PBS has debuted a new, exclusive clip of Pearl Jam Twenty. The scene focuses on the band’s formation with comments from all the parties involved. Pearl Jam Twenty has its world premiere tomorrow at the Toronto International Film Festival and then hits theaters beginning September 20th. It will air as part of PBS’s American Masters series on October 21st.
Cameron Crowe and Pearl Jam were on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight. Cameron discussed Pearl Jam Twenty and Almost Famous and the band will performed a new song, “Ole”. Pearl Jam will be on again tomorrow night to perform as well, so make sure you stay up late or set your DVR for night #2!
I’m back from the PJ20 Destination Weekend at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin! While Cameron was unable to attend, I thought you might like to hear a bit about the event. I was able to secure 10 club (as a proud member of Pearl Jam’s fan club) tickets for both nights. The first great surprise was the extra goodies included with all 10 club tickets (PJ2o stickers, an early PJ Live show on CD and a Jeff Ament CD single from his forthcoming solo album).
The first night I was on the lawn and the second night I had pretty good reserved seats on “Stone Gossard’s” side of the stage. Simply put, I thought the shows were amazing. Night #1 was a shorter set (28 songs), but filled with a ton of rare B-sides including “In the Moonlight”, which had never been played before. Highlights for me included the emotional opener “Release”, “In My Tree” plus both Singles tracks “State of Love and Trust” and “Breath”. The 2nd night was a longer set (33 songs) as the band started their show 30 minutes earlier. The crowd emotion was unforgettable, the fans sang along loudly to every song and the band really fed off that energy all night. I’ve never seen the band having more fun and the set list was a great mix of hits (“The Fixer”, “Daughter/It’s OK”, “Alive”, “Even Flow”, “Given to Fly”) and rarities (“All Night”, “Habit”, “Satan’s Bed”, “No Way”). Both nights featured a Temple of the Dog reunion with Chris Cornell. Something I didn’t think that I’d ever see.
Many other PJ hand picked artists were on hand to celebrate and perform. I’m a huge Glen Hansard fan (If you haven’t seen the film Once, please see it immediately) so his sets both days were a huge highlight. Also thought Liam Finn and his sets were fun and energetic. Here’s a few pics I took (including a duet that Glen did with Eddie on the song “Falling Slowly”).
Lastly, I’ll leave you with a video from my highlight of Night #2 (via a fan at the show). An absolutely searing version of “Spin the Black Circle” which shook the 30,000+ fans in attendance. Watch Mike McCready doing circles around the stage for nearly the whole performance. The song was dedicated to the dying breed of independent record stores across the country. As Eddie put it, we need to keep watering them and keeping them alive.
I’m heading to the PJ20 Music Festival for the weekend in Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI. Maybe I will run into some of you there. Along with Pearl Jam, I can’t wait to see Glen Hansard, Liam Finn and Queens of the Stone Age. There could be some surprises on the site, so please stay tuned over the weekend. I will also have a detailed report on the event along with some pictures upon my return. We wish you all a safe and sunny Labor Day Weekend!
You’ve been waiting patiently and the tracklisting for the Pearl Jam Twenty soundtrack was unveiled throughout yesterday via a Twitter scavenger hunt on PJ20.com. These clues were scattered all over the world and the first person to correctly identify a song was awarded with a limited edition PJ20 poster. Here’s a pic of the clue for “Black” which was displayed at Times Square. Kind of a Vanilla Sky moment, huh?
The soundtrack features 29 songs spread over two CD’s when it’s released on September 20, 2011. A vinyl version is also forthcoming. Disc one is dedicated to songs featured in the film, while disc 2 focuses on demos and rarities. The soundtrack was curated by Cameron and will feature his liner notes and track by track thoughts. Here’s the details:
Disc 1 – From the Film PJ20
Disc 2 – Rarities and Inspiration . . .
Cameron with Mike McCready
Cameron reunites with longtime friend and rock writer Lisa Robinson for an interview about Pearl Jam Twenty for the September issue of Vanity Fair. I’ve also included a scan of the interview below (courtesy of the amazing PJ site, Two Feet Thick).
Hot Tracks – Cameron Crowe’s New Documentary
Drugs, death and disaster are indigenous to rock ‘n’ roll. But according to Academy Award-winning filmmaker Cameron Crowe, director of the new documentary Pearl Jam Twenty, this band survived all the aforementioned dramas. The two-hour film, which opens in theaters this month and airs on PBS’s American Masters in October, was directed by Crowe from 3,000 hours of new interview material and archival footage. Both the film and forthcoming book, also called Pearl Jam Twenty (to be published by Simon & Schuster, with an introduction by Crowe), celebrate the band’s twentieth anniversary. Here, Crowe – director of such films as Singles, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, and the forthcoming We Bought A Zoo – talks to Lisa Robinson about “my little sketch of a rare American band that didn’t break up.”
Lisa Robinson: Why did you back to the band’s beginnings as Mother Love Bone with their first lead singer, Andrew Wood?
Cameron Crowe: I wanted to tell that story of lightning striking twice. Nobody believed there was going to be a future for those guys after Andy Wood died, and it’s kind of a rock miracle that Eddie [Vedder] – who was living in California at the time – sent in an audition tape.
L.R. What do you think Eddie brought to the band?
C.C. He brought promise, and also a challenge to their Seattle, set-in-their-ways community. Eddie, as a guy, wants to fit in, but he also wants to tilt against the windmills. That combination of push and pull really helped them. Andy was ready to play arenas with no guilt, and I think Eddie wanted to stay close to fans and build it slowly. He was both an insider and an outsider.
L.R. Do you think Eddie is the conscience of the band?
C.C. I do. And I think in a way Kurt Cobain was too – in that he kept [Pearl Jam] honest. Kurt was vocal and said, “Are we watching careerism here?” Of course, [with Nirvana] Kurt was his own careerist. But what ended up happening was that Pearl Jam actually swung the other way, and became more idiosyncratic than they would have been if Kurt hadn’t been there [initally] saying Pearl Jam was more Guns N’ Roses than the Melvins.
L.R. But doesn’t every band that steps onstage want to be really big?
C.C. Of course. Now you can look back on it and see that they’re all dying for a spot on the big stage. But the Pearl Jam situation was helped by the fact that they were in Seattle – it wasn’t New York or L.A., it was around the corner. To me, that was the heart of Seattle – it was a pretty small community, and all these people played together. There’s not a lot of other stuff to do. The cliche is, because it rains a lot, you stay inside and you play music and you get high. And in the movie, [guitarist] Mike McCready especially is pretty up-front about this former drug problems.
L.R. Pearl Jam protested against Ticketmaster, claiming it was a monopoly. What was the long-term effect of that protest?
C.C. They were out there touring without any help from other bands, trying to find places in the middle of nowhere to play. No other bands would come out to the sticks and play like Pearl Jam was forced to, and that became the basis of a whole new layer of fans for them. When you go see them now, it’s a celebration of people who stuck it out with them. That’s why their shows have become such a communal thing.
L.R. How much control did you have over the film, and how did the band react when they saw it?
C.C. I had final cut, and when we showed the movie to the band, especially the part where Mike said it used to be Stone [Gossard]’s band and now it’s Ed’s, there was no oxygen in the room. They had talked about that stuff to us, but not to each other.
L.R. How do you feel about the finished film?
C.C. When we got to the final reel of the film, it was the greatest feeling to turn it up and watch [the band perform”Better Man”] live on a big stage with the music sounding right. I make movies to get that transcendent feeling from time to time, and if we got it right in P.J. Twenty, I’m the happiest guy in the world.
Cameron did a Q & A today as part of the Television Critics Association Press Event in Hollywood, CA. If you don’t mind spoilers, then you can find transcripts around the net. We are going to stay pretty spoiler free here, but I will share a few choice quotes from the event:
