Pearl Jam - C or D?

I mean, what kind of fucking egomania would possess a group to pull such a stunt, other than to fleece its fans? It isn't as if Beddie Wedder were Frank Zappa, whose boots from different shows one would want to hear (alright, I confess, I would want to hear). Or that PJ is the Grateful Dead, with an exceedingly loyal and devoted fan-base (any valid criticisms of the band's actual music and the fanbase notwithstanding). I mean, it's as if Foreigner or Foghat decided to dump a shitload of live CDs on the market during their respective heights of popularity. And that's just what Pearl Jam is -- the Foreigner or the Foghat of the Nineties.

OK, honestly? I've never heard them. Twenty ghastly seconds of "Jeremy" and then the whole of that same song on a jukebox and that is knowingly it. I feel rather proud of that. Why did anyone like grunge, can someone remind me?

If I want to listen to Blackfoot, I'll go straight to the source.

Sorry for the pun. I see a lot of folks here sticking to the first impression 'Ten' gave them, which turned them off to the band. I can fully understand that, because I for one can't listen to that record anymore without cringing. But, and I stress this, even as my musical tastes evolved (and I, like many of you I'd bet, must thank the grunge-hype for pointing me in that direction in the first place) I found Pearl Jam to remain interesting, both for their music (evolving from archaic bluesrock - yes, high krustyvalue indeed! - to a more substantial indie-oriented sound that wouldn't look too bad on a GBV or Superchunk) as well as their ethos (quite a popular word here, but you gotta appreciate what they do as a major-label act).

As for the bootleg issue. I think one of the reasons why they did it (apart from making obscene amounts of cash at the cost of about $300 per recording) is that, as Pearl Jam always condoned people taping their shows, there were tons of shit quality recordings going around at high prices. So why the hell not help folks out get a decent recording of a show they were at (or missed, after all these years I still never got to actually see them play live because shows still get sold out within minutes) AND make some cash? Makes sense to me.

In conclusion: classic, classic, classic.

Love them or hate them, this is totally untrue. From their first record on up through the most recent, they've always written lots of highly melodic pop tunes. In terms of music science, you just can't fucking dispute that.

I was actually talking to somebody at the TV On the Radio show this past Friday who was wearing a Pearl Jam t-shirt. He was a big fan and said they still put on a good show (not that I'd ever seen them live anyway).

I guess I'll go with classic.

I'll always have a big soft spot for them, and I revisit them every so often with some fondness.

tvotr and pj are not so far away from each other. except pj have more memorable songs. so far.

xpost - I see little similarity between tvotr and pj. I'm with you on the second sentence, though.

That's for sure.

I suppose you could say that about a lot of "rock" bands, though.

I don't know, I think the guy just likes Pearl Jam, amongst many other types of bands and genres of music. We only discussed Pearl Jam when I noticed his t-shirt. The rest of the time, we talked about any number of other bands.

The Gen-X Bruce Springsteen.

Anyway, Ten has its moments, the best of which, you're right Dan, is "Black." I didn't really follow them much after that.

I can’t speak to the European shows, haven’t been paying attention, but almost every show in North America has been sold out. All of their non festival, headlining shows here for the rest of the summer are sold out. I’m gonna need to see some receipts on this “widely reported” tour with “thousands” of empty seats.

If I was thinking about modern rock bands whose appeal would be almost entirely confined to North America, Pearl Jam would be near the top of my list. They seem very American in a way that wouldn't necessarily translate overseas.

they're plenty popular in Europe, always have been, just not stadium level anymore maybe. (I don't know which USA exclusive bands you're thinking of but they're certainly not like Phish or Rush or the Grateful Dead imho)

If I was thinking about modern rock bands whose appeal would be almost entirely confined to North America, Pearl Jam would be near the top of my list. They seem very American in a way that wouldn't necessarily translate overseas.

Have you... have you actually ever been overseas? PJ have sold out big stadiums in the UK for years, see also the rest of Europe. Their last show in the UK they headlined Hyde Park. The stories I was hearing about slow sales this year related to how expensive the tickets for the Spurs show were.

Taking my son to see them tonight, his first "big" concert. My first time seeing them since Lollapalooza in 2007.

how fun!! you’re both in for a great time <3

Pearl Jam was my first big concert as well (Virginia Beach 2000) — they covered Dead Moon and that ended up being the highlight of the night for me but I didn’t know who it was by at the time — I eventually tracked them down on the internet afterwards and that def ended up being a major event in my musical path/development (along with Sonic Youth being the opening slot for that show while on their NYC Ghosts & Flowers tour — my dad hated it but my mind was blown). Should be a good time, esp for your son.

Yeah, I'm more excited about experiencing the whole "big" concert thing again through his eyes than the show itself, which should be good too!

Been out of town, but didn't get a chance to update. Show was a lot of fun, I enjoyed it. They don't ever really put on a bad show, but they always bring something extra in Chicago. Main takeaways - Eddie still loves his wine, Eddie is still an emo dude (got choked up a little before a Tom Petty tribute, understandably!) and McCready is still just a phenomenal guitarist and the way he brings new life to these songs in his solos remains impressive. Like he's a flashy guitarist, but not cringeworthy when he does it.

My son loved it, even though he's more of a rap kid. He wanted to hear "Alive" most and they certainly delivered. Other than the jackass directly in front of us that chainsmoked 22 actual cigarettes through the entire show, despite my polite requests not to pointing out the actual child sitting behind him, it was a really good experience for both of us!

Altogether now...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ8yUziWQg4

I um... I love this

"Steeeeeeeeven / Stevensteven Flowe / Stevensteven Flowe away"

I had only seen the short version, glad the whole thing is up! It's all too funny, but I think when I first saw this I read that he bounces back from pretend pins by singing that he's still alive.

statement posted on Instagram - Matt Cameron stepping down as drummer for PJ :( :( :( :(

https://www.instagram.com/p/DLz2uxsudBU/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Well the Who's drummer is free

It'll probably be Josh Freese, lol

wow, wonder why?

literally after hearing whiney's radio piece about prominent drummer departures.

Apparently he's been making comments for a few years about the touring getting to be too much for him.

Speculation, but I think this was known a long time ago, Eddie's really been laying the Matt Cameron appreciation on the latest tour.

my guess it’ll at least prob be Klinghoffer for a little while, since he’s already part of the touring band

very bummed to see Cameron go though, he has been such a good steady ballast & just a monster drummer, with their catalog being so massive now there’s nothing he can’t play.
also a great creative talent for them in the studio too

sigh

I know Klinghoffer does some percussion in PJ's show (I interviewed him right when he started touring with them and it was fun to talk to someone else who grew up listening to Pearl Jam and now was actually IN the band), but I don't think he's a drummer on the level of holding down a 2-3 hour show behind the kit, is he?

I'm pretty sure he has substituted for Cameron on more than one occasion, so he can clearly handle it. More importantly, is he still facing legal repercussions for running somebody over?

he helped fill in for Cameron in 2022 when he got COVID - he did about 2/3 of the show i saw and that was a last-minute cram so i think if he had some more time to prep he could cover a whole set pretty competently

I didn't realize Eddie turned 60 last December. Cameron is now 62, so it's understandable if he doesn't want to tour anymore after 27 years. World's getting old pretty fast.

More importantly, is he still facing legal repercussions for running somebody over?

In re this:

On May 29, 2025, it was reported that Klinghoffer reached a plea deal to avoid any jail time. Klinghoffer appeared in a Alhambra, California courtroom and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence. He was sentenced to one year of informal probation and 60 days of community labor, and was further ordered to complete a driver safety class and pay restitution. The family of the victim has filed a civil suit against Klinghoffer, alleging that he was using a cell phone at the time of the incident, with the next hearing in that case scheduled for July 1, 2025.

I didn't realize Eddie turned 60 last December.

Let's just say there's a reason he's been into hats a lot these days.

I caught this news via a post from Variety in my fb news feed, and there seemed to be a whole mess of people clamoring to get Dave Abbruzzese back in the band. Didn't realize he had such a fanclub.

Oh, and one guy was like "Matt Cameron sucks, bring back Jack Irons!"

same calibre of braindead idiots that clamored for Gruden’s return to the Oaklan Raiders & that turned out great :/

Dave was fine, but lmao that is SOOOO not gonna happen

they’re more likely to bring back fkn Krusen (and have) than to undelete Ole Headshop Dave’s number

I did love that Jack Irons era Aussie live album they put out for RSD a while back.

Wondered if the remaining Soundgardens were planning to do something, but I'm guessing it's more that Matt's had enough of the heavy workload.

He's the oldest in Pearl Jam (but not that old, really, a couple of years younger than Tool chops monster Danny Carey, for example), he's been touring for 40 years, he's financially set for life, he's lived the/a dream of a career. Hell, he made an album with Geddy Lee. It's still hard to believe this is about retirement, though hopefully it's not about health. Maybe he'll form a band with Jason Newsted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwXjtba57YQ

^Cameron's last show, someone made a nice multicam with desk audio

i'm on my first genuine listen of this band (only 30 years late) and it made me appreciate why some people completely hate the smashing pumpkins. because woof at this band.

need to poll which rat song is more embarrassing: smashing pumpkins "bullet with butterfly wings" or pearl jams "rats"

Even as a Pearl Jam fan, I can't stand "Rats" and that's easily their worst song. Just terrible.

I quite like it. Definitely prefer it to Bugs, say.

I don't know, for me "Bugs" leans into the obvious fuck-around, ridiculous aspect. "Rats" doesn't commit to the bit enough and tries to also be overly earnest, failing at both. Also "Bugs" works better in context than "Rats" does, sticks out like an ugly wart on Vs for me.

Rats has a good groove and a “Ben” coda! Bugs does not have either of those things

Yeah, the Ben coda works for me tbh, and as Veg says the groove. I enjoy listening to it! I skip Bugs erry time!

Honestly, I guess it's just me but the "Ben" coda is where I completely give up on it. Fwiw, I'm not arguing that "Bugs" is a killer Pearl Jam song or anything, just building off of Stevie's mention and I appreciate it as a fucked up little interlude in the flow of Vitalogy.

The key change to the Ben coda is great! Plus, it's Eddie singing 'Ben' by Michael Jackson! On a song about how rats are better than people!

I'll stick up for Rats!

"rats" goes on the fonky pearl jam playlist of songs that remind me that the band has opened for and shared multiple musicians with red hot chili peppers ("dirty frank" is track 1).

ha was about to say you need to put Dirty Frank on there. But also I have no desire to ever hear that song again.

FONKEH

wait til you guys hear about Mother Love Bone

*strokes chin at fretless 12 string bass grooves*

Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns is all the MLB I can tolerate tbh

i cannot abide any strays sent in Mother Love Bone’s direction imo