Seattle was such a melting pot musically – which was probably the reason why the media hung on to the term grunge so much, which I guess was better than writing “post-hair metal/punk/soul/(add genre here) hybrid” every single time. You get to see both the young and old Pearl Jam, the latter reflecting on their past achievements and being grateful that they, unlike many other bands of their ilk (who probably are doing reunion tours), are still together doing the thing that they love most. Even as I sat back watching the film, I felt a connection as a fan who grew and evolved on a personal level with their music as part of life’s vinyl soundtrack spinning in the background.

It was great to actually get to see excerpts from the band’s earliest shows (which included a clear video footage of their second ever gig in Seattle featuring a very shy Ed Vedder). One hilarious footage that I was looking forward to was the drunken mayhem that was the MTV Singles release party showing them being all anti-establishment but being bladdered at the same time. It wasn’t all fun and games and we got to see the Ticketmaster debacle that occurred at the time of No Code.

Pages: 1 2 3