BATTLES OF THE BANDS: The feud between...

BATTLES OF THE BANDS: The feud between Guns N’ Roses and Nirvana still seems strong--tensions were high between the bands backstage at the MTV Video Music Awards at Pauley Pavilion earlier this month--but the longstanding rift between Nirvana and Pearl Jam may be winding down. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder even danced backstage at Pauley with Courtney Love, wife of Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain.

Vedder, however, was uncharacteristically combative at the Los Angeles premiere party for the movie “Singles,” which features Pearl Jam and other members of the Seattle rock world. Vedder, known for flinging himself off stage equipment and into audiences but not for picking fights, did just that at the party--and with a security guard yet. Fortunately, the tiff was stopped by an unlikely peacemaker: Ministry’s fiery leader Al Jourgensen.

Explains Vedder: “I was really tense about performing at the party, which I had been told would be a small, intimate thing but turned out to be a real big deal. Someone gave me a bottle of wine beforehand and said it would help mellow me out. It didn’t.”