2014-01-26: Big Day Out: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

[lowercasejames]

Jeremy
Black
Alive

This surprises me though I don't know why.

[dimejinky99]

Cos it hasn't happened since maybe 92

[VinylGuy]

cool setlist. Nice to see Getaway is getting more play...and Footsteps.

[zeb]

I prefer the SYD setlist to the BNE setlist.

Let The Records Play is still a dud though.

[Birds in Hell]

Yeah, probably the best setlist of this tour thus far.



Looks as though they dropped Wishlist for Unthought Known.

[Rangi Guy]

Yeah, probably the best setlist of this tour thus far.



Looks as though they dropped Wishlist for Unthought Known.

Nice to see Binaural getting a little love. Was going through what I've heard live today - and Binaural's the only album I've heard nothing off in a live setting

[WtOB?]

guys, matt is absolutely slaying it. probably the best ive seen him play with the band.

[WtOB?]

better man was actually a highlight of both shows i went to. they are really going for it in the jam at the end.

[zeb]

guys, matt is absolutely slaying it. probably the best ive seen him play with the band.

He played some of these tunes like he was imagining it was a Soundgarden show.

[Birds in Hell]

guys, matt is absolutely slaying it. probably the best ive seen him play with the band.

He played some of these tunes like he was imagining it was a Soundgarden show.

That's what I love so much about his 1998-2000 drumming in Pearl Jam, really glad to hear he's so into it.

It probably helps that it's only a handful of shows, no need to worry about wearing himself out.

Roll on Friday!

[VinylGuy]

he was on fire on 2005 and 2006.

[LetMeSleep]

That was a damn fine show but god the sound was bad until In Hiding. Then the guitars had some presence and the bass could be felt. Until then it was a thin drum and vox mix.

Ed was quite drunk and in the spirit of Aust day. He fluffed quite a few lyrics but it didn't bother me at all, such was the atmosphere. All of the guys nailed it and Matt was awesome (as he always is when you're in the room/at the show. For some reason it's on boots that I feel the lacking). InHiding was treat but the real moment was in the break down of insignificance. They nailed it as they did with RVM and Porch. BMan was indeed a good version too. Chloe/CoT was performed well too. It was a great show.

And Spenno, yes LTRP was as expected. Awful, just awful. People were leaving the D during it and also during Sirens.

Mudhoney were really good, Beady Eye passed the time but nailed the couple of Oasis tracks. Liam is still a douchenozzle. Vista Chino were fucking great, lotsa Kyuss. Saw all of it, dealt with fluids and strolled straight into the D with beers in hand for 3-4 Arcade Fire tracks. They were as good as they were when I last saw them.

Overall it was a good day without bogans and thankfully not too busy. Was good to catch up with Ridley for a beer.

[Leatherhead]

Anybody know how "Getaway" has been sounding lately?

[Birds in Hell]

Vista Chino were fucking great, lotsa Kyuss. Saw all of it, dealt with fluids and strolled straight into the D with beers in hand for 3-4 Arcade Fire tracks.

Ooh, good news.



Glad you guys enjoyed it, looks like a helluva show.

[LetMeSleep]

Anybody know how "Getaway" has been sounding lately?

It didn't sound great. This wasn't the show to judge it as the mix was terrible without much guitars for this track.

This is a bit closer to the stage than I was and there's a bit more guitar in the mix but judge for yourself.

[Fuzzcharger]

I thought the performance was okay it was just the sound where I was that didn't come across as great. The guitars didn't come through enough, we could barely hear Mike. It just seemed worse during this song in particular.

[ridleybradout]

LetMeSleep was spot on with the description of the sound - god awful until In Hiding (which I was stoked to finally hear). Getaway was well performed, I just don't really dig it drop-tuned. I can't be sure but I think Corduroy might have been tuned down as well, though it may have just been the guitar mix being so shitty - I almost didn't recognise it when the intro started.

Early sound issues aside this turned into a stellar show - up there with the 2006 Melb shows I went to. The crowd was largely dickhead-free which was a nice surprise, a healthy mix of die-hard and casual fans. It seemed like everyone at the BDO over 30 was wearing a PJ shirt so the organisers hit a home run with that one.

Mark Richards helped write the setlist, he was sitting on the side of the stage with Ed's family. Ed confessed early on that he'd put away quite a few beers while watching Cosmic Psychos and Mudhoney and did seem a little tipsy, but really enjoying himself. Do The Evolution was performed flawlessly with no lyrical flubs and no try-hard South American sing-a-longs. Eddie was pretty solid with his delivery all night, it was almost as if he knew how drunk he was so had studied up on lyrics and was concentrating really hard. He did mess up the guitar intro to Insignificance ("all in all, it's all my fault") but he recovered, turning it into the best rendition I've heard in years.

The band was tight as well, Matt is a beast to watch and threw in some very nice snare fills as opposed to just thrashing the toms like he has in recent years. Better Man was a definite highlight, Mike's solo was incredible and Ed did the full SIFL tag ("Two dozen other dirty lovers" etc) with passion I've not heard before.

The show really started to lift with STBC (especially after everyone around me was let down a few minutes earlier by all Ed's talk of records only to have them play LTRP!). Footsteps was a treat and they absolutely nailed Chloe/COT. The crowd singalong for Small Town was LOUD, with the band visibly impressed. I remember Ed turning to Jeff later during Jeremy and giving him a 'man, what a crowd' look.

Pearl Jam delivered much more than a typical festival set (clocking in at 2hr45), redeeming themselves and then some for the abridged 2009 show. And the crowd did Sydney and our national day proud.

The festival itself was pretty well organised (except for the 'drink tokens' which had an uneasy 'Itchy and Scratchy money' quality to them) with a great atmosphere and no overcrowding. Checked out Tame Impala (sounded great but boring to watch), Cosmic Psychos (bad-ass!) and Mudhoney (pretty pretty good) before meeting up with LetMeSleep for a beer (super nice bloke ). We parted ways as he went to catch Vista Chino while I endured the rest of Liam Gallagher's collect-the-cheque set to grab a great spot for Arcade Fire. They were very cheeky starting with Blur's Song 2 wearing the paper-mache masks, only to walk out a minute later and reveal the mask-wearers were not them (roadies I'm guessing) and kick them off before busting into a Normal Person and tearing down the 'no moshing' sign. First time seeing them and very happy with their set, playing the best 6 songs off Reflektor and all the hits off the first 3 albums.

Look forward to seeing what PJ have in store for Adelaide and Perth now - enjoy those going, if it's half as good as Sydney you're in for a treat!

[dimejinky99]

My pals who were there also said the guitars were inaudible.
They were right up front so we thought maybe that's why but its been happening a lot over the last few years. Since 07 actually

[Fuzzcharger]

Do The Evolution was performed flawlessly with no lyrical flubs and no try-hard South American sing-a-longs.

They tried the singalong in Melbourne and it tanked. Probably wise to put it on the shelf for the rest of the tour.

[dimejinky99]

Singalongs only work in certain European countries.
The fact that the band are even onstage in South America is incidental to those audiences.
They're singing along to the guitar parts