alternative rock

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Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative; known primarily in the United Kingdom as indie) is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. The term “alternative” was coined in the 1980s to describe punk rock-inspired bands on independent record labels that did not fit into the mainstream genres of the time. As a musical genre, alternative rock consists of various subgenres that have emerged from the independent music scene since the 1980s, such as grunge, britpop, gothic rock, and indie pop. These genres are unified by their collective debt to the style and/or ethos of punk, which laid the groundwork for alternative music in the 1970s.

Though the genre is considered to be rock, some of its subgenres are influenced by folk music, reggae, electronic music and jazz among other genres. At times alternative rock has been used as a catch-all phrase for rock music from underground artists in the 1980s, all music descended from punk rock (including punk itself, new wave, and post-punk), and, ironically, for rock music in general in the 1990s and 2000s.

While a few artists like R.E.M. and The Cure achieved commercial success and mainstream critical recognition, many alternative rock artists during the 1980s were cult acts that recorded on independent labels and received their exposure through college radio airplay and word-of-mouth.

Videos

Events

alternative rock gigs in United States • view all

July 2008
Tomorrow (Friday 25 July 2008)
The Police Elvis Costello & The Imposters	Marcus Amphitheater Milwaukee, United States	9 people attending Add shout Buy Tickets
Dave Matthews Band Ingrid Michaelson	Verizon Wireless Music Center Indianapolis, United States	13 people attending Add shout Buy Tickets
Saturday 26 July 2008
The Police Elvis Costello & The Imposters	DTE Energy Music Theatre Clarkston, MI, Detroit, United States	14 people attending Add shout Buy Tickets
Dave Matthews Band Ingrid Michaelson	Verizon Wireless Music Center Indianapolis, United States	8 people attending Add shout Buy Tickets
Monday 28 July 2008
The Police Elvis Costello & The Imposters	Post-Gazette Pavilion Burgettstown, Pittsburgh, United States	9 people attending Add shout Buy Tickets
Tuesday 29 July 2008
Foo Fighters Supergrass	Izod Center East Rutherford, New York, United States	33 people attending 4 shouts