EV on Letterman this Monday (Poll added)

[stip]

that was a good performance. He was definitely thrown off at the start by not being able to control the pacing of the song, which was interesting.

I hope Dave enjoyed it.

[SpectorHD]

Not getting the confusion about the beginning. Ed's definitely not singing in a different key.

Generally speaking I liked this performance. 3 or 3.5 stars.

[dprival78]

not bad for 2015 eddie. i like the energy and emotion, even if the technical performance was far from flawless. i'm just happy he made this one last appearance. he/pj have had a lot of cool moments on dave's show and there always seemed to be a ton of mutual respect.. nice to add one more moment as dave heads out the door.

the drummer could've kept time during the intro to keep everyone in sync.. but it wasn't too terrible

[EJ]

Expected a pretty blah performance, but I thought it was quite good actually. He sounded fine to me. The only minor thing off about it for me was Ed's guitar at the beginning. I could barely hear it.

Anyway, it was a very nice sendoff for Dave. Hope he enjoyed it.

[HardTI]

The performance was completely fine. It was actually better than I expected. But, if we're talking about Ed's hair why are we not talking about how he dyes it brown now? Has he been doing this for a while? He really had a sweet comb-over going on for a bit too. GLORIOUS.

[McParadigm]

He sang Betterman? As a serenading goodbye to a friend?!

Is Eddie Vedder now one of those Pearl Jam fans who doesn't listen to the words?

[pnjguy]

And yet, to people who don't follow Pearl Jam, they think he sounds the same as he did 20 years ago.

[HardTI]

My wife thought it was fantastic. She kept commenting about how awesome the performance was. She's actually deaf in one ear.

[Chris_H_2]

and Betterman USED to be a sad, dark song, but... it's been played like a rocking anthem for AT LEAST ten years now... much longer than that, really.

i'm still trying to wrap my pea-sized brain around this, primarily because . . . you know . . . the WORDS.

[vedder316]

Just watched this. after reading some of the commentary here and elsewhere, I went in expecting to see a complete disaster. I actually thought it was pretty good. This was perfect for Ed, he usually doesn't start mailing it in until the middle of the 1st encore, no worries here since it was only 1 tune.

[Iholdthepain]

and Betterman USED to be a sad, dark song, but... it's been played like a rocking anthem for AT LEAST ten years now... much longer than that, really.

i'm still trying to wrap my pea-sized brain around this, primarily because . . . you know . . . the WORDS.

I don't really have the energy to explain the infinite ways that the meaning, or the energy of a song can change over time... so I'll submit this as a prime example:



You been to a PJ show where Betterman has been played recently... say in the last ten years? It's a fucking rock anthem if there ever was one!

[spike]

Vedder has such a knack for bringing a level of intimacy in his performances. Authenticity. I dont care that his voice is shot these days because there is that other element he has always been so good at. its endearing and infectious and playful. Someone who truly loves what they are doing. it rarely, if ever, feels detached.

So his vocal chords are shot. Fuck, listen to the way he screamed for 20 years. ITs amazing it took this long.

that performance felt forced. i'm not saying eddie wasn't feeling emotional under the circumstances, but he way overdid it.

[Chris_H_2]

and Betterman USED to be a sad, dark song, but... it's been played like a rocking anthem for AT LEAST ten years now... much longer than that, really.

i'm still trying to wrap my pea-sized brain around this, primarily because . . . you know . . . the WORDS.

I don't really have the energy to explain the infinite ways that the meaning, or the energy of a song can change over time... so I'll submit this as a prime example:



You been to a PJ show where Betterman has been played recently... say in the last ten years? It's a fucking rock anthem if there ever was one!

people may "rock out" to the song all they want, but it doesn't change the fact that the words to the song make this an odd choice (hell, some dude proposed to his girlfriend before the song way played at a show, and ed himself even pointed out the contradiction). that's some people's criticism, and it's a fair one.

[stip]

maybe Dave requested it

[vedder316]

you know, at Cincy 2014 Vedder dedicated the song to Sean and Mandy Casey, and said something to the effect that "while the song's lyrics don't really apply, I'd still like to dedicate this song to the both of them." Maybe Letterman or Paul Shaffer really wanted this song, lyrics be damned.

[Iholdthepain]

maybe Dave requested it

Maybe Letterman or Paul Shaffer really wanted this song, lyrics be damned.

It could just be this simple.

[stip]

maybe dave didn't request it but eddie and paul thought it would make a nice performance.

[dprival78]

yea i wouldn't read much into the song's meaning. it's one of their most popular songs, and it's a good one, so they went with it. it's not like he was singing the song TO dave or ABOUT dave.. he just played the song.

[hlniv]

Just watched. Pretty much what you'd expect, except for the fact that Paul's band sounded fucking great (lthough I guess we should expect that).

Yes, Ed has gotten older (tends to happen to most people), but I'll give this a big thumbs up.

Great moment, and makes me consider how much has changed in my own life since that first Letterman performance back in '96, which was one of the things that really kickstarted me into PJ world.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Confirmed; Seger and Vedder "We Got Tonight"

What happened to this?