Seattle grunge pioneers Mother Love Bone reunited in Seattle over the weekend for a benefit show, their first performance in 8 years, and only second show since original frontman Andrew Wood died in 1990.
Guitarist Bruce Fairweather and drummer Greg Gilmore joined Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament currently of Pearl Jam at the Neptune Theatre. Handling vocal duties were a dynamic cast, including Sweetwater's Adam Czeisler, Stereo Ember's Robb Benson and Om Johari from Hell's Belles.
The show was a benefit concert for Seattle Musicians Access to Sustainable Healthcare (SMASH), a nonprofit that helps Seattle musicians with healthcare and health education.
Mother Love Bone was poised to be one of the next big acts in rock music, but Wood died of a heroin overdose on March 19, 1990, only months before the band's only full-length studio album Apple was released. Gossard and Ament were recruited by Chris Cornell to start the band Temple of the Dog as a tribute to Wood. Pearl Jam members Eddie Vedder and Mike McReady, with at-the-time Soundgarden member Matt Cameron rounded out the band's lineup.