Here's something that will make you feel old: Pearl Jam have been around for 20 years. The grunge gods first broke onto the scene in 1991 with Ten, and they've been touring steadily and releasing albums ever since. Now, the band are getting set to celebrate their two decades of existence with a new documentary and a box set.
The documentary is being helmed by director Cameron Crowe, who recruited members of the band to appear in his film Singles and is behind such movies as Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire. Bassist Jeff Ament told Rolling Stone, "I just saw a rough cut. It was so fucking weird seeing footage of stuff I didn't know anybody was taping at the time. The whole movie is Cameron's love letter to us -- but it's equal parts complimentary and really painful."
Ament explained, "It shows our growing pains and some real bad times, including Roskilde [the Danish festival from 2000 where nine fans were crushed to death during the band's performance]. It was just really hard to watch."
The film is expected out in late summer. Before that, the Seattle legends will release a box set that includes 1993's Vs. and 1994's Vitalogy, along with a slew of extras. The box set reportedly contains alternate versions of "Corduroy" and "Betterman," an entire concert bootleg from a 1994 show in Boston, and a recording from their Monkeywrench Radio series. It will likely include a number of non-musical extras as well, as Ament said, "Ed [Vedder] and I were just going through old photos, journals and clippings for the box set."
Sometime during the summer, the group will host a massive 20th anniversary bash. This will include a number of bands performing over two days, with Pearl Jam headlining both nights. This will take place somewhere in the middle of the U.S.
After this is done, the tireless rockers plan to work on their next album. Ament enthused, "We're ready to work on new songs and get excited about what's ahead."
The documentary is being helmed by director Cameron Crowe, who recruited members of the band to appear in his film Singles and is behind such movies as Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire. Bassist Jeff Ament told Rolling Stone, "I just saw a rough cut. It was so fucking weird seeing footage of stuff I didn't know anybody was taping at the time. The whole movie is Cameron's love letter to us -- but it's equal parts complimentary and really painful."
Ament explained, "It shows our growing pains and some real bad times, including Roskilde [the Danish festival from 2000 where nine fans were crushed to death during the band's performance]. It was just really hard to watch."
The film is expected out in late summer. Before that, the Seattle legends will release a box set that includes 1993's Vs. and 1994's Vitalogy, along with a slew of extras. The box set reportedly contains alternate versions of "Corduroy" and "Betterman," an entire concert bootleg from a 1994 show in Boston, and a recording from their Monkeywrench Radio series. It will likely include a number of non-musical extras as well, as Ament said, "Ed [Vedder] and I were just going through old photos, journals and clippings for the box set."
Sometime during the summer, the group will host a massive 20th anniversary bash. This will include a number of bands performing over two days, with Pearl Jam headlining both nights. This will take place somewhere in the middle of the U.S.
After this is done, the tireless rockers plan to work on their next album. Ament enthused, "We're ready to work on new songs and get excited about what's ahead."
