TikTok and festivals reignite passion for 90s alternative rock stars
A raft of Australian and international acts who rode the 90s alt-rock wave are now surfing its viral revival. See why.
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When The Superjesus signed their first management deal in the early 1990s, the music industry estimated the average shelf-life for a rock band was five years.
As frontwoman Sarah McLeod leads the band back out on tour this week, she could never have imagined their success in the halcyon alternative rock era of the 90s would keep her afloat three decades later.
“I remember when we signed with our management and first label, one of our managers Dan Hennessy said to my mum ‘We’re probably going to squeeze a good five years, tops, out of her, so make sure she’s got a backup plan,’” McLeod says.
“I’m turning 50 next week and I’m still working, and I feel like I’ve only just begun, like I’ve just picked up a guitar yesterday and suddenly I know how to play it pretty well.”
The passion of the Big Day Out generation for the alt-rock soundtrack of their youth has never flagged, but life – starting families, raising children, paying the mortgage – may have interrupted their gig going until now.
They ain’t the only ones driving the 90s rock revival.
TikTok has blown up the systemic age discrimination of the music industry gatekeepers because content creators don’t care whether your song came out five minutes or 50 years ago.
The 30th anniversary reissue of the era’s defining album Nirvana’s Nevermind and the insatiable appetite for vinyl editions may have returned it to the global album charts last year.
But it was the grunge heroes’ track Something In The Way which ignited a whole lot of teen spirit on TikTok after an influencer posted it as “Oldies You Should Know” content and it featured on the soundtrack for The Batman starring Robert Pattinson.
Another power rock classic from the 90s, Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, was propelled through the one billion streams ceiling on Spotify last year after going viral on TikTok as it was also covered by a host of pop stars including Demi Lovato and Maggie Rogers and Phoebe Bridgers.
Frontman John Rzeznik, who was joined by Billy Joel at a recent show to perform the track which was the theme song from the 1998 film City of Angels starring Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan, is surprised the song is having a second life 25 years after its release.
“And I’m really sort of shocked, y’know? Because even though the song became a massive, massive hit, at the time, it got a lot of criticism for being sappy,” he said recently.
Another compelling factor in the generational refresh of crunching guitars and heaving moshpits is the raft of female artists and bands rocking out on stage and in video from current Laneway Festival stars HAIM and Phoebe Bridgers to local acts Amyl and the Sniffers and Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers.
YouTube has also sent thousands of young aspiring rockers down rabbit holes trying to find tutorials or figure out how to play their favourite “new” old songs.
But McLeod says they face an unexpected obstacle trying to recreate early Superjesus songs like Shut My Eyes, Down Again or Gravity. And it’s not the fact cameras didn’t exist on mobile phones in the 90s.
“Our early stuff may have sounded like it was simple but those songs were complex and people were always asking me for the sheet music but I didn’t know how to write it down and I couldn’t anyway because they were all in strange tunings. That was the era of open tunings,” she says.
The bands whose careers were made during the Big Day Out, Livid and Homebake festival era through the 90s from You Am I and The Living End through to Grinspoon and Magic Dirt continue to tour to sold-out audiences whose Generation X ranks are bolstered by their children and fans turned on by current acts who cite their influence on their music.
You Am I’s Tim Rogers has even reignited his 1999 solo project band The Twin Set to tour in March in support of their new album Tines of Stars Unfurled released on February 24. And he will be joined by another music giant of the era, his good mate Tex Perkins for another run of shows next week.
Spiderbait and Magic Dirt have been enlisted by American indie rock heroes Pavement for the inaugural Tent Pole festival at Geelong’s Mt Duneed Estate on March 4.
Powderfinger alumni Bernard Fanning and Darren Middleton continue their solo rock endeavours this year with Fanning on the Red Hot Summer tour with Paul Kelly and Missy Higgins, while Middleton just released his new mini album Home and will open for Scottish rockers Del Amitri next month.
McLeod said the loyalty of 90s rock fans translated to a financial lifeline for her during the pandemic shutdown of gigs.
After years devoted to the guitar, she decided to share her adventure of learning piano with fans, with the videos of her working out songs proving so popular, they inspired fans to support her via content creator subscription service Patreon.
That interaction with fans also proved an invaluable avenue of road-testing works-in-progress like Money (We’re Only In It For Love), the new single she co-wrote with bassist Stuart Rudd, and introduction to the first new Superjesus album in 30 years to be released later in 2023.
“I was about to go on a national tour when everything shut down so I thought I would just do it on Facebook. My friends kept saying I should put out a tip jar instead of playing for free but I felt uncomfortable about that,” she said.
“So I set up a Patreon and called it McLeod’s Wolfpack, everyone joined up immediately and it’s the best thing I ever did. I’ve maintained that into our third year and I get a regular monthly income from that and they’ve all become friends who go to gigs together, it’s a great tribe.”
A plethora of international rock acts who made their presence felt on the global charts through the 90s are proving wildly popular at the Australian box office with Counting Crows, Mudhoney and original riot grrrls Bikini Kill booking tours here in early 2023.
The 90s revival should continue to turn people onto grunge, indie and alt-rock for the next few years at least, with the trend moving enough tickets that some bands we never thought we would see play live again will be motivated by the boost to their superannuation fund.
Rumours flared last week there may be a thawing in the Gallagher camp and Noel just might be considering that Oasis reunion after all.
For all show and ticket details: www.thesuperjesus.com/tour
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Originally published as TikTok and festivals reignite passion for 90s alternative rock stars
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