Pearl Jam: Twenty from Victoria Taylor on Vimeo.
PJ 20, the Pearl Jam documentary directed by Cameron Crowe that chronicle’s the band’s 20-year career, will screen in Seattle at the Cinerama on Sept. 20. The one-night-only event will feature two screenings of the film, one at 7:30 p.m. and another at 10:30 p.m. Tickets for the screenings cost $9 and can be purchased here.
The screening date puts grunge fans in a bit of an interesting predicament that pits Nirvana against Pearl Jam, two bands that were believed to be rivals back in the 90s. That same night over at EMP the museum will host Nevermind Live at the Sky Church, which will feature Krist Novoselic and other local musicians performing Nirvana’s Nevermind in full to celebrate that record’s 20th anniversary. The EMP concert begins at 9 p.m.
While the timing of the PJ 20 screening isn’t ideal, especially if you want to catch both the film and the historical Nevermind concert in full (who doesn’t want to see the now retired Krist Novoselic play Nirvana songs?), I view it as sort of an unintentional nod to the unparalleled greatness that was Seattle’s music scene in the 90s. In what other city do you have the dilemma of deciding between two events that celebrate the careers of two of the most important bands of a generation? There are worse decisions that you could have to make.
Of course if you can’t make it to the PJ 20 screening you can always wait for the DVD release or watch it on PBS.
