Published on a monthly schedule, during that period The Rocket had articles about such bands as Patti Smith, The Blackouts, The Enemy, and The Jitters, (led by PK Dwyer.)

Publisher McChesney insisted that the newspaper also cover major label arena bands, and Ferrigno and his writing staff reluctantly agreed to do so, but only if they could “trash them” in the articles.

The magazine managed to attract writers and cartoonists such as Jeff Christensen, Roberta Penn, Lynda Barry, John Keister, Wes Anderson, Charles R. Cross and Scott McCaughey.

The editors and writers constantly attempted to cover only “fairly obscure alternative bands” in the local area, such as The Fartz, The Allies, The Heats/The Heaters, Visible Targets, Red Dress, and The Cowboys.

The Rocket continued to attract new writing talent, including Daina Darzin, Craig Tomashoff, Ann Powers, Jim Emerson, Gillian G. Gaar, Brent Lorang, Grant Alden, Peter Blecha, and Dennis Eichhorn.

By 1988, that scene had pretty much faded, and The Rocket’s editorial focus shifted to covering the pre-grunge local alternative rock bands that were even then beginning to attract national attention.

[5] In December 1989, The Rocket celebrated its tenth anniversary by hosting a “Nine for the 90’s” concert with a mix of what the paper felt were Seattle’s most promising new bands, including Love Battery, The Posies, High Performance Crew, The Walkabouts, The Young Fresh Fellows, and Alice in Chains.