Red Mosquito

I can't remember anything extraordinary. But I probably talked (or bragged) about Pearl Jam many times in my teens. Could probably be annoying about it.

In my first year in high school, Vitalogy came out, and I bought it on the day of release. I had a guy in my class that also liked Pearl Jam, but for some reason, we were never friends. We did talk a bit about the band, and we both preferred Ten and Vs. to Vitalogy. When No Code came out, I had just started my final year in high school. I once again bought it on the day of the release, during the long break at the middle of the day. My first listen was at the record store. When i got back to school he knew I had bought the album, and asked me about it. I told him in a disappointed tone, that it was like the last one (meaning Vitalogy). Within a week I loved No Code more than any of the previous albums, but I don't think I ever talked about it to him again, and the thought about that conversation, and how wrong I got it, haunted me.

Another weird memory, was when we (my ex and I) were in Italy to see Pearl Jam twice in 2006. During the first concert the band had played a song I hadn't heard of before. It was: Picture in a Frame (Tom Waits cover) (Ed solo; live debut by Pearl Jam). Outside the second show I was talking to a guy I had never met before, and I talked excitedly about the previous show, and how Pearl Jam had played a new song. He looked at me a bit funny, and then he said, no that was a cover, and then he moved on.

Neither are embarassing to me now, but I do think they felt like it at the time, and somehow those memories have stuck with me.

tragabigzanda wrote:Good luck any of you topping that.

Sorry trag but Ondish has you beat

Anders wrote:I can't remember anything extraordinary. But I probably talked (or bragged) about Pearl Jam many times in my teens. Could probably be annoying about it.

In my first year in high school, Vitalogy came out, and I bought it on the day of release. I had a guy in my class that also liked Pearl Jam, but for some reason, we were never friends. We did talk a bit about the band, and we both preferred Ten and Vs. to Vitalogy. When No Code came out, I had just started my final year in high school. I once again bought it on the day of the release, during the long break at the middle of the day. My first listen was at the record store. When i got back to school he knew I had bought the album, and asked me about it. I told him in a disappointed tone, that it was like the last one (meaning Vitalogy). Within a week I loved No Code more than any of the previous albums, but I don't think I ever talked about it to him again, and the thought about that conversation, and how wrong I got it, haunted me.

We are the same age. I have a somewhat similar, if not exactly identical experience, re: Vitalogy & No Code.

I had a close high school friend who was pretty much my main sort of "Pearl Jam" buddy, I guess.

I could already tell by the time Vitalogy came out that he had one foot off of the PJ train. When No Code came out, we listened together in silence, and, when it was over, he said, "Eh, that was a big nothing...no hooks!." A couple months afterward, he heard one Black Sabbath record and one hardcore record, and, pretty much overnight, his band went from covering Pearl Jam, Nirvana, & Weezer songs to being an exclusively "hardcore" outfit, replete with barking vocals. That's OK...We tend to try on many different costumes in high school.

By the time Yield came out in Feb of '98 it was the first Winter following the beginning of my freshman year of college and we had already stopped speaking by that point.
I've occasionally wondered in the intervening years if he ever came around on No Code.

Fantasizing about being beaten down by a gang of roughs and then heroically re-emerging in tandem with the "Porch" buildup is something else

while my fandom has had moments of excess and inflated word counts, I dont think i’ve ever been embarrassed by it (though thats not technically what the topic asks about). this is a formative part of my identity and has always remained a real part of it. a much smaller part as the scope of my life expanded, but real

tragabigzanda wrote:I posted this before but when I was 14 I used to put on live versions of porch and perform a sort of private interpretative dance where I would imagine myself getting beaten up during the bridge, by imagined punks, but then I’d rise from the ashes to defeat my attackers during the “yeeeaaaaahhhhh yeeeeaaahhh yeeeeaahhhhh…” buildup coming out of the bridge.

Jorge wrote:Fantasizing about being beaten down by a gang of roughs and then heroically re-emerging in tandem with the "Porch" buildup is something else

I think that's just wonderful. I'm sure we've all danced and sung to Pearl Jam a thousand times or more, but I do love how Trag had this specific beautiful experience.

im going to construct an internal narrative for each song the next time i review a concert. someone remind me I had this terrible idea in 7 months

but like Anders, I also think thats sweet and relatable and what transformative music does

oneway23 wrote:

Anders wrote:I can't remember anything extraordinary. But I probably talked (or bragged) about Pearl Jam many times in my teens. Could probably be annoying about it.

In my first year in high school, Vitalogy came out, and I bought it on the day of release. I had a guy in my class that also liked Pearl Jam, but for some reason, we were never friends. We did talk a bit about the band, and we both preferred Ten and Vs. to Vitalogy. When No Code came out, I had just started my final year in high school. I once again bought it on the day of the release, during the long break at the middle of the day. My first listen was at the record store. When i got back to school he knew I had bought the album, and asked me about it. I told him in a disappointed tone, that it was like the last one (meaning Vitalogy). Within a week I loved No Code more than any of the previous albums, but I don't think I ever talked about it to him again, and the thought about that conversation, and how wrong I got it, haunted me.

We are the same age. I have a somewhat similar, if not exactly identical experience, re: Vitalogy & No Code.

I had a close high school friend who was pretty much my main sort of "Pearl Jam" buddy, I guess.

I could already tell by the time Vitalogy came out that he had one foot off of the PJ train. When No Code came out, we listened together in silence, and, when it was over, he said, "Eh, that was a big nothing...no hooks!." A couple months afterward, he heard one Black Sabbath record and one hardcore record, and, pretty much overnight, his band went from covering Pearl Jam, Nirvana, & Weezer songs to being an exclusively "hardcore" outfit, replete with barking vocals. That's OK...We tend to try on many different costumes in high school.

By the time Yield came out in Feb of '98 it was the first Winter following the beginning of my freshman year of college and we had already stopped speaking by that point.
I've occasionally wondered in the intervening years if he ever came around on No Code.

That is interesting. My brother got into Pearl Jam before me, during the early Ten becoming a hit era. He fell off the PJ wagon sometime after Vs. However, when Yield came out we had one year where we studied in the same town (his last and my first). I vividly remember riding in his car in that very first week (august 1998), where he played Yield, and we were both grooving to it. Has never happened since, but I do think Yield had that quality, that past fans, felt a renewed joy in the bands work. Might have been that way for your friend as well.

probably my most embarrassing moment as a fan was my initial stratospheric excitement about Lightning Bolt; I had my reasons, I don't feel bad about it, but it's funny to look back on

Anders wrote:
That is interesting. My brother got into Pearl Jam before me, during the early Ten becoming a hit era. He fell off the PJ wagon sometime after Vs. However, when Yield came out we had one year where we studied in the same town (his last and my first). I vividly remember riding in his car in that very first week (august 1998), where he played Yield, and we were both grooving to it. Has never happened since, but I do think Yield had that quality, that past fans, felt a renewed joy in the bands work. Might have been that way for your friend as well.

I'm glad you had that experience with your brother...that's awesome!

And yes, I do agree with you...Yield was a self-conscious streamlining of the sound...had more songs in line with what the public probably expected from them...I hope my old buddy came back around!

Honestly it’s the amount of time I spend on this fucking website.

We should all be embarrassed.

The most embarrassing thing from my PJ fandom has got to be the fact that I'm a 46 year old man with a wife & kids and that I continue to follow a PJ message board & belong to a PJ fan club & buy PJ stickers to put on my notebooks and guitar cases. I've come to realize I'm a gigantic dork

I’m printing these up for the 2024 tour. Will replace excited with EMBARRASSED.

Who wants one?

Clem Halibut wrote:The most embarrassing thing from my PJ fandom has got to be the fact that I'm a 46 year old man with a wife & kids and that I continue to follow a PJ message board & belong to a PJ fan club & buy PJ stickers to put on my notebooks and guitar cases. I've come to realize I'm a gigantic dork

I realize you're saying it partially in jest, but, so long as your primary focus is your wife & child, you're golden. Be proud...Glad you're here being a dork.

Oh man. Great thread.

I also had shrines in my school locker and bedroom. I spelled out PEARL JAM on my bedroom wall in white hockey tape so it would glow in the dark when i turned my black light on.

I post way too much on PJ message boards.

Im still in love with the band and feel zero shame about it.

I walked around the halls of my 7th grade hunior high school with the vitalogy case wrapepd in cloth just so i didnt accidently spill on it or something. I would sneak out of class to go "to the bathroom" only to listen to the album at my locker.

I feel like I could just write a book about my years of being a fan and that would cover everything "embarrassing" about it. no ragrets

Strat wrote:Oh man. Great thread.

I also had shrines in my school locker and bedroom. I spelled out PEARL JAM on my bedroom wall in white hockey tape so it would glow in the dark when i turned my black light on.

I post way too much on PJ message boards.

Im still in love with the band and feel zero shame about it.

I walked around the halls of my 7th grade hunior high school with the vitalogy case wrapepd in cloth just so i didnt accidently spill on it or something. I would sneak out of class to go "to the bathroom" only to listen to the album at my locker.

I feel like I could just write a book about my years of being a fan and that would cover everything "embarrassing" about it. no ragrets

given the "already... in love" lyric I feel like they missed a trick not making "still in love" a promotion slogan

Strat wrote:Oh man. Great thread.

I also had shrines in my school locker and bedroom. I spelled out PEARL JAM on my bedroom wall in white hockey tape so it would glow in the dark when i turned my black light on.

I post way too much on PJ message boards.

Im still in love with the band and feel zero shame about it.

I walked around the halls of my 7th grade hunior high school with the vitalogy case wrapepd in cloth just so i didnt accidently spill on it or something. I would sneak out of class to go "to the bathroom" only to listen to the album at my locker.

I feel like I could just write a book about my years of being a fan and that would cover everything "embarrassing" about it. no ragrets

love you

so glad i never got around to getting that tattoo.

Same here.
Not quite embarrassed by this, but buyer's remorse is what I feel more and more lately about my fandom

The vinyl pre-orders and shipping charges end up being a pretty bad deal. Gigaton for example, was $39.99 for the vinyl plus $12.01 shipping, that's $52.00 total for domestic, as I type this Amazon has it at $32.00, free shipping.

This year's tour ticket system and prices are laughable if they weren't just sad.

Tour posters are great, they look great and I think they're perfect concert memento. The lines for these things are ridiculous.