Red Mosquito

warehouse wrote:was the 1998 tour when they started using ticketmaster again?

I thought so, and this article seems to confirm: http://www.eonline.com/news/35954/pearl ... cketmaster

I didn't realize that tour was the first time they had played LA proper since '91. Crazy.

stip wrote:I don't remember much of a buildup for yield, but I was in college in Maine at the time and so it is entirely possible it just would have passed me by

Yield was a tough record for me. I loved everything when it first came out (tends to be the case) and then, for a while afterwards, I found myself trying to convince myself that i loved a few tracks more than I did since I so desperately wanted to love that album like I loved the first 3.

Other than ATY (which I like more than I used to) , this is the pearl jam record that has aged the worst for me. Even the best songs on the record (GTF, DTE, Brain of J, and wishlist) I don't listen to that much any more, and all the other songs I have grown to like less over the years.

nothing will ever measure up. That's just the way it is. I've learned to accept it I guess. Wishlist? GTFOOH... Song drains my life when they play that shit in concert.

Aliveguy wrote:

stip wrote:I don't remember much of a buildup for yield, but I was in college in Maine at the time and so it is entirely possible it just would have passed me by

Yield was a tough record for me. I loved everything when it first came out (tends to be the case) and then, for a while afterwards, I found myself trying to convince myself that i loved a few tracks more than I did since I so desperately wanted to love that album like I loved the first 3.

Other than ATY (which I like more than I used to) , this is the pearl jam record that has aged the worst for me. Even the best songs on the record (GTF, DTE, Brain of J, and wishlist) I don't listen to that much any more, and all the other songs I have grown to like less over the years.

nothing will ever measure up. That's just the way it is. I've learned to accept it I guess. Wishlist? GTFOOH... Song drains my life when they play that shit in concert.

I don't understand this response. What won't measure up to what? Learn to accept what? I get that you don't like Wishlist in concert, I think i understand that point from the phrase "drains my life when they play that shit". That's obvious. The rest, not so much.

ilpazzo wrote:

warehouse wrote:was the 1998 tour when they started using ticketmaster again?

I thought so, and this article seems to confirm: http://www.eonline.com/news/35954/pearl ... cketmaster

I didn't realize that tour was the first time they had played LA proper since '91. Crazy.

it was the first time they played philly in a bunch of years. i remember dudes walkin in screamin "7 (6) years since they've been here! you ready?!?" it was my first show. they've obviously been back in the area a few times since.

I wonder if the 98 tour may have been a turning point in terms of the band becoming aware of the internet following. The "breath" sign campaign that was fueled by fivehorizons.com ...was kind of like the pre-historic predecessor of the modern PJ Forum *Petition* ... although much more original... and effective. and deserved (that website was the best and nothing since holds a candle to PJ fandom so glad you got your song). but still the sign campaign was basically a selfish act of obsession... "play my song, play my song"...and then they did... and it was like internet "first contact". and it as cool because we got Breath back... but it makes me wonder if afterward there wasn't a little "hello where did you come from" from the band? ... maybe that started a chain reaction where PJ became a bit more self-conscious about the setlist that was chosen ... did the band know prior to Breath at MSG II that someone was out there aggregating a setlist history? ... back then following the tour setlists, and deeply thoughtful reviews, on fivehorizons was awesome. the PJ synergy/message pit wasn't even close to 5H ... but since then, this practice seems to have evolved into the giant spider demon religion that is the modern PJ setlist pseudo science... statistical study... constant ranking... quest for superlatives.... and full of so many lifeless and shallow offerings. but i guess part of that is just having been married to the same woman (PJ) for so many years at this point. whereas in those 98 tours it still felt like every song of every show mattered. And Ed's voice was still in pretty great shape.

The Matt Cameron live presence was felt... the band was full of energy... bringing their A-game ... like PJ wanted to impress Matt.. to show him they were still a good rock band. They really re-discovered even flow on that tour. It was not a piss-break track that year. It was Mike playing some killer solos and Matt pumping away... they developed a great flow with Ed using a different tag line intro/saying into the Mike solo.. the one on LO2L being "lemme introduce you to Michael"... but there were some other good ones on that tour ... Matt's immortality solos were killer... I don't think I really feel Matt the same way live with PJ anymore. With SG though, yes. From wikipedia:

"Cameron learned over 80 songs in two weeks.[42] Regarding his entrance, Cameron stated that "The guys made me feel real welcome and it wasn't a struggle to get it musically, but my style was a little bit different, I think, than what they were used to. And they've been through so many different drummers, I don't even know if they knew what they wanted. So, I just kind of played the way I played and then eventually we kind of figured out what worked best for the band."[43]

You could still hear Matt in 98. Matt doing PJ.

Too bad that when the dust settled, over time,"what worked best for the band" was apparently to ... increasingly play drums that sound like a watered down pop stereotype just bc 'that's what PJ should sound like" (as opposed to the more complex and manly Soundgarden rhythms - yes, I just said that).

end of 98 tour in FL: Ed: "This is the only tour we're gonna stop where we wished we could play some more ..."

Matt's never played so well in Pearl Jam as he did on that first tour.

It was just so much fucking fun being a Pearl Jam fan in this era. Probably more fun than at any other point. Other eras were great (maybe even better), but man, this was just a great year to be a Pearl Jam fan.

Lament wrote:It was just so much fucking fun being a Pearl Jam fan in this era. Probably more fun than at any other point. Other eras were great (maybe even better), but man, this was just a great year to be a Pearl Jam fan.

I thought 1999 was the best year to be a Pearl Jam fan. The amazing Yield tour was the most current memory, and then in October we heard Nothing as it Seems and the promise of Binaural began to bloom.

1999 was definitely a fun year. Three Fish had an awesome tour that summer, the Ed and C-Average shows were also very cool. The 1998 bootlegs were making their rounds faster and faster every day. Strangest Tribe was on the Christmas single (one that actually came out on time). For me I always look at 1999 as the warm afterglow from 1998's glories.

I remember downloading a lot of the 1998 tour in mp3 form from presenttense.net

I was far too much of a Luddite to do that. I had to send out tapes and then come home and check the mailbox everyday like a fool.

Oh, I was doing that too. But I remember when I got the download utility Get Right that allowed for queued and resumed downloading it started swinging the pendulum.

Another one of my favorite PJ-related moments of 1999...

ohmygod I was just thinking of that

That was the best version of Eddie Vedder of all time.

The hair color was the only thing keeping him from seeming superhuman at that point.

Imagine if modern Ed tried to do that duet? He'd fucking butcher it.

He'd be like "Geee-iiiive me a heeee-arrrrrrrrrt to haaa-eeeng awwwwnchoo..."

Y'know, Ed actually dressed really well in this era too. He'd never wear anything that stylish or classy today. It wouldn't fit the whole hobo-chic vibe.

He's trying too hard to look like Bruce Springteen these days.

Yeah, it's like he sends his assistant to the store with a picture of Bruce from the The River cover shoot and tells him to just buy anything that fits that look. And then to buy any "vintage" band t-shirts from 1977-1984 to wear under the flannel.

I dress like a working class hero, but don't talk to me while I'm getting my manicure.