In this episode, we continue our year long 30th anniversary Seattle hometown series with a tune up show from 2002 that took place shortly before the long Riot Act tour in the proceeding year. The band was slowly returning to the public eye for the first time since the end of the tumultuous Binaural tour, and in the two years since that run, the world had completely changed. In the wake of 9/11 was an impending war with Afghanistan that would transition into a war with Iraq that the band vehemently opposed, and would express their opposition to on the Riot Act record. The Riot Act songs are in their infancy of live performances with most of them only being played in between two and five times. We’ll spend some time talking about the crowd’s reaction to these songs and why some of them took a lot quicker to attach themselves to (I Am Mine, Save You, Love Boat Captain) while others maybe didn’t click as much at first (Ghost, Thumbing My Way). But we’ll also get an early appearance of the George W. Bush mask routine during Bu$hleaguer. Another big talking point of the episode is about The Ramones and their presence in the music world at the time. Earlier that year, Eddie, donning a newly buzzed mohawk, inducted The Ramones into the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame. It came a year after the passing of Joey, and two months later, Dee Dee would die from a heroin overdose. With Johnny’s health in decline, artists at the time were eager to share how The Ramones had influenced them over the years with Ed at the forefront of all of it. We’ll talk about their impact on the music world and how many artists were looking to keep their legacy alive after losing two original members in such a short amount of time.
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This first night of PJ20 weekend was stricken with bad weather that put a bit of a damper on the show, but they followed up with a Sunday night performance that was one for the ages. While the first night had some song inclusions from the deep cuts in their catalog, it was missing a familiar flow that give Pearl Jam setlists balance. Night 2 has more of those setlist staples intertwined while giving you more of the uncommon tracks that you can cross off your checklist. But just like the night prior, the band invited a handful of guests from the opening acts to join them, including Chris Cornell, who reprised his role in the Temple Of The Dog reunion. We’ll talk about how this show is a true celebration of Pearl Jam and their anniversary, calling back to important moments that shaped the band such as Roskilde 2000, the San Francisco 1995 incident and the Bob Dylan tribute show where they met Neil Young for the first time. This was all about embracing their history with the inclusion of their friends who helped them get to where they were.
We’re sitting here in year 30 of Pearl Jam about to look back at when they celebrated their 20th anniversary, which happened to be 10 years ago. Whatever equation you want to make of it, the massive weekend event at Alpine Valley was one of the biggest events to that point in Pearl Jam’s history. It was set to be a celebration of the band’s longevity featuring the most loyal group of fans. Friends such as Glen Hansard, Mudhoney, Queens Of The Stone Age and The Strokes all flew up to rural Wisconsin just to be there for this moment. A weekend that would forever be etched in… nope. The rain came pouring down and any prestige that was to come from that night was heavily tainted. However, the show went on as promised and was extended due to the nature of the evening. Pearl Jam went through the gauntlet of their entire catalog through songs that had never been played, In The Moonlight and Setting Forth, to songs that had almost never been played, Education and Help, Help, while trying to scatter the fan favorites such as Breath and Not For You (feat. Julian Casablancas) throughout. But the night will forever be known for the surprise appearance of Chris Cornell for a Temple Of The Dog reunion. As a crowd member on this night, Randy will have a lot to say, probably a lot more than you’d expect him to. But he had been dying to do a podcast on this for just about a decade, cut him some slack. It’s like one of the old school episodes of LO4L, so strap on in and prepare yourself for a long one!
It’s the 30th anniversary of Pearl Jam’s debut, and most important album, Ten. So we’re celebrating by taking a look back at one of the most treasured shows of the past decade, the night where they played the entire album in front of a frenzied Philadelphia crowd. It was the fourth of five full album shows in a two-year span that was fueled by a banner raised to the rafters of the Wells Fargo Center honoring the band’s 10 consecutive sellout shows in South Philly. From the time that you hear the iconic opening riff of Alive as the third song in the set, you can tell that the crowd was astounded that they were there to witness history. We’ll go in full depth on the entire album’s recreation from this night and some oddities that came with it that made the setlist flow so unique in itself. Moments such as getting songs like Even Flow, Alive, Porch and Release all happening outside of their positioning’s that we’ve grown so accustomed to. Oh, and we’ll also talk about the consolation prize set, which wasn’t so bad itself, but could never reach the same height that the album’s presence provided.
Batting second in our Murderer’s Row lineup is this tremendous show out of Boston from 2010. Shows in the Boston or Massachusetts area are usually notable in this band’s lineage, but what made this stop on the Backspacer tour important was the myriad of rarities they brought to the table that night. With every album accounted for, the band dug deep into their catalog to pull out songs that some may have thought they’d never play again. And some they haven’t! A song like Undone that hasn’t been played since that date has only five performances, songs like Rival, Push Me, Pull Me and Bee Girl also find their way into the setlist. We’ll spend time on these as well as the Backspacer tracks that might be a little stuck in that area. Is it weird eleven years later to see tracks like The Fixer and Got Some in highlighted roles? We’ll answer that question!
This hometown show is the culmination of a turbulent year for the band where after the Roskilde tragedy, they had to find ways to grieve whilst touring from city to city for 47 dates in the matter of 3 months. During this timeframe they held off on playing Alive, one of the most crucial songs in the band’s catalog, due to it not being appropriate following the incident at hand. On this night in Seattle, to the surprise of many Alive makes it’s triumphant return as part of the healing process. In this episode, we’ll talk about how much weight this performance had and how important it was for them to play in order to move on to the next chapter.
This is the first time we’ve covered a Los Angeles show on the podcast, believe it or not. Jason and Paul from State of Love and Trust Podcast were there and they join to co-host this episode. We’ll ride the rollercoaster of emotions throughout the show, from a promising beginning, some unique placement of songs from Lightning Bolt, and we’ll talk about a couple of incidents that turned the mood of the show and sent Ed spiraling. Would they be able to turn it around? Plus, stick around late in the show as we talk about a classic song that’s going to be even more meaningful this fall when PJ returns to the stage.
This episode we head back to summer 1992 for a Lollapalooza afternoon set at Alpine Valley. Two of our Patrons join us to break it all down, Patrick Boegel and Dani King. Dani was there and gives us the inside story, and, for the second episode in a row, we have an EPIC post-show story that you’ll want to stick around for! We’ll talk about some classic Ten songs that were hitting their peak, an early tease of a fan-favorite Lost Dog, why the studio recording of Baba O’Riley is still in the vault, and one of the craziest Porch climbs Ed’s ever done!
In this episode we’re going back to those eventful few weeks back in 1994 to cover the show AFTER the iconic Fox Theatre Atlanta show. How would the band follow up that momentous performance? We’ll talk about some early versions of Vitalogy classics, and a wild encore that comes out of nowhere! We’ll cover it all with guest co-host Anthony Krysiewicz (Touring Fan Live), and we’re also joined by Patreon donor Matt Behan, who attended this show as a college student and shares a story at the end that you won’t want to miss! All this plus Ohana Encore news and talk of possible new music?!
In this episode we cover a tour leg opener from the first show of the Lightning Bolt tour, Pittsburgh 2013. John is joined by OG pod co-host Matt to cover lots of Lightning Bolt debuts, some curious setlist choices, a loud and exuberant crowd, one very excited Pittsburgh Pirate, and one song that hasn’t resurfaced since this show. Will they disagree on everything? Or will they find some common ground? This episode was requested by our patron Chris Davis, the “Pearl Jam Dude,” and we talk to him about his experience at the show, his first.
We continue our year-long Seattle Series of shows with this West Coast leg-ender from 1998. While Randy is out on paternity leave, John is joined this episode by Branden from the Better Band Podcast. Along with the usual end of tour shenanigans, we’ll talk a lot about No Code, as 7 songs from the album are played on this night. Fantastic versions of Brain of J., Not For You, and Do The Evolution are highlighted, and we’ll also talk about some versions of songs from Ten that were maybe not at their height (with one exception, 1..2..3..4…). Was Matt Cameron still getting his feet wet as PJ’s drummer after less than 3 months on the job? Who is Mister Pickles? All that and Ultimate Frisbee, Funko Pops, and more on this episode!
Pearl Jam has a rich history of playing shows in Italy. Many of their Italian shows have been among some of their best such as Verona 2006 and the entire Immagine In Cornice run. They’ve also had some not so memorable moments opening up for U2 on the 1993 Zooropa tour where they were not well received. Out of the 21 shows they’ve played there, there might not be one that beats the last time they’ve played there to date at the famous Stadio Olimpico in Rome. In front of 70,000 fans, the band returned to the ancient city for the first time since the 1996 tour. That Rome show is relevant because it was on that tour that Ed wrote the lyrics to what would become Yield song MFC and would play it at his first ever solo show in Rome after the tour ended. Ed tells the story of how MFC was written during this show as the song is clearly an obvious choice to play due to the environment.Speaking of obvious songs, since this is a massive crowd, the band comes out firing with all of their hits. Some of the best moments from this show are the songs that you might be able to hear at any Pearl Jam show, but remember this isn’t in front of a mere 15,000 people in a hockey arena. This is in front of one of the largest stadiums in the world. After Ed had to deal with throat issues that postponed a London show a week prior to this night, they bounced back with a 35-song performance and an instant classic. Release, Elderly Woman, Corduroy, Daughter, Black, Rearviewmirror, Alive, and Rockin’ In The Free World are all major highlights from this show. Thanks to our Patron Craig Peterson for requesting this episode!
One of the best things about being able to share a Pearl Jam podcast with the world is to specifically hit home on some of the most notable moments in the band’s history. This night at Red Rocks in 1995 checks that box and then some. After a raucous first show where the band were clearly feeling the effects of the Colorado altitude, they walked on the stage doing something they had never done in this fashion – they sat down and played six straight songs seated. This set a precedent for important shows that would come much later on (Mansfield Experiment, The Gorge, Telluride, etc) and prove to their fans that literally anything can happen at a Pearl Jam show. The opening six songs have become the stuff of legends. Almost every song had some semblance of unfamiliarity. Long Road was in its infant stages having only been debuted a few days prior in Wyoming, Jeremy was deconstructed into its experimental “No Jeremy” version that popped up sparingly in 1995 and 1996, an OTOTO cover called Ship Song was played, a rare performance of b-side Footsteps, the one and only performance of Falling Down either live OR studio, and then the set would finish with Better Man. The importance of this mini-set would prove that PJ is always up to the challenge making the biggest moments of their career everlasting. Along with the sit down set, we’ll look into the rest of the setlist which was a completely different beast from the first night. Instead of blistering through the set with 13 straight energetic rockers, they were able to balance this show out more utilizing some of the more mid-tempo songs in order to build momentum off of. Something that would be a staple of sets moving forward that allowed for them to save energy for the end of shows.
In this episode we chat about a show from the last tour cycle way back in 2018. Of course we know how crazy intense the Brazilian crowds are, and the crowd at this show in Rio de Janeiro would once again control this night. Joining us to talk about it is friend and Patron, Dukes Wooters, who traveled from Seattle to be there that night. Also, since we’re talking about Brazil, we’ll share a message from the band Black Circle about their experiences at this show, including an attempt to get their lead singer Lenny to sing with Ed! A lot of the content in this episode will feature Dukes story of his trip and what was happening in Brazil at the time. This show came shortly after councilwoman Marielle Franco was murdered which led to Brazil undergoing a major transfer of power. This was not lost upon the band as they addressed and paid tribute to the situation, clearly aware and looking out for Brazil’s best interests. Powerful political and progressive songs such as Can’t Deny Me, Leaving Here and a W.M.A. tag off Daughter were played as a reaction. But this show had many of the key fun moments you expect from Brazilian crowds, lots of singing, lots of chanting, Do The Evolution, Given To Fly and Black sounding otherworldly. But the band also broke out some of the deeper tracks such as Garden and Immortality. Having Josh Klinghoffer and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers join the party was another awesome added bonus to make this night special for the locals.
2008 was an interesting year for Pearl Jam. Touring in between their Self-Titled and Backspacer releases, they were given the flexibility to experiment in their setlists moreso then they had in the past. On the 13-show east coast tour, there were songs that had been almost unfathomable to hear at a Pearl Jam show prior. Who You Are, All Night, a full version of W.M.A. and a solidified set opening role for Hard To Imagine are just some of the exciting additions brought into the fold in 2008. At the Washington DC show that we cover in this episode, we’ll hear some of those unique additions as well as a few twists and turns that made this setlist memorable. We’re all familiar with the “man” trilogy where the songs Nothingman, Leatherman and Better Man are played in sequence, that’s a frequent enough occurrence in setlists. The band pulled out not one, but TWO new trilogy series combining songs with the word “I” and the word “you”. These are fun inclusions that you’ll never see in a setlist outside of this unpredictable 2008 tour. As mentioned above, one of the songs that made a huge impact in 2008 was Hard To Imagine. After using it as an opener once in Halifax on the 2005 tour, they hadn’t gone back to it in the role since then. But the song would be played five times in 2008, all as the opener, solidifying its place among the pantheon of special opening songs.
We continue our hometown series with a show in… Spokane? Yes, you heard that correctly. In relation to the Deep streaming site that was unveiled in May, we decided to pivot to 2013 and call this a hometown show. Yes, they did play Key Arena in 2013, but if we’re gonna cheat we might as well go all the way. That show will happen later in the year!
Why is Spokane a hometown show? It’s not because Jeremy… you get the joke… As the second most populous city in the state of Washington, where the band has resided throughout their entire 30-year career, they’ve only played in Spokane ONE other time. It was in 1993 and there’s no bootleg or setlist anywhere. The only thing we know about that show is that Ed made… the joke. This show we cover in this episode is celebrated as being a home away from home with many apologies for waiting this long and empty promises that they’ll be back every year. Ed even busts out the novelty wine bottle for this one! There are a few things to know about this show before diving in. 1) the setlist was curated by Steve Gleason. Only a month after creating the Voodoo Fest setlist, Gleason gets another crack at it, this time adding a few more serious collector’s items to the menu. 2) A fan gets a once in a lifetime chance to join the band on stage and rock out to his favorite song under one condition, he must get his head full of dreadlocks shaved. 3) Anything you’ve read about a specific Van Halen song being played on this night is wrong and you need to forget any mentions of it. The song has only been played twice, both times in Hartford, CT and that’s it. Want to fight about it? Listen to the episode first.
One of our promises for 2021 was more Canadian shows for the listeners up north and this episode stays true to that. We continue to dig into the Deep streaming catalog tour years featuring this Montreal show that kicked off the final leg of the 2000 tour.
In this episode, we’ll talk a little bit about how important the retail released bootlegs from the 2000 tour were to the fandom expanding and growing and their live act getting some more recognition. The bootlegs from the European tour were released only a week before this leg began. We’ll discuss whether or not the bootlegs had anything to do with bringing back some of the older, more rare songs from Ten and Vs. that were played in the years following this tour. We’ll also get into a discussion about whether or not the popularity of Last Kiss led for a change up in how the Binaural record was produced and written. As for the show, while dealing with some first night technical difficulties, the band came through with some big performances at this show including a Corduroy with a riveting solo similar to ones you hear on Even Flow. The show really kicks in toward the middle of the set as a nasty Do The Evolution sets the tone for a hard rocking section with MFC, an improv and Habit. Other highlights from this show are Porch, Off He Goes, Of The Girl and Leaving Here.
We continue covering the tour years offered through the Deep project and Spotify with this absolute gem from the Riot Act tour. Buffalo was the second to last show from the first leg and it took place during a notable run. The night prior on Long Island, they were getting quarters hurled at them for mocking the President and the following night in State College, the tour ender is one of the longest shows of all-time. Only Pearl Jam you guys… Joining us to tell the stories from the night is our Patron Randy Morgan! Coming off that highly controversial show at Nassau Coliseum, there was a sense that the purpose of the Buffalo show would be meant to unite the crowd rather than divide. Examples of that were the most apparent in two spots – the tag of Wishlist and their cover of Patti Smith’s People Have The Power. Without blatantly addressing the infamous Bu$hleaguer moment (aside from a part where he mentioned there had been a lot of booing lately) they put aside whatever political differences they may have had with the crowd to play songs that would make everyone feel like they were a part of something special. Other big moments – just listen to the first 5 songs from this night! Can you ask for anything better to kick off your show? And Randy (guest Randy) will tell the story of how a simple writing accident led to his song request being granted.
**This episode is dedicated to the life of our friend Frank Slitti who was taken away from us way too soon. Miss you already…**
One of the most revered live albums in the history of music is The Who’s Live At Leeds record. The album cover itself was an inspiration to Pearl Jam’s Vault collection cover art, but even more than that, the entire performance from the record can be traced back to elements of Pearl Jam’s live act. They’d mention in this show that they were only able to properly play the city of Leeds once before this (It was actually Bradford 92, not the 2006 Leeds Festival in Weatherby) so this night was an opportunity to pay tribute to one of the band’s biggest influences on their career. There are 3 Who songs played, alongside references (a Young Man Blues tease) and nods (Breakerfall, which has an intro inspired from I Can See For Miles) that show that the band had fulfilled a dream by playing on this stage. With 22 main set songs and 36 in total, many taken from the serious collector’s collection, this set is a 3-hour marathon of amazing performances, positive vibes and a connection with the crowd leaving memories lasting lifetimes. It couldn’t have come at a better time as the band was next to finishing the European leg of the 2014 tour giving them the ability to take a deeper dive into the underutilized albums. Let’s put it this way, No Code, Binaural and Riot Act had more representation than Vitalogy… which featured one song from the record, rarity Tremor Christ. As this show prospers from the more obscure, to add a few more Yield’s Push Me Pull Me and the Stone Gossard sung Don’t Gimme No Lip amongst others, it also fully encompasses everything you want from a Pearl Jam show. Playful banter, unexpected moments and interactions and emotional tributes that had the crowd hanging on every note.
In this episode we go back to our 2021 hometown series celebrating the best shows in the band’s 30-year history emanating from their Seattle residence. This surprise Showbox show from 1996 was the tune up for that fall’s No Code tour. We get EIGHT, yes, EIGHT song debuts from this night from the No Code record so there will be a lot of discussion about the earliest renditions of these songs and how they’d evolve. Sure, the first half of this show is No Code and as mentioned, basically everything is a debut (outside of previously played Habit and Red Mosquito) but we also get some important moments during the ‘jukebox’ set. We get the first ever extended Immortality intro and the first time Cinnamon Girl was tagged on I Got Shit. We’ll also get into a larger discussion about how some of the Ten, Vs. era songs weren’t clicking at the time the way they once were and also how Ed was considering new vocal changes that strayed from his mid-90s primal screaming.