I have taken it upon myself to single handedly keep the grunge tip alive here at UB. Most of you have moved on, and maybe rightly so, but for the few of us out there who still yearn for the days of Dirt and Badmotorfinger, here is something that may be of interest.

Coming off what may have been their most successful tour to date, Pearl Jam (PJ) is keeping busy in 2001. Some of you may have spied those countless PJ CD's at the local record store that all look the same. That, my friends, is every show played on the first leg of the 2000 tour. Tired of hearing nightmare stories about fans playing $50 for sub-par bootlegs, the guys decided to put an end to the madness. For $12.99 (SRP) it is possible to pick up a crystal clear recording of any 2000 show (The 2000 European shows were also released, but they are no longer being printed and are becoming more and more difficult to find). Leg two, including the closest the tour came to sunny Buffalo (Toronto) was released this past week.

"Not enough!" you say? Well the oft rumored DVD/VHS will be making its way to store shelves on April 10. Pearl Jam: Touring Band 2000 is not the average 45 minute piece of crap that bands usually try to pass off. It includes three hours of footage covering complete performances of 28 songs. The DVD will include 50 extra minutes featuring outtakes, unreleased instrumentals, the video for "Oceans" that had previously been available only in Europe, and more. If this doesn't quench that craving for circa 1994, I don't know what will.

The word on the street is that PJ will also release an album of rare cuts and B-sides at some point this year ("before Christmas" is the only time frame). It is rumored to include alternate versions of older material in addition to Binural outtakes, that will hopefully include the much talked about "Letter to the Dead." For info on setlists and the like check out the PJ fan site, fivehorizons.com.

Keep on rocking in the free world.