Red Mosquito

I know that people say all the time - Pearl Jam plays songs too fast live. It's definitely true.

But man...while it doesn't matter much for their back half of their catalog, the pre-Matt-Cameron days had such a nice groove to the songs....hearing them blow right through that live is very frustrating.

But I dont think anything is as tragic as what has happened to Even Flow. Live...this song is...ok. Its exciting but it just kind of flies by you. Its a decent live song, but nothing special, and it tends to go on forever. It really tired me on the song.

When I re-listen to the studio version it is so enlightening. This song is AWESOME. Like, this is one of the greatest coolest songs of the 90s, Eddie's vocals, the crashing drums, and the groovy sound in general....it is just awesome. Out of their rockers it may even be their best. It has such a unique sound. It's no wonder it was a massive rock hit.

But everything that WAS good about the song is completely gone live....like 100%

Anybody wish they would JUST ONCE play it at the right tempo? They have enough blazing rockers...this song still rocks without going at literally twice the actual speed. Jeez....I just can't believe how they murdered this song to the point I always forget how good it actually is.



As a bonus, what songs do you think are the worst songs live? Given To Fly is the other one they butchered from the studio version. I do like this song a lot but when I hear live versions they are never good....they should stick to songs like Lightning Bolt if they want their blazing rockers, which is a song that may even be better live. But stop ruining their more nuanced songs in their catalog

I would love to see a PJ show where they play everything at the actual tempo. That would be great.

tragabigzanda wrote:Even Flow has never been a favorite of mine. I guess it peaked for me in '98, when Mike was having fun with the solos. But I don't really give a shit how they play it.

Live or studio? You don't like the studio version either?

I'm definitely a fan of the song. I think the groove is completely gone from it now. I don't know whose fault it is. If Matt started playing it faster, obviously no one else cared because they've kept it like that for years, now. I can't stand to hear Mike noodling his solo anymore. It's just a "look what effects I can use and see how fast I can play" excuse now. There's no feel, no groove, no anything. I listen more to what Jeff and Stone are doing and totally blank Mike out of it now. I think they should let Stone start soloing in the song. Change it up a bit.

This seems like a Live forum thread.

cutuphalfdead wrote:This seems like a Live forum thread.

I'm at a loss for what to do with all these mikeandjonsi threads

I never liked this song as much as the other big ones on Ten. I don't care how fast they play it live, i'm gonna go piss and re-beer myself at the show when they play it anyway.

E.H. Ruddock wrote:

cutuphalfdead wrote:This seems like a Live forum thread.

I'm at a loss for what to do with all these mikeandjonsi threads

Give him his own sub forum

Yeah that'd be awesome! I have more thread ideas.

As it is now, Even Flow is fast, muscular and climaxes euphorically leaving everyone panting - just like me. Therefore, I like it.

Yeah, its such a groovy song and live now its just this fast nonsense 6 or minute jam that kinda lost me a long time ago.
There are some cool version here and there, but its just gone.

Eddie Vedder...singing the wrong first word to Even Flow since 1992

Also which drummer is this and what would it take to get him back?

I still like Live Even Flow, especially with a long ass guitar solo AND drum solo. Fuck yea.