In episode 2 of the Gear Garage, our Guru breaks down three of Pearl Jam’s most anthemic songs – Alive, Corduroy and Given To Fly, and talks about how the band is able to translate very powerful studio album tracks into cathartic live anthems. It’s another fascinating example of Javier’s ability to read and recognize the sum of a song’s parts and narrowly focus on the different elements that make it special. Give this a listen!
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Ladies and gentlemen, Pearl Jam fans, listeners of the podcast – It’s finally come down to this. An 8-show tour was never going to last forever, but the memories that this band has created throughout this stretch of shows has created a lifelong imprint in our minds and hearts. We’ve talked all tour about the band mixing up their setlists busting out songs from bygone eras and albums that never get the respect they deserve. That setlist management set the bar extremely high for the final night of the tour in Austin. But since so much has already been played, what was left for them to do?
Wash opener? Check.
One last ride with Gigaton? Perhaps Never Destination’s swan song. Check.
2000s album representation? Riot Act, 1/2 Full. Check. Avocado, Unemployable. Check.
More deep cuts, No Code? Habit, check. Who You Are, good lord… Check.
A semi-deep cut with local ties? Pelicans, check.
A new cover? Imagine, bleh.
Okay, how about Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Throwns? Land of 1,000 checks.
There were no lack of unforgettable moments that happened on this night. Once again, we invite Hallucinogenic Recipe co-host Patrick Boegel along with Patron Eddie Quintana to share their instant reaction analysis. We’ll talk about the tone that was set with Ed doing Throw Your Arms Around Me in the pre-set, the power of songs like Black and Rearviewmirror, the many surprises as mentioned above and most importantly, the end of the Gigaton tour with a new album on the horizon.
We’ll also pay tribute to a dear friend who couldn’t get a fair shake this tour. We must seek justice.
Thank you all for tuning into these reaction episodes. We wanted them to feel like you were getting the best and most detailed analysis of what was happening right before our eyes and the only way to do that was to involve the folks who lived it all to share it all. Thank you for the many of you who signed up to Patreon for this very reason. We hope you all can stay around for a while!
This was a legendary tour. I’m just glad that we all got to be a part of it!
Our last stop of the tour is for two nights down in Austin, and night 1 had no lack of memorable moments. We talk to Patrick Boegel and friends from site only minutes after the show ended to get their take on how it all went down. From a Vitalogy heavy night, to two Riot Act tour debuts, to the inconceivable Out Of My Mind making it’s return for the 5th time, this conversation will cover everything from top to bottom.
And once again our saga continues with our friends Will and Jo… is the third time a charm? Did they get to enjoy Outback Steakhouse yet? The suspense must be killing you! Tune in to find out the answers to all of the tough questions.
One more show tomorrow. If only this could last forever…
With Matt back on the team tonight, the moment was ripe for there to be a memorable night 2 show in North Texas. We got another bevy of tour debuts from songs that some people maybe NEVER expected to be played again, and plenty of amazing moments involving fan interactions. Anthony from Touring Fan Live was on site yet again to help us break it all down with a cast of characters that had a blast. Including our returning New Zealand friends. Have they tried Outback yet?! You best bet they get asked about that!
I promise that there will not be a lot of complaining from yours truly. Yes, most of you that are in the know understand that the reason why I had planned to go to these shows circled around one singular song that was played this evening. Covid can seriously go fuck itself. When this band goes out on tour next year, we all need to write a letter to the 10 Club to ask if they can make Brain Of J happen at a show we’re all at together. For real, I need to hear this song before this all goes away. Just once. But yeah, not a lot of complaining, I promise!
There are a few audio issues sprinkled throughout, they are manageable, but I just wanted to make you all aware that this was unfortunately the hand we were dealt with. And of course, it was all on my end. What a fucking night, right? Enjoy the coverage.
A newsworthy show took place down in Ft. Worth, Texas last night as for the second year in a row, Matt Cameron is sidelined by Covid and Josh Klinghoffer jumps in to replace him. Randy joins John from the Live On 4 Legs headquarters as he also sat out Ft. Worth due to his own Covid diagnosis, but we have Anthony Krysiewicz from Touring Fan Live joined by friends of the community direct from site to share their full reaction to the show. They’ll rundown the set, shared where Josh excelled and struggled, talk heavy Yield and no Gigaton songs, and a random appearance from Cat Woman.
We’ll also discuss some of Ed’s cryptic phrasing at the end of the show that may cast doubt on a second show happening Friday night.
In this episode of the Late Night Series we’ll dig into two performances honoring the band the Ed grew up idolizing as a teenager, The Who. For a brief time in the early 2000s, VH1 put together a concert honoring some of the best rock bands in history. Influenced artists would be invited to play their favorite songs, in which this case Pearl Jam broke out two Quadrophenia favorites – Love Reign O’er Me and The Real Me. In this episode we’ll talk about Dwight Schrute, Boom not being invited, a brass section and the most perfect guitar smash of all time.
Randy (again live from the United Center) and John break down everything that happened on night 2 in Chicago right after the show ended. An emotional Come Back, Present Tense, the returns of Tremor Christ, Green Disease, and Marker in the Sand, Chris Chelios getting his jersey in the rafters, and a hell of a lot of songs from Ten! Lots of guests on this one, thanks everybody!
Randy (live from the United Center) and John go live immediately after the show to discuss an epic night in Chicago, from Release to Corduroy, Light Years to In My Tree, RVM for Frans, and all the stories and sounds from one that will be hard to top. Thanks to all our special guests for joining in!
Our first double show run is complete! Let’s look at night 2 from St. Paul and see what the LO4L Faithfull thought. A bold statement was made from our own Patrick Boegel – this was the best main set that he’s seen since 2006. There’s a lot of weight to that statement, and we asked some of our friends on site if they agreed. The answers and the story of the experiences shared here are very interesting to break down.
We have a ton of stories from the GA and rail, and yet again our good friend Mar got to connect with a band member for the second night in a row. From big moments such as the Brain Damage intro into I Am Mine, Purple Rain to close the show and a song from every album played, we’ll learn what everyone’s favorite moments were here. See you in Chicago!
Well now, we’ve got one show under our belt and plenty to discuss here! Randy and John are joined by correspondent and Patron Kirk Walton and friends live on site in the Twin Cities to react to everything that went down on a very memorable night one. We’ll get the reaction to the improbable opener of Indifference, the stories and emotion that Ed displayed during powerful performances of Wildflowers and Love Boat Captain (dedicated to Maui) and big moments such as the return of Insignificance after 7 years of absence! We’ll also get to hear how two fans with sequin jackets got to be a part of the show, and how Ed recognized a sign held by our Patron, Mar Vigil. Enjoy the first episode! 1 down, 8 to go!
LO4L Patrons, it’s my pleasure to introduce to you the first episode in a brand new series featuring the Gear Guru Javier Hervas’ very own show! He’ll take you inside his Gear Garage and go through some of his favorite aspects of songs and break down how the band created the recognizable tones you’ve grown to love.
In the Pilate episode, Javier will be deconstructing the Avocado record, or as we like to say around here – the JAVocado record! Join him as he’ll isolate the guitars on Life Wasted, Army Reserve and Come Back to show you guys some of the band’s thought processes on the record. Give us a holler, if you enjoyed this and would like to see more, shoot Javier a comment down below!
We have a jam packed Late Night episode for you! Not only are we digging into the late night show performance of Life Wasted, but we are covering the entire 10 song after show that took place in the Letterman studio! Only about 300 fan club members got invited to a show after the taping that showcased some of the brand new Avocado songs for a very early time live, as well as a few other fan favorites. To the disappointment of the crowd, Leash was not played on this night, but one song that was played changed the entire trajectory of how the fans see it today. Take a listen and find out which one I’m talking about, it’s an absolute classic!
Earlier this month, bluegrass cover band, Iron Horse, famed for their covers of bands such as Metallica, Guns ‘N Roses, Nirvana and many more, released an album complete with 12 renditions of popular Pearl Jam songs. All four members – Tony (mandolin), Vance (guitar), Andy (banjo) and Ricky (bass) join us to chat about the making of the record. We’ll ask them what went into the decision of selecting Pearl Jam material, how they decided what songs to pick, their previous intake of Pearl Jam and how challenging the process was to transition their songs into bluegrass. It’s a great conversation with insight into the bluegrass world and how it’s able to mix within other genres of music.
A little bonus episode for you guys this week! Thought this would be a nice attachment to the Portland show because they basically bookend this little US run that happens in the spring of 1992. We picked this for two reasons – 1) It’s a great excuse to discuss the legendary First Avenue. 2) It felt like we needed to do another Minnesota show in preparation for September, so this was an easy choice. Despite this boot not sounding all that great, We put together an interesting episode here for a show that was the follow up to the iconic MTV Unplugged taping. We’ll get into that, the venue, and we even do our best to guess what Ed is saying in each of his speeches due to this rough recording. Yes, we’ll probably talk about that all episode, but there is a cool Easter egg attached with that that also has an attachment to the local area. See if you can figure it out!
We’re heading across the ocean for this Late Night Series episode to focus on Pearl Jam’s appearance on Later… With Jools Holland in 2006. Only weeks before the self-titled record came out, the band continued to do the promotional circuit, which in this case also led to a surprise show the night prior in which many Avocado songs were debuted. We get three great performances here, and an interview that reveals some thoughts about the band taking from inspirations and how they’ve changed since early in 1992. Enjoy!
It’s time to evolve again! In our first Evolution Series episode about a song written after the year 2000, we are digging into one of the band’s most personal and emotional songs in Love Boat Captain. It’s a song about one of music’s worst tragedy’s that the band almost didn’t come back from, and the song has stood as grieving moment memorializing the nine lives lost in Roskilde. We’ll talk about versions where the band uses it as a tribute, and uses the crowd’s participation to lift them up. But we can’t forget about Boom! We’ll go into full detail about how this song was his gateway into the band and why Ed had always dubbed him as their Love Boat Captain. Lest we forget, we also have the modern era jammy versions of this song that we’ll talk about in full detail as well! Get ready for 140 minutes of great storytelling and extensive research all about one song that may have changed everything.
We have moved along forward in our Late Night Series to 2006 where the band would make their most public television appearances since 1992. It kicks off with SNL and the live debut of two songs from the Avocado record – World Wide Suicide and Severed Hand. We’ll discuss the era a little bit as well as some of the disappointment within the director’s decision to produce these performances. Oh, and we have Lindsay Lohan as our host in one of her most prime tabloid years!
As we celebrate the silver anniversary of one of Pearl Jam’s masterpieces in Yield, we wanted to present you with an episode focusing on a show smack dab in the middle of that era. You may remember the Tibetan Freedom Concert’s coverage on MTV in the summers of the late ’90s and that’s exactly where we’re taking this episode. It’s an important one because you can say that this is Cameron’s first big show since joining in the interim that spring. We’ll talk about Jack’s exit, how Cameron developed along with the songs, the reason behind why this festival took place and an 8-song setlist during a fantastic tour year. Happy Yield Day! Enjoy!
Here is the first Late Night Series episode of the year featuring the Masters Of War performance in 2004! We’ll not only discuss the performance, but we’ll tap into the era as well, one that was smack in the middle of a major Presidential election during war time. As they were about to embark on the Vote For Change tour, this Letterman performance was the first before they stopped at six swing state cities scattered throughout the midwest and south. We’ll also talk a little bit about Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 documentary and how the soundtrack used a version of this song. Enjoy!
We had a very special guest attend our annual Live On 4 Legs Holiday Party this year – Mr. Richard Stuverud joined us to talk about his dream moment playing in Pearl Jam on the live stage. It was the largest crowds that he’d ever performed in front of. We got to have a very open conversation with him about the experience and all that’s happened after, especially if his own solo career has changed since it went down.