Pearl Jam-Immagine In Cornice Review

The DVD format has been a boon for bands looking to make a quick buck.  With them being so relatively cheap to produce, and with fans willing to shell out money for anything their favorite bands put out, it's no wonder some bands would seemingly rather put out DVDs than new albums.  And the complete half assed job some bands put into their DVDs makes that much obvious.

Pearl Jam was in danger of going into that territory.  Their last two major tours were documented on DVD (Touring Band 2000 and Live at the Garden (2003)), with a few extras thrown in.  Last year's tour in support of their self titled album promised more official bootlegs, but then came rumor of a DVD to chronicle the band's five show mini-tour of Italy in September of 2006.  Fans began jokingly referring to it as Touring Italia 2006.  But just when you think the band has taken the lazy route, they surprise you.

Today's release of Immagine In Cornice (Italian for "Picture in a Frame") does indeed chronicle the band's 2006 five show run in Italy.  However, the focus is just as much on the band off the stage as it is on.  While the previous two live DVD releases featured well over 25 songs each, this release features a main course of just 13, many taken from the aforementioned self titled album. 

First off, the picture quality for the concert footage here blows both of the previous DVDs out of the water.  It is stunning, and I'm only watching it on a 27 inch flat screen tube.  I can only imagine how good this must look on a high end plasma or LCD.  Sure, the DYI quality of Touring Band was a nice bit of punk rock ethos, but really, this DVD is so far ahead of the game it's silly.

Directed by Danny Clinch, Immagine In Cornice is truly a concert "film."  The live footage is interspersed with footage of the band on the road and being interviewed.  We find out that bassist Jeff Ament goes to skate parks to escape the crazyness of the road.  We watch impromptu jam sessions in the middle of Italian towns (vocalist Eddie Vedder and guitarist Mike McCready doing an out of nowhere "Lukin" is hilarious).  We see Eddie playing with his young daughter, Mike greeting fans outside the band's hotel.  Most importantly, we see the band as people.  For a notoriously private band, this is the closest fans have ever been allowed in.  Jeff and Eddie talk about the construction of the ever changing set lists.  We see Eddie play a bit of "Immortality" solo at a sound check (come on, you couldn't give us the whole thing?!). 

Throughout the film, Eddie communicates with the crowd in broken Italian.  Thankfully, music is the universal language.  The rousing sing alongs during songs like "Alive" and "Rockin in the Free World" are proof enough of that.  For some fans, the inclusion of so many hits when so few songs are showcased will be annoying, but this strikes me as the band trying to balance the casual fan's thirst for songs they know with the behind the scenes stuff that is truly a wet dream for the die hards.

The "bonus" features are a bit of a joke, mostly because there's no real reason they couldn't have been interspliced into the main film with additional behind the scenes stuff.  It's great to see "Throw Your Arms Around Me" by a solo Eddie, and "Yellow Ledbetter" is its usual charming self.  The only true "bonus" is the performance of The Who's "A Quick One (While He's Away), where Eddie joins My Morning Jacket. 

Die hard Pearl Jam fans will love this thing.  I'll predict now that I will play this more than either of the previous concert DVDs, since it does offer a lot more.  Casual fans might be better off going for the straight ahead approach of Live at the Garden, however.

Either way, Immagine in Cornice is not what any camp might have expected upon the rumors of it's creation a year ago or so.  And that is a very very good thing.

Main film setlist (in between each song, a snippet of behind the scenes or on the road footage airs)

Severed Hand, World Wide Suicide, Life Wasted, Corduroy, State of Love and Trust, Porch, Even Flow, Better Man, Alive, Blood, Comatose, Come Back, Rockin in the Free World

Love Boat Captain plays over the credits along with a series of picture montages.

Bonus footage: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Yellow Ledbetter, A Quick One (While He's Away)