed wildly on their instruments."<ref name=popmatters>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.popmatters.com/column/148702-was-grunge-the-last-american-musical-revolution/ |title=Was Grunge the Last American Musical Revolution? |last=Whitaker |first=Dave |date=October 3, 2011 |magazine=PopMatters |access-date=January 29, 2017}}</ref> While grunge lyrical themes focused on "angst and rage", the audience at shows were positive and created a "life-affirming" attitude.<ref name="Henderson, Justin 2016" /> Grunge bands rejected the complex and high budget presentations of many mainstream musical genres, including the use of complex digitally controlled light arrays, pyrotechnics, and other visual effects then popular in "[[hair metal]]" shows. Grunge performers viewed these elements unrelated to playing the music. Stage acting and "onstage theatrics" were generally avoided.<ref name="Gina Misiroglu 2015. p. 343" />

Instead the bands presented themselves as no different from minor local bands. Jack Endino said in ''Hype!'' that Seattle bands were inconsistent live performers, since their primary objective was not to be entertainers, but simply to "rock out".<ref name="Hype" /> Grunge bands gave enthusiastic performances; they would thrash their long hair during shows as "a symbolic weapon" for releasing "pent-up aggression" ([[Dave Grohl]] was particularly noted for his "[[Headbanging|head flips]]").<ref name="Fournier, Karen 2015. p. 44">Fournier, Karen. ''The Words and Music of Alanis Morissette''. ABC-CLIO, 2015. p. 44</ref> Dave Rimmer writes that with the revival of punk ideals of stripped-down music in the early 1990s, "for Cobain, and lots of kids like him, rock & roll ... threw down a dare: Can you be pure enough, day after day, year after year, to prove your authenticity, to live up to the music ... And if you can't, can you live with being a [[poseur]], a phony, a [[sellout]]?"<ref>Marsh, Dave. "LIVE THROUGH THIS. ...  ". Rock & Rap Archives 124.</ref>