Pearl Jam: Let's Play Two

I was stirred by the lush and pristine sounds of the band, including of course Eddie Vedder’s oft-imitated but never really duplicated guttural growl of a voice, and I was greatly impressed by the gorgeous visuals in the concert sequences. This is one of the most vibrant-looking rock performance films of recent years.

There’s plenty here to enjoy.

Music and sports are a fascinating blend, as both baseball and rock offer collective community celebration and catharsis, with Wrigley as the host. Mostly though, it’s fun to see rock god Eddie Vedder reveling in his own fandom, the joy he shares with all of Chicago and Cubs fans everywhere.

It shares a side of Mr. Vedder his fans will enjoy: the baseball aficionado who fills out a scorecard and treats Wrigley sod as holy ground.

As an affirmation of one famous fan’s dedication, “Let’s Play Two” works well enough. As a Pearl Jam documentary, not so much.

“Let’s Play Two” doesn’t re-invent or for that matter add anything to the concert doc genre. But for fans, it’s a lovely time capsule, a bunch of 50somethings, still sporting the torn jeans and well-worn t-shirts, leaping about, playing with feeling and getting a joyous job done.