This Pearl Jam podcast revisits the best live shows in their 30+ year history. From breaking down every setlist to telling the stories from every era, we provid...
It's that time of year! We have eleven months to take in all of our experiences from 2024 that we bottle up for one big review of everything once December rolls around. So this entire month will feature episodes covering Pearl Jam shows from each leg of the 2024 Dark Matter tour as voted on by you the listeners! So we're kicking it off with the winner of the May leg poll which happens to be the first night in Las Vegas. These back to back Vegas shows were make ups for having to cancel back in 2022, so these fans who had waited to see them in Vegas - not for two years, but it had been 18 years since they had last played in 2006, they got a setlist tailor made for diehards.
This being the fifth show of the year meant that a lot of the kinks of Dark Matter were still getting worked out, including setlist placement and fan reactions for some of the songs. The first four shows of the year put an emphasis on highlighting those songs and sticking within a relatively standard set of songs not uncommon to hear at a Pearl Jam show in any year. Pun can be intentional or not, but Vegas was the first gamble where many of the big moments from this show came from songs they don't usually play. An opening combo of Sometimes and Hard To Imagine sets that tone, and then performances of songs such as Breakerfall, Tremor Christ, Inside Job and Breath reinforce it. Even some of the common songs felt like big changes as Black was the third song played in the set, and Corduroy was featured in the encore which included a little U2 flavor on the intro.
We'll tell the story of the set, but there will be no better story than the one we share from a moment where Ed gave gambling money to a fan named Erin with the challenge to double it. We'll hear the full details of that story from Erin's perspective and how it led to a very sincere and special moment at the second show a day later.
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1:43:38
Episode 312: Istanbul, TUR - 11/19/1996
Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of your loved ones! Out of absolutely no attempts to make any puns or jokes for this episode, it just so happens that we are covering the 1996 show from Istanbul, Turkey. Yeah, believe it or not it's just total coincidence that it's coming out this week... Anyway, this is the one and only time that Pearl Jam has traveled to Istanbul, and no one seems to remember it. Why is that you may ask? Well, as you'll hear in this episode, this bootleg is no where close to being top notch even for the time. But the promise is that by the end of this podcast we'd cover every show in the catalog, so why wait to put this in the books?
We'll spend a lot of time discussing this one off location and how perhaps the language barrier or unfamiliarity with the crowd initially kept the band from interacting. As you'll see by the end of the show, they'll find ways to all sing along together. This is a crowd that was very familiar with the popular songs from Ten - Even Flow, Jeremy and Alive, and you'll hear them singing along loud and (somewhat) clear. Even though this bootleg is a tough listen, we are able to provide the one high quality recording that came out of this in Hail, Hail, and you'll be able to decipher enough going on to get a pretty good feel of what this show was. Included in that is a total forgotten gem - an 8-minute version of Blood that we'll gush over!
Since the tour has come to an end, we'll share our final thoughts on how it turned out and look ahead to the possibilities of seeing them again in 2025. Get ready for next week as all throughout December we will be covering a show from every leg of this year's tour!
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Contact the Show - [email protected]
Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs
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1:32:19
Episode 311: Sydney, AUS - 3/10/1995
We've come to the end of Pearl Jam's 2024 Dark Matter tour, and our final destination of the year is Sydney, Australia. We go back to a show from 1995 in this episode to get you hyped up for the last shows. This was on the band's first ever tour of Australia, so they are familiarizing themselves with this crowd and territory. Not to mention, this was at a time when the band went on hiatus from TicketMaster, and there was a ticket situation surrounding scalpers from this show that we'll get into detail on.
We know the drill. It's the Vitalogy tour. The performances are explosive, gritty and loud. While Ed was dealing with a sore throat at this show, it didn't hinder versions of fan favorites such as Go, Spin The Black Circle, Corduroy, Not For You and Porch. This show also took place on Jeff's birthday, so we get a big cake celebration and an appearance from a Chili Pepper to cause chaos. Flea joins the band on stage to play a very unique rendition of Needle And The Damage Done on bass with no accompanyment from Pearl Jam.
After next week, we'll be busy covering the best shows of 2024! Don't forget to vote via our social media pages for which shows you'd like to hear us talk about in December!
Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com
Contact the Show - [email protected]
Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs
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1:27:48
Episode 310: Melbourne, AUS - 11/20/2009
Pearl Jam's short Australia/New Zealand is underway, and the next stop on the map is Melbourne! It's a city that has a very rich history with this band featuring countless of classic shows from the early 90's. Due to special Patreon request, this week we are covering the 2009 show. It's a different setlist than what we covered from Auckland last week, but we'll dig into more Backspacer deep cuts, crowd friendly moments and Ben Harper collaborations.
Some of you may know Javier's frustration with 2009 from a sound perspective, how they were using tube amps that did not aid some of the intricacies that Stone and Mike add to specific songs when they play. We'll have a good long discussion on how all of that works from both the technical and non-technical POVs, and present examples of songs it benefits and others that it doesn't. We have some great moments in this set to get into including Indifference and Red Mosquito with Ben Harper, Throw Your Arms Around Me with Liam Finn and a version of Porch that unleashes the best of Stone Gossard.
Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com
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1:37:11
Episode 309: Auckland, NZ - 11/27/2009
Pearl Jam goes back on the road this week, and for the first time in ten years, they are making stops in Australia and New Zealand! The run will begin in Auckland, which is where our episode this week took place in on the 2009 Backspacer tour. Thanks to our Kiwi friend, Chris Warne, for putting in this episode request through our Patreon. He'll have info on some fun stuff going down at the shows, including the post-game reaction spots.
This show offers a very unique OTOTO performance that you'll only get when touring the country. With the help of Neil and Liam Finn, there's an excellent performance of a song called Not Given Lightly by local legend, Chris Knox. We'll spend good time on this rarity that you may not have heard before. Other big highlights include one of the best versions of Severed Hand you'll ever hear, an amazing version of Faithfull, the uber rare Hold On played for only the second time, a fired up main set closing with Better Man and Red Mosquito featuring Ben Harper on slide guitar.
All that, and we prepare for the upcoming tour starting this weekend!
Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs
Contact the Show - [email protected]
Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs
This Pearl Jam podcast revisits the best live shows in their 30+ year history. From breaking down every setlist to telling the stories from every era, we provide comprehensive insight into the history of one of the best live bands to ever do it. But most of all, we're here to preserve the memories from your favorite shows that you've attended.
Australia