Concertpedia Contributors
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Chris Everett
How did I become a grown man who listens to a Podcast produced by grown men who have teenage-level crushes on other grown men from Seattle? After following DMB across the midwest in my late teens and early 20s, I attended my first Pearl Jam show in Atlanta at the Music Midtown Festival in 2012. Foll...
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John Farrar
I was obsessed with Pearl Jam in the early 90's, and then became a collector of their live bootlegs in the 2000's. I’ve seen them 12 times in 8 different states. I’m continuously blown away by their ability to create transcendent moments in concert. I owe them for my love of vinyl, live music, and s...
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Randy Sobel
The first time I heard Yield, I didn’t know it at the time but it changed my life. 10 years later, I saw Pearl Jam for the first time at Madison Square Garden and haven’t looked back. I’m still holding out hope that W.M.A. will one day be played as a full song more consistently in setlists rather th...
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Writers/Contributors
Aaron Redmond
From buying ripoff-priced bootlegs in '95 to my first show at Alpine Valley '98 to my wife and I spending our first anniversary at the PJ 20 festival to six shows in '21/'22, I've been obsessed with the Pearl Jam live experience for nearly 30 years. I love that anything - ANYTHING - can happen at a...
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Adriane Petersen
I discovered PJ shortly after the release of Ten, and was hooked instantly. As the years passed after Vitalogy, I didn't pay as much attention to their music, until 2017 when I watched them get inducted into the RRHOF. It made me realize how much I had missed with this band I loved, and I've spent e...
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Alex Hoggard
I knew it was a special moment when I first heard Alive as a teenager, but it would've been hard to imagine just how special. Having been fortunate enough to see the band, and Eddie solo shows, in several countries, I'll continue to ride the wave where it takes me.
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Andrew Taylor
Although I was introduced to Pearl Jam early in 1991, with the Ten album, I didn’t appreciate them until the release of Vitalogy. No Code & Yield are my two other favorite albums, but I essentially stopped listening after those releases. I rediscovered Pearl Jam in 2013 when my (ex)wife mentione...
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Anthony Krysiewicz
Pearl Jam to me isn’t just about the music and band. This band has given me so many memories and friends. Ill always be grateful for my dads ex-girlfriend bringing me to ‘The Wall” in Ronkonkoma New York, when she purchased VS. That was when my love of Pearl Jam started and has only blossomed from t...
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Aurélien Moureaux
Living in France, the first song I heard of theirs was Jeremy. I enjoyed them in the 90's but went for some time without listening to them at all. Ever since my first show in Amsterdam of 2012, I haven't looked back and make it a point to travel Europe every time they come here. I can't wait to see ...
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Bradley Piasecki
Pearl Jam was my first ever concert. It was on the Yield Tour. I was a fan before the event, but my obsession started that night. Over the decades to follow, I have consumed as much Pearl Jam as I could. I have traveled to over a dozen US States and Canadian Provinces to see them, meeting many other...
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Branden Palomo
Branden Palomo discovered Pearl Jam while in 7th grade, from a cassette of TEN his dad brought home one day. He adopted it as his own, and it became the first music that was actually his, and not his parents. From then, VS was the first CD purchased with his own money, and VITALOGY was the first vin...
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Brian Horwitz
Winter 1991, 15 years old: I heard Alive on the radio and had to go out and buy the CD. I will never forget sitting on the floor in my room and listening to it for the first time. I skipped right to track 3 so I could hear Alive again, and my father walked in the room. He looked at me and proceede...
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Brock Miller
I was 15 when I held my first tickets to see Pearl Jam on 11/28/93 in Boulder, CO, but the show was canceled at the last minute due to security concerns. Then military and medical school got in the way, and I didn’t get to my first shows until 2003. I love everything about their catalog and live sho...
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Brooke Krause
I stumbled upon Pearl Jam during the 2021 Pandemic. Of course I had heard some hits over the years, but hadn’t paid much attention to the band. During quarantine, I stumbled upon the newly released Gigaton & was quickly hooked. The lyrics to DOTC were especially meaningful during that time. “Expecti...
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Chris Davis
Started listening to them from the beginning, but not seriously til 2009. First show was Pittsburgh 2013 and my love for them grows everyday.
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Chris Warne
A fan since my pre-teens down here in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The first PJ notes I ever heard were Wishlist on a TV advert for Yield, and I was drawn in by the melodic guitar solo and the open-endedness of the cover art. Skip forward a few days to putting the album in my boombox and Brain of J blowing...
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Clay Davis
The band to me is like my oldest companion and confidant. Their songs are like stories you share with old friends that bookmark significant moments in my life’s timeline. These stories never get old or forgotten.
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Curtis Hames
Like millions of others, I was introduced to Pearl Jam via the Jeremy video. 12 year old me was hooked, and that feeling never really went away. PJ has been the soundtrack to my life ever since. After getting some of the 2000 tour boots from Best Buy, I learned how powerful they were every night as...
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Dakota Duvall
Born in 1996, my dad had a full 100 disc CD changer with tower speakers in the living room that you could hear all through the house. Although it seemed like there were only 10-12 CD’s in it at the time. Pearl Jam studio albums and a few bootlegs stole the show. I’d find myself in my room just singi...
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Dani King
I have loved PJ since 1991 when I first heard Alive. I didn’t know yet that I would become immersed. I’ve seen them 14 times technically, 13 officially. I’ve never missed a tour, if they come near me…I go. I have always had low resources and a young child (at different times,) so I couldn’t see them...
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Dani T
I became a fan in the late 90s, after hearing Do The Evolution on a burnt CD, with my fandom being confirmed at my first show in 2005. Like many others, Pearl Jam has provided the soundtrack to my life. Thanks fellas!
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Dave JanTausch
Pearl Jam at the age of 12 became the first band I could call my own. It took 11 years but I finally went to my first Pearl Jam show, 'The Experiment' July 11, 2003, and became a devotee of their live show energy. 10 years later, that incredible show and their constant setlist experimentation birthe...
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David Ritter
Been a Pearl Jam fan from the start, but it was really watching the Unplugged show when it first aired that hooked me. Saw them for the first time in Lexington in 2003, and 11 years later I was able to bring my daughter Sarah to a show and convert her into a fan!
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Debra McMurtrey
The person I am, the places I've been, and the people I love, are all connected to this band. Little 13 year old me had no idea what was in store for her after hearing Jeremy that first time. 29 years, 11 albums, and 34 shows later, do you think this is still "just a phase" mom?
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Dukes Wooters
I have never encountered a band that has been able to relate so well to being a human in this experiment known as America and then be able to send that energetic messaging to the ends of the Earth like this one. A band that can be experienced alone or with 50,000 is why I keep coming back year after...
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Eddie Quintana
Pearl Jam came at a time in my life when I needed it most. Even though I've listened through "Ten" a million times, going to my first show and hearing "Alive" was what my fandom was leading up to! We're Faithfull, we all believe it.
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Eric Stevenson González
Sometime in 1994, a friend lent me two CDs to keep me entertained during a family road trip/vacation: Superunknown and Vs. A little later, Vitalogy became the first album I ever bought myself and the rest was my music history. I've missed a lot of shows in recent years, but 2020 made one thing clear...
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Farry Aprianto
I got to know PJ since college in 1992. Took 'Ten' cassette tape in my Walkman on a college field trip in 1992, and I am sold. In 2010 created "Bring Pearl Jam To Indonesia" campaign, 2011 independently organized PJ20 screening (Indonesia initially wasn't listed), 2014 organized campaign tribute sho...
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Fred Blood
In 1991, I was a confused young man, searching for my space in this world that had made me a veteran. I was full of both empathy and righteous indignation, and I felt that I heard a kindred spirit when I first heard Pearl Jam.. My love story goes thusly....
TEN- I’ve got a crush
VS.- Whoa, Let's g...
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Gabe Spece
I’m fortunate to have been following Pearl Jam for 30 years. I love to study setlists and watch the band’s old late-night TV performances online. Some of the best times of my life have been at Pearl Jam shows, unforgettable nights with family and best friends. And with all respect to Mike, nothing g...
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Glenn Bobe
In March of 1992, I saw the “Even Flow” video on MTV. I have been hooked and Pearl Jam has been my favorite band for the past 29 years. Pearl Jam has gotten me through life’s ups, downs, and, more than ever, their music and lyrics continue to be there for me in a therapeutic way. Pearl Jam is oxy...
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Greg Schwab
Their music has been there for some of the best and worst moments of my life. Getting me through deaths of family members, to the joy of discovering the best version of Porch with my 6-year old (12-31-92 is his current favorite). Still cannot believe that I was there in Milwaukee for all of Yield!...
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Heide Marx
I remember seeing the video for Alive on MTV for the first time and was mesmerized. The performance, the music, and those lyrics. When I finally had the opportunity to see Pearl Jam live for the first time on the No Code tour, saying I was blown away is an understatement. I've ridden the wave where...
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Hillary Wood
If you ever need a song to convey a feeling, a vibe, to bring you back to a place or a moment in time, it’s to be found in the Pearl Jam catalogue. It’s a band that mirrors the passion, the politics, the adventure, and the integrity that I try my best to live life with and their music is a perfect s...
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Jason Corbin
I’m a super fan but not a super fan. I don’t know every lyric to every song or know the story to every song. I just love everything about the music and it brings me much happiness whenever I get to go to a show. Also my first date with my wife was at a Pearl Jam show. 6/30/2008 Which also happens to...
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Jason Leung
I live for adventure and live music. So why not combine the 2 together. In 2005, I bought a crappy old van and filled it up with a bunch of strangers I met on the internet to follow Pearl Jam across the country. My life had begun and I haven't looked back since. See y'all on the road!
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Javier Hervas
The first time I heard Ten, was something life changing. The girl who used to live across the street gave me a Ten cassette for me to listen to. I was around 10 or 11 years old and I wanted to get into music to learn how to play the guitar better. They mean so much to me because until this day, it i...
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Jeff Benanto
I've gone through many different music phases in my life, but the one constant is Pearl Jam. Through epics shows (State College '03, Philadelphia '09, Boston '10, etc), a thousand spins of the '00 bootlegs, and many a failed attempt to get Ed's parts on Off He Goes and I Got Id down pat on the guita...
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Jenni Gee
Honestly, my fandom began with my second show (OKC 2013) and the Pearl Jam fans I met there. PJ has been the catalyst for many of my most cherished moments. (My kids' first concert, front row Stone's side in Telluride being the most amazing), Since OKC, I've not only become a "crazy merch lady", ...
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Joey Goodsir
I may be the youngest PJ superfan you’ve come across, but from my first home directly across the street from the Vic Theatre, discovering “Alive” to begin my high school life, and Gigaton’s release on the day of my college decision – I was built for this.
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John Hamilton
I began my Pearl Jam fandom circa 1991 in high school. I was searching for something and Pearl Jam provided what I needed. I became intensely interested in them, and learned about the band and their live experience through Five Horizons, though I was not able to see them live until after college on ...
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Justin Goulet
There is nothing better than PJ live (especially in the Northeast). I am still chasing It’s Ok and Red Mosquito after all these years ... one day they will happen.
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Kirk Walton
The first time I saw Pearl Jam was the video for Alive. I didn’t know what to think about the band. “What are these guys? They aren’t like Metallica or Guns n Roses. Why is that guy wearing a weird hat?” Over time, their music became the anthems of my formative years. Our friends bonded over their ...
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Lila Barzegar
I first heard Pearl Jam by pressing my ear against my big brother’s door at the age of 12 and have never experienced such solace as I do when I hear their music. They have delivered me from darkness countless times, and continually lift me up into a plane of pure balance. I’m still chasing a “Cordu...
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Mar Vigil
I attended my first Pearl Jam show when I was 11 years old in 1993. Basically, I grew up in front of this band. Each album represents an era of my life, from elementary school to the onset of middle age. The Oakland 2013 show felt like "This Is Your Life"—each song, a different memory of who I was b...
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Mark Kirby
In 1991, my friends and I went to Chicago to see Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks, and my favorite band at the time, Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Pearl Jam just happened to be on the concert bill that weekend. I’d never heard of them before. They played State of Love and Trust about mid-set, and they’ve been my f...
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Marty Higgins
Been a PJ since 1992, waited 8 years to see them live, and then another 18 to see them a second time. Now I'm packing them in. Should be number 10 at MSG. I help run a fan page in Scotland. We have 3 things on our mission statement.
1. Keep grunge alive
2. Raise money to find a cure for Diabetes...
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Matt Helbig
Being a professional performing musician myself, there’s nothing better or more important than the live show. Having great albums is one thing, but elevating it to the levels PJ does is magic. They’re one of only a handful of bands that fire on all cylinders, bringing you everything you want to hear...
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Matt Sellers
My adolescence changed in 1992, with the release of Ten, Nevermind, Little Earthquakes and Wish. But it was Ten that swept me away. Lost in the mumbled Pearl Jam lyrics, I decided right then that I wanted to write. Thirty years later, Pearl Jam is still my favorite band. And someday, I might wri...
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Michael Jonsson
Since 2007, Pearl Jam has always been my safe space, the room I can step into whenever I need to feel sheltered. The band has inspired me musically as much as they’ve inspired me to care for relationships and the importance of activism. Their relevance in my life has come and gone over the years but...
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Mike Packard
I’ve been listening to Pearl Jam since as long as I can remember. My Dad got me into them. He had good taste in music. I was nine when Ten came out and I bought the CD when I was ten. I remember my friends at that age getting mad at me cause it’s all I ever played. Remember, I was TEN YEARS OLD. Whe...
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Nadene Roff
I first heard Pearl Jam played at a school social event in 1994 when I was 15 and it blew my mind. It was a song from Vs and I was instantly hooked. My first show was in 1998 but seeing them play Tremor Christ live in Boston in 2018 was truly a twenty year dream come true. Pearl Jam is not just a ba...
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Nick Smith
I still remember the night as a 14 year old when a friend gave me a CD to listen to and the first notes of “Once” were so powerful it took hours to move on to “Even Flow.” Needless to say I was hooked for life. Since the age of 18, when I skipped school twice to get tickets, my never ending quest t...
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Patrick Boegel
When Pearl Jam first rose to prominence post Unplugged and during Lollapalooza it was their live tapes that indicated something more, something real was happening here. The first "bootleg" I owned was a great sounding board tape from 10.6.1991 at the Hollywood Palladium, I was captivated by the pas...
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Patrick Wetzels
Pearl Jam is with me every day, if I am not humming or listening to songs then I have one in my head. In fact, I don't think there is single second of my awake mind that there isn't a PJ song playing in my head. These songs have become the soundtrack of my life. Feel I have an underwhelming tour rec...
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Paul Wirt
My Pearl Jam fandom began when I was in elementary school in the early 90's and I "permanently borrowed" my sister's copy of Ten because I needed something to listen to while I mowed the lawn. Fast-forward a few decades and I've been to about 30 shows and have traveled to places I would have never d...
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Ryan Franke
From the time I was handed Ten to listen to on my 7th grade field trip I’ve been hooked! Finally saw my first show at Alpine in ‘98 and the live show itch begun! Can’t wait for more shows around the bend, and a shoutout to my kids Charlotte Pearl and Grant Edward!
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Ryan Morden
Pearl Jam is an extremely thoughtful rock band and that's why I'm such a big fan. The members are thoughtful in everything: lyric writing, politics, song composition, live performances, and how they treat their fans. It's great music and more. I've made lifelong friends through mutual appreciation o...
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Scott Hetherington
I bought Ten in 1992 from Blockbuster Music. It was the first album (CD) I bought with my own money when I was 11 years old. My friend's older brother worked at HMV in Lenox Mall when we were kids and he was able to get us tickets for the show at the Fox in 94. It was only my second concert ever ...
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Sean Rashkis
October 1, 1994 sold me on my Pearl Jam fandom. Coming to the stage and playing Walking the Cow floored me. Not only was I sold on Pearl Jam when I first saw them almost a year earlier in 1993, seeing them come out and open with a pretty rare cover was just incredible. How many bands out there chang...
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Shane Jackman
As I live in Australia, I saw PJ for the first time in 1995 on the Vitalogy tour and thought wow! Some 22 shows later including five separate trips to the USA, I can honestly say the band has made a profound impact on my life. (And I’m still chasing my first Parting Ways live!)
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Sheehan Perera
Been listening to Pearl Jam since 8th grade (mid-90s). Over the years, Pearl Jam's catalog has been my safe place and my guide as I dove deep into other artists like Jimi Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Pink Floyd. Been going to PJ shows since 1998 and love how the experience has become s...
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Stacey Rodriguez
Some albums took time to grow on me, but Riot Act was the one that hit hard and lasted forever. I never got to see them when I was young, but since 2008 I haven't stopped!
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Steve Bennett
I was up too late one night flipping channels and stumbled upon Headbangers Ball. Ed and Mike were the guests and the next day I asked my Mom to take me to the mall to buy their CD. Pearl Jam was the first band that was mine and not one I borrowed from my father. I went to my first show in 1996 and ...
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Steve McCallum
I have been a Pearl Jam fan since 1994. SNL '94 caught my attention. First album was Vitalogy and to this day is still my favorite. Got into bootlegs in 1995 (favorite live bootleg year, Jack Irons!). Have seen Pearl Jam about 15 times. First show was Toronto 1996 and would probably be my most me...
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TJ Kindle
I consider myself a lifelong PJ fan. I was introduced to the band by my Uncle Mike in 1991 when he handed me his cassette tape of TEN. The moment I threw my headphones on and pressed play, I was hooked. Pearl Jam was my gateway to the Seattle Sound. I picked up everything that was coming out of Seat...
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Tom Gregory
Ed was once asked why he sings about such dark subject matter and his response, which I'm paraphrasing, was something like that if you give yourself a way to express these emotions, maybe you can make some sense of them. By giving them a name and a shape and a rhythm you can maybe even gain some...
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Zach Fields
As a collector of Nirvana bootlegs in my middle school years, the release of the 2000 Pearl Jam bootlegs instantly caught my attention. So I bought Verona 2000 at a Best Buy and it was a revelation and I've never looked back. 2.5 years later I went to my first three shows . . . the Mansfield, MA "e...
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