2016-08-22: Chicago, Illinois

[BurtReynolds]

which RMer was tossed out?

[CopperTom]

My money's on Verb.

[Leatherhead]

Those encores were torture for me. Way too many covers.

Such a solid main set too. Kinda disgusted.

Party Pearl Jam Era is over. This officially ushers in the Extreme Party Jukebox Pearl Jam Era.

This would suck.

[matt reeder]

Watching this on Periscope made me realize what a bunch of assholes Pearl Jam fans have become.

You needed a Periscope to confirm this for you? You still visit and post here.

[Fuzzcharger]

The things I've heard picked up on a Periscope stream are next level asshole.

[AndySlash]

another show i enjoyed from start to finish. was in ga tonight on stone's side toward the back and had no issues with people- everyone around the area seemed to be into the show and no one was an asshole that i saw. these setlists were definitely 'safer' than wrigley '13, and i am kind of surprised that of 70 or so songs over the entire weekend only about 15 were from 2000 or later (someone else can add it up officially). but the band seemed to be on point for the most part and i feel they made the most of their second chance opportunity at wrigley. i've no complaints about this long weekend whatsoever. i'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

[AndySlash]

[Kevin Davis]

Random thoughts: Had a great time at the show. I've always wanted an "Oceans" opener and have narrowly missed a few, so that put me in a good mood from the get-go. I thought Ed and the band sounded good, with only very minor flubs from Eddie; the enunciation problems don't really stand out in the live setting. The first set was a really nice selection of the familiar but not too familiar -- not a general interest hits parade but mostly songs that people familiar with 40% of the catalog or less would probably know -- with a few super-rarities to keep the fans interested. Overall a healthy mix that seemed to keep everyone engaged in their own way -- the crowd seemed positive and responsive and overall way less bro-ish than anticipated. "Black Red Yellow" was fantastic.

The cover songs are out of control, though I was thankful that until encore 2 they were all fairly "canonical" covers. "Time Has Come Today" was a fragment leading into "RITFW" and felt totally gratuitous to me. "I've Got a Feeling" was a fun bonus -- I saw Paul McCartney play it last week too, and I got short videos of both.

"All the Way" is really bad. "We are one with the Cubs, with the Cubs we are one." Blech. I'd rather hear another cover. I don't care about baseball but this song makes me want the Cubs to lose. Weird Al should remake this song about a teenager hoping to lose his virginity.

Great show overall though. I am glad I went tonight instead of Saturday, fun though it'd have been to hear "Let Me Sleep." I don't think I'll ever get used to the band using multiple slow songs to open their shows.

[Farmer John]

They played 28 original songs? This is getting ridiculous. More cover songs please.

[BDB]

replace Last Kiss with anything on a uke
replace Surrender (again, really?) with Grievance or Hail Hail
replace ive got a feeling with Porch

then it might have been a perfect show.
no other complaints. it just felt like their energy and groove was all there yesterday vs Saturday.

[numbers]

Man, I would have loved to have heard Time Has Come Today.

[CopperTom]

It wasn't that great.

[ImOnTheInternet]

Watching this on Periscope made me realize what a bunch of assholes Pearl Jam fans have become.

I couldn't get a feed to play for more than a few seconds. What in particular makes you say that?

[ImOnTheInternet]

We need a "shitty fan thread".

Did you read that piece Johnny Firecloud wrote after Bonnaroo?

[E.H. Ruddock]

Watching this on Periscope made me realize what a bunch of assholes Pearl Jam fans have become.

I couldn't get a feed to play for more than a few seconds. What in particular makes you say that?

They might just be the dumbest people on the planet. While RITFW was playing they were still convinced Cornell was coming out. Either they are fucking braindead or I'm an asshole because I've seen them too many times... can't decide.

[ImOnTheInternet]

Watching this on Periscope made me realize what a bunch of assholes Pearl Jam fans have become.

I couldn't get a feed to play for more than a few seconds. What in particular makes you say that?

They might just be the dumbest people on the planet. While RITFW was playing they were still convinced Cornell was coming out. Either they are fucking braindead or I'm an asshole because I've seen them too many times... can't decide.

That's what I get for posting without reading ahead

[Kevin Davis]

"Time Has Come Today" was just a partial, wasn't it? I'm not that familiar with the original. To be fair, I thought all of the covers sounded fine on their own ("Sonic Reducer" was really good), it just got to be a bit much by the end. The ones in the first encore were pretty seamlessly integrated, but the second encore was the first time during a PJ show where I really just felt my attention drifting. Everybody has their own version of what the band is to them, and a classic rock jukebox just ain't it for me.

What's weird about it is how the structure of the second encore makes the pro forma versions of "Alive" and "YL" feel like covers themselves -- just two more big footprints on the path of rock and roll dinosaurs.

[CopperTom]

What was really awesome was their intro music - The theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I loved that so much.

Kevin, I thought it was partial too, but i'm not certain.

[Strat]

Oh pearl jam

They really seem to be teetering on the verge of still amazing and casino circuit style band.

Its really fascinating. The shows are so wonderful but the fact they ignore everything great about them is mind blowing. But what happens is every once in awhile they will throw in a song like sleight of hand (or any of your other non hit favorites) and totally nail it. This is the stuff that keeps me coming back. Or they will deliver a hit classic that reminds you why you are there in the first place. On the flipside, they will butcher songs, play only songs fro mtheir first 3 records and the worst from their most recent, and a bunch of covers they do ALL the time.

kind of maddening, really. Then add in some jamily trouble and there you have it.

[Strat]

and every non hardcore pearl jam fan probably saw the best concert of their lives *shrugs*