Unlike the Big Day Out, which featured various local acts at each city, Alternative Nation's line-up was the same at all three events, except in Brisbane where four more Australian bands, Budd, Catfish, Dreamkillers and Chalk were included.
The headlining acts were Faith No More, Lou Reed, Nine Inch Nails, Tool, Violent Femmes, Ice-T, L7, Ween, Primus, Bodycount, Pop Will Eat Itself, The Flaming Lips, The Tea Party, The Prodigy (Melbourne), Therapy?, Live and Pennywise.
The Sydney show was marked by constant rain throughout the day that transformed the venue, Eastern Creek Raceway, into a mudbowl and several bands were pelted with mud by the audience.
In Melbourne the rain cleared in the afternoon and a very good set was performed by Tool in front of a fairly large crowd, the music enhanced by a very powerful sound system.
In the evening, Faith No More also lived up to their reputation and kept the crowd happy, though fans were kept out of the entertainment centre by security and police where Pop Will Eat Itself and Ween were playing the festivals closing sets, leading to discontent with the promoters.