Podcast Episodes

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.

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!

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?!

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!