Pearl Jam: Let's Play Two

2017's PEARL JAM: LET'S PLAY TWO is a real gift to fans of both the titular band and the Chicago Cubs, whose connection I hadn't previously made.  Lead singer Eddie Vedder did throw out the first pitch at a game in 2007, and sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"  a few times during seventh inning streches, including during the World Series in 2016, eventually won by the Cubbies, their first in one hundred and eight years.  But like many others, I thought he was from Seattle.  That of course was the site of a musical revolution in the early 1990s, a special time for Generation X.  Maybe Mudhoney came earlier, but for this twenty something on the other coast, PJ and Nirvana's roar initially announced something historic.

Eddie was born in Evanston, just a few miles north of Chicago.  He spent his earlier years attending matches at the fabled Wrigley Field, a place he describes as "Oz". Having been there, I have to agree. Vedder's fond memories, ones spoken throughout this documentary, will warm the hearts of any Cubs fan.  Heck, any baseball fan.  Even if you're one of the many (misguided) souls who despise the Chicago team, you've got to see a kinship in all those North Side devotees who spent many, many years playing martyr.  Guys who waited in vain with their gloves outside Wrigley for a home run.  Who saw the "L" flag far more times than the "W" hanging outside the famed Murphy's Bleachers, which gets a nice showcase in director Danny Clinch's film. Being a Cub fan was long a cross to bear.  Vedder was one of 'em.

His band played two nights at Wrigley in August of '16, a few months before history was made again.  It's a damned good set, with "Given to Fly" dedicated to beloved Cubs manager Joe Maddon and "All the Way" dedicated to the late great Ernie Banks, who is seen in archive footage.  The well knowns like "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town", "Better Man", and "Jeremy" get blistering treatments, but honestly there isn't a bad performance here. We're reminded what a remarkable voice Vedder was blessed with.  It really makes me want to see them live and kick myself for having not done it much sooner.  Clinch and his camera crew really capture the excitement of these shows, aside from a few not so hot fish eye shots.

The emotions in Pearl Jam's music mirror those of Cubs fans seamlessly.  What a marriage.  Maybe this film isn't for you.  It helps to be a fan of either subject.  Both? You're in heaven.  The last fifteen minutes of LET'S PLAY TWO, as clips of the final few Series games (a dramatic comeback from being down 3-1) are intercut with "Alive" and "All the Way", is what cinema was made for.  I actually got the chills during this fucking movie.