The place is packed and gross in the best way — spilled beer, sweat, cheap deodorant everyone gave up on twenty minutes ago. Rory stands with Kurt and Krist near the side of the stage, watching the crowd shove and swirl like clothes trapped in a big nasty washing machine.
This is their night. Their first real show.
But three other heavy Northwest legends gotta tear the room apart first.
//
7:30 PM.
On the stage.
Buzz Osborne just walks up like he owns gravity. No announcement. No smile. Dale Crover spins his sticks in this lazy "yeah whatever" way, but Rory knows he's about to beat the drums like they owe him money. Matt Lukin leans into his bass, head down, the usual.
No greetings. No hesitation.
Just DOOM.
Grinding Process. (go to YouTube song)
Buzz rips the opening riff like he's channelling mud demons.
Krist leans into Rory, yelling over the wall of fuzz:
"They're so slow but so loud. It's like getting punched by a glacier."
Rory smirks, keeping mental notes.
Kurt says nothing — eyes glued to Buzz like he's decoding ancient scripture.
Some kid tries to mosh, trips in the sludge-tempo mess, and just laughs on the floor.
//
At a Crawl. (go to YouTube for song)
Even slower.
Dale's drums sound like someone trying to escape a coffin.
Buzz's voice? Pure swamp troll.
Kurt mutters,
"That… is exactly what Aberdeen feels like."
Rory laughs too hard, choking on his soda.
//
Scared. (see YouTube song)
Finally, something a little faster — the room wakes up, fists pumping.
Krist nods:
"That's the stuff. Feels like the floor's collapsing."
Rory's foot taps along — he already knows he could nail this beat.
//
Leeech. (see YouTube song)
The riffs get meaner. The crowd gets rowdier.
Rory catches Kurt staring again — not jealous, but hungry. Inspired.
Kurt whispers under his breath:
"One day… we're gonna be heavier."
Rory doesn't doubt it. He knows the future.
//
Set Me Straight. (see YouTube song)
Buzz screams the title like an exorcism, leaping into noise chaos.
Dale's drumming is basically a fistfight.
Somebody in front yells,
"Melvins RULE!"
Someone else falls into the monitors.
And just like that —
Buzz drops his mic, mutters "We're done."
They walk off like they just took out the trash.
Kurt turns to Rory:
"We gotta be THAT confident someday."
Rory grins:
"Nah. We'll be better."
//
8:20 PM.
Lights dim to bruised purple.
Jack Endino plugs in — tall, calm, expression like he's about to perform surgery, not a show.
Matt Cameron twirls a stick.
Daniel House shakes out his hands.
Ben McMillan steps up, eyes half-closed like he's already deep underwater.
Butcher. (see YouTube song)
Jack's first note screams through the amp like a demon.
Krist whistles,
"Sounds like rust and knives."
Kurt nods, impressed:
"Jack's tone is… gross. In a good way."
Rory just feels his future producer flexing.
//
Skins in My Closet. (see YouTube song)
Ben's voice — dark thunder.
Matt hits with surgical precision.
Rory mutters,
"He's like… jazz Frankenstein."
Kurt laughs:
"Wouldn't wanna piss that dude off."
//
Black Hula. (see YouTube song)
Weird riff. Real unsettling.
Kids stop shoving — they just stare.
Krist whispers,
"It's like the soundtrack to a horror movie in a basement."
Rory nods — "basement" is Seattle's middle name.
//
Payday. (see YouTube song)
Finally, a faster blast — pit erupts again.
Daniel's bass shakes the room.
Kurt watches every move.
He's absorbing, evolving.
//
Epitaph for Yesterday. (see YouTube song)
Lights go blue.
Ben sings like sorrow in human form.
A girl wipes her eyes.
No one mocks her.
Rory thinks:
Music should always hit this deep.
He'll make sure it does.
Jack shrugs, feedback roaring behind him.
"One more."
//
Bleed (Early Form). (see YouTube song)
Noise sculpture — Matt pounding, feedback screaming.
And it ends like someone yanked the cord out of the universe.
Krist exhales,
"Seattle… is insane, man."
Rory:
"And we're next."
Kurt:
"…good."
Determination. Sharp as a blade.
//
9:10 PM
Mark Arm jumps out like a gremlin who found electricity.
Stone Gossard and Bruce Fairweather carve riffs into the air.
Jeff Ament slams one bass note — BOOM — crowd erupts.
Come On Down. (see YouTube song)
Instant chaos.
Bodies flying. Beer in the air.
Punk meets swamp.
Kurt can't help shouting:
"That's wild!"
Rory:
"Imagine that energy… but tighter."
Krist:
"Louder, too."
They share a look — no jokes this time.
//
New God. (see YouTube song)
Sleazy groove. Real mean.
Mark stalks the stage like a villain.
Kurt:
"Dude's a maniac."
Rory:
"Fun though."
Krist just nods in time.
//
Swallow My Pride. (see YouTube song)
Catchy chorus.
Crowd SCREAMS every word.
Rory locks eyes with Kurt.
Future anthem-making sparks flying.
//
Tunnel of Love. (see YouTube song)
Dirty blues, messy vocals.
Mark grinds the mic stand like he hates it.
Kurt:
"We'll never do that."
Rory:
"Yeah… no."
//
Corner of My Eye. (see YouTube song)
Singalong. Loud drunken joy.
Krist yells:
"This is what rock shows should feel like!"
Rory stores the feeling in his chest.
Mark Arm leaves with a sly grin, blazer falling off his shoulders:
"You ready for the last band?
They're a new young band…
and they're gonna destroy us all."
Lights die.
The crowd screams.
The floor trembles.
//
Rory wipes his hands on his pants, heart pounding but steady as he's about to play with these legendary bands that he once thought would be impossible to do, but here he was, as a 12-year-old kid, showing immense musical talent, and the once-thought-impossible is now possible, and it was right in his face.
As for the two, Kurt cracks his knuckles while Krist tightens his strap.
They step onto the stage — three nobodies (Rory had some short seconds of fame due to playing with Led Zeppelin, but it died down when he avoided the media before) with something the entire room is about to learn:
They matter. They're here. And they won't be ignored.
Rory slides behind his kit — deep breath — He whispers to himself:
"This is where history changes."
Kurt glances back at him and grins:
"Let's blow the place up."
Rory twirls his sticks once — like a man who has been here before.
Because he has.
The crowd waits. The amps hum.
And Nirvana begins, with him in it this time around and not Chad or Dave.