2024-09-12: Baltimore, MD

[Strat]

I was super into black, eyes closed, just listening to Mike take us away so i may have just made a brain fart but I'm pretty certain Ed sang the "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life" line a second time later in the Solo?

[E.H. Ruddock]

I was super into black, eyes closed, just listening to Mike take us away so i may have just made a brain fart but I'm pretty certain Ed sang the "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life" line a second time later in the Solo?

I thought the same thing!

[Bi_3]

I miss Pearl Jam

Still time to fly to Fenway

[stip]

I was super into black, eyes closed, just listening to Mike take us away so i may have just made a brain fart but I'm pretty certain Ed sang the "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life" line a second time later in the Solo?

I thought the same thing!

he did - doubled down on the best moment

[96583UP]

I was pretty deep on beers at that point in the show but I could swear that was the best version of Black I ever heard? I have heard it before and loved it. And maybe the Falling Slowly intro (and running into not seen for a while family just before) got me mega emotional. And the beers. But I was in complete bliss. I think it was the best version I ever heard.

Gotta fix a string on my 12-string acoustic and do a solo basement rendition later this week. been a little while

doo doo doo doo
doo doo dooooooo

[E.H. Ruddock]

Ok, my semi-short review that will be overshadowed by stip's when he inevitably posts it 15 minutes after mine:

I'd like to start off by giving Glen props for his set. People in the arena at the time actually shut up and got into it really quickly. He was on fire and got me amped up for PJ.

Can't Keep, Present Tense, Given to Fly, Corduroy: What a beautiful surprise that opener was. Had no idea it hadn't been on a PJ set for 10 years. The band really had fun with it and at one point Ed even looked a little surprised at how many people were singing along with it. The next three songs just carried that crowd energy. So much singing along by what seemed like everyone in the arena. GtF seemed perfect, Corduroy was a little rough around the edges, esp. with the call and response, but they sounded good. It is this kind of song run to open a show that makes me get all sentimental and giddy about being there in the moment. I knew no matter what they played I was going to have a great time.

React Respond, Dark Matter: Oh baby, RR is a blazer live! I hope in the future they pair it with some other classic heavy ones like they do on occasion with Go, DtE, and Animal. Watching Mike and Jeff on this one made me feel like I was watching them in their heyday. DM is a fine song, but again, live is a different beast. I think the new album as a whole translates live a little better than Gigaton

Tremor Christ: As this, along with Go, is my favorite PJ song, when those notes start it just turned me into a screaming little kid. Not gonna lie, I welled up a bit, but then just got into the song and forgot where I was for a few minutes. They sounded great, and again, great crowd appreciation on this one.

Wreckage, Unthought Known, Stranglehold jam, Evenflow, Daughter: All just fun. It was classic PJ, with everyone singing along to most of it. I love looking at the crowd in these moments and just taking in the fact that everyone else there is somehow having many similar emotions and feelings as I am. Wreckage sounded fine, but to be honest it was a little plain sounding in the live setting.

Deep, Upper Hand, Do the Evolution, Jeremy, Lukin, Porch: JFC!!! This is why I'm really here! I was a sweaty mess after this run, as was everyone around me. I was along the aisle on the floor seats and the ushers just gave up trying to get everyone back in their rows during this run. Insanely heavy, well played, and fucking energetic. I want to relive these six song over and over. And the video of DtE playing behind it added a nice touch of nostalgia. It felt like I was watching the video and song right when it was released so long ago. That was incredible.

Encore: was fine. the last three songs were typical and a little rushed, especially after they had to stop Alive to make sure someone was ok. But Falling Down was beautiful. Those two harmonize well together and Glen sings it with such emotion. Another eye-soaker. SBTC and Sonic Reducer go well together, so that was fun!

Most importantly, the two things that made this show extra special for me was first, the crowd in general. The energy in there was noticeable. I've been to more than a few stinker crowd shows, but this was not one of them. And second, the company for the short time we were in town. Strat and M_D, who have become amazing, incredible friends outside of RM, Doc and chloe who of course are long time friends, and fucking legendary stip! You all made this trip worth it, and also were very gracious to my wife who was just along for the ride and not going to the show. She is really amazed at how many great people I know because of this board and this band. Thanks to Doc for waiting in that awful merch line and grabbing me a poster. Getting some great Maryland crabs with strat and M_D easily tops the show highlight for me. I'm sorry we didn't get to see more RMer's who were there (if you laughed at a guy wearing the Brittney Spears shirt, you were laughing at me), but there will be more shows! The whole 7 hour drive up on Wednesday had me questioning why I'm doing this at my age, but then I have an experience like this and I'm pissed I don't get to do it more.

[epilogue]

I'm seeing a lot of praise for Black at the Baltimore show. So, Stip, since you were at both shows, how would you compare Black in NYC night One and Black in Baltimore?

Because I was shocked how electric and emotional and face-melting it was in NYC. Maybe the best I've heard it.

[96583UP]

great review Ruddo!

cheers

[96583UP]

oh man i forgot to mention

during the Porch breakdown I totally swayed and flailed my arms back and forth emulating trag being beaten up by punks

[96583UP]

in solidarity

[Monkey_Driven]

oh man i forgot to mention

during the Porch breakdown I totally swayed and flailed my arms back and forth emulating trag being beaten up by punks

Ok, this is good

[tragabigzanda]

[96583UP]

next time we are all at a show together in GA we need to fully re-create the beat down and rise up

trag must of course play trag

the rest of us can craft our own punk hoodlum character as desired

Ed will likely get confused and halt the show

but it will have been worth it

[96583UP]

https://consequence.net/2024/09/pearl-j ... un-lyrics/

oh baby, it's on...

Pearl Jam transformed Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” into an anti-gun anthem while briefly covering the 1975 single during their concert in Baltimore on Thursday (September 12th).

Halfway through the latest show on Pearl Jam’s North American tour (get tickets here), guitarist Mike McCready launched into the instantly recognizable opening riff of “Stranglehold.” Eddie Vedder joined in shortly afterward to repeatedly sing, “I don’t own a gun, I don’t ever want to own a gun/ I don’t own a gun, never want to own a gun.”

Once they were done, Vedder didn’t comment any further on the song, and the band launched into their own classic “Even Flow.” Watch fan-shot footage below.

As an outspoken gun rights advocate, Nugent was unsurprisingly displeased with Pearl Jam’s take on the song. In a tweet responding to the cover, he invited Vedder to “join me on my RAV spirit campfire to discuss how your insane liberal policies have created an explosion in engineered violent recidivism while you fight to disarm helpless innocent citizens.”

In stark contrast to Nugent — who briefly hosted a Discovery Channel show called Ted Nugent’s Gun Country and defended the NRA after the Parkland school shooting — Pearl Jam have spoken out against gun violence and publicly supported the non-profit organization Everytown for Gun Safety on multiple occasions.

During Vedder’s own Ohana Music Festival in 2019, he dedicated a performance of Pearl Jam’s “Hard to Imagine” to Everytown, whom he praised for “working so hard for common sense gun laws.” He added that we should “respect the right of ownership, but also preserve our right to feel safe in our towns, our communities, our schools, and our homes.”

More recently, Pearl Jam directed fans to the Everytown website in 2023 for National Gun Violence Awareness Day. “[We] stand with the communities fighting against increasing gun violence,” the band wrote in a statement. “No one should live in fear of gun violence — in their schools, neighborhoods, or anywhere.”

Pearl Jam are currently touring behind their latest album, Dark Matter.

[coptheriotact]

Great review Ruddo , starting to get exited about my shows

[epilogue]

While I'll always be hurt... I'm happy to know I was right that this was a special night. That is about the perfect setlist.

Wish I'd known y'all were going. Wish I'd been there. But mostly glad it was an amazing show. Y'all deserved it!

[daft twat]

While I'll always be hurt... I'm happy to know I was right that this was a special night. That is about the perfect setlist.

Wish I'd known y'all were going. Wish I'd been there. But mostly glad it was an amazing show. Y'all deserved it!

You dodged a bullet. Ruddo and Strat and MD got crabs together.

[daft twat]

Also, “best Black ever” is almost as cliche as “Mccready was on fire.” Black is their best song. It’s always great. And Mccready is always on fire. The fucker was in a trance and walked off the front of the stage in Vancouver. But like a Phoenix….!

[E.H. Ruddock]

That is true. He’s always on fire

[E.H. Ruddock]

While I'll always be hurt... I'm happy to know I was right that this was a special night. That is about the perfect setlist.

Wish I'd known y'all were going. Wish I'd been there. But mostly glad it was an amazing show. Y'all deserved it!

You dodged a bullet. Ruddo and Strat and MD got crabs together.

I mean, we all announced it in this thread when we got tickets