Pearl Jam Fan Profile – Joaquin Zihuatanejo

One of the most special parts of a Pearl Jam show is when Ed and the band can recognize a story submitted by a local area fan and share it with the crowd. On the 2023 tour, we saw our fair share of those, ranging from requested songs to stories of heartbreak and loss. In what was one of the most memorable moments of the year, Ed received and read a poem from the poet laureate of Dallas about how influential the band had been to keeping him alive amidst family struggles and homelessness – one of the most emotional stories ever told at a Pearl Jam show.  We’re excited to welcome Joaquin Zihuatanejo onto the show to talk about how this improbable moment went down!

He’ll talk about how the moment almost never happened due to prior work commitments, and how a crazy connection within the Pearl Jam camp got his writing to the band. What turned from a night in the 200s section to a special moment in the history of this band is all documented in a wonderful conversation here. Check it out, and get the first hand knowledge how Joaquin’s night went down!


Pickin’ On Pearl Jam with Bluegrass Cover Band Iron Horse

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.


Pearl Jam Stories w/ Richard Stuverud

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.


The Pearl Jam Backstage Experience feat. Rich and Dermott Berg

The chances of winning the lottery are nearly impossible, but most people make an attempt because the reward is so enticing. During the early part of the pandemic, Pearl Jam was helping to raise money for the All-In Challenge that battled food insecurity for kids that no longer had access to food due to schools being closed. Eddie had offered up a once in a life time experience to get to go to a show, head backstage, meet the band and help Ed pick the setlist. The band raised over a million dollars just from donations through their prize package, and the winners were Rich Berg and his son Dermott that got to live out this dream.

We invite Rich and Dermott onto the pod to discuss the story of how it all went down. From finding out that they were the winners, to heading in to Camden to meet Ed and get to join them on stage, we go through every gritty detail of the encounter. Find out what its like for Ed to prepare for every show from what type of pen Ed writes his setlists with to how many shirts Stone has in his dressing room!


Long Road: Pearl Jam And The Soundtrack Of A Generation featuring Steven Hyden

We welcome Steven Hyden back to the show to discuss his brand new book, Long Road: Pearl Jam and the Soundtrack of a Generation. We’ll break down much of the subject matter brought up in the book such as writing with the intention to appeal to both the hardcore fan and casual fan, providing stories to give perspective on the band’s history. For anyone that perceives Pearl Jam for the material they put out on Ten without context for the rest of their history, this will allow the reader to fully explain what this band’s purpose is – something that we’re no stranger to on this podcast – their live act.

Along with those themes, we discuss topics such as the strength of the fan community, what makes them always want to come back for more and Steven’s own up and down history as a fan.


The Pearl Jam Fan Portraits Story Featuring Tanya Kang

We have a very special episode for you all today. Our good friend Tanya Kang has been taking portraits of fans at shows holding up their favorite lyrics since 2012. She has a book coming out very soon chronicling her ten years of work call I Am Mine, and she’s here to discuss the history of what she’s been doing and give you a little preview as to what’s in the book.

There is still time to donate to her Kickstarter in order to get a copy. go to http://pearljamfanportraitsbook.com by October 1st to pre-order your copy set to arrive early 2023!


Pearl Jam 2022 Mid-Tour Analysis Featuring Jonathan Cohen

We’re now approaching act three of Pearl Jam’s slate of shows for the 2022 tour. There has been discussion about all that has happened – the great performances, the surprises and the unfortunate cancelations, but in this episode, we get the privilege to speak with Variety and SPIN contributor, as well as the author of PJ20, Jonathan Cohen. Cohen has had his eye on the band throughout the year giving him a unique perspective on the band’s approach. We speak to him about the ins and outs of it all, as well as get a little information on what to possibly expect in September, as well as a little bit of info on how Pearl Jam has been proceeding with the new album they’ve been working in studio on. Great insight as always, lots to sink your teeth into!


Pearl Jam Fan Josh Arroyo Shares Experience Drumming with the Band

The band was in a tough spot in Oakland after finding out that their Lamborghini, machine gun drummer Matt Cameron tested positive for Covid-19. They had some friends help them out such as Josh Klinghoffer and Richard Stuverud, but the big moment of the night came when Ed asked a simple question: “is there anybody out there who can play drums?” We get to speak with fan fill-in drummer Josh Arroyo about his entire experience living out a dream that would send any Pearl Jam fan to heaven. Josh’s story to get to that moment is nothing sort of amazing. From his father taking him to the Oakland Arena for the first time to see Rush on the Moving Pictures tour, the story comes full circle when he steps into the building with his 12-year old daughter to see her first Pearl Jam show. But that wasn’t the only special thing to happen that night. From his fandom way back to the Cow Palace in San Francisco all the way up to where he’s at today, less than a week from playing and he’s one of the most admired and celebrated fans around. Get to hear the amazing story and more in this special episode!


Pearl Jam MTV Unplugged Revisited: An Unlikely Journey to the Show

On the date of the 30th anniversary of MTV Unplugged, we released an episode breaking down every moment from that show and telling every story. Two months later and there’s still more to tell! You may remember going back to the earliest episodes this year that at the end, we asked our listeners if they knew anyone who was at this show to get in touch with us. We were waiting for that email, but unfortunately it never happened. Flash forward to the date that our episode is release, we get a comment on Twitter from someone who tells us that he was indeed there that night. One thing led to another, and here we are sharing the story of Ken Lesnik and what it was like to be in the building that night. As an employee of MTV, Ken was always invited to network events, but Unplugged took place just months after he left. A wild story about him being in the right place at the right time got him in the building that night. He’ll talk about the amazing experience that he had being very close to the front and how this night solidified his fandom. This episode is being released 30 years to the day of the first airing of this on television. There is never a bad time to talk about this legendary show, but there’s no more perfect time than right now. Enjoy Ken’s stories!

Listen to the Episode:


The Story of Five Horizons with Caryn Rose

Back in the early days of the internet, communities were starting to evolve and develop all over the world wide web. Some people found them in public chat rooms, some found them on message boards, Pearl Jam fans found a special one in Five Horizons. 5H was the original Pearl Jam archival concert chronology that did remarkable research on the band’s history, cataloging details from every show that was available to them. Joining us today is Caryn Rose who helped put this project together. We’ll get to learn some of the ins and outs of running the website and the adversity they went through. Caryn doesn’t hold back on her stories regarding PJ stalker fans, people’s perception of her and Jean, and trying to stay away from the spotlight that came along with the site.

Listen to the Episode:


Fan Profiles: Elie Honig

This episode is a special Pearl Jam Fan Profile featuring former New Jersey assistant Attorney General and CNN legal analyst Elie Honig! Elie joins us to talk about where his fandom all started and what it was like to be at his first show at Constitution Hall in 1995. We’ll get to learn many great stories about his fandom and he’ll ask us a few questions as well such as if Pearl Jam are the most athletic band and what our takes are on Hunger Strike and Release.


Wrigley Field Month – Fanmail Part 1

This week is the final week of July, so that means we wave goodbye to our month long celebration of Wrigley Field shows. In this episode we’ll tell stories about our listener;s experience being at these events. They range anywhere from ridiculous to emotional. We’ll even get to hear from a few people who had a direct connection with the performance where you may have even remembered Eddie mention their names. We had 40 or so people write in to us! Wow! That’s a lot of stories to tell! Which means we’re going to extend Wrigley Month by one extra day. On Wednesday we’ll cover the Night 2 2018 show and Thursday we’ll be releasing a part 2 from our mailbag. If your story wasn’t told in this episode, we PROMISE you’ll hear us tell it on the next episode!


Wrigley Field Month – Rob Bleetstein & Bob Krause

We have two weeks left in our month of Wrigley-centric episodes and that means we’re going to finish up strong! This week we invite two guests onto the show, one is the voice of Sirius XM’s Pearl Jam Radio Rob Bleetstein and the other is a native of Wrigleyville Bob Krause. Rob has of course been to hundreds of shows during his time following the band as a fan and covering them for Sirius. He has great memories of being at these Wrigley shows, one especially coming from the 2013 show where the rain delay (and current state) could’ve potentially caused major challenges if his show had to go back on air. He’ll talk about the experience from all 3 shows and share some of his favorite venues and cities he’s seen the band in. Bob Krause, whom Rob dubs the mayor of Chicago, hosted a Real World of Wrigley House in 2016 and 2018 that held 35 fans in his Wrigleyville apartment for a full weekend of partying, BBQ and of course Pearl Jam. Being a Cubs season ticket holder he’ll talk about how special it was for the band to play in 2016 when the team was on their magical run to win the World Series, as well as an opportunity where he got to spend a game in the bleachers with both Eddie Vedder and Pete Townshend.


Wrigley Field Month feat. Jonathan Cohen

This week’s guest is the co-author of PJ20, former music booker on The Tonight Show and currently writes for Variety, Jonathan Cohen joins the show to talk about his experience being side stage at the Wrigley 2013 show and getting to witness the commotion backstage during the rain delay. Not only will you get to hear some great stories from that night, but he’ll also share a little bit of his experience from writing the PJ20 book and getting a peak into some of the myths and legends from the band’s history that went previously undiscovered. We’ll talk to him about his time on The Tonight Show and the booking of Pearl Jam week back in 2013 in preparation of Lightning Bolt and shares a special untold detail of one of the original acts that was booked to perform that week (it’s a huge reveal!) We’ll also ask him about the Gigaton listening party that he attended prior to the album’s release and getting a chance to drink tequila with Eddie and get his insight on parts of the album he was proud of.


Wrigley Field Week feat. Dr. John Evans

We continue our month of Wrigley coverage with a special appearance from our guest Dr. John Evans. The majority of Pearl Jam fans know his story by now from the Let’s Play Two movie – he arrived at Wrigley 4 days ahead of time to get in line, Danny Clinch and his crew documented it and we got to witness an all-time personal dedication as Eddie and the boys played Release for John second song in the set. We’ll speak to him about some of the stories behind the camera and what was going through his mind both while waiting in line and being on the rail that night in 2016. Also, John has been on the front lines in the fight against Covid-19 and we’ll discuss some of the things going on in his world. Bottom line is this – wear your fucking mask.


Wrigley Field Week with Special Guest Steven Hyden

Welcome to a month’s long celebration of the band’s five performances at Wrigley Field! Before we cover each individual show’s setlist, we’re inviting a special guest in from the either the music industry or the Pearl Jam community to tell their Wrigley stories. This week we have music journalist and host of the Rivals podcast Steven Hyden joining the show. Steven will talk about his experience at 2013 and how it reinvigorated his love for the band after not seeing them live for 15 years. We’ll talk about the weather’s effect on the day and how shows like this have lifted Pearl Jam into the conversation of one of the best American live bands in history. We’ll get his thoughts on Gigaton and where he thinks it belongs among the 2020 album releases.