Pearl Jam Late Night Series: Ep. 2 – MTV VMAs 1992

Welcome to a brand new series that we’re featuring on Live On 4 Legs! In this series, we take an in-depth look into Pearl Jam’s stints on late night TV. Everything from award shows to band tributes to plenty of Letterman appearances promoting new albums, it’ll all be covered extensively. These are classic performances that sort of stand alone in Pearl Jam’s pantheon, and since our focus is usually dedicated towards full 30+ song setlists, we needed to create an opportunity to give these big moments the Live On 4 Legs treatment they deserve.

This is the second episode of our brand new running series that focuses on the 1992 MTV VMAs. After an Unplugged performance for the ages elevated this band to the height of the Grunge phenomena, Pearl Jam was the hottest band in the world. They had just released a new music video for Jeremy that debuted to instant rave reviews due to its controversial subject matter and imagery, but you couldn’t turn on MTV for five minutes in September of 1992 without hearing the song. Invited to perform at the TV station’s less than prestigious award show that rewarded music for their visual art, they made a conscious effort to suggest performing a song that wasn’t their brand new hit, but with major pushback from the network, they didn’t get their way. The anger seemed to fuel Ed during this performance as we get one of the most vigorous and intense versions of Jeremy ever played.

Since this is a podcast focusing on a TV series, I get to say: BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! After you finish with this episode presented through all public platforms, you’ll be able to follow along with the rest of our series through our Patreon! Check out our episode on the 1992 SNL performances featuring Alive and Porch. This will be the only such occasion where we split the series between platforms, the rest will only be found through Patreon! To join, head over to patreon.com/liveon4legs and subscribe for as low as $1 a month!