Last night I watched the Cameron Crowe Pearl Jam documentary, Pearl Jam 20. Some thoughts:
- in hindsight, Mother Love Bone was a lot more glam than I remember.
- I had forgotten all that crazy climbing Eddie did during concerts. The shots of Jeff looking up at Eddie hanging overhead were great.
- there's an early scene where Stone (I think?) talks about returning demoralized from LA and considers giving up on being a rock musician. It seems to me this is a common thread in a lot of rock docs, with one person on the verge of washing out completely but deciding to give it one last go.
- the scenes during the Ticketmaster hearings where various committee members admit an ignorance of "grunge" and "alternative music" are as cringe-inducing as the recent SOPA hearings.
- I never really bought the whole "we hate being famous -- ohh, the spotlight, it burns" shtick and I still don't. Equally cringe-inducing. Although if the doc is to be believed, that was mostly Eddie.
- Confidential to Mr. McCready: you look badass with grey hair.
- the whole doc is comprised of footage shot in the 90s so the whole doc feels like an unearthed episode of MTV's 120 Minutes. I think I've seen the future of Instagram filters.
- the "drummer story" bit was cute but unfortunately that was the part I most most wanted to hear about!
- I like AIC better.
- I don't miss the 90s as much as I thought.