Red Mosquito

Kevin Davis wrote:Listening to a little Live on Two Legs right now, thinking how it just feels like yesterday that Matt joined the band and feeling somewhat incredulous at the idea that it has been 27 years since the autumn of sophomore year, when I listened obsessively to this album on the bus on the way home from school. There’s really no telling what PJ would have become had a different drummer stepped in for that ‘98 tour. Very grateful it was Matt, that they went on to have the career they did, and that I got the chance to see that iteration of the band as many times as I did.

Even though I am musically partial to Jack, to me “Pearl Jam” as a group of five dudes will probably always be Ed, Jeff, Stone, Mike, and Matt. In a lot of ways their drummer drama in the ‘90’s was less a string of replacements and more a series of long-form auditions for the one that would finally work.

epilogue wrote:

Kevin Davis wrote:Listening to a little Live on Two Legs right now, thinking how it just feels like yesterday that Matt joined the band and feeling somewhat incredulous at the idea that it has been 27 years since the autumn of sophomore year, when I listened obsessively to this album on the bus on the way home from school. There’s really no telling what PJ would have become had a different drummer stepped in for that ‘98 tour. Very grateful it was Matt, that they went on to have the career they did, and that I got the chance to see that iteration of the band as many times as I did.

Even though I am musically partial to Jack, to me “Pearl Jam” as a group of five dudes will probably always be Ed, Jeff, Stone, Mike, and Matt. In a lot of ways their drummer drama in the ‘90’s was less a string of replacements and more a series of long-form auditions for the one that would finally work.

E.H. Ruddock wrote:

Matters wrote:Not that it means anything but isn’t someone in the band (ed?) on record saying that Matt Cameron will be the last drummer for Pearl Jam?

I love Cameron’s PJ songs but they should retire those now. Except the Fixer. Because who cares what they do with that?

Terrible take. Why retire his songs? They’re great

Matters wrote:Proud of gen X today and their ability to process difficult information and quickly move on humor.

injuddstree wrote:90% chance it will be Richard Stuverud, IMO.

digster wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:Well, there you go.

Unsurprising given everything that's already been said about the physical impact of being a touring rock drummer in your 60s, but definitely the end of an era and not one I was expecting. I thought it more likely the band would just slowly wind down from regular touring.

Very interested to see what happens now.

I was sure this was how it would go as well, which is the thing that surprises me about the announcement. I kind of figured they viewed PJ as the business they'd wind down together as they started wanting to retire, with fewer live gigs over time. I mean, the Dark Matter push last year was a fair amount of shows, but I could easily see a situation where they played 15-date tours once every few years or something. Matt leaving outright does make me wonder if it was at all a creative decision, even one that clearly seems amicable.

stip wrote: i assumed it was the physical toll rather than a creative one. That dam would have broken long ago and seems even more improbable (to me) after an album that was much more of a matt showcase than anything prior with the band

wease wrote:Here’s why he quit:

Johnny Guitar
Cropduster
Unemployable
You Are
Take the Long Way
Get it Back
Evacuation
The Fixer
In the Moonlight
Get Right

Ten tunes. Ten tunes in 27 years over 7 albums. He finally said fuck this shit.