In the future, everyone will be the drummer of Pearl Jam for
fifteen minutes. Now, it's Matt Cameron's turn to take a ride on
the group's drumming carousel. The former Soundgarden percussionist
will replace Jack Irons, Pearl Jam's third drummer, effective
immediately. He'll make his debut with the grunge denizens
beginning June 13 or 14 at the Tibetan Freedom Concert in
Washington, D.C., and continue on as the band's skinsman
indefinitely, according to a source close to the band. According to
another source, Cameron is *not* an official member of Pearl Jam.
"He's not joined the band, he's touring with the band," said the
source.
During Pearl Jam's infancy, Cameron played drums on early demo
versions of classics, like "Alive," "Evenflow" and "Animal." He was
also the man behind the drumkit for the Seattle side project Temple
of the Dog, which featured members of Pearl Jam and
Soundgarden.
According to sources, Irons is simply fed up with touring. He
apparently got his fill of the road during the band's recent
one-month jaunt through New Zealand and Australia and was dreading
an extensive U.S. tour, which begins June 20 in Missoula, Mont. and
ends September 18 in Washington, D.C.
The seminal grunge band rotates drummers like Van Halen does
vocalists. First drummer Dave Krusen, who played on the band's
debut,
Ten
, was replaced by Dave Abbruzzese before the
band even toured. In 1994, just before the release of
Vitalogy
, Abbruzzese was booted and replaced by Irons,
whose first show with the band was the now-fabled "Self Pollution
Radio" broadcast on January 8, 1995.
Abbruzzese now records with Green Romance Orchestra and has been
mentioned as a possible replacement for on-again, off-again Guns N'
Roses drummer Matt Sorum. Krusen recently replaced Scott Mercado as
the drummer for Candlebox.
BLAIR R. FISCHER