The Rust Belt Tailgating Soundtrack, and Why It's Better Than Yours

(Pic Taken In Denver, Not Pittsburgh)

The great thing about sharing your 1) civic pride and 2) opinion on music is that people will generally treat you with respect, leaving emotion and character judgments at the door in favor of nuanced, earnest discussion. Same thing with Twitter.

Before we get to that, a quick ode I need to get off my chest. You won't find many genuine statements in any blog these sausage fingers produce, but here's one: Tailgating before a big football game is comfortably in my Top 5 favorite activities on the planet, an experience I find near-religious in every facet. The feeling Chubbs Peterson finds in the smell of the fresh cut grass and birds chirping, is the same one I get as the tents are rising and kegs are being tapped in an overcast mid-western parking lot. In a statement embarrassing only to my parents, I chose Virginia Tech because it was the lone football school I was accepted to that had a somewhat reasonable academic reputation. God knows I wasn't going to be an engineer.

People in cities west of Kansas City have better things to do than puke in a parking lot at 9:56am on an autumn Saturday/Sunday morning, but every other town to the east takes great pride in their tailgate scene being "the best". I'll keep it PC and simply say I'm relieved to have been born into the Pittsburgh version. The people ain't fancy and neither are the spreads - lots of brats, burgers, coleslaw, mac & cheese, IC Light and Jack Daniels. The camaraderie and "big game" tension in the atmosphere is palpable. Approximately 11% of the attendees think they're playing in the actual game, and the rest of us feel like we ought to at least be warmed up.

Anyway, more than any of the things listed above, MUSIC is what brings me back to that parking lot. I'm going to speak from the perspective of a Yinzer here, but I'd imagine what I'm about to describe holds true for a good portion of the rust belt football towns. Pittsburgh has two radio stations (remember those?) that served as background noise for every beer crushing, grass cutting Dad in the 412/724 area code. 105.9 the X was the home of the Penguins, and 102.5 DVE the Steelers. When the airwaves weren't busy with Hillgrove and Lange drunkenly calling the games (ok, just Hillgrove), the music on each was like a Pandora station perpetually stuck in mid-90s rock/grunge/metal. I swear there weren't more than 30 songs in the rotation each, and the jockeys like Sean McDowell were just getting high in between cuts. No matter how much the times changed, the music mostly stayed the same (and still does to this day). Whether we knew it or not, that cycle of mediocre rock would become the soundtrack to a city, or at least to a generation of kids growing up with Terrible Towels.

All of this made me think - I need a playlist for the next time I'm able to get back to the Burgh for a game (if sports ever happen again). And like every Pittsburgh championship team, a playlist needs a core of all-timers holding the damn thing together. Before I name them, quick qualifiers:

• This is NOT a "greatest rock songs of all time list". We're doing keg stands and cursing at strangers, not taking acid at Woodstock , so spare me "Stairway to Heaven".

• We're also not looking for anything too poppy/corny/obvious. That means Queen, Journey, and Seven Nation Army are way too heavy on the bubblegum/mainstream factor. *Note - I still love Queen.

• Leaving out songs already tied to the city/team like "Black and Yellow" and "Renegade".

• Bottom Line: Solid, crowd-pleasing, blue-collar 90's (ish) rock. Deep breath:

1. Even Flow - Pearl Jam: PJ personifies the sound we're going for here and unlike the other entries below, actually is one of the greatest bands of all time. The only issue was picking one song off the entire catalog. Goddam I hope their tour gets rescheduled soon.

2. Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots: I had a hard time choosing between Vasoline and this one for 90s legend STP, but Interstate's unmistakable hook put it slightly over the top. RIP Scott Weiland, one of the last true scumbag rock stars, but we loved him for it.

3. One Headlight - Wallflowers: A little less grunge than the rest but a tailgate staple nonetheless. The Wallflowers ain't for everybody, but I'd put Bringing Down the Horse and Breach up against just about any other 2 album run for front-to-back quality factor.

4. Shine - Collective Soul: I've seen Collective Soul more times in person that I care to admit considering I really only like 3-4 of their songs, but there isn't a beer gut that won't start filling up on butterflies when this one drops.

5. Ain't No Rest for the Wicked - Cage the Elephant: I don't have much to say here - Cage is very underrated, puts on a great show, and this song was a staple.

6. Man in the Box - Alice in Chains: Jeeee-eeee-eeeeee-eeeee-sus Chrrriiiiiiiiiiist!

7. HONORABLE MENTIONS: Since six is already too many, I'll stop there and anticipate being eaten alive by constructive criticism. I'd be remiss without mentioning the following HMs: Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters, Around the World - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2, Madness - Muse, Life in the Fast Lane - Eagles, Drive - Incubus, and anything by Matchbox 20, the Black Crowes, and Green Day. Lastly, to Van Halen, Rolling Stones & AC/DC who are definitely on this list but left off here so I could stick as closely to the 90s as possible.