Pearl Jam Podcast Episodes

So we’ve been back n forth covering all different eras in the mid to late 90’s lately, but we don’t have to travel too far to get to this episode as only a Gigaton of news has happened since then. We cover the second night of the Seattle home shows. Thanks to our Patron, Adriane Petersen, who made the request for the episode! We emphasize it so often when discussing this one – this was a homecoming show that paid tribute to early-era Pearl Jam with songs that the folks from day one may remember seeing them playing in clubs like RCKCNDY and the Off Ramp. Oceans, Footsteps, Leash, Rats and even the essentials such as Alive, Even Flow and Porch were seen as a throwback to the band’s roots. And to prove that this one was legit, this was the only time since the album released that they hadn’t played a song off Lightning Bolt. But with all of the fun that the band had on stage with their Seattle buddies helping them along the way, we can’t help but discuss what this 35-song marathon means for future shows. Seeing as how the band is going on tour with an opener for the first time in 8 years this year, we wonder if the length of this show and the band’s lack of stamina in their older age has something to do with it. Wait for it around the end of the first encore, the band had a rough time making it out of some spots in this show that was otherwise full of energy.

This episode we continue our Around The World series with a show from the Yield tour down under in Sydney, Australia! Thanks to our Patron Paul Mereniuk for requesting this episode, you’ll hear his concert story during the show! 1998 was an interesting time for the band, they were finally out of the limelight of mainstream music and seemed to be genuinely enjoying their time performing. They took the stage this night wearing wigs saying there was a 5 for 1 deal and they got their hair done at the same place Elton John did. It showed the band was able to relax, make fun of themselves and show the crowd they were there to have a good time as well. We also see Ed get into some personal stories, something he wasn’t doing often in years prior. But while there was a lot of good going on with the band at the time, this was also a trying time that saw the end of drummer Jack Irons tenure. The Australian tour would be his last as he was having trouble sleeping and prone to constant panic attacks due to his bipolar disorder not being treated properly. This is one of a small handful of shows where we get to hear Jack play Yield songs such as Faithfull and Given To Fly that add his very unique style and presence brought to the album.

On the last episode we spoke with WWE Hall of Famer Edge about his massive Pearl Jam fandom and one of the many shows he was honored to attend happened to be in Greenville in 2016, the same show where the band performed Vs. in its entirety. As he made mention in our conversation, his reaction to the fans sitting next to him says it all… “you don’t know the SIGNIFICANCE of this!!!” We’ll hear from Edge more in this episode, but just as importantly one of our hosts was right on the rail for this show. John reminisces about the entire experience, but mainly the moments that made it feel real. After Daughter was played without a tag, something was up. Daughter as the 4th song in was a little funky as is, but as a follow up to Go and Animal, especially after the Moline and Milwaukee shows, people were hopeful that they were getting an unforgettable performance, which they did. The reasoning behind performing the album was that the show happened to fall on Record Store Day, so when Ed opened the show by declaring “let’s play some records” he wasn’t joking. Versions of Glorified G and Rearviewmirror tore the house down and Indifference mid-set without the lights on made for a memorable moment. They’d also honor the day by playing their two record related songs – Let The Records Play and Spin The Black Circle – as well as dedicated Comfortably Numb to one of Ed’s favorite records growing up.

This episode, we’ll dip into another Vitalogy era show that was a make up date from the infamous Golden Gate Park show. Joining us for this episode is Patreon subscriber Debra McMurtrey who recounts being a 16-year old at this show. Debra’s stories are what makes this episode stand out. You’ll get to hear how she initially acquired tickets to this show and her reaction when she found out it was canceled, and then her long journey of the band rescheduling this show as one of the last stops of the tour. She was crushed in the pit, crowd surfed to Animal and had a religious experience during songs like Rearviewmirror. All while her mom attempted to get some work done while chaperoning. We’ll also talk about The Ramones who opened for the band at both of the San Diego shows on their way to their final tour of their career. 30 minutes of catchy, hard-hitting punk rock to open the show and make way for Pearl Jam who were at their classic 1995 best. Highlights to look forward to from this show include Immortality, Long Road and Corduroy.

It’s time to travel Around The World! This episode is the first installment of our year-long series where we’ll tackle Pearl Jam shows from all different countries across the globe. We kick it off in New Zealand where the band was riding high on their red hot Vitalogy South Pacific Tour. This was the final appearance in a 20-show stretch that reached from Japan to The Philippines, down to Australia and finally New Zealand. The band had already been through a ton of difficulty on this tour as the crowds were unruly any place they touched down. They were also filming a documentary at the time that never saw the light of day, but it’s something you can now find on YouTube if you dig for it. The biggest takeaway from this show (that doesn’t have the finest quality of bootleg) is that Pearl Jam mania is arguably at its peak and the band making an appearance in a country that other bands usually ignore speaks to how high in demand they were at the time. They rocked all of the Vitalogy songs that were released 3 months earlier including ripping versions of Spin The Black Circle and Not For You and got some love at the end of the set performing with NZ band The Split Enz featuring Neil and Tim Finn. Renditions of History Never Repeats and I Got You were major highlights from this performance.

We’ve made it to the end of our 10-part MSG series and in this episode, Randy and Chris break down the latest Garden show to date from 2016. As both were in attendance on both nights, it was kind of impossible to judge this show without putting it up head to head with the first night, and when doing so, some of what you got from this night might be considered disappointing. A huge list of songs from this night were doubled up from night 1 including many in the exact same spots and that led to some points of criticism. With this being the Garden, expectations were fairly high and repeating some of the first night’s set left a little bit of a lackluster feel. However, it didn’t disrupt it from being a good show with a lot of Ten-era heavy tracks, including the more uncommon Garden and Deep. There were two big highlights from this night everyone remembers and they come from the special guests that joined them on stage. Cheap Trick accompanied them early in the set for Surrender and none other than Sting joined the band to sing Driven To Tears. These were the big time Garden moments that the first night might have been missing.

Thanks to the Vault #9 release, this episode will break down the Seattle show from 1993 that many of you will soon be receiving in your mailbox. While this show was a bit of an unexpected pick to be unveiled from the Vault, it features important moments in the history of Pearl Jam. As the 1993 tour was winding down, the band was looking towards the future with Vitalogy experimenting with two incredibly fresh songs for the time in Last Exit and Tremor Christ. While both songs were making only their second appearance on the live stage, you can get a sense of what the next stages were for the band – a unique rawness that encapsulated the magic of the first two albums, but also held a sense of maturity that was setting the landscape for the mid-90’s era for the band. Another major moment, and possibly the reason for the decision to make this a vault, was that this was the fourth and final time that the Mamasan was performed in its entirety live. We listen to all 3 songs and discuss the importance of it’s presence, especially Footsteps which is played sans harmonica and in a full electric ensemble.

In this episode, we’ll discuss Night 1 from Madison Square Garden in 2016, a show that came with a lot of hype and anticipation off the heels of “Tenadelphia” surely you would think the band would bring their best set to the World’s Most Famous Arena. With both Randy and Buckley in attendance this night, they have very different perspectives of this show. Randy will talk about the disappointment in being a serious collector and not getting anything new for the first time seeing the band live. The overall discussion in this episode is although this was a very solid set, did it really have that MSG magic that shows in 98, 03 and 2010 all had? The album intro to Go is a great discussion, Release in the middle of the set, a unique rendition of Future Days and a random Doobie Brothers cover will dominate conversation, but this wasn’t anywhere near the type of set that Philly or Greenville received earlier that tour.

In the summer of 2018, we witnessed a possible turning point in the band when a second show in London was canceled due to Eddie having a busted throat. This would lead to a rescheduled date that ended the European tour with tons of great moments to make up for the cancellation. LO4L Patreon donor Aurelien was there that night and joins the show to discuss his experience. A lot of what we discuss in this episode is how the situation in London possibly has something to do with how quiet the band has been in 2019. Was Ed losing his voice so much of a concern that they halted album recordings in order for him to save himself for solo shows? We’ll also talk about Can’t Deny Me and whether after almost 2 years if it should even be placed on a new album let alone in a prominent spot on it. Aside from that, the show had a lot of big moments in the set that you don’t usually get. Oceans and Nothing As It Seems as openers, Mankind, Satan’s Bed, Fatal and a whopping 4 Riot Act songs that were played! Not stuff you get from a normal performance. It also has a wonderful dedication to friend of the podcast Andrea Oakes whom the band played I Won’t Back Down for.

Indio 1993 is one of those shows that’s always in the conversation, maybe not one of the greatest shows of all-time but it lives in infamy for numerous reasons. When you add a wild crowd together with a lead singer who’s blood alcohol content exceeded his age, there’s no other result but absolute madness. The band already knew what they were walking into when the crowd were throwing shoes on stage during the opening act, so the anger is at full tilt. Ed has so many classic lines at this show that reflect his anger such as “kill your local rapist, but torture him first” and “why the fuck would I want to live forever?” But this show is infamous for two moments that have never been replicated on the live stage. After a version of Porch where Ed challenges the crowd to spit on him, they go into an improvisation that is forever known as Fuck Me In The Brain. Along with all the insanity, the band continued to dodge shoes at this point leading to a very angry Eddie threatening to kick the shit out of anyone who walked out of there barefoot. But as the man is known to do, he turns a negative into a positive and encourages the crowd to throw more things on stage so they can donate to charity, urging people to shoe the shoeless. Shoes for my friends! These are pivotal moments in the band’s history that we’ll get into along with the rest of the set which is a classic representation of a wild early 90s show.

Last year at Halloween time, we covered the historic Philadelphia show where the band closed down the Spectrum, but after we released that episode we came to find that most fans that attended the 4 show stretch thought that night 3 was the best of the bunch. At a time where the city of Philadelphia is heavily focused on the World Series, the band managed to score a show on an off-night so the crowd didn’t have to worry about continuously checking the score of the game. For that, Pearl Jam gave them one hell of a show with a lot of serious collector sightings – including the first appearance of Lost Dog, Hold On. They’d have a bunch of other tricks up their sleeve playing songs like Deep, Habit and Parting Ways that had all been lost from set lists for the past handful of years. But the special appearance of a rare reverse Mamasan is another reason why this show is so great.

When you start a conversation with a Pearl Jam fanatic asking them what the best show of all time is, there are a few answers that immediately come to mind. Pinkpop 92, Soldier Field, Randall’s Island are all shows that people speak of with the fondest of memories, but in this episode we’re covering a show that hangs among the pantheon of the best shows ever. MSG Night 2 2010 was an instant classic with too many incredible moments to count. Randy and Buckley host the show this week and both of them were there that night. The recap and love for this show tells the story. Coming from two different perspectives, this was the first show Buckley attended with very little knowledge of the band prior. He’ll talk about how the crowd and the passion from the stage that night turned him into a lifetime fan. Right from the bat with Corduroy, you could tell that something special was in the air. The set list is an array of rarities mixed with strong versions of the big hits. For anyone that’s listened to this podcast before and enjoys the song bytes added in, there will be no lack of clips on this episode! From Evolution to Nothingman, Push Me Pull Me and the W.M.A. Tag on Daughter to all of the juicy encore moments such as Lukin II, Black Red Yellow, Sweet Lew, Better Man, Hunger Strike and Kick Out The Jams. Holy bleep, there’s a lot of bleepin’ good shit on this show!