Pearl Jam

Immagine in Cornice (Monkey Wrench/Rhino)

Put “A Film by” above the title, and said director better deliver. Danny Clinch does, Pearl Jam’s week of shows in Italy, 2006, taking in a modest amount of native scenery and backstage revelations. Eddie Vedder touring the enormous church in minuscule Pistoia adds flavor to moments with guitarist Mike McCready’s tattoos, bassist Jeff Ament’s skateboard escapes, and the singer’s eight-track machine (“It keeps me out of trouble”). Less appetizing is Clinch’s ADD editing. Too many cameras result in a common postmodern mistake: cutting as aggressive as the music being played. A slamming “World Wide Suicide” and rain soaked “Corduroy” – as filmed – rarely pause long enough to consider Matt Cameron’s muscled beat or Vedder’s blue-eyed charisma. Immagine in Cornice improves as it progresses, “Even Flow” and the vocalist’s onstage wipeout during “Alive” worthy moments of encapsulation. Bonus footage includes Vedder leading My Morning Jacket through the Who’s operatic “A Quick One While He’s Away.”

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This article appears in December 21 • 2007.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.