This was my first road trip concert because someone finally had a vehicle! If you’ve been to the Gorge then no explanation is necessary but if you haven’t been there I highly suggest you go to a concert there as soon as possible. It is located in Central Washington and is literally the most gorgeous outdoor amphitheater in existence. It is special because it is naturally carved into the side of a hill and all around are unbelievable views of the Columbia River flowing between the cliffs of one of the most geologically rich areas in the world. That someone who had a vehicle was my friend Marvin. I had known him since elementary school but we were now hanging out more because we shared a whole clique of friends and lived across a horse pasture from each other. The two of us went with our other friend Jack but unbeknownst to my parents. They were pretty strict about letting me go places. I don’t know if this was to be protective, controlling, or they just didn’t trust me. I was willing to risk the consequences of getting caught. So after I lied and told my parents I was spending the night at Marvin’s house we left for the Gorge. From where we lived it only took about an hour to drive there. The lineup was as follows: Jawbox, Redd Kross, the Meat Puppets, and Stone Temple Pilots. I hadn’t really heard the other 3 bands but immediately became an STP fan and bought the album Core after hearing “Sex Type Thing” for the first time. The album Purple had been out less than 2 months and had already become our group of friends staple summer CD. Apparently we weren’t alone because the album reached the top of the charts not long before this concert took place. The other 3 bands all put on an excellent show and we were in the floor section in front of the stage for the entire time. As soon as STP came out the floor section was so packed I couldn’t even lift my arms over my head to prevent it from being kicked by stray crowd surfers (think sardines). There was one gigantic lava light to each side of the stage, which looked extremely cool set against the night. Though I can’t remember exactly what songs they played I do feel lucky to have seen them at this point because they only had two albums of material to choose from. I also feel lucky because by the time their next album came out problems had reportedly started to arise from Scott Weiland’s budding obsession with drugs, which prevented the band from touring and eventually lead to their first disbandment. My first concert souvenir came from this show in the form of an STP t-shirt. The front had the words “Stone Temple” in the same cream color as the shirt surrounded by red and the back had the word “Pilots” in blue with a little stick figure guy riding a bike underneath. I loved that shirt so much that I destroyed it just from wearing it. The funny part about the shirt is that Marvin had purchased the same one and the next day we both wore them to the “Boat Races,” a.k.a. the biggest annual event in Tri-Cities, WA. It is one of only a handful of places professional hydroplanes stop each year to race but for most of the race-goers (including myself and associates starting just a few years later) it is just another reason to get drunk. We eventually ran into my parents at the races and though they had never seen me wear this shirt and Marvin was wearing the identical copy of it, I don’t think they were any the wiser to my whereabouts from the night before.