by Pearl Jam
~ The Crashing Wave ~
For most of us, the first thing we saw from Pearl Jam was the crashing wave at the start of this video. You’re expecting some sort of storytelling concept and then it’s just 4-½ minutes of black & white live club footage from a band who is clearly in tune with their audience and letting the music just carry them along. Some of us knew about the Mother Love Bone/Temple of the Dog connections to Pearl Jam. Most of us didn’t and didn’t care.
This was before the Rolling Stone drama, the Ticketmaster lawsuits, the fastest-selling album in history (Vs) or the self-imposed MTV exile. This was 5 dudes who could play just laying out and carrying a song while a throng of kids in the club grooved along as one mass of humanity.
It was as beautiful and powerful and cleansing as the ocean wave that opens and closes the video.