Red Mosquito

Ms Harmless wrote:speaking for the UK (as an elected representative), a lot of casual fans (and otherwise) here seem to be boycotting this tour because for them, Pearl Jam are still synonymous with fighting Ticketmaster and they've noped out; can't blame 'em really; that, plus the general UK fandom has fallen off over the years, it really is just a faithfull few now

lecherouslittlestump wrote:

Ms Harmless wrote:speaking for the UK (as an elected representative), a lot of casual fans (and otherwise) here seem to be boycotting this tour because for them, Pearl Jam are still synonymous with fighting Ticketmaster and they've noped out; can't blame 'em really; that, plus the general UK fandom has fallen off over the years, it really is just a faithfull few now

Shocked they booked Tottenham stadium. There's no way they're a stadium band in the UK, and the fact they're heavily discounting tickets is proof.

They're not Green Day, RHCP or Foo Fighters - 90s bands who maintained their popularity well into the 00s and 10s.

RockPusher wrote:Was discussing Pearl Jam over lunch and the idea came up that, whatever one thinks of Gigaton, it doesn't have the same number of potential classics that Dark Matter does. Setting Sun, Waiting for Stevie, and Upper Hand have all been embraced heavily by fandom and played very well live to boot. From my perspective, they hit in a way that Gigaton's best songs don't. That's not even to mention other tracks. For instance, comparing song 2: I know a lot of people here really enjoy Super Blood Wolf Moon, but to me, React,Respond just feels more visceral and in line with a history of hard, edgy fast numbers rather than the spritzy punk numbers (of which SBWM is at least somewhat adjacent). I am not trying to disparage Gigaton- it is a completely different type of album. I envision it being somewhat lost live, though, and I don't think the same will happen with DM.

lecherouslittlestump wrote:My sense is that outside of RM, Gigaton is not highly regarded within the fanbase. Certainly not compares to Dark Matter.

RockPusher wrote:I'm glad we have Gigaton, exactly as it is. I'm also glad we didn't get Gigaton 2, but instead got something very different as the next album. As long as the quality doesn't dip, I like it when Pearl Jam changes things up.

Birds in Hell wrote:shoehorned into a self-consciously 'big' ending.

warehouse wrote:it never sounded like they "buckled down" with evans. more like they came and went as they pleased. the watt sessions seemed like they were pretty focused.

hlniv wrote:Let's just all be glad there has been a solid course reversal after the Backspacer->Lightning Bolt era, which took like 10 years to get through.

Also I'm enjoying the boots from this tour more than any since the '06 tour

RockPusher wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:shoehorned into a self-consciously 'big' ending.

I will call BS on this criticism forever and always. Ten is full of big endings. Vs is full of big endings. Big endings were a staple of early Pearl Jam, and it's obvious the band loves playing big endings when they play live. That is the JAM part of Pearl Jam.

Honestly, after Avocado, big endings were the thing I was missing most. I didn't realize that until I finally got a proper one or several on Gigaton. Then they went to town on Dark Matter, thank the heavens!

I've heard people say that the double-time ending on Upper Hand feels out of place or whatever, but if you listen to 70s hard rock, which is an absolutely HUGE influence on PJ, it is chock full of moments like that. Specifically, bands like The Who. What we are hearing on Dark Matter is the band having maximum fun in their sandbox, and I am 100% here for it!