Red Mosquito

guitar_davey wrote:

Ms Harmless wrote:

Ledbetterdays wrote:In a lot of ways, Last Kiss is the single most embarrassing thing. For some people, it is the only thing they know of modern Pearl Jam and it is a cover.

that's their own fault, not Pearl Jam's; they recorded that when rifling through old 50s indie records and finding a tragi-pop song to cover was cool and quaint; there's nothing embarrassing about "Last Kiss"

I think some people are embarrassed because it has this pop element to it, and it is outside the rest of the world’s perception of the band. Reality is they raised a lot of money for refugees repackaging that, and that’s I think worthy of praise. There’s I think this sense that it gets embarrassing when the world at large gets ahold of it, and it becomes a thing of its own, and alters perspectives of what the band is and who their audience should be.

I don’t want to dig too far into implicit bias, but to say Pearl Jam toes this line, from the get go, of classic rock and someone slightly heavier. Add to that the band’s earlier years were rife with self-consciousness about some level of street cred both self-inflicted but also instigated in part by Kurt Cobain’s commentary on them. This worry about being sell outs or catering to the masses was more or less an embarrassment. So then Last Kiss comes along, a cover tune that is a 50s pop song, and it gains all this momentum, and it’s the furthest thing in some ways from that classic rock/heavier brawny rock thing they were lumped into in the 90s, and the audience that gravitated to it - boomers, teenage girls, etc. turns out to agitate those still self-conscious of Pearl Jam’s street cred, and that’s I think where it stems from. Reality to me is they took a song I heard growing up, and flipped it into a more earnest sounding expression of grief in a pop landscape, and took the proceeds and gave them to refugees. That’s a class A move in my mind.

Put me firmly in the "'Last Kiss' is good, actually" camp

Jorge wrote:Put me firmly in the "'Last Kiss' is good, actually" camp

*great

I get mildly annoyed with how upbeat the song is for it being about your girl dying in your arms.

You should hear the Spanish version

I heard it in Knoxville (I think it was only the second time they played it) and it was intense. I bought the bootleg just for that song. By the time they released the single I was tired of it, but it's fine

BurtReynolds wrote:I heard it in Knoxville (I think it was only the second time they played it) and it was intense. I bought the bootleg just for that song. By the time they released the single I was tired of it, but it's fine

In ‘98?

Yeah

I was at that show. I’ve not listened to it in a long time.

wease wrote:I was at that show. I’ve not listened to it in a long time.

I had the worst hangover of my life at that show, and only one contact so I had to watch the show with one eye. I think Vedder was in a bad mood, which helped the song I think.

'last kiss' is great and not remotely embarrassing. the popularity of the song is an awesome story actually. i'm much more embarrassed by 'sirens'.

BurtReynolds wrote:

wease wrote:I was at that show. I’ve not listened to it in a long time.

I had the worst hangover of my life at that show, and only one contact so I had to watch the show with one eye. I think Vedder was in a bad mood, which helped the song I think.

He did seem to be perturbed about something. I remember him ranting about staying in his hotel room the night before and watching SNL.

We got Hard To Imagine at that show too. Last time they played it until The Gorge ‘05. Which is also my next show to see them.

i might have seen the first one? Merriwether ‘98

Ed’s voice sounds good on Last Kiss

when he reaches up for the high notes, it’s all there

and Ed

man’s voice fell apart after that

E.H. Ruddock wrote:I get mildly annoyed with how upbeat the song is for it being about your girl dying in your arms.

no that's why it's good

Ms Harmless wrote:

E.H. Ruddock wrote:I get mildly annoyed with how upbeat the song is for it being about your girl dying in your arms.

no that's why it's good

Yeah that bitch had it coming!

Last Kiss is what led to Pearl Jam shows becoming big sing along, call and response live experiences. For that, it can never be forgiven.

Except it was Better Man.

Ed's screaming on Dark Matter

rick malone wrote:Ed's screaming on Dark Matter

"FUSUMWANASAMASTAAA" before the bridge is the only bit I don't like; it sounds like he was expecting another chorus but the band was heading into the quieter bit

spike wrote:Last Kiss is what led to Pearl Jam shows becoming big sing along, call and response live experiences. For that, it can never be forgiven.

I think “Better Man” might be to blame for this actually — those crowd-takes-the-first-verse versions starting in ‘03 pretty much set the bar for PJ concert kumbaya moments