Filmmaker Cameron Crowe unveiled what he called "the Holy Grail" of the Seattle, Washington grunge scene movement of the early 1990s when he screened footage of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder dancing with Kurt Cobain on late-night TV in America on Thursday (08Sep11).
The Almost Famous director was promoting his new Pearl Jam documentary on the Late Night With Jimmy Fallon show and he treated fans to a sneak peek of one of the most important pieces of the film after the host asked him if it was true that Vedder and Nirvana frontman Cobain didn't get along.
The moviemaker told Fallon, "This piece of film is really kind of the Holy Grail; this was a piece of film that we weren't even sure existed.
"Nirvana and Pearl Jam had a little bit of a controversy; I think it was trumped up in the press quite a bit; it was kind of, like, a high school thing... and really I think the musicians all knew each other. But Kurt and Eddie Vedder had a little bit of a back and forth thing going on in the press.
"They also were friends on the side and there was this mythical piece of footage that happened while Eric Clapton is playing Tears in Heaven at the VMAs (MTV Video Music Awards) and Kurt and Eddie have a moment below the stage, where they slow dance... and it's a beautiful moment.
"There's an amazing look on Eddie's face as the shot is ending, and you see Eddie, he looks like he's a teenager - he's so happy that he's shared this moment with Kurt Cobain away from the glare of the media."
The show climaxed with Pearl Jam, who are celebrating their 20th anniversary, performing new song Ole for the first time.
Crowe's film, Pearl Jam Twenty - which also features footage of the band's first rehearsal six days after Vedder became their singer - is released on Tuesday (13Sep11).