Podcast Episodes

We go back in time to the beginning of the second leg of 1998 in this episode covering the first show out of Noblesville, Indiana. The first leg of the North American run had it’s ups and downs and learning curves seeing as it was the first tour that Matt Cameron took over at the kit. Which meant that Matt had to learn over 60 songs in an extremely short amount of time in order to make this work. Having a month to rest and refocus in between legs, there is a renewed energy at the start of this leg. We’ll talk about how Matt was able to find his organic style and how it was interpreted into Pearl Jam songs different from Jack Irons. We’ll also talk about good versions of Immortality, Brain of J, Wishlist, Alive, and a mention of the Bill Clinton scandal that was all over the news in 1998.

Not Boston, but Woostah! This episode hits up an early show from the Lightning Bolt tour in which the band was playing their first of two nights in the Massachusetts town. Most Boston shows are going to give you something memorable like a special crowd or a deep dive into the back catalog. This show has all of those things. It’s a great crowd, and Fatal is played for the first time in years. But with the hosts not having attended this one in person, it is a bit of a struggle to grab onto an overall narrative for this 32-song set. Is it the brand new album songs that the band continues to adjust to on the live stage? Is it the 20-song main set that lasts about a dollar short of 2 hours? Is it Ed being so drunk that he forgets how to spell L-O-I-T-E-R-I-N-G in Crazy Mary? Those are all nice talking points, but when you put everything together, what kind of show are you looking at in hindsight? Don’t let that detract you from what this episode has to offer, because although we struggle with pieces of it, we ultimately enjoy this one. So listen in for discussion on great versions of Crazy Mary, Yellow Moon, Lightning Bolt, Unthought Known, Corduroy and Sonic Reducer.

The 2022 season kicks off with a Patreon request straight from the 2005 Canadian tour leg. We go to Canada’s biggest city in Toronto to cover a show with a clear narrative from top to bottom that had the ultimate payoff at the end. Pearl Jam arrived into town as U2 completed a four-night stay to kick off the third leg of their Vertigo Tour, which meant an opportunity that allowed for Ed to appear on stage with them opened the door for Bono to make a guest appearance during this show. Make no bones about it, we let it be known our thoughts and feelings of U2 and Bono as a whole. You may share them or you may not, but ultimately a night packed with deep cut tributes to the pioneering arena rock titans is going to be memorable for many. But after about 83 or so U2 references weaved in and out of songs and speeches, it had to end with Bono blathering in some sort of self-inspired religious tongues during Rockin’ In The Free World. Would you expect it any other way? When U2 isn’t the forefront of conversation, we’ll get to talk about a strong show of mainly hits that features a special performance of Harvest Moon in the encore. And for all of you Jeff Ament fans, we kick off our year with a lovefest to the greatest bass player around.

We end our 2021 Hometown Series run with the 2002 Showbox show that was released as a DVD. This took place at the beginning of the Riot Act era so we get three debuts from the album as well as a near OTOTO that’s festive for this time of year. Don’t Believe In Christmas, originally written by The Sonics, was featured as a Christmas single that year and closes out the show. We saved it for this time of year so it could be a special holiday treat for you all! Along with showcasing many of the new tracks, a major theme from this show was the incoming Iraq war and how that was impacting the band, mainly Ed. We get to see it in the tag for Daughter where he took a rendition of War: What Is It Good For and shook it to it’s core. The intensity behind his emotional outbreak is one of the angriest displays we’ve ever seen from Ed at a show, and we’ll discuss that in full detail. The political statements would continue throughout the night with the debut of Ed donning a George W. Bush mask during Bu$hleaguer, Insignificance getting a big moment and Yellow Ledbetter getting a few relevant lyrical changes.

What happens when a venue dedicated to corporate sponsorship doles out tickets to non-Ten Club fans in the first ten rows of the building? The band gets to play an extra night allowing cheap lawn seats to fan club members, that’s what. In an act of defiance in Clarkston (or Detroit, depending on who you are) Pearl Jam took the stage on the second of two nights and decided to experiment instead of busting out some of the standard favorites. This experiment lead to a whopping seven songs off of Vitalogy that were played and four from No Code, with the No Code tracks in particular standing out the most. This was in a time where In My Tree was barely played, so when it was brought back in rare instances, the band would perform an alternate version stretching out the song’s soaring elements. This is a version we don’t get to chat about often, so get ready for us to take a few minutes on it. Rarities would be strategically placed throughout this main set as the pace and energy maintained consistent. Songs like Sleight of Hand, Down and Leatherman that don’t usually get the call were played, with the latter of those beginning the Man Trilogy. A great show, a great bootleg. Thanks to our Patron Clay Davis for requesting this one.

We’re nearing the end of our Hometown Series and a show that absolutely needed to be apart of that conversation gets the spotlight in this episode. This one covers the first night of the 2018 Home Shows – a two night stay at the ballpark formerly known as Safeco Field that fundraised $11 million dollars to combat homelessness in Seattle. This show is a true band homecoming and appreciation for their roots as throughout the night, Ed would tell some of the most poignant stories he’s ever told, giving each band member a moment in the spotlight and sharing the long road that it took for them to be where they are today. Ed’s most prominent and pertinent story of the night takes place before Even Flow. He shares the origins of the song which has a direct connection to the true meaning of why they’re raising money to fight homelessness. You get to see a vulnerable side of this band that doesn’t normally come out on stage at most shows and it takes you on a journey through their personal experiences and how they’ve interwoven them into what defines Pearl Jam as a band. There are incredible performances and big surprises from this show, and the Colin Powell rule comes into effect as we get to talk about a topic that might otherwise not be relevant – The Beatles and the Get Back movie. We go into great detail about what makes the film so good, and connecting it to Pearl Jam, we fantasize about a world where we are introduced to a documentary about the Vs. and Vitalogy sessions. It’s worth the listen!

The 2006 tour is seen as Pearl Jam’s last massive rigorous year in their touring history. Supporting the Self Titled, or better known as Avocado record, they were finding their groove with new songs while also emptying the tank of all their songs with long droughts of not being played. The Albany show that we cover in this episode takes place just over a week after the album’s release, and while nine of those thirteen songs were showcased, the band went through and did some digging deep into the back catalog to bring back a few that hadn’t seen the live stage in a number of years – Red Mosquito, that had been played on the previous tour year but held off for 40 straight shows, Satan’s Bed, which was haphazardly brought back at State College in 2003 but played for the first legitimate time since 1996, and Rats which had only been played twice in the Matt Cameron era. Rats is the big one from this set that most fans will remember since it had gone 224 shows on the shelf. Later that month, the band would end up adhering to another popular drought request, Leash, and then eventually the elusive Dirty Frank. This show is defined by its rarities just as much as its defined by the brand new songs energizing them. Wasted Reprise/Life Wasted combo opening the show was something they didn’t break out very often, and after this era songs like Marker In The Sand, Army Reserve and Gone were pushed aside. We’ll get to talk extensively about some of these tracks and how fresh they felt being played for only a single digit amount of times till that point. Thanks to Horizon Leg Patron Zach Fields for requesting this show!

In this episode, we venture into a part of the country we have yet to touch – Salt Lake City, Utah! As the band’s Ticketmaster boycott prevented them from playing marquee venues in 1995, they often found themselves in challenging scenarios playing shows in obscure places. While the capital of the 45th state may not be totally obscure, it’s strange to look back and say they did a two night run in Salt Lake City. But there’s a reason for that. During June of the original tour run, they had to postpone their show slated to take place at the original outdoor amphitheater in SLC due to weather concerns. The band would say they’d return and play twice as many songs, which led to this excellent November stretch packed with five memorable shows.

The Utah shows are seen for being somewhat of a gateway from the Vitalogy era into No Code. During the first night, they’d debut Red Mosquito, and at this show, Brain Of J. would make it’s live debut. We get a chance to look into the changes made in the song and decipher why this was held back and re-recorded for Yield in it’s form most common to us. We’ll also get a ton of Vitalogy era Jack Irons infused jam sessions to talk about, including extended versions of Not For You, Corduroy and Immortality.

We’re back yet again at the Key Arena to continue our year long Seattle Hometown series. This show in 2013 was big. It was the tour closer for a tour that reinvigorated a lot of energy back into setlists bringing back songs that they hadn’t played in years and changing up format in order to fulfil longer shows. Since this was the closer in Seattle, they knew that they were going to have to bring their a-game arsenal. A whopping 36 songs were played making it an instantly memorable evening. A few talking points during this show include an appreciation for Pendulum as the consistent opening track for this tour as well as an appreciation for the 3-song slowburn startup that frequented setlists this year. We’ll dig into how 2013 was a big year for rarities and at this show they brought out one of the rarest of the rare. Let Me Sleep was played once back in 1994 at a Bridge School show, it took them 613 shows before playing it again on this night. Also special from this show is a trio of songs from the Singles soundtrack played in a row for the only time. With 36 songs, it has a been stage atmosphere and while a podcast may not do the visuals justice, the lasting images of Ed and Mike dueling on Better Man and Ed being lifted up on one of the orbs are the big points to remember from this show. Thanks to our Patron, Drew Vipond, for making the request!