Just got back from the premier of Pearl Jam Twenty. Wow. Wow. Wow. I haven't seen alot of big bands in my life but even though it was a docco, I feel the same as I did after seeing The Breeders. Just - mind blown. For those of you that haven't heard about it (I hadn't till a few days ago), it's a two-hour docco/film about the band's career, written and directed by Cameron Crowe. Afterwards, everyone was talking about how their teenage memories just came flooding back. Cue my personal indulgent flashback! I vividly remember buying my first Pearl Jam cassette. My folks and I were strolling through this random market that used to take place beside the bay (harbour? I shamefully no nothing of Durban's erm, watermarks) at the end of Point Road. Anyway, I was thirteen and just loving life! Not. Up until then, I'd only heard a handful of Pearl Jam singles but I knew they were one of the cool bands to know. Not cool as in, impress the popular kids at school, but rather, cool as in, impress the couple of kids that were into alternative culture. This market was seriously random but there was this guy flogging cassettes at a table. I spotted Pearl Jam's Vitalogy and asked my mom to please buy it for me. I think it was eleven bucks. Honestly, I felt like I'd stumbled upon a piece of secret gold. On the way home, we stopped at a garden nursery. I stayed in the car to listen to the cassette and it was just...disturbing and dissonant and great. That cassette sleeve with the anatomy diagrams freaked me out! While Pearl Jam never became my all-time fave, Vitalogy was one of many albums that got me through the first few years of highschool. But enough rambling, I just wanted to tell you that if you are a Pearl Jam fan, you should definitely watch this docco. I had no idea what down-to-earth sweethearts these guys are. I'm too knackered to go into the detail but every scene was one awesome surprise after the next. Alot of these band doccos tend to sensationalise the drug-fuelled dramas of the time but this one was quite the opposite. It's just really moving and interesting with a couple of lols thrown in to break the tension! There's also HEAPS of incredible backstage footage including snippets of Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Nirvana. Gonna be erm, jamming to them (sorry) all week now!
