A Day In Rock: October 22nd, 1990: Pearl Jam Debuts
On this day, thirty-four years ago… Pearl Jam play their first show. It’s at the Off-Ramp in Seattle. Here’s how it happened.
Guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament were members of Seattle-based Grunge band Green River during the mid-1980s.
In late 1987, Gossard and Ament were in Malfunkshun with vocalist Andrew Wood. They morphed into Mother Love Bone. The band was signed by Polygram with their debut “Apple” dropping in ’90… four months after Wood died of a heroin overdose.
Following Wood’s death and the demise of Mother Love Bone, Gossard started practicing with fellow Seattle guitarist Mike McCready, who encouraged Gossard to reconnect with Ament.
The trio sent out a five-song demo tape in order to find a singer and a drummer. A copy went to former Red Hot Chili Peppers’ drummer Jack Irons who passed it to his friend Eddie Vedder, who added vocals to the instrumental tracks and mailed it back to Seattle.
Gossard, McCready and Ament were impressed enough to fly Vedder from San Deigo to Seattle for an audition. Within a week, Vedder had joined the band.
With the addition of drummer Dave Krusen the band took the name Mookie Blaylock, a nod to the one-time basketball star, and played its first official show.
Mookie Blaylock soon signed to Epic and renamed themselves Pearl Jam, a moniker originated by Vedder.
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