Pearl Jam Podcast Episodes

We’re now 4 episodes into our Wrigley Series and in this one we’ll talk about some of the best moments from the first night in 2016. The band returned to the friendly confines, this time under better weather conditions, and put on a show with so many special moments befitting of the ballpark atmosphere. One of the first biggest moments we discussed in full detail with the man himself, Dr. John Evans, on the previous episode about his well documented journey as he spent 4 days camped out in front to be on the rail while they played Release. The band dedicated the song to him in an emotional tribute. But it wasn’t the only emotional moment of the night. There was also a marriage proposal on stage, a final goodbye to the Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie and an inspirational appearance from Steve Gleason speaking to the crowd before an incredible version of Inside Job. As usual with the ballpark shows, there was also a heavy array of cover songs that we’ll talk about in full detail. The big ones from this show are without a doubt Masters of War and I Believe In Miracles played acoustically. Near the end of the show Ed would show his love for the Cubs bringing out family members of former 3B Ron Santo and his all-time favorite player, Jose Cardenal, to join him for a special rendition of Cubs anthem All The Way.

In this episode, we begin a new series and cover the first Wrigley Field show in the lineage from 2013! Chris Buckley tags in as both he and Randy share experiences of travel, community, weather and merch in one of the biggest and most highly anticipated Pearl Jam events ever. The big story coming out of this day was obviously the 3 hour rain delay and how that factored in to both the band and the fans well being on the night. As the fans evacuated the field to spend 3 hours huddled together in a tunnel with limited access to food, water and, god help us, alcohol, the primary objective of the night of witnessing one of the most epic Pearl Jam performances ever was never in question. Even when the band halted after the first 7 songs, there was still an energy inside the friendly confines that no thunderstorm was gonna put a stop to. As for the set, they busted out some of their best efforts that night. Bringing out Mr. Cub Ernie Banks to play Cubs anthem All The Way was certainly a sight to behold. Versions of Corduroy, Release, Hold On, Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns, Rearviewmirror, BUGS, and Mike’s Eruption solo made for this to be a special night that we unfortunately have not been able to relive on soundboard quality bootlegs. That may be the biggest letdown from this show. Aside from that, nothing but magical moments as a kid from Evanston, Illinois’ dream came true.

Ciao! This Episode our Around The World series takes us to Verona, Italy where Pearl Jam performs in the historic Roman amphitheater the Verona Arena – a Coliseum that was built way back in 30 AD. We all remember the Immagine en Cornice DVD that documented all of the amazing scenery and culture of Italy, but it was actually back in 2000 where they played this incredible building for the first time. At a time where, unbeknownst to the band, they were about to hit a major career and life changing transition due to the Roskilde tragedy, this is a rare time in the Binaural era where they are feeling pretty upbeat and positive on stage. The Binaural tracks were continuing to hit their stride – Grievance and Insignificance being two that the allowed Ed to tap into something that brought the anger out of him, and Nothing As It Seems being played with Mike’s original pedal brings a special kind of sound that makes the song feel like it’s lifted into the atmosphere. This show had other great moments such as a ‘f it’ moment during Habit where a light was blinding Ed and they’d finish the song with a fury. The band was also doing something uncommon for the time in playing a full 31-song set, but the gap between the stage and the crowd left a little bit of the interaction feeling a bit empty.

We’re back at the festival circuit for this episode! From Pinkpop 2000’s incredibly speedy sprint of a set, we change the landscape a little by bringing in the jammy atmosphere from the 2008 Bonnaroo show. Joining us to share his experiences is patron and friend of the podcast Mike Packard who was one of 80,000 that waited hours to get to see the band play. The curation of this set list was next to perfect, you had your hit songs that you’d expect from any set, but versions of Better Man, Black and Porch hover round 10 minutes long with the latter including one of Ed’s most impassioned speeches about making change. Along with hits and songs that give you energetic festival vibes, they busted a few songs out for the serious collectors. Lost Dog opener All Night makes it’s first ever live appearance on this show, as well as a full version of W.M.A. that hadn’t been performed in that fashion since 1995. We’ll also get to talk about the Kanye West controversy that came out of this show. His elaborate stage construction that took 2 hours to rig added in with his narcissistic demeanor threatening the show promoter to put him on stage at a time where no one else was playing. So Pearl Jam took advantage of the timeslot and played for an hour longer than allotted. Kanye’s response? Well, it was the beginning of a massive downward spiral that we hear at LO4L don’t give a rats ass about!

This episode we take a look back at one of the most popular and recognizable shows of the Binaural era, the 2000 Pinkpop Festival. It had been 8 years since the memorable 1992 Pinkpop show, so the band knew the stakes were high to please 60,000+ fans in attendance. They channeled some of that raw energy from the height of the grunge era mixed in with the mature sound they developed after 6 albums produced and the outcome, as per usual, was pure grit and passion. In the 90-minute set, they bulldoze through 18 songs mixed with a variety of hits, rarities, new tracks as well as a decent sample size from the five prior albums. We’ll talk about how Corduroy kick starting the show set the tone for the night introducing a set that had absolutely no lulls or dead spots. The Binaural songs were also played to perfection with the vigor and force that stemmed from the era. We get renditions of Rival and Insignificance that fueled political anger and a Light Years digging into the deepest of emotions.

This episode features coverage of the Bern, CH show from the 2006 tour. Out of respect to the situation that happened in America at the time of this recording, no episode details will be noted here. This episode is for archival purposes only.

Our Around The World series takes us to France this episode as we talk about one of the best shows from the 2006 Avocado tour. Joining us to talk about it are some old friends of the show making a long awaited return, our old co-host Matt Helbig is back and right alongside him is his brother, Steve Maytan, who gets to share his experience being at this show and doing a small portion of the European tour that year. The show starts off hot with a version of Long Road that on paper would seem a part of the slowburn openers but in turn gives this show the much needed engine start up that pushes them through an extraordinary 6-song kick off to this show. Matt Cameron is the key player on this night and his performance shines through on Corduroy and Even Flow especially. Also on this night you get a handful for the serious collectors. Fatal would be busted out live for only the third time ever, Satan’s Bed was thrown in the mix as well as Leash which was in the midst of a resurgence in 2006. But the one talking point from this show that everyone walks away with is the incredibly rare appearance of Dirty Frank. Don’t worry, we have a LOT to say about Frank and it’s popularity with the fans. We try to both make sense of it and celebrate its presence by breaking down why the band never wants to play it even though its one of the most requested songs from the fanbase.

Mansfield, Massachusetts is an important place in the history of Pearl Jam as over the course of three shows there in 2003, the band attempted to play everything in their catalog without a repeat (with one small exception). This episode, however, takes us to five years after those experiment shows on a night that ended a short east coast leg of the 2008 tour. End of tour shows and night 2 shows in general are usually a little bit unpredictable, which is why the setlist had a few seldom heard songs slotted in. Education, Satan’s Bed, Bee Girl and an opener of Wash were just a few rare ones they busted out for the Boston adjacent crowd. We’ll also get knee deep into versions of Last Exit, Even Flow, Who You Are, Garden and Rockin’ In The Free World on this episode. Stay tuned until the end of the episode to hear a sneak preview of an episode of our monthly setlist draft that we feature on Patreon!

On the heels of the 20th anniversary of the release of the Binaural record, we take our Around The World series to a fun Prague show from the middle of that tour. In the episode, we’ll get to look back on how Binaural was kind of the oddball of Pearl Jam records and why it doesn’t connect as well with the casual fan base. Considering there aren’t many songs from this album that get consistently played live nowadays, it was a nice change going back and reliving some of the tracks when they were brand new. Speaking of Binaural songs from this show, there were only 5 played which could be considered a low total for a promotion tour. This show featured the live debut of Sleight Of Hand, a nasty Mike McCready opening the show on fire with Of The Girl, Grievance, Insignificance and Light Years. Aside from that, the set list was quite balanced with all 6 albums getting more than one song played. The reason to listen to this show was Mike McCready and how untouchable he was this night. He shined best on tracks like Animal, Red Mosquito, Even Flow and Black – all which are featured within this episode.

This episode focuses on one of the most well known shows from the No Code era. The Berlin 1996 performance is remembered fondly because it was one of their shows that was broadcast live on radio stations throughout the world in the same way that Atlanta 94 and Soldier Field were both showcased. This was a completely different era in the band’s history though as the trials and tribulations from No Code’s reception knocked the band off their perch as the biggest in the world. While their fame dwindled a bit, it allowed the band to present a looser live act with less scrutiny on them and all of the eyeballs paying attention belonging to those in for the long haul. Those who stuck with them were treated to a hell of a show that had one of the best first half main sets of any show in history. Kicking off with Long Road, their stretch from Last Exit, Animal, Hail Hail, Go and Red Mosquito and rounding out with Mankind and a Hunger Strike tease was a statement as to how powerful a live act they still were during a turbulent time period. Other main highlights that we’ll feature on this show include excellent versions of Sometimes, Immortality, Blood and a unique encore that wouldn’t quite fit in with today’s repertoire.