Pearl Jam Podcast Episodes

This episode kicks off our run of 1992 shows celebrating the 30th anniversary of four classics. We go to The Netherlands and focus on one of the best and most notable shows from the first European run in February and March out of Den Haag. This was one of the first of the great soundboard recordings that circulated, and for that, we are bringing in our brother podcast Hallucinogenic Recipe to talk about the trading and collecting aspect that made this a popular show within the community. This show has everything you want from 1992, good Ed speeches, a dangerous Porch, one of the best I’ve Got A Feeling jams ever and the seldom played original improv built around Fugazi’s Suggestion in Saying No. We’ll talk about this rendition and why it doesn’t go down as one of their original songs in the same way an improv like Outta My Mind does. Though getting it here and almost no where else (that we at least have a recording of) gives this show a little extra weight and makes it timeless. “That’s my little brother!” Ed shouts when Jeff cedes his bass to his brother Jason during I’ve Got A Feeling. While it may take some time for Jason to catch up with the band, we also get a wild array of tags within this 15 minute (you heard me correctly) slobberknocker. One of the best versions that again can be directly traced to this show as a defining moment recognized by fans of all ages.

One of our favorite Pearl Jam years to discuss on this podcast is the 2003 Riot Act tour. So many memorable moments from tons of shows spread across the map. In this episode we head to Alpine Valley where the band last played back in 2000 to freezing cold temperatures appropriately dubbed The Ice Bowl. They return to East Troy, Wisconsin during Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. In beautiful weather and a great mood, the band plays an inspired show in front of a top notch audience. Deep cuts were heavily infused from the beginning of the main set with songs such as Sometimes, God’s Dice, Faithfull, Immortality and Insignificance taking place within the new Riot Act songs while heavy hitters such as Better Man, Jeremy, Even Flow, Daughter and Rearviewmirror all hit in that order to end the set. On top of that, take the last two of that group, both songs from Vs., and add the first four played in the encore – Go, Animal, Elderly Woman and Glorified G and you have an extremely rare instance where six songs are being played off the record right in a row. We also have fun moments from this night, some that get a bit political, some that involve a random fan running out onto the stage during Crazy Mary. But as Ed says in the show, tune in to see ‘what American is gonna get a blowjob tonight.’ We’ll also discuss a little bit of the Earthling record as well as a special dedication that happened at the Chicago show

After a 12 year absence, Pearl Jam returned to Sweden in 2012 for the first time since the Binaural tour. Today’s episode will focus on that show and how a fanbase that had been deprived of their band came through and surprised a lot of people, basically forcing their hand to return in two years. This is a Patreon request from Michael Jonsson who was ecstatic to see them in his home country for the first time, and we’ll share his story here. This set defines a pretty typical Pearl Jam move whenever they play a play they haven’t visited in a while and that’s to hit the crowd with the Ten record. Eight songs off of Ten were played, but possibly considered the rarity of the bunch, Garden is a highlight in a set that was looking for a standout moment. We also get the second and last performance of Kinks cover Better Things that was released as a Ten Club single in 2011, but we’ll debate over whether or not their rendition is the best take on the song. In addition to the show, Randy and John once again discuss the Earthlings performances from the past week elaborating a little bit on the previous reaction episode. This time we’ll talk about why maybe we were a little bit too harsh on Andrew Watt who is set to produce the next Pearl Jam record, whenever that may be.

This episode takes us to Cleveland for a show on the massive 2006 tour supporting their self-titled record. The big story at the time was coming off of a huge show in Grand Rapids where a slight shake up led to an inspired performance filled with rarities and a different set-up. This show has a few things shaken up itself with the two most notable being Better Man in as the opener and no appearance of Even Flow. The latter of which at the time was turning into a song that long-time Ten Club members rebelled against because of it’s frequency. How do they fill in that gap? Well, immediately you lose a big McCready moment, so we have Immortality to help with that, but you also lose a big crowd participation song, which in this case Daughter steps in for. We also get to see a few requests taken in encore 2 that led to some songs you almost never see, including one in which a certain Gossard sings. Along with Cleveland we’ll also talk about what’s going on with the presumed 2022 tour and get you a little prepared for the upcoming Ed and The Earthlings shows.

Berlin is an important city in Pearl Jam’s history. There’s no questioning that. From the 1996 radio broadcast show to the Roskilde tribute on the 10th anniversary of the incident at the show in 2010, there are no lack of major moments that have happened in Deutschland’s capital. The show we cover in this episode certainly fits into that category. At the famous Kindl-Bühne Wuhlheide venue, the band pulls out their bag of tricks and creates a plethora of memorable moments for one of the best shows in 2009. The show may seem dominated by rare tracks with four songs from Binaural being played and four off of Lost Dogs, but some of the regulars will make for the biggest moments of the night. Even Flow was a show stealing moment, Daughter had incredible energy and crowd interaction, Small Town, flanked by a short tease of Stones song Angie, has a big anthemic vibe. The band simply came to play on this night, but it was the crowd that helped elevate this show to elite level status. And don’t sleep on this version of Insignificance either, possibly the highlight of the night. As mentioned, yes, there are tons of rarities! God’s Dice, Nothing As It Seems and Light Years rounded out the Binaural representation, but we also hear the Untitled/MFC combo, Glorified G, Unemployable, Bee Girl, an amazing rendition of Hard To Imagine, and the ultra rare early era song, Brother.

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.