Back in the late 1980s and early ’90s, Seattle assumed the mantle of a rock and roll boomtown, from which sprung some of the greatest bands on the 20th century. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and Screaming Trees to name just a few of the heaviest hitters. That being said, one of the biggest what-ifs from that time and place is the group Mother Love Bone, who were on the cusp of success, until the group’s lead singer Andrew Wood died of a heroin overdose in 1990.
On Saturday, the living members of Mother Love Bone, which includes Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard along with Bruce Fairweather and Greg Gilmore, staged a live reunion at the Neptune Theater in Seattle to honor their departed friend. It was their first time playing live together in around eight years. Guests Shawn Smith and Ohm Johari helped out on vocals.
There has been quite a bit of looking back lately from the different members of Pearl Jam. In 2015, guitarist Mike McCready staged a one-off reunion of the supergroup Mad Season at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, with different superstars filling in for Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley, who died in 2002. Shortly after that, McCready, Gossard, and Ament linked up with Chris Cornell, along with drummer Matt Cameron for a short revival of the band Temple Of The Dog, that came together shortly after Wood’s death and recorded, essentially, a tribute album to his memory that was released in 1991.
You can watch Mother Love Bone play live, together again, for the first time in nearly a decade in the video above.
