Is on-line! Check out Twitter and Facebook page for each installment, and we'll compile them below.
1. Better Man (Madison Square Garden - New York, NY 5/21/2010 - Video)
2. PJ20 Weekend: Behind the Scenes with Live Nation
3. Unveiling the Soundtrack packaging
4. PJ20 Daughter Teaser
5. PJ20 Weekend Recap
6. Spotify premieres an exclusive stream of Blood, from the PJ20 Soundtrack, and also a Bonus Bootleg
7. Thrillist offers you a chance to win an iPod loaded with the entire Pearl Jam catalogue and a pair of tickets to see PJ20 in theaters
8. Rolling Stone Exclusive: Read and Excerpt from Pearl Jam Twenty
9. Come Together: A Pearl Jam Twenty Preview
10. Exclusive clip of Pearl Jam Twenty from NME
11. MSN.ca Releases Exclusive "Blood" Clip
12. Stream the Entire PJ20 Soundtrack
13. Thumbing My Way at Chop Suey
14. Tune into All Encompassing Trip on SiriusXM for an exclusive clip of Nothing As It Seems
15. Relix presents The Pearl Jam Family Tree
16. Yahoo Hosts Blood from Auckland, 1995
17. Pearl Jam Fandom: A Statistical Analysis
18. Toronto Press Conference Highlights
19. Do The Evolution from the Monkeywrench Radio Sessions
20. PJ20 Soundtrack Deep Dive: Map and Timeline
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Twenty Days of Pearl Jam
Labels:
PJ20,
PJ20 Book,
PJ20 Movie,
PJ20 Soundtrack
At PJ20: Second Annual Ten Club Rock 'N Art Poster Convention
As part of the PJ20 festivities this weekend, several poster artists will be on hand as part of the Second Annual Ten Club Rock 'N Art Poster Convention being hosted on site at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre. You'll remember that the first show was at the Showbox in Seattle.
In addition to live music by Pearl Jam, The Strokes, Queens of the Stone Age, Mudhoney, and more, plus other special surprises, Pearl Jam fans will have the ability to check out some of the most creative poster art in the country at the Second Annual Ten Club Rock N’ Art Poster Convention, onsite at the Pearl Jam Labor Day Weekend Concert Celebration at Alpine Valley this Saturday and Sunday.
Onsite poster artists at the convention are the Ames Bros./Barry Ament & Coby Schultz (amesbros.com), Brad Klausen (www.artillerydesigns.com), Brian Methe, Jermaine Rogers (www.jermainerogers.com), Justin Hampton (www.justinhampton.com), Mark 5 (www.studiomark5.com), Munk One (munkone.com), and Maxx242 (f4dstudios.com). And, to celebrate Pearl Jam’s twentieth anniversary in their own unique fashion, both Munk One and Maxx242 will be painting not to canvas, but to billboards.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Pearl Jam Stat Tracker App
Another essential iPhone app has popped up. Once there was a time that a certain website that shall remain nameless used to have a database that would tell you how many times you'd heard a certain song live. That database had gone away, but BJH studios has resurrected it in the form of a free iPhone app, The Unofficial Pearl Jam Stat Tracker. Just check the shows you've been to and let the fun begin.
Other Pearl Jam iPhone Apps:
Pearl Jam's Official App ($1.99)
The PJ20 Experience (Free)
The unofficial Pearl Jam Stat Tracker is an interactive app featuring a comprehensive database of the show setlists Pearl Jam has played in their rich 20-year history. You can browse setlists by date or location, and select which shows you attended.
In the Stats section you will find detailed lists of Pearl Jam's concert statistics organized by individual songs, albums, and years. You can also view your personal statistics from the shows you've selected.
Based on the shows you've seen, you will be awarded trophies for reaching certain concert milestones (for example, seeing all of Ten live)! You can view these trophies in the Trophy Room.
Best of all, Pearl Jam Stat Tracker gives you easy access to the Pearl Jam Radio stream from pearljam.com. Now you can listen to Pearl jam wherever you go!
Other Pearl Jam iPhone Apps:
Pearl Jam's Official App ($1.99)
The PJ20 Experience (Free)
Monday, August 29, 2011
A Guided Tour of Riot Act: Save You
SAVE YOU
As others have pointed out, there are multiple layers of meaning to many of the songs on Riot Act, and Save You, like Can’t Keep, has a political side even if that side is not necessarily driving the song. The general state of mind of the band, and particularly Eddie ‘s, given his role as lyricist and vocalist, greatly affects the performance of the band, and you can’t read politics out of that.
Save You, on the surface, is a pretty simple song. The music is driving and forceful (with a fairly simple, but still striking, main riff), and the lyrics are aggressive and demanding, focusing as much on the singers sense of agency (I’M going to save you, I’M feeling cocky and strong) as on the person he wants to save. In fact, most of the lyrics are about the person doing the saving, as opposed to the person being saved. This is a subtle distinction, but its an important one (compare this to Life Wasted, which is thematically similar, but focuses—outside of the chorus—on the person needing to be saved). It’s okay to fall because I’M going to save you, You have to save yourself because I (and later we) need you. I’m not leaving here until we’re done. I’m being selfish about my need to do this. The constant fucks only serve to emphasize the need to do something.
In the end you’re left with the impression that Save You is almost a selfish, rather than selfless song. The singer is more concerned with reasserting his own ability to act, to shape his destiny and the destiny of others. He’s trying to convince himself that he is a subject in the world capable of acting, rather than an object being acted on. And it isn’t clear that he believes himself, which is why there is such a disparity between the forceful nature of the lyrics and the subdued, almost hesitant way that they’re delivered, at least up until the end, when the singer musters the strength necessary for one final, explosive plea—but rather than being empowered, it leaves him exhausted, overtaken by the music and by events.
The ‘official’ story is that Save You is about Mike (and of course his picture is next to the lyrics in the booklet) but it is vague enough that it could be about anyone, or anything—the emotions involved lack a specific content or context. And I think, given the nature of the record, that it makes sense to read Save You as a political song—with Eddie speaking not to Mike, or even a specific person, but to a nation that’s lost its way, that in the process of suffering a great tragedy has surrendered its spirit, its principles, its values, and its identity as a way to avoid dealing with grief and reality. Save You in this respect is a call to arms, a demand that his fellow citizens not use the shock and trauma of 9-11 to abdicate their responsibilities, to not be drawn in by the seductive martial promises of the Bush administration to bomb our way to security and democracy, as long as we leave everything to them and retreat to our own narrow, private sphere where our only responsibility is to go to the mall and forget about the larger world we live in. And, of course, in 2002, while it was easy for the progressive to want to abdicate, there was a powerful sense of futility to the whole exercise—that for all the storm and stress, no one is listening.
OTHER SONGS IN THIS SERIES:
Can't Keep
Save You
Love Boat Captain
Cropduster
Ghost
I Am Mine
Thumbing My Way
You Are
Get Right
Green Disease
Help Help
Bu$hleaguer
1/2 Full
Arc
All Or None
OTHER GUIDED TOUR SERIES:
Vs.
Vitalogy
Binaural
Backspacer
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Jeff Talks About Pearl Jam's Collaboration with Vans
Need a pair?
Black Flannel Slip-On
Black Flannel SK8-Hi
Ten Club Black/Red/Yellow SK8-Hi
Supersonics Tribute SK8-Hi
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
A Guided Tour of Riot Act: Can't Keep
Riot Act, to me, is Pearl Jam's response to 9-11 and the world created in its wake. I think the band was blindsided not only by the enormity of the event but the reactionary blindness that followed it. They wanted to respond musically and politically, but in important ways they found themselves unable to. Eddie was able to sing with confidence in the records that preceded (and followed) Riot Act because there was a sense in which he knew that he was singing for the experiences of other people. Perhaps he didn't want to be a spokesperson for his generation but that wasn't a crazy label to give him. Even after the band's popularity and cultural importance was scaled back there was still an assertiveness to the band and to the music—a sense that if they say something they know people will listen and understand.
I think that changed with the rightward, reactionary tilt to the country after 9-11. I think for the first time the band found themselves fully alienated and alone, not only failing to recognize their world or their country, but even many of the people who made it up. Animating all of the bands previous music was this really powerful sense that no matter what life throws at you, we're all in this together. That sense, if not lost in Riot Act, is heavily muted. They are alone, and powerless. The shock of 9-11 sundered, at least for a time, the ephemeral bonds that connect us to each other and make solidarity possible. The band found itself in opposition not just to power, but in many cases from the victims that they had once tried to speak for.
The cover art is perhaps the clearest statement of this. You have two crowned skeletons (Bush and Cheney?) standing over the smoldering remains of their kingdom, and there is nothing left but ashes and bones. There is nothing to hold on to--no point from which we can begin to rebuild. The title of Riot Act sounded like a call to arms, but we don't find the call anywhere in the album. Instead of outrage and engagement we find defeat and reflection. It is an assertive title for an introspective album that asks whether or not solidarity and progress is even possible anymore. Indifference has that triumphant line where Eddie declares "I will scream my lungs out until it fills this room" knowing that the struggle itself has meaning. Riot Act marks the first time in the bands history where they begin to doubt. The anger and confrontation that animates S/T is not possible until the band first surveys the wreckage and find out if their old principles still hold water when the old convictions and the old certainties are ground into dust.
CAN'T KEEP
It is telling that the album begins with a farewell. Starting with the vaguely marching (but not martial) drum part Can’t Keep is a moment of taking stock and then moving on. It is wistful, rather than forceful, and the music conveys that effectively. It isn’t a strident song—there is hope, but it is cautious, with a very delicate certainty that crests at the end of each verse without ever actually getting too aggressive. It is almost like the song is trying to convince itself.
In that respect it is the perfect opener for Riot Act. The lyrics convey a desire to say goodbye, to brush off the baggage of the past and move on to something better. There are some fond recollections of what will be left behind (it’s been wonderful at night), and a desire for no hard feelings, but the place he’s leaving behind is stifling him, and while it may have been home once, there is no longer any attachment, nor room for growth. He can live forever, but only if he manages to get out. The politics here are subtle, but in the context of the record they become clearer. Eddie is singing to his country, saying farewell to a people and a place that he no longer recognizes. Rather than let him drag it down he’s going to have to move past it. There is no confrontation, no attempt at reconciliation. There’s no fight. Instead he washes his hands of it, and turns inward.
This is important, and separates Can’t Keep from other road songs like MFC and RVM. There is a clear sense of forward momentum in those numbers—an urgent desire to get somewhere, anywhere, other than here. The percussion in Can’t Keep tries to move us forward, but we get lost instead in the swirling haze. There is no real clarity here—the promise of the lyrics is belied by the music. When everything has turned against you, when there are no safe harbors, you have no choice but to retreat into yourself. And so in the end Can’t Keep becomes about an internal battle for maintain a certain kind of moral purity and sense of self in a world that has called all the old values, all the old certainties, into question. He wants to say goodbye, but he has no place to go.
I think that changed with the rightward, reactionary tilt to the country after 9-11. I think for the first time the band found themselves fully alienated and alone, not only failing to recognize their world or their country, but even many of the people who made it up. Animating all of the bands previous music was this really powerful sense that no matter what life throws at you, we're all in this together. That sense, if not lost in Riot Act, is heavily muted. They are alone, and powerless. The shock of 9-11 sundered, at least for a time, the ephemeral bonds that connect us to each other and make solidarity possible. The band found itself in opposition not just to power, but in many cases from the victims that they had once tried to speak for.
The cover art is perhaps the clearest statement of this. You have two crowned skeletons (Bush and Cheney?) standing over the smoldering remains of their kingdom, and there is nothing left but ashes and bones. There is nothing to hold on to--no point from which we can begin to rebuild. The title of Riot Act sounded like a call to arms, but we don't find the call anywhere in the album. Instead of outrage and engagement we find defeat and reflection. It is an assertive title for an introspective album that asks whether or not solidarity and progress is even possible anymore. Indifference has that triumphant line where Eddie declares "I will scream my lungs out until it fills this room" knowing that the struggle itself has meaning. Riot Act marks the first time in the bands history where they begin to doubt. The anger and confrontation that animates S/T is not possible until the band first surveys the wreckage and find out if their old principles still hold water when the old convictions and the old certainties are ground into dust.
CAN'T KEEP
It is telling that the album begins with a farewell. Starting with the vaguely marching (but not martial) drum part Can’t Keep is a moment of taking stock and then moving on. It is wistful, rather than forceful, and the music conveys that effectively. It isn’t a strident song—there is hope, but it is cautious, with a very delicate certainty that crests at the end of each verse without ever actually getting too aggressive. It is almost like the song is trying to convince itself.
In that respect it is the perfect opener for Riot Act. The lyrics convey a desire to say goodbye, to brush off the baggage of the past and move on to something better. There are some fond recollections of what will be left behind (it’s been wonderful at night), and a desire for no hard feelings, but the place he’s leaving behind is stifling him, and while it may have been home once, there is no longer any attachment, nor room for growth. He can live forever, but only if he manages to get out. The politics here are subtle, but in the context of the record they become clearer. Eddie is singing to his country, saying farewell to a people and a place that he no longer recognizes. Rather than let him drag it down he’s going to have to move past it. There is no confrontation, no attempt at reconciliation. There’s no fight. Instead he washes his hands of it, and turns inward.
This is important, and separates Can’t Keep from other road songs like MFC and RVM. There is a clear sense of forward momentum in those numbers—an urgent desire to get somewhere, anywhere, other than here. The percussion in Can’t Keep tries to move us forward, but we get lost instead in the swirling haze. There is no real clarity here—the promise of the lyrics is belied by the music. When everything has turned against you, when there are no safe harbors, you have no choice but to retreat into yourself. And so in the end Can’t Keep becomes about an internal battle for maintain a certain kind of moral purity and sense of self in a world that has called all the old values, all the old certainties, into question. He wants to say goodbye, but he has no place to go.
OTHER SONGS IN THIS SERIES: Can't Keep Save You Love Boat Captain Cropduster Ghost I Am Mine Thumbing My Way You Are Get Right Green Disease Help Help Bu$hleaguer 1/2 Full Arc All Or None
B-Sides & Outtakes OTHER GUIDED TOUR SERIES: Vs. Vitalogy Binaural
Riot Act
Backspacer
Monday, August 22, 2011
Pearl Jam Destination Weekend Map
Getting excited yet?
Pearl Jam has made the venue map available for next month's Destination Weekend. We probably could have guessed how most of it would have panned out, but we'll be interested to find out how this "Pearl Jam Museum" shapes up.
Pearl Jam has made the venue map available for next month's Destination Weekend. We probably could have guessed how most of it would have panned out, but we'll be interested to find out how this "Pearl Jam Museum" shapes up.
59 Million Tweets and It's Just the Beginning
Did you win a poster in the scavenger hunt for the Pearl Jam Twenty Soundtrack tracklisting? Twenty-nine people did. 58,999,971 people did not. Turns out, in one of the most successful publicity stunts we've seen this band pull off, the scavenger hunt spurred 59 million tweets on twitter last week.
Look for the fun to continue September 1st:
the campaign had quadrupled the number of Pearl Jam mentions on Twitter, reaching 5.9 million tweets globally, and drew over 65,000 views to the PJ20 website, making it Columbia's most-viewed page of the day, according to Columbia.
Look for the fun to continue September 1st:
On September 1, Pearl Jam's website will begin the PJ20 "Twenty Days" and unveil a new piece of content every day until the movie's release date on September 20. After a PJ20 Labor Day weekend mini-festival at Wisconsin's Alpine Valley, Pearl Jam will play a pair of shows in Toronto on September 11 and 12.
Labels:
articles,
PJ20 Movie,
PJ20 Soundtrack,
Posters
Pearl Jam on Jimmy Fallon (9/8 & 9/9)
Friday, August 19, 2011
Second Sao Paulo Show Announced
Brazilian Pearl Jam fans rejoice! A second Sao Paulo show has been added to their fall South American tour!
The show will be on November 3 at Morumbi Stadium, and will officially mark the start of the 2011 South American Tour.
A fan club only pre-sale will be conducted through the venues public ticket vendor while supplies last. Members active as of yesterday, August 18th at 11:59 pm PDT will be eligible. The pre-sale will run August 20-21, with the public sale to follow on August 25.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Given to Cast, 8/12/2011 & 8/18/2011
It looks like Mario is getting excited about next month's Destination Weekend. Given To Cast has given us not one, but two episodes in the past week.
August 12, 2011
- The Week In Review - some PJ20 info.
- Song of the Week - Eddie Vedder songs
- Rare Song - Oceans unplugged from MTV Unplugged series
- Winner of VS CD contest
- Rare song - Everyday (Buddy Holly cover)
August 18, 2011
- Week In Review
- Song of the Week (Crown of Thorns)
- GTC Extra (Mike McCready's Sunglasses Song)
- Trivia Contest
- Live Rarities (Fallin' Down)
Official Tracklisting for Pearl Jam Twenty
Well, after a scavenger hunt that spanned six countries, three states, and websites like Craigslist and Facebook, we now have a tracklisting for the upcoming Pearl Jam Twenty Soundtrack (September 20). Thanks to all who scoured the globe and/or filtered Pearl Jam's website through Photoshop.
UPDATE: The Uncool has given us a new way to look at the setlist. Disc 1 will be songs featured in Pearl Jam Twenty, and Disc 2 will feature rarities and songs used for inspiration.
DISC 1: FROM THE FILM PJ20UPDATE: The Uncool has given us a new way to look at the setlist. Disc 1 will be songs featured in Pearl Jam Twenty, and Disc 2 will feature rarities and songs used for inspiration.
- Release – Verona, Italy (9/16/06)
- Alive – Seattle, WA (12/22/90)
- Garden – Zurich, Switzerland (2/19/92)
- Why Go – Hamburg, Germany (3/10/92)
- Black – MTV Unplugged, NYC (3/16/92)
- Blood – Auckland, New Zealand (3/25/95)
- Last Exit – Taipei, Taiwan (2/24/95)
- Not For You – Manila, Philippines (2/26/95)
- Do The Evolution – Monkeywrench Radio, Seattle, WA (1/31/98)
- Thumbing My Way – Chop Suey, Seattle, WA (9/6/02)
- Crown of Thorns – Las Vegas, NV (10/22/00)
- Let Me Sleep – Verona, Italy (9/16/06)
- Walk With Me (with Neil Young) – Bridge School Benefit (10/23/10)
- Just Breathe – SNL, New York (3/13/10)
DISC 2: RARITIES AND INSPIRATION ...
- Say Hello 2 Heaven – Temple of the Dog Demo, 1990
- Times of Trouble – Demo, 1990
- Acoustic #1 – Demo 1991
- It Ain’t Like That – Demo 1990
- Need to Know – Demo, 2007
- Be Like Wind – McCready Score 2010
- Given To Fly – McCready Instrumental 2010
- Nothing As It Seems – Demo 1999
- Nothing As It Seems – Seattle, WA (10/22/01)
- Indifference – Bologna, Italy (9/14/06)
- Of The Girl – Instrumental 2000
- Faithfull – Pistola, Italy (9/20/06) (Soundcheck)
- Bu$hleaguer – Nassau, NY (4/30/03)
- Betterman – New York City (5/21/10)
- Rearview Mirror – Universal City, CA (10/1/09)
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Pearl Jam to Attend TIFF
Toronto Life has confirmed what we all figured out when Pearl Jam announced a Canadian Tour during the Toronto International Film Festival. Pearl Jam and Cameron Crowe will all be in attendance for the September debut of Pearl Jam Twenty at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The Soundtrack Game is On!
The hunt is on for the Pearl Jam Twenty Soundtrack tracklisting. As of 12pm EDT there are still 26 posters to be won. Look for a new clue every half hour. Hopefully, by tomorrow morning, we'll have a full tracklisting. Play along at PJ20.com or on our Red Mosquito Forum. Good luck, all!
PJ20, There's an App for That!
For those of you who can wait no longer for next month's Destination Weekend, Sound Link Media has developed a free iPhone app to keep your spirits up. It is not going to blow your mind by mapping the trip to whatever venue's Pearl Jam has played nearby or telling you the number of times that Ed has forgotten the lyrics to Satan's Bed, but what it will do is let you keep track of what's going on in East Troy on September 3rd and 4th. By swinging the dial right to left, you can check in on what songs are being played and who is tweeting the #PJ20 hashtag (I expect everyone attending PJ20 to be using that hashtag to check in!). And if you're lucky enough to be at the show, and you find the Ten Club's Concert Beacon to be a little lame, you can fire up your own PJ20 Flamethrower to wave in the air during Daughter.
Monday, August 15, 2011
PJ20 Soundtrack: Crown of Thorns
Pearl Jam are still keeping tight lipped about the tracklist for the Pearl Jam Twenty Soundtrack for fear that we might learn too much about the movie from dissecting the songs that they choose for the soundtrack. They have, however, let a tune trickle out. It was probably a safe bet since it was our 2000 Fan Club Single. If you're unfamiliar with the track, have a listen to Crown of Thorns from the 2000 Las Vegas 10th Anniversary Show.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Happy Birthday Cutuphalfdead
TSIS would like to wish Red Mosquito forum member Cutuphalfdead a very happy birthday.
Don't forget chud, when something's old you can always put a bit of shine on it.
Don't forget chud, when something's old you can always put a bit of shine on it.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Off The Boulevard
Looking to expand your collection of movies with Pearl Jam cameos? It's unclear whether Eddie's appearance in Off The Boulevard will be more than a cameo or not, but he'll definitely be there with some advice for aspiring artists.
Off The Boulevard is a story of art and heart; and the dedication it takes to achieve your dreams. It is an entertaining and informative Documentary Feature about seven artists: two musicians (Nick Nicholson, Keith Jackson), two filmmakers (Troy Duffy, Jeff Santo), two actors (David Della Rocco, Sanel Budimlic), and one comedian (Bob Rubin), whose friendships are created through struggle and perseverance. Their journey will transcend the world of entertainment and inspire all who strive to pave their own road.
Off The Boulevard talks of trials and impeding forces common to most ardent and driven individuals in pursuit of their dream. It pinpoints the problems in a system that neglects the Independent Artist, and raises the question for a solution. Also featuring industry insights from well-knowns such as: Peter Fonda (Easy Rider), Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds), Gilby Clarke (Guns N' Roses), Sonny Barger (Hell's Angels), Dan Haggerty (Grizzly Adams), and Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam).
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In other movie news, TwoFeetThick caught two interviews (Stone Gossard and Cameron Crowe) about the PJ20 Movie.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The Return of Red Mosquito
Sorry for the misery, but as of 11:15pm ET on Tuesday the Red Mosquito Forum has returned to all it's glory. Luckily, we don't appear to have missed any major Pearl Jam news!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Stone Gossard & Jeff Ament: Listen to This
Last year, Stone and Jeff shared some of their favorite tunes in a one-time podcast. Now you can easily pick up those tunes on Amazon.com recommended playlists.
Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard share the songs that have influenced their lives and music, ranging from the Sex Pistols’ “No Feelings” to George Michael’s “Father Figure” to Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence.” Read more in Pearl Jam Twenty.
JEFF'S PLAYLIST
STONE'S PLAYLIST
- The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel
- Proud Mary by Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath
- Heaven Tonight by Cheap Trick
- Fame by David Bowie
- No Class by Motörhead
- Gimme Gimme Gimme by Black Flag
- Mountain Song by Jane's Addiction
- That Time of the Night by Marilion
- Sisitizo La Amani Duniani by Hukwe Zawose
- Love is Alive by Gary Wright
- No Feelings by Sex Pistols
- Precious by The Pretenders
- Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
- Father Figure by George Michael
- You Dropped a Bomb on Me by The Gap Band
- How You Like Me Now by the Heavy
- I'm Every Woman by Chaka Khan
- A Punch Up at a Wedding by Radiohead
- Not Dark Yet at Bob Dylan
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Pearl Jam Twenty: Movie Press Packet
Someone has blessed the Pearl Jam community with a scan of the press packet created to publicize the upcoming release of Pearl Jam Twenty, directed by Cameron Crowe. Most information is not new, but some is. There is some fantastic biographical information, much of it by the band members themselves, dating back to when Jeff first sat down at a piano and Stone first picked up his ... um, trumpet?
To me, the real gem is this heartfelt description of the film written by Crowe. Peruse the packet and decide for yourself.
This movie began as a conversation over the years. At many a show, or on the occasion of a new Pearl Jam release, Kelly Curtis and I would casually have the same discussion -- someday we had to do our PJ movie. "Someday we're going to really tell the whole story. We'll use everything! The unreleased stuff, the best of the live performances ..." Even in the process of making our short film, Single Video Theory, released around the time of Yield, we were already banking sequences for our mythical movie down the line. We never quite knew what the shape would be, just that it would be our version of Jeff Stein's magnificent ode to the Who, The Kids Are Alright. To any Who fan, that film caught the experience of being a fan of the band. It gave their music a home on the big-screen, unfiltered and alive. That was our goal, our mutual filmic obsession. Our Pearl Jam movie.
Finally, about three Christmas seasons ago, the project became very real. Pearl Jam's twentieth anniversary was just around the bend, and suddenly there was more than a reason. Now there was a deadline. With the help of Barbara McDonough, Kevin Shuss, Rick Krim, Tim Bierman and many others in all the nooks and crannies of the media world, we cast a big net out there. We wanted to find everything, all the footage floating out there, from fans and networks alike. By the time we were finished collecting, over 30,000 hours of Pearl Jam film and music had been assembled. Rooms of hard drives were wheezing under the load. The editors — Chris, Kevin and Adi — had become nearly automatic in their retention of dates and performances and nuances. Every long and short fade, every usable soundcheck jam, every outtake from other filmmakers’ shoots... they knew where to find it. The band never walked through a show, never wasted the opportunity to make a mark. The richness of the footage made our path very clear-just tell the story of the band and let the music guide us. And so we did.
Our cuts were dangerously long, and jammed with footage from endless sources. The band had been filmed extensively, though not a lot had been officially released. We put so much into the film — moments, pieces of footage shot by band members, audio snippets, visual bursts, new and old interviews - many different formats, all meant to present an emotional scrapbook of what it felt like to be a member of the band on this twenty-year journey. The early ethic of the band defined them. Mix the shows up, change the songs, follow your instincts. Don't do every interview, don't chase the trappings, stay focused on the music and the songs... and keep playing.
Their personal story, I always felt, was almost a campfire tale that deserved to be told. To every musician who thinks about playing, or wonders if they should continue, there were answers in the way Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Matt Cameron, Boom Gaspar, Mike McCready and Eddie Vedder had traveled the last twenty years together. Andrew Wood, the front-man and songwriting force within Mother Love Bone, deserved a place in this story too. Jeff and Stone's still fresh memories of their friend and inspired band-mate, lost to an overdose in 1990, would also give us a visceral feel for the time and place and mood around Seattle when Pearl Jam was born.
And finally, our film is about the fans. It was a joy to show how close the relationship had been through the years. Pearl Jam, a band made up of music lovers, had been supported in good times and bad by the very experience that made them pick up their instruments - a love of music, a love of what it is to be a fan. If you love a group, and love their music, you sign on for the big ride. And if the band is deserving, they'll feel it every night. The audiences in all of our whirring hard-drives were amazingly consistent and electric in their support of the group. And the band always volleyed back with the same intensity, spinning the feeling into places we hope we've captured in PJ20. As Eddie says in our film, "There's this communal exchange. There's obviously a line drawn between who's on stage and who's in the crowd... but not really." So in that spirit, here is our Pearl Jam movie, filled with images and music, both personal and public, that shine a flashlight on the path of the last twenty years. Here are some of the memorable stops along that amazing journey, the life of Pearl Jam.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Everybody Loves Our Town
Is your grunge library a little thin? Maybe it's time to look at Mark Yarm's (no relation) upcoming book Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge, out September 6th. It's available for pre-order at Amazon. You can also catch tidbits and tons of grunge-themed news on Mark Yarm's blog including this little tid-bit where Matt Lukin explains the origins of one of our favorite little ditties.
“Vedder had a stalker chick that would come by his house that was freaking him out. He would start to avoid his house after a while, so he would just come by my place. Vedder’d come over and we’d sit ‘round the kitchen and drink and stuff. He would talk about his stalker problem a little bit, but I would just blow it off. It was just drunken talk, throwing darts, having fun. There’d be other people there, sometimes four or five of us. Just me and Eddie and our wives and mutual friends like [then Mudhoney manager] Bob Whittaker. The Pearl Jam song ‘Lukin’ is about how my kitchen’s a sanctuary for him. Also, I was giving him shit about all their songs being too long. That inspired him to make ‘Lukin’ a one-minute song. I’ve always flipped him shit. Never let him be the rock star that he is.”
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