Irvine Meadows, California, 13 September 1992

Lollapalooza '92 was, in fact, the last great Lolla. Every other year since then has just paled in comparison: Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, the Chili Peppers in their heyday, Ministry, Ice Cube (and others) went out and tore the country apart, back when "alternative" really was.

Pearl Jam and Soundgarden had just come off intensive years of touring, following the release of two amazing albums, Ten and Badmotorfinger respectively. The bands were incredibly tight onstage, with tremendous stage presence, energy and command of the crowd and themselves.

As the tour went on, the bands began to cross-pollinate, as it were. Al Jorgensen would play with Pearl Jam. Chris Cornell would sing backup for Pearl Jam and Eddie would in turn lend his backing vocals to "Outshined." Totally fucking amazing.

The last show of the tour was at Irvine Meadows in California. Pre-show footage exists and shows Pearl Jam, at least, totally psyched, Dave and Mike stylishly clad in skirts and dresses, modeling for the camera and revealing lots of leg. The tour played three shows at that venue and the Temple Of The Dog reunion footage below comes from that penultimate date.

Pearl Jam comes out and starts their set with a kickass version of "Baba O'Riley." Eddie jumps in the pit during a manic version of "Porch," after chiding the crowd: "That's not a pit, boys. I been in a few pits, and that is not a pit." Members of the Jesus and Mary Chain, Lush, Ministry and a cast of thousands join the band for a chaotic "Rockin In The Free World": the stage is so crowded it's difficult to tell who is who!

"Is there anyone else left back there to play?" Eddie asks. "Oh, there is someone," as Chris Cornell strolls onstage and the crowd erupts. "So, do you guys deserve this?" Cornell asks in his traditional deadpan manner. "Well, I think you probably do, and if you don't at least we do. So we're gonna do this anyway... This is a song we haven't played too many times in our lives and so we're probably gonna trainwreck it and totally fuck it up. But you might recognize it, it's called 'Reach Down'... I think... is that what we're playing? No, we're not gonna play that, we're gonna do a cover, we're gonna do an MTV song instead."

As we hear the familiar opening chords of "Hunger Strike," Matt Cameron replaces Dave Abbruzzese (who pats Matt on the head and steps to the side). Chris begins, Eddie stands to the side clapping, Matt Cameron raises his arms and crosses them over head (Dave imitating him) before he kicks in, right when Eddie takes his verse. Classic. Chris and Eddie's duet in the middle verse is a dream come true to watch. Cornell brings the song home with his trademark vocal range. Can it get any better than this??!

"Hey, can I tell everybody something," asks Eddie. "I think it'll be two years - two years ago October? When did you play Gathering of the Tribes?" Eddie inquires of Chris. "Two years ago October, I didn't know Jeff or Stone and I was right here in the pit watching Soundgarden play," he confesses gleefully, as the crowd cheers. "It's true! LA is known for you guys being dreamers; I just wanna tell you, don't stop! Just keep making music, keep making art, keep making whatever you're doing and believe in yourself... ah, I dunno..." He trails off as Stone slams into "Reach Down". Mr. Gossard totally anchors this song, strutting around in classic Stone style. Chris and Eddie's shared vocals on the choruses once again are amazing, and McCready's solo is awe-inspiring, even if he is wearing a kilt. Chris paces the stage while Eddie's transfixed in one spot, shaking his head, seemingly overwhelmed by the moment.

The last chorus is sung acapella, much like the demo version, Chris growling and Eddie singing underneat, Stone jumping up and down until the guitars come back in, one last ethereal solo from M cCready brining the song to an end. Dave and Matt and Eddie trash the drum kit as Chris Cornell takes a flying leap from one side of the stage, onto the drum riser, flying off of it and landing on the stage between Mike and Jeff. McCready, true to form, trashes a mic stand for good measure.

"The last shows are always my favorite..." Eddie murmurs, as the video cuts out. We agree.

And now, for the first time on the Web, we present full-length video clips of both "Hunger Strike" and "Reach Down" from this legendary performance.

"Hunger Strike" 160x120, 4m25s [RealVideo]

"Reach Down" 160x120, 9m15s [RealVideo]