Fall 2013 North American Tour

[Norah]

The setlists have been great. It's a shame Ed sucks now.

[Leatherhead]

The setlists have been great. It's a shame Ed sucks now.

I don't know about this. To be honest, I've been thinking he sucks for a few years now, but after listening to a lot of the music from this tour, I think Ed is sounding pretty good, maybe even close to 2006.

[Norah]

He's much worse than 06.

[WtOB?]

remember that ottawa show in 2011 where he sang like it was 1998 again? that was cool.

[Norah]

He didn't do that.

[WtOB?]

chud he did.

[matt reeder]

remember that ottawa show in 2011 where he sang like it was 1998 again? that was cool.

He's like that for the whole show on the Lima boot from that tour. As I said in the other thread, he has his good nights and his bad nights. He has more bad than good now but sometimes he'll eat his Wheaties and give an old-school performance, even if it's just for a song (like the fabled "Ole" from Ottawa 2011).

[Norah]

That's simply not true.

[Norah]

Even when he's not struggling, he's still adding syllables and h sounds all willy nilly like an asshole.

[Lament]

Even when he's not struggling, he's still adding syllables and h sounds all willy nilly like an asshole.

You mean "hhhhhasshole."

[matt reeder]

He changed his singing style to accommodate...well, something. He can still sing, though. He just can't hit a lot of high notes and his screaming is subpar, which is what you would expect for a 49 year old smoker who drinks a lot.

I mostly agree with you but I think the main problem, extra syllables aside, is inconsistency. I really worried about his voice when I heard some of the boots from October but he sounds pretty good on this leg of the tour. He's still phoning in some songs but he's also really doing well on some others.

[Will]

Eddie sings fine for someone pushing 50. Shut up.

[broken iris]

I saw 10 shows this year and only in B-more and Philly2 did I consider Ed's voice consistently "weak" or "sub-par", but I attribute that to them playing "Blood" several times around then.

[warehouse]

I saw 10 shows this year and only in B-more and Philly2 did I consider Ed's voice consistently "weak" or "sub-par", but I attribute that to them playing "Blood" several times around then.

that was also the start of the tour. i imagine his voice deteriorates as tours progress.

[Birds in Hell]

I saw 10 shows this year and only in B-more and Philly2 did I consider Ed's voice consistently "weak" or "sub-par", but I attribute that to them playing "Blood" several times around then.

that was also the start of the tour. i imagine his voice deteriorates as tours progress.

The bootlegs have often revealed the opposite, Ed seems to improve the longer he's on the road.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Ed seems to improve the longer he's on the road.

and the skies keep turning grey.

[doug rr]

Ed seems to improve the longer he's on the road.

and the skies keep turning grey.

[matt reeder]

I saw 10 shows this year and only in B-more and Philly2 did I consider Ed's voice consistently "weak" or "sub-par", but I attribute that to them playing "Blood" several times around then.

that was also the start of the tour. i imagine his voice deteriorates as tours progress.

The bootlegs have often revealed the opposite, Ed seems to improve the longer he's on the road.

This has been the case for 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011. I don't know about the others as I haven't listened to them much. He sounded a lot better than I expected in Portland last week too. It holds to my theory about him needing time to warm up his voice but it's just a theory.

[Rusted Sign]

Whenever I'm at a show, I'm always blown away by how good Ed sounds. Regardless of who the supports act is, two lines in to the first song he generally pisses on their vocals from a great height (same could be said for most of his duets). However, for whatever reason, like TV performances, when you listen to a boot, or watch a clip on youtube, it tends to bring his faults to the forefront. It could be in the mix, it could be atmosphere, or it could be a weird brain synapse that only occurs in concert attendance. I've returned from shows, sure in the knowledge I've just witnessed vocal genius, only to look up the performance on youtube and find myself disappointed (and questioning the sanity of my ears).

He's not the singer he once was, I don't think that's up for debate, but in the eight shows I've been to, all post 2000, with the most recent being this year, I've never felt short changed by his delivery. In that time I've seen Radiohead, Franz Ferdinand, Foo Fighters, The Strokes, Jack White, Nick Cave, Bob Dylan (awesomely awful) and a handful of other bands (The Charlatans a few weeks ago and McFly last summer with my daughter) and none of their singers, with maybe the exception of Nick Cave, have come close to replicating what Ed can still roll out in a live situation.

Why this doesn't translate to other media is a question that haunts my dreams. Like who was on the outrigger or why Ricky Ramone can't tune a fucking guitar?

[WtOB?]

Pearl Jam 2013: Rage Against The Roadie Tour.