Artist Of The Week - 1 April 2013 - Pearl Jam

[Duke Silver]

All the setlists for this tour so far have been pretty great. I like what they're doing opening with two traditional "openers," then slowly ramping up.

[Duke Silver]

From last night's Boston show. Encore looks ridiculous. Nice to see Riot Act getting some attention, even though they played as many b-sides as they did album tracks.

1. Pendulum
2. Low Light
3. Given to Fly
4. Do The Evolution
5. Mind Your Manners
6. My Fathers Son
7. Cropduster
8. Wishlist
9. Sirens
10. I Am Mine
11. Lukin
12. Not For You
13. Down
14. SOLAT
15. Lightning Bolt
16. Porch

17. Otherside
18. Future Days
19. Gone
20. Black
21. Jeremy
22. Daughter
23. Evenflow
24. RVM

25. Smile
26. Once
27. Alive
28. Baba O Riley
29. Yellow Ledbetter

[Iowan]

Did you guys see that setlist from last night in Worchester? I thought it looked pretty fucking solid.

Instrumental Pendulum>
Release
Long Road
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
Lightning Bolt
Mind Your Manners
Hail Hail
Sirens
Even Flow
Nothing as It Seems
Swallowed Whole
Red Mosquito
Whipping
Corduroy
Infallible
Got Some
Save You
Leash
Let the Records Play
Do the Evolution
Better Man
(Save It For Later tag)
Encore:
Man of the Hour
Yellow Moon
Fatal
Just Breathe
Spin the Black Circle
Unthought Known
Porch
Encore 2:
Last Kiss
(Wayne Cochran cover)
Crazy Mary
(Victoria Williams cover)
Alive
Sonic Reducer
(Dead Boys cover)
Indifference

Gotta love the Betterman/Save It For Later tag. The first time I heard that, I just loved it. Right when I was getting into PJ I picked up one of those official bootlegs from '03, and I remember just fucking loving that.

[Markalanbishop]

I don't know much at all about PJ, but I enjoyed reading this anyway.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/982 ... erly-rated

[Duke Silver]

I don't know much at all about PJ, but I enjoyed reading this anyway.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/982 ... erly-rated

That was a great read. I disagree with his dismissal of Binaural, but he makes some good points.

Weird, specific question for fellow obsessives: did anyone pick up the VS/Vitalogy box set that came out a year or so ago? I passed at the time, but now I'm thinking about picking it up for completist purposes. The thing I'm wondering about is the packaging. Did they reissue the CDs in the hardcover book-style package that everything since PJ20 has come in, or are they just cardboard sleeves? The book ones look very good on my shelf...the sleeves, not so much.

[Iowan]

I don't know much at all about PJ, but I enjoyed reading this anyway.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/982 ... erly-rated

That was a great read. I disagree with his dismissal of Binaural, but he makes some good points.

Weird, specific question for fellow obsessives: did anyone pick up the VS/Vitalogy box set that came out a year or so ago? I passed at the time, but now I'm thinking about picking it up for completist purposes. The thing I'm wondering about is the packaging. Did they reissue the CDs in the hardcover book-style package that everything since PJ20 has come in, or are they just cardboard sleeves? The book ones look very good on my shelf...the sleeves, not so much.

I've never obsessed much with the physical side of my music collection, but that sounds pretty cool.

[Iowan]

I don't know much at all about PJ, but I enjoyed reading this anyway.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/982 ... erly-rated

That was a fun read, but I completely disagree with his rankings of every post-Yield album, save Lightning Bolt.

Binaural is underrated
Riot Act is properly rated
Avocado is underrated
Backspacer is overrated

[Duke Silver]

Shoulda known there would be a whole website devoted to that question.

http://www.pjcollectors.com/detail.asp?id=1930

[Bill in CT]

Did you guys see that setlist from last night in Worchester? I thought it looked pretty fucking solid.

Instrumental Pendulum>
Release
Long Road
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
Lightning Bolt
Mind Your Manners
Hail Hail
Sirens
Even Flow
Nothing as It Seems
Swallowed Whole
Red Mosquito
Whipping
Corduroy
Infallible
Got Some
Save You
Leash
Let the Records Play
Do the Evolution
Better Man
(Save It For Later tag)
Encore:
Man of the Hour
Yellow Moon
Fatal
Just Breathe
Spin the Black Circle
Unthought Known
Porch
Encore 2:
Last Kiss
(Wayne Cochran cover)
Crazy Mary
(Victoria Williams cover)
Alive
Sonic Reducer
(Dead Boys cover)
Indifference

I was at this show and feel lucky...it was a truly great show. It was my first time getting Fatal. It's always nice to cross another song off the list.

[Duke Silver]

The setlists for the first leg of the tour look incredible so far. I really, really hope they add some (non-festival) midwest dates next spring/summer. Haven't seen them since 2002.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I'm not sure if anyone heard Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot review Lightning Bolt on Sound Opinions today but one of 'em (I think it was Kot) said, "this is a band that shouldn't have any ballads" (in reference to "Sirens"). Hell, if it wasn't for "Black" I wouldn't have been nearly as interested in Pearl Jam as I was when they were new. Not to even mention songs like "Indifference" and "Present Tense". DeRogatis spoke more favorably of Lightning Bolt but both of them put it in the "Burn It" category.

[Zip City]

Yellow Moon is gorgeous. Nothing as it Seems (from Binaural) is also beautiful. Kot can suck an egg

[Duke Silver]

I lost all respect for Kot as a critic about halfway through his Wilco book. The guy's a dope.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I wasn't sure if he meant they should only stick to hard rock or if they have no way with a ballad. I enjoy that show and admittedly part of the appeal is their snobbery but I agree, I don't see any validity in that statement or that DeRogatis, despite praising the record for the most part still ranked Lightning Bolt as a "burn it". I guess they have some sort of imaginary "indie cred" to uphold to their listeners.

[Cubfan06]

I lost all respect for Kot as a critic about halfway through his Wilco book. The guy's a dope.

I don't agree with many of Kot's reviews and he may be a dope, however what about his writing in "Learning How To Die" did you take exception to in terms of his job as a critic matter. Although, it wasn't the most meaty of rock biographies, I thought that he did a pretty decent job of depicting where the band was at times of its career. And Kot as a personal friend of both Jeff and Sue Tweedy, gave some pretty honest and accurate depictions of Jeff Tweedy as both an artist and person. Kot has been championing Wilco since their Lounge Ax days and writes a pretty honesty depiction as an abrasive, at past times substance-abuser, and mad scientist type.

I've met both on several occasions and I find Kot to be the cooler of the two. Deregotis smells as bad as you would expect him to. While being a music elitist who has a reputation for unsolicited, pushy advances towards people of the same sex, he gives off a very arrogant vibe, while looking and acting like he just crawled out of his parents basement. (I am not homophobic. I am pro-gay rights, and pro-gay in general) He is just a dirty, snooty asshole in my opinion. I just think he's kind of a gross person.

And if I wasn't a Pearl Jam fan, I likely wouldn't give Lightning Bolt a good review. I like the album, because I appreciate the diversity Pearl Jam brings to the table. I appreciate Cameron's drumming, McCready's shredding, Eddie's vocals, Aments bass playing, Boom's playing on the song Lightning Bolt, and its kind of a forgettable album that I can tell from Stone's perspective. Kott, may be a douche journalist, but I can see why he's not blown away but this album.
I love it. But I'm a PJ enthusiast.

[Tequila Cowboy]

I lost all respect for Kot as a critic about halfway through his Wilco book. The guy's a dope.

I don't agree with many of Kot's reviews and he may be a dope, however what about his writing in "Learning How To Die" did you take exception to in terms of his job as a critic matter. Although, it wasn't the most meaty of rock biographies, I thought that he did a pretty decent job of depicting where the band was at times of its career. And Kot as a personal friend of both Jeff and Sue Tweedy, gave some pretty honest and accurate depictions of Jeff Tweedy as both an artist and person. Kot has been championing Wilco since their Lounge Ax days and writes a pretty honesty depiction as an abrasive, at past times substance-abuser, and mad scientist type.

I've met both on several occasions and I find Kot to be the cooler of the two. Deregotis smells as bad as you would expect him to. While being a music elitist who has a reputation for unsolicited, pushy advances towards people of the same sex, he gives off a very arrogant vibe, while looking and acting like he just crawled out of his parents basement. (I am not homophobic. I am pro-gay rights, and pro-gay in general) He is just a dirty, snooty asshole in my opinion. I just think he's kind of a gross person.

And if I wasn't a Pearl Jam fan, I likely wouldn't give Lightning Bolt a good review. I like the album, because I appreciate the diversity Pearl Jam brings to the table. I appreciate Cameron's drumming, McCready's shredding, Eddie's vocals, Aments bass playing, Boom's playing on the song Lightning Bolt, and its kind of a forgettable album that I can tell from Stone's perspective. Kott, may be a douche journalist, but I can see why he's not blown away but this album.
I love it. But I'm a PJ enthusiast.

Kot's fine, DeRogatis is not. Listen I was around in those Lounge Axe days (Sue used to book my band at Cubby Bear) and he was always there. He was there when a dozen of us were privileged enough to be invited to stay after a surprise Jeff Tweedy/Jay Bennett show at LA and he was/is an acknowledged friend of the band. His Wilco book came from the viewpoint of a fan. As far as Pearl Jam he's been hot and cold on how he feels about them. He never lets them off the hook but he doesn't criticize indiscriminately either. Personally I dig Lightning Bolt but I'm not fond of Sirens.

[Clams]

I'm a casual fan at best, but I've spent some time listening to Lightning Bolt. They are an incredibly tight band but lyrically there was nothing to pull me in. Just lots of brooding shit. Meh.

[Cubfan06]

I lost all respect for Kot as a critic about halfway through his Wilco book. The guy's a dope.

I don't agree with many of Kot's reviews and he may be a dope, however what about his writing in "Learning How To Die" did you take exception to in terms of his job as a critic matter. Although, it wasn't the most meaty of rock biographies, I thought that he did a pretty decent job of depicting where the band was at times of its career. And Kot as a personal friend of both Jeff and Sue Tweedy, gave some pretty honest and accurate depictions of Jeff Tweedy as both an artist and person. Kot has been championing Wilco since their Lounge Ax days and writes a pretty honesty depiction as an abrasive, at past times substance-abuser, and mad scientist type.

I've met both on several occasions and I find Kot to be the cooler of the two. Deregotis smells as bad as you would expect him to. While being a music elitist who has a reputation for unsolicited, pushy advances towards people of the same sex, he gives off a very arrogant vibe, while looking and acting like he just crawled out of his parents basement. (I am not homophobic. I am pro-gay rights, and pro-gay in general) He is just a dirty, snooty asshole in my opinion. I just think he's kind of a gross person.

And if I wasn't a Pearl Jam fan, I likely wouldn't give Lightning Bolt a good review. I like the album, because I appreciate the diversity Pearl Jam brings to the table. I appreciate Cameron's drumming, McCready's shredding, Eddie's vocals, Aments bass playing, Boom's playing on the song Lightning Bolt, and its kind of a forgettable album that I can tell from Stone's perspective. Kott, may be a douche journalist, but I can see why he's not blown away but this album.
I love it. But I'm a PJ enthusiast.

Kot's fine, DeRogatis is not. Listen I was around in those Lounge Axe days (Sue used to book my band at Cubby Bear) and he was always there. He was there when a dozen of us were privileged enough to be invited to stay after a surprise Jeff Tweedy/Jay Bennett show at LA and he was/is an acknowledged friend of the band. His Wilco book came from the viewpoint of a fan. As far as Pearl Jam he's been hot and cold on how he feels about them. He never lets them off the hook but he doesn't criticize indiscriminately either. Personally I dig Lightning Bolt but I'm not fond of Sirens.

Wow. That must have been a pretty fun night. Not to turn this into a Wilco thread, but what were your impression's of Jay Bennett? I know that interacted a lot with local musicians back than and I am sure that you have rubbed elbows with him a time or two.
Also didn't Peter Buck and/or Mike Mills do a sit-in with them at the Lounge Ax days?
My only interaction with Sue is at their annual two night Montosorri School charity get together and she always is awesome, awesome people.

[Duke Silver]

I lost all respect for Kot as a critic about halfway through his Wilco book. The guy's a dope.

I don't agree with many of Kot's reviews and he may be a dope, however what about his writing in "Learning How To Die" did you take exception to in terms of his job as a critic matter. Although, it wasn't the most meaty of rock biographies, I thought that he did a pretty decent job of depicting where the band was at times of its career. And Kot as a personal friend of both Jeff and Sue Tweedy, gave some pretty honest and accurate depictions of Jeff Tweedy as both an artist and person. Kot has been championing Wilco since their Lounge Ax days and writes a pretty honesty depiction as an abrasive, at past times substance-abuser, and mad scientist type.

I've met both on several occasions and I find Kot to be the cooler of the two. Deregotis smells as bad as you would expect him to. While being a music elitist who has a reputation for unsolicited, pushy advances towards people of the same sex, he gives off a very arrogant vibe, while looking and acting like he just crawled out of his parents basement. (I am not homophobic. I am pro-gay rights, and pro-gay in general) He is just a dirty, snooty asshole in my opinion. I just think he's kind of a gross person.

And if I wasn't a Pearl Jam fan, I likely wouldn't give Lightning Bolt a good review. I like the album, because I appreciate the diversity Pearl Jam brings to the table. I appreciate Cameron's drumming, McCready's shredding, Eddie's vocals, Aments bass playing, Boom's playing on the song Lightning Bolt, and its kind of a forgettable album that I can tell from Stone's perspective. Kott, may be a douche journalist, but I can see why he's not blown away but this album.
I love it. But I'm a PJ enthusiast.

Dope might be a bit harsh, but there was a chapter where he was talking about the UT song "If That's Alright," using it to disparage Tweedy's lyrical ability back in those days. The line he singled out as being especially nonsensical mentioned a carousel spinning around, which he assumed referred to an amusement park ride, when Tweedy was obviously talking about an old fashioned picture slide carousel. Hard to explain, but it bugged me at the time and has stuck with me ever since.

[Tequila Cowboy]

Wow. That must have been a pretty fun night. Not to turn this into a Wilco thread, but what were your impression's of Jay Bennett? I know that interacted a lot with local musicians back than and I am sure that you have rubbed elbows with him a time or two.
Also didn't Peter Buck and/or Mike Mills do a sit-in with them at the Lounge Ax days?
My only interaction with Sue is at their annual two night Montosorri School charity get together and she always is awesome, awesome people.

I already knew Jay a little bit, just enough to say hello really, from his band Titanic Love Affair who put out one terrific record a couple of years prior. When he partnered with Tweedy in Wilco it was pretty much magic from teh start. That show where the two of them first played about an hour long "secret show" at Lounge Axe and then played for about two more hours for just us lucky few was one of the best concert experiences of my life. They were just figuring each other out and watching Tweedy react to the things Bennett was doing on whatever instrument he picked up was quite the thing. I do remember something with Peter Buck but I wasn't there. I was already in McHenry County by then and it was tough to make everything but Lounge Axe was a special place and Sue made it that way. I miss that club something fierce.

[Duke Silver]

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com ... oy/n42166/

Robin Pecknold from Fleet Foxes covering "Corduroy" on Jimmy Fallon's show. Not too shabby.

[Clams]

I didn't go, but PJ just played two sold out shows here at the Wells Fargo Center. 34 songs per show and probably very few repeats except for their new stuff. Epic nights, I'm sure. Why doesn't DBT play 30+ songs? They've certainly got the catalogue to support it. I would say that Springsteen and PJ are the two top live acts going right now and both play epic 3+ hour shows with 30+ songs on a regular basis. On a smaller scale, Wilco does the same. I would think DBT would aspire to that, but they seem stuck in the 2 hour/25 song range. I wonder why.

[Cubfan06]

I didn't go, but PJ just played two sold out shows here at the Wells Fargo Center. 34 songs per show and probably very few repeats except for their new stuff. Why doesn't DBT play 30+ songs? They've certainly got the catalogue to support it. I would say the Springsteen and PJ are the two top live acts going right now and both play epic 3+ hour shows with 30+ songs on a regular basis. I would think DBT would aspire to that, but they seem stuck in the 2 hour 25 song range. I wonder why.

I can only speak to their Midwest shows, but in '03-'05 they certainly used to. But that is 8-10 years ago. I can't speak for The Boss statistically, but Pearl Jam for the past 8-10 years has been on the road and played 1/4 (if not much less) shows that DBT has played.
Of course I would take a 30+ song DBT show over a 24 song DBT show, but at roughly $28-$30/per ticket DBT provides some of the best bang for your buck in the industry.

[Clams]

but Pearl Jam for the past 8-10 years has been on the road and played 1/4 (if not much less) shows that DBT has played.

Good point

[Bill in CT]

I didn't go, but PJ just played two sold out shows here at the Wells Fargo Center.

Bruce was there last night...see link below.
https://twitter.com/PJ_Updates/status/3 ... 72/photo/1

[Duke Silver]

Dierks Bentley covered "Alive" with the Roots and PJ's Mike McCready on Fallon last night. It was bad. Very, very bad. Not even gonna post the video.

After three nights of awkward covers, the band finally takes the stage tonight and tomorrow. Hoping they play Getaway one of those nights, since it's one of only two LB songs that haven't been played live yet.

[Beebs]

whoopsies

[Bill in CT]

Last night's show in Hartford was superb. The crowd energy was off the charts. Eddie referred to it by saying "This is not normal." They did 3 tour premieres. One was Alone. It was my 2nd time seeing this song. The other time was September 2004 in Boston. The others were Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love (Van Halen) and Fuckin' Up (Neil Young).

[Beebs]

whoopsies

Apparently this happens a lot.

[Duke Silver]

If you're looking for a way to kill a half hour this afternoon, check this out:

http://www.pearljamsongranker.com/

Determine your personal ranking of PJ's entire catalog by choosing the "winner" between whichever two songs the site pulls up. Takes about a thousand clicks to get to the end, but it's kinda interesting. Here's my top 20 and bottom 10.

1 Release (Ten, 1991)
2 Hail Hail (No Code, 1996)
3 Immortality (Vitalogy, 1994)
4 In My Tree (No Code, 1996)
5 State Of Love And Trust (Singles (Soundtrack), 1992)
6 Faithfull (Yield, 1998)
7 Red Mosquito (No Code, 1996)
8 Low Light (Yield, 1998)
9 Oceans (Ten, 1991)
10 Nothing As It Seems (Binaural, 2000)
11 Present Tense (No Code, 1996)
12 Corduroy (Vitalogy, 1994)
13 Sometimes (No Code, 1996)
14 I Got Id (Merkin Ball, 1996)
15 Animal (Vs., 1993)
16 Breath (Singles (Soundtrack), 1992)
17 Go (Vs., 1993)
18 Off He Goes (No Code, 1996)
19 Smile (No Code, 1996)
20 Wash (Lost Dogs, 2003)

...

156 Just Breathe (Backspacer, 2009)
157 Dont Gimme No Lip (Lost Dogs, 2003)
158 Supersonic (Backspacer, 2009)
159 Gone (Pearl Jam, 2006)
160 Gremmie Out Of Control (Lost Dogs, 2003)
161 Inside Job (Pearl Jam, 2006)
162 Ole (Ole, 2011)
163 Bee Girl (Lost Dogs, 2003)
164 Hey Foxymophandlemama Thats Me (Vitalogy, 1994)
165 Dirty Frank (Lost Dogs, 2003)