Episode 232: Camden, NJ – 9/14/2022

For the second week in a row, we’re diving back into 2022 to discuss one of Randy’s favorite shows he’s ever been to that happened in Camden. Originally slated for Baltimore during what was going to be the 2020 run, the band making a return to the Philadelphia area meant that there were no punches going to be pulled, this was destined to be a monster set. Seeing that the city has had rich and historical significance within the 32 years of this band, there were many callbacks to other Philly shows, including the legendary JC Dobbs show in 1991. Nine of the ten songs from that show were played that night as the earliest eras of Pearl Jam dominated this set.

A lot of this episode will focus around Randy’s personal stories and why this was an important show to him. There were songs played on this night that were very high up on his wishlist. Ones that he’d seen before, but not in over a decade, and a few that he’d been chasing for just as long. We’ll highlight the memories created from hearing songs like Hard To Imagine, Untitled/MFC and Inside Job that were incredibly powerful, experience making moments. We’ll also go in depth on an explosive version of Retrograde as well as an excellent Not For You.

A big story from this show was that Ed and the band invited All-In contest winners, Richie and Dermot Berg to the stage, after a full day of experiencing the preparation of what goes in to putting together a Pearl Jam show. Back last September, we invited the Berg’s onto the podcast to tell their story. We’ll relive a clip from that, but give the full episode that’s available in our archives a listen because there’s no lack of awesome information shared there.

We’ll read your answers for question of the week where we asked whether you preferred shows in an amphitheater or arena setting, and our Gear Guru segment this week will focus on Do The Evolution playing off of the song’s original pace and Quick Escape’s overall sound from the Gigaton tour.