Episode 248: Birmingham, AL – 9/3/1998

It’s tour time! We’ve been hyping it up for the last few months, and this episode is the last before the 2023 tour kicks off! We’ll begin the episode talking about the possibilities of what may happen and whether or not there are new songs tossed into the mix. For up to date tour instant reaction episodes, please direct to our Patreon where that content can be found – http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

But let’s not bury this excellent show out of Alabama! Highly regarded as one of the best sounding bootlegs of 1998, it’s a great show to have available in this high of quality. Having never been to this part of the deep south before, the band puts together an inspired performance where we argue the difficulty of choosing an MVP between Ed, Mike and Matt. Stellar performances here. We’ll spend some time breaking down the laser show eminating from the Porch solo, a very aggressive Immortality, Footsteps in an unusual spot played middle of the set, and a powerful Given To Fly that sounds like a 2003 or 2006 version rather than 1998. But the moment that everyone will remember from this show is the Dueling Banjos intro leading way to Corduroy. Was it a little too on the nose for the location?

Sad to say that we won’t be hearing from Javier this week who needed to rest before making his way to St. Paul. But we do have Patrick and Brian from Hallucinogenic Recipe who will take a glimpse into the background behind this bootleg, and the switchover from cassette to CD-R that took place in the trader circuit during this year.


Episode 247: Pittsburgh, PA – 8/25/1998

It’s time for our third trip to the Steel City this year! After covering 2000 and 2003 in the spring, we’re going to focus on the tour year that preceded those shows in 1998. Want to hear something kind of shocking? This was their first show in Pennsylvania since Lollapalooza 1992! With the 1994 and 1996 tours that traveled through the northeast, it’s kind of insane that they never hit Pittsburgh or Philadelphia during that time frame. But they make it up to all of yinz by putting together an energetic show where Ed’s intensity is all full force. And we get the live debut of No Way!

With the 2023 tour now a week away, we’ll spend some time discussing some of our thoughts about what could go down, suggesting that perhaps the Metallica method that was popularized this year may be an influence. But tying that into Pittsburgh, what’s great about this show is that we have a soundcheck in our possession. We’re discussing it at the right time because listening to it and hearing the rain and thunder rumbles makes you a little bit homesick for the live Pearl Jam atmosphere. Especially when Ed performs Throw Your Arms Around Me in the pre-set. The rest of the show features classic versions of songs like Black and Do The Evolution, as well as a Rearviewmirror that has a bridge unlike anything we’ve seen in a long time. We’ll also talk about an Easter Egg from this show that’s made the rounds over the years featuring Ed in a different perspective.

Gear Guru segments this week will focus on Stone’s vibrant solo on Brain Of J, Mike’s energy on Alive and a glimpse into why No Way may have never worked out live as well as you’d might think.


Episode 246: Barrie, ONT, CA – 8/22/1998

We’ve done extensive coverage of the 2003 Riot Act tour celebrating the 20th anniversary this year. Now it’s time to celebrate the anniversary of another major tour in Pearl Jam history – 1998! We kick off a 3-episode Yield tour stretch with an outdoor festival show that took place in Barrie, right outside of Toronto. With Cheap Trick as the supporting act on tour at this time, there are multiple instances where the band gives a subtle nod to their rock heroes, including Mike using Rick Nielsen’s guitar for State Of Love And Trust.

Our Patron Alex Sink joins us for this episode to tell his story of what went down that day. For a bootleg that had a tough time capturing the identity of the show and with no visual aides available, Alex is able to take us back to what that scene was like. A rowdy crowd of over 30,000 created dirt clouds and mud as the mosh pits were in full force on this one. And the band was clearly in a good mood after watching Cheap Trick on the side stage. Ed makes multiple mentions of how great this crowd was, and even addressed some of the craziest fans he had ever seen in the parking lot during an extended version of Leatherman. We also have the world debut of the Do The Evolution music video that happens at this show with the band performing while the images are shown on a screen behind them.

If you love Matt Cameron, this may be the episode for you! Get ready for five moments that we’ve dubbed the ‘filthy fills’ that will be featured throughout this show! Our Gear Guru segments will featured Javier talking about the lack of overdrive pedal from this tour and how Mike would make adjustments on Even Flow and Yellow Ledbetter, and he’ll also discuss Mike’s using Rick Nielsen’s guitar during State Of Love And Trust.


Episode 238: East Troy, WI – 6/26/1998

Alpine Valley has been a staple of the Pearl Jam touring route going all the way back to Lollapalooza in 1992. In the seven instances in which they’ve played there, there’s no lack of unforgettable shows and unforgettable moments. A few of the shows even have monikers that they go by such as PJ20, when they played there for their 20th anniversary, and the Ice Bowl in 2000 where they played a full show in freezing cold weather. In this episode, we’re gonna go back to 25 years ago where they played their first headlining gig in East Troy. To help us tell the story, we’ve enlisted our Patron Aaron Redmon who requested this show.

This was very early in Matt Cameron’s tenure with the band, and there are some things that we’ll hear out of Matt that show that he was still getting adjusted to being on tour with them. Songs like Do The Evolution and Brain Of J feature a harder edge than we’re accustomed to today. This show will feature technical difficulties, botched lyrics and early indications that certain songs were ready to become massive crowd friendly moments. The two big moments to look out for are Black with a highly intense We Belong Together tag and Alive with an improv within the solo.

With Alpine Valley being such a historic venue, we asked you to share your favorite moments from seeing shows there, which we’ll share during our question of the week segment. And our Gear Guru segments this week will feature Mike’s clean guitar sound on Even Flow, well deserved love for Jeff Ament and a tag of Jimi Hendrix’s Machine Gun at the end of Yellow Ledbetter.

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Episode 221: Maui, HI – 2/21/1998

Let’s begin our Yield tour celebration by going back and covering the 25th anniversary of their two night stint in Maui. A destination show for Pearl Jam in a 5,000 person venue to kick off a strong slate of shows for 1998. Hawaii is a place that would gain importance over time as it became a second home for Eddie, and his friendship connections would later lead to him and Boom Gaspar meeting. This time period would also become known as the beginning of the end for Jack Irons as he would leave the band following the ensuing Australian tour leg.

As we’ve discussed in the past three episodes, we’ll once again have the chance to talk about some of the earliest performances of Yield album tracks. Songs like Given To Fly, Faithfull and MFC provided a punch and make an impact, while a song like Wishlist is still finding its way. This show features 21 songs in a shortened 90 minute set thanks to an early curfew, but the band leans heavily on No Code and the new songs while Vs. and Ten tracks are fairly limited. We’ll discuss the fourth of fourteen performances of Around The Bend during this episode!

If you like surprises, I think you’ll be satisfied once the episode gets to about the 50 minute mark! No spoilers, but you’ll enjoy this! Also, we’ll have our Gear Guru Javier back to discuss Stone’s wah wah pedal on Do The Evolution, and we’ll answer the question of the week – what is your dream destination vacation spot that you’d like to see the band do a residency in?

 

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Patreon Exclusive: Tibetan Freedom Concert – Washington D.C. – 6/14/1998

As we celebrate the silver anniversary of one of Pearl Jam’s masterpieces in Yield, we wanted to present you with an episode focusing on a show smack dab in the middle of that era. You may remember the Tibetan Freedom Concert’s coverage on MTV in the summers of the late ’90s and that’s exactly where we’re taking this episode. It’s an important one because you can say that this is  Cameron’s first big show since joining in the interim that spring. We’ll talk about Jack’s exit, how Cameron developed along with the songs, the reason behind why this festival took place and an 8-song setlist during a fantastic tour year. Happy Yield Day! Enjoy!


Episode 199: Atlanta GA – 9/1/1998

Believe it or not, this is episode 199! We’re one away from our 200th episode! So for this one we are going to celebrate the birthday of one John Farrar by going back in time all the way to the first show he ever attended back in 1998 on the Yield tour. To everyone’s surprise, yes… it’s an Atlanta show. John has a good story as he’ll talk about Pearl Jam being in sort of the downswing of his life after joining a punk band and moving on to other influences. Going to this show was essentially a way for him to say that he went and got to witness it, but it wouldn’t be for another 14 years that he’d see them again.

This show marked some semi-notable moments for the Yield album which, as we’ll discuss, did not give enough love to it’s deeper cuts on this tour. A soundcheck was played before this show that would have certainly been the stuff of legends had we owned a recording. They played Low Light, a song that they never played on this tour, Parting Ways, which was two years away from being on an album, Dead Man with drums and a slowed down version of Blood. The band opted to play No Way for only the 2nd time out of 12 overall in the 24 years since thanks to a guy who kept bringing a sign to every show. They also tagged All Those Yesterdays off of Daughter which saw just a marginal amount more of playing time. It’s a small sample size, but this show incorporated a side of Yield that went untouched for most of the early time that Cameron was in this band.

Oh yeah, there’s also the Yeastie Girlz! We’ll talk about how Ed’s extremely obscure rap was something that John actually knew about and made him super excited both at the show, and during the episode.

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Episode 186: Rapid City, SD – 6/24/1998

Our fourth OTOTO state this month has us heading to South Dakota early on the first leg of the Yield run. It was only the sixth appearance that Matt Cameron was making for the band at the time as a replacement drummer. Of course, no lack of confidence with playing this hefty catalog. Cameron throws in all of his patented flourishes and unmatched speed to create performances that at the time was a major change with some of these songs that have become major staples of the Pearl Jam set. We’ll run through it all and focus on some of the moments that Matt made special.

Speaking of special, this show features the debut of a grouping of songs that have become a rare instance that people chase from show to show. This night in South Dakota was the first time that they ever performed the “man trilogy” songs back-to-back-to-back. We’ll dig into how special this trio has become and how the grouping elevated Nothing Man to become one of the best singalongs in their catalog.

We’ll also preview the upcoming European tour, and find a way to get off topic a bit with in reference to wedding songs.

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Episode 178: Great Western Forum – 7/13/1998

Lots of things happening in this episode! Not only is it the beginning of tour week, our entire month of May we’ll be tackling a new series focusing on Pearl Jam’s Vault show releases. This happened to fall into our laps perfectly as one of the Vaults happens to be the Great Western Forum show from 1998, which is exactly where Pearl Jam will be playing shortly after this episode airs. We’ll get everybody prepped and hyped for tour time and go over some of the great features that will be available to follow along with on liveon4legs.com and Patreon. This show was a fantastic choice for the Vault collection. It can be considered one of the best shows of the first US leg in 1998 and there are many reasons to back that up. For one, The Forum is a massive, historic venue in Los Angeles where hundreds of legendary music acts have performed as well as many Lakers championships won. Ed and the guys are juiced to be playing there and right off the bat it shows. The bulk of these performances could be considered some of the very best renditions. The Yield songs especially. Brain Of J, In Hiding and Live On 2 Legs compilation addition Do The Evolution are major highlights along with excellent versions of Given To Fly, Present Tense, Rearviewmirror and Corduroy.

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Episode 172: East Lansing, MI – 8/18/1998

After a long trip back into 1992 to get a taste of the band’s rise to fame, this episode brings you back to the 1998 Yield tour right after Matt Cameron joined the band. It’s the second show of the second leg emanating from East Lansing, Michigan, home of the Michigan State Spartans. Thanks to our Horizon Leg Patron Nick Smith for requesting this show and joining us briefly to chat about it! The second half of the Yield tour is well renowned for so many reasons. Although this show may not be recognized as much as others such as Mansfield or Madison Square Garden, this can be seen as a show that had the seedlings to building into what you’d get to see later in the tour. Reason for that comes from a fan holding up a sign requesting that the band play Breath. This is seemingly the beginning of what would all culminate at that memorable MSG show. The story from this one is Matt Cameron. After some tougher shows on the first leg where he was still attempting to get the catalog under his belt, he came back in August on an absolute tear. We’ll get to talk about some of the Cameron stand outs from this night such as Spin The Black Circle, Brain of J, Rearviewmirror, Hail, Hail, I Got Shit and Black. This version of RVM is one that you won’t want to miss.

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Episode 163: Noblesville, IN – 8/17/1998

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.

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Episode 152: Hartford, CT – 9/13/1998

This episode takes a look into a show on the Yield tour from Hartford, CT that was the follow-up show to one from Madison Square Garden that many consider to be among the best of all time. While much of this episode is Randy stepping up to his soapbox to profess his love for shows in his home state, it’s also taking a key critical factor in Pearl Jam touring and asking the important question – is the band OK with having a down show immediately after playing one for the ages? With Hartford being sandwiched in between two big cities, you’d think it would be an opportunity for the band to possibly take the night off. Whether they do or not is a discussion in itself, but you’ll have to listen in to hear what Stone thought about this show in particular.

We’ll react to Stone’s quote and try to put the pieces together as to why maybe this isn’t a show that many people go back to from the era. It certainly has moments. Breath, after famously being brought back for the first time since 1994 at MSG, is played once again. Alive and Porch at the end present a situation where Ed had to manage the security team, because how dare those Connecticut fans dance in the aisles. And there are great versions of Do The Evolution, Daughter, Spin The Black Circle and Brain Of J all packed in. Was this a lull show? You’ll just have to tune in to find out!

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Patreon Exclusive: Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA – 10/10/1998

Ah, it feels good to have exclusive content up again! This one is a shorty but a very good, occasionally forgotten about show from the end of 1998. Pearl Jam was featured as a surprise guest of Cheap Trick’s during a three night stay at the small Crocodile Cafe venue in Seattle. What ensued was a setlist of 10 songs, mostly ones featuring Ed on guitar, raw and heavy on percussion. With Matt Cameron’s first year officially in the books, we get to witness his comfort zone with these songs after a full tour of playing them.


Episode 137: Seattle, WA – 7/22/1998

We continue our year-long Seattle Series of shows with this West Coast leg-ender from 1998. While Randy is out on paternity leave, John is joined this episode by Branden from the Better Band Podcast. Along with the usual end of tour shenanigans, we’ll talk a lot about No Code, as 7 songs from the album are played on this night. Fantastic versions of Brain of J., Not For You, and Do The Evolution are highlighted, and we’ll also talk about some versions of songs from Ten that were maybe not at their height (with one exception, 1..2..3..4…). Was Matt Cameron still getting his feet wet as PJ’s drummer after less than 3 months on the job? Who is Mister Pickles? All that and Ultimate Frisbee, Funko Pops, and more on this episode!

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Episode 119 – Melbourne, AU – 3/5/1998

It’s time to hop back aboard the Yield tour as this episode brings us to a popular recording from 1998. Recently, Ed claimed that Australia may be the first continent to get the Gigaton tour, so that’s where we end up in this episode. The third night in Melbourne is one that has gone down in the books as an all-time classic, yet is perhaps still undervalued. Broadcast at the time on JJJ radio in Australia as well as being one of the very early internet livestreams, this show was really one of the last of its kind. The performances are what makes this show special and we highlight just about every single one of them. From hearing the raw power of Ed’s growl on Brain of J, to the soaring sounds of Mike’s guitar during In My Tree, Jack Irons doing damage on the kit in an otherworldly version of Immortality, This show has so many moments you want to go back to again and again. We’ll talk about all of the above as well as a very early version of Porch blues with the slower intro that has been popularized in the modern era. We’ll also talk about the CD called Give Way that was supposed to be released alongside Single Video Theory. What happened to it? Why was it never issued? Do copies of it still exist? We answer all of that!

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Episode 104: Constitution Hall – 9/19/1998

This is the final episode in our coverage of politically charged Pearl Jam shows and we finish off with a Vote for Choice show that became a Vault release in Constitution Hall 1998. Just like Charlotte 1996, this show was accompanied by Gloria Steinum with registering to vote as the priority of the night. This show is a Vault for a reason. Whenever they release a show as a Vault they do it consciously knowing that there are going to be songs on this release that you don’t often get to hear live. Right off the bat, Act Of Love as the 2nd song in exemplifies that. They first time they played Act Of Love was in that same venue, it happened to be twice in one night for the same voter benefit show. Considering they’ve only played this song 10 times and only once since this night, it was easily one of the most memorable moments. Other rare live moments that you get from this show were two of the rarest from Yield – All Those Yesterdays and Push Me Pull Me. We talk a lot about big moments from this show such as Black with a blistering McCready solo and multiple songs where Ed’s gravelly growl is in full force.

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Episode 76: Cuyahoga Falls, OH – 8/26/1998

This episode will take us to the 1998 Yield Tour. It was a time where the band started to familiarize themselves with their brand new drummer Matt Cameron, so setlists weren’t as diverse as we’d see in later years, especially for the album that Yield followed up in No Code that only had one song represented on this night. 1998 was really the first year since 1994 that tickets were becoming more accessible to fans due to the band’s refusal to play Ticketmaster venues. As mentioned in this show, 98 was really one of the first years that fans began to travel along with the band from location to location. Our Patron Patrick Boegel joins us as a guest on this episode and talks about the stretch of shows he traveled for during this late August time period. This is a great show where the classics were on full display. Incredible and possibly overlooked versions of Alive, Black, Daughter, Wishlist and Immortality were the big moments where the band were truly at the top of their game.

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Episode 64: Sydney, AUS – 3/12/1998

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.

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Episode 23: Madison Square Garden – 9/11/1998

In this episode, we attempt to tackle what has long been seen as a top 10 show in the history of the band. Although they made their Garden debut the night prior to lackluster results, the band was ready to bounce back in a huge way and prove that they deserved to be on the same stage as the greatest legends in the history of music. Notable about this night was the fans continued campaign for the song Breath to be played for the first time in 4 years and finally the wish was granted. It is the moment that many recall as being the ultimate highlight of this night. Though this was only “the cherry on top of the sundae,” the show is jam packed with hits and passionate performances of other fan favorites that put this show on the upper echelon of shows in their history. We do our best to recreate the magic, but the task is a challenging one. Also! Eddie climbs his microphone wire and finds a way not to die!

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Episode 17: Madison Square Garden – 9/10/1998

In 2019, we promised to cover every MSG show in chronological order and  the way we’re gonna kick it off is with the band’s first performance in the Garden back during the Yield tour in 98. Eddie said it best – “you ain’t shit until you’ve played Madison Square Garden” and that quote alone proved to be the litmus test on the first night. On a Thursday night where the crowd was luke warm at best and technical difficulties plagued the band throughout, we break down how their first moment in the world’s most famous arena might not have lived up to the hype. It was a tough position for the band to be in, but as we all know they would return to the Garden the next night for one of the most BREATHtaking performances in the band’s history.

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