2021-09-26: Ohana Festival (Pearl Jam)

[Strat]

They took the stage at 8:30ish. What time did the schedule say they were going to take the stage?

820

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Monkey_Driven]

Retrograde mostly sounds great. Is that Josh playing the percussion ?

I still wish the song started with a heavier drumbeat; that first verse still sounds neutered to me.

[Jaeti]

Retrograde mostly sounds great. Is that Josh playing the percussion ?

I still wish the song started with a heavier drumbeat; that first verse still sounds neutered to me.

Ya.

[TouringReg]

Long time lurker, infrequent poster will add a few thoughts.
- the onslaught of Gigaton songs to start the set reminds me a bit of the Avocado tour. They seem excited to play the new stuff which I like, however I don’t love the songs they’re picking to start the show, simply from a flow perspective. I thought “Alright” would be the open for the tour, maybe it will be by the time they get back to arenas.
- the outro to “Retrograde” was pretty massive, reminds me a bit of the outro to “Parting Ways” and I think with that it would fit nicely last or second-to-last in a main set or encore with a really stretched out outro
- “7 O Clock” I think would fit in a cool down spot after a hit like “Even Flow” or something harder, like “Daughter” does sometimes. I like this song but I don’t think it does much for the crowd third or fourth song of the night when it’s also the third or fourth song in a row from the new record.
- similarly, I think “Quick Escape” would work better six or seven songs in where a mid tempo song with big lead guitars like “Red Mosquito” or “Dissident” would go
- personally, if we were doing a bunch of Gigaton songs to start a show I’d probably open with “Alright” then just do the first three album tracks in a row

Band sounded good, Ed screwed up lyrics in a number of songs (you can see him after the second flub in “Retrograde” kind of get mad at himself).
Pretty good for a two hour set. “I Got Shit” and “Immortality” were nice surprises. That was fine for me first show back at it and getting into the festival around 4 pm after travelling the day before. Apparently they have a three hour slot Fri/Sat so it’ll be interesting to see what they do with that.

[Strat]

Ed also royally fucked up alive. Lol


There was kind of a weird vibe in the that it didn’t feel like a well oiled machine. Possibly nerves and the fact it’s been three years. But they came on stage in a rather anti climatic fashion and the show awkwardly and abruptly ended as well due to curfew.

They probably didn’t need to jam alive for what felt like ten minutes and could have probably fit another one in but apparently watchtower was on the set list so it’s fine. Mike gave watt his guitar midway through alive solo and that went on and on.

[dad]

i bet once they start a proper tour, they'll knock off any rust. they sound great just based off these youtube clips.

[VinylGuy]

man retrograde finale was something else live...Mike and Matt were killing it...i guess this will be a favorite live.

[VinylGuy]

I'm surprised they haven't played River Cross yet.

I wanna hear how Alright sounded

yeah, also surprised. I was sure it was going to be a lock in these shows

[dad]

outro to Retrograde is definitely the best part of that song.

[TouringReg]

Yea Alive was a complete debacle. I’m guessing they rehearsed the new songs more and some older songs might have things like happen.

I also agree it was kind of anti climactic how they walked out, bring back the intro music! The ending was funny too where Josh even put on a guitar (he didn’t play anything on Alive) and then Ed said goodnight. I think they ended around 10:25 (godforbid they do something other than a 10 min cover to end a show).

I found that Watt guy super annoying to watch during Alive and I realize he’s a big part of the EV solo record coming out but I hope I never see him onstage at a PJ show again.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Chris_H_2]

i think 7 o'clock would be perfect as an opener in the first encore. that "let me sleep" just seems like a wasted opportunity to play something different (read: better).

[brisk]

Matt has always had incredible bass drum skills and feel like he is using that double pedal more. Really diggging his whole sound these 2 shows. It's a massive thump in the mix and he's just really slowed down all the tunes. Immortality was incredible. Songs feel so much more open and Matt can do his weird style and fills.

I also noticed he isn't doing some of the usual stuff like the snare roll before the keys verse in given to fly and that Jesus Christ pose esque beat after McCready solo in even flow before ed comes back into the chorus.

[VinylGuy]

man, i loooove that drum solo he had in Even Flow in 06

[TouringReg]

One other thing I remembered - Stone played electric guitar on Crazy Mary and I think it might have been in the original key, instead of A minor. I think this is the first time since the Binaural tour. Unfortunately Ed tried singing most of it in a higher register and I thought it sounded awful. I used to like when he went with the higher register on the second verse starting in 2005 or so, but I didn’t think it worked for 2021 EV.

[jamfan14]

Long time lurker, infrequent poster will add a few thoughts.
- the onslaught of Gigaton songs to start the set reminds me a bit of the Avocado tour. They seem excited to play the new stuff which I like, however I don’t love the songs they’re picking to start the show, simply from a flow perspective. I thought “Alright” would be the open for the tour, maybe it will be by the time they get back to arenas.
- the outro to “Retrograde” was pretty massive, reminds me a bit of the outro to “Parting Ways” and I think with that it would fit nicely last or second-to-last in a main set or encore with a really stretched out outro
- “7 O Clock” I think would fit in a cool down spot after a hit like “Even Flow” or something harder, like “Daughter” does sometimes. I like this song but I don’t think it does much for the crowd third or fourth song of the night when it’s also the third or fourth song in a row from the new record.
- similarly, I think “Quick Escape” would work better six or seven songs in where a mid tempo song with big lead guitars like “Red Mosquito” or “Dissident” would go
- personally, if we were doing a bunch of Gigaton songs to start a show I’d probably open with “Alright” then just do the first three album tracks in a row

Band sounded good, Ed screwed up lyrics in a number of songs (you can see him after the second flub in “Retrograde” kind of get mad at himself).
Pretty good for a two hour set. “I Got Shit” and “Immortality” were nice surprises. That was fine for me first show back at it and getting into the festival around 4 pm after travelling the day before. Apparently they have a three hour slot Fri/Sat so it’ll be interesting to see what they do with that.

--

Retrogade outro was awesome - but I agree, don't think of it as a show opener.

My friend who has tagged along to a few shows over the years with me but is more of a cursory fan asked "does Eddie always screw up lyrics this much?" The answer - yes.

[Strat]

One other thing I remembered - Stone played electric guitar on Crazy Mary and I think it might have been in the original key, instead of A minor. I think this is the first time since the Binaural tour. Unfortunately Ed tried singing most of it in a higher register and I thought it sounded awful. I used to like when he went with the higher register on the second verse starting in 2005 or so, but I didn’t think it worked for 2021 EV.

I was thinking the same thing about the key but i couldn’t confirm. Looked like mike was playing am to f. Unless the guitars were tuned up a step.

Ed can’t decide on which octave to sing it. He sounded great when he laid down the baritone but he wouldn’t commit.

Electric guitar sounded fantastic though

[Bammer]

What’s up guys. That was fun. The venue was pretty packed and it kinda makes me laugh that we have all these Covid protocols everywhere but then we’re still allowed to cram into each other like sardines at a concert.

There really is nothing better than a Pearl Jam concert. I don’t pick apart the details like some of you do (which fill Matt hasn’t used since 2006, which key Ed sings in, whether or not it’s a “festival set”). God bless you, nerds!

Matt’s bass was absolutely thundering. If I’m honest Stone looked a little uninterested. Ed made a comment about the homeless “relocation” at Venice Beach, but managed not to get political about it. (This explains the lack of tents - we had lunch at Teddy’s Red Tacos on Venice Beach earlier in the day).

I got to the venue about 6:30. I texted Strat to connect for a beer but he was already entrenched in his spot.

We winded our way up to about 25 back. I had to piss during Corduroy and got separated from my buddy for like half the set. I could have gotten back in there but didn’t feel like being an asshole so he came back to me about 40 deep I’d say.

Seven O’clock was the highlight for me. The best new PJ song in a really long time. Immortality is such a fantastic live song. Weird that they were so turbo about curfew. They were gearing up for one last song and then just … goodnight.

This was my 31st Pearl Jam show. In all my years I have never seen one of the guys require a fill-in. Until last night, where I don’t know exactly what happened but I am convinced Mike had to shit in the middle of the Alive solo and his guitar tech jumped in for an emergency solo and if you had your eyes closed you wouldn’t have known the difference. Mike gets back to finish the song and I think he kicked the showmanship up a notch to make sure everyone still knew what’s what.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Finding a ride back to the hotel after took forever.

[VinylGuy]

ha !

No, that was Andrew Watt, Ed´s new producer, and Mike was seeing him play from the side.