Viewed in
2010
Premise
A concert film about Pearl Jam's tour throughout Italy in 2006.
Loved
Pearl Jam's performances, but I'm biased =P
Liked
The behind the scenes moments.
Disliked
Dizzying shots of Italy.
Thoughts
Disclaimer: I am a huge Pearl Jam fan, so take this review with a salt lick.
Basically, it was a cool compilation of Pearl Jam's stops in Italy, such as Torino, Bolonga, and Pistoria. The songs were unaltered, except for one, which intercut verses from different locations. Overall, the footage was excellent with well-balanced audio for me to hear Eddie Vedder's lyrics quite clearly. Speaking of him, there was a fantastic shot of the lead singer taking a hilarious (and scary) spill in concert in his dance frenzy. The extra gem for me was to see them perform "Blood", which I never saw live before.
In between each song, the film makers showed scenes of each city they visit, as well as some behind the scenes footage of the band. The coolest moments were an impromptu "Lukin" jam session between Vedder and Mike McCready, as well as footage of how the band chose their set lists and encores (answer: just before showtime and encore). It also showed Jeff Ament skateboarding. I was miffed that he did not wear a helmet, since I don't want any band members to be injured.
The only thing that bugged me was the artsy, overly-embellished shots of the Italian locations and fans that nearly induced motion-sickness from me.
While this brought nothing new to the music concert genre, I love Pearl Jam, and their wonderful performances gave me a concert-like experience for cheap.
What I would change
Cut down on the unnecessary editing affects on the Italian scenes. Also, it would've been nice to have subtitles during the songs so I could read the lyrics.
