Pearl Jam Indianapolis 2024 - Concert Review

Introduction and Expectations hello and welcome to the album of record podcast thank you so much for coming today is going to be a Pearl Jam episode we talk we joke about every episode being a Pearl Jam episode this one actually is one so we appreciate you guys being here please like the channel subscribe to the channel find the podcast tell a friend do all the things that help us make this thing grow because we're having a lot of fun doing it we hope you're having a lot of fun watching it listening to it whatever you do to consume it and with that how's it going Andrew oh I'm super excited for this episode uh obviously always love talking Pearl Jam uh I also am excited because we are officially in football season there is college football on TV as we speak as we're recording this uh which is very exciting it doesn't feel like football weather here in Ohio it's still too hot but uh a little little heat exhaustion can't dampen my spirits tonight so how are you Craig who in the world is playing football tonight uh I know Bowling Green is playing uh they ran the opening kickoff of their season back for a touchdown uh Toledo is playing I believe so we got some Ohio schools uh some maxtion some Thursday night maxtion going on and yeah Rock and Roll All right so tell tell everybody why PE Jam episode uh this is a Pearl Jam episode because I went and saw them play live in uh Indianapolis this week uh so we are reviewing the show from August 26 2024 at the ruoff music center in lovely Noblesville Indiana a suburb of Indianapolis I was not there Andrew was so I will wind him up and let him talk I went with I went with a Craig but not not you I went with a different Craig so not the Craig he may disagree he may feel like he is the Craig but I I went with a Craig so people can decide which one is the Craig I all I'll say is I went with a Craig so first of all like what what were the what were the expectations you haven't seen Pearl Jam in a number of years even though you've seen them a number of times um you and I have been paying attention to the set list we've been paying attention to how many new songs they play um this is actually a weird show because it was a makeup for one that was cancelled a year ago or so last year y so what were what were the expectations because I know you didn't at first jump at the chance to buy tickets to this one yeah so I didn't try to get tickets for this one because I wasn't sure I I don't even remember if it was included in the original fan club thing because I think they prioritize people who had tickets So for anybody who doesn't know last year they were scheduled to play in September in Indianapolis and literally like 2 hours before the show they cancelled it uh because of illness um I know my uh the friends I went with they were they were like on their way to Indianapolis uh like just literally happened to see it on their on their phones that hey the show is cancelled and had to turn around and go home um so they said they would make it up and so they included the date in this one so I had I had tried to get Seattle and Chicago shows um and we talked about this in an earlier episode but for anybody who missed it um you know the fan club does their Lottery system and so I put in for uh two Seattle shows and two Chicago shows to see you know if I could get any of them and I didn't get any on the first run and then they did a second chance run and I put in for those shows again and also didn't get in on those and obviously I was pretty disappointed I've been a fan club member since uh I think 1994 I think is when I joined um and so I was pretty disappointed and I just happened to be talking to my friend about it and he mentioned that they were they had tickets for that show last year and they got tickets for this year's show and he's like well if you get a ticket you can ride with me so I went on SeatGeek and uh yeah I paid a lovely $244 uh which hurt at the time but by the time of the show I forgot that I had even paid for it so you know how that goes uh but yeah I so I I had not seen Pearl James since the 2010 tour um which would have been backspacer the backspacer tour uh I went to three shows on that one um it was uh Columbus Indianapolis at the ruoff center and uh Cleveland and uh yeah it's been 14 years since I'd seen him so I saw him 10 times between 96 and 2010 and then went a long period because they just they hadn't been playing they haven't played Ohio I think they played a show they in Cincinnati in 201 like 13 or something like that that I didn't go to but they they hadn't played Cleveland or Columbus since 2010 and so you know it definitely been a long time uh but I was very excited for this uh and by the way before you move on I think that show in Columbus in May of 2010 was one of the first not times if not the first time you and I ever met in person oh that's right that I forgot about that we didn't go together but we we had a beer before the show yeah we did uh that's right I forgot about that uh I think of it was that 2010 though or was that yeah it was wasn't it that was 2010 yeah crazy uh so anyway back to back to present day so you know I following the set list I I kind of liked what they've been doing with the set list I liked how many of the new songs they've been playing as somebody who loves dark matter I wanted to hear these new songs live so I was hoping to get a lot of them I really went into it I said if I get Setting Sun and scared of fear and wreckage if I get those three songs I'll be happy and like anything else you know was just a bonus I want I really wanted to make sure I would get those songs and I felt pretty good about wreckage and scared of fear I think they maybe have played those just about every show uh Setting Sun they have been a few shows that they have not played it and so you know I was a little bit worried about that one um but the uh yeah we'll get into the set list a little bit but the set list was phenomenal and uh the band sounded great and it just really felt just felt good to see Pearl Jam again after 14 years I was just I was on Cloud9 the entire show um and uh yeah it was just a it was a long hot day it was uh it was in the upper 90s in uh Indianapolis that day we got we got there around I don't know two or 3 o'clock in the afternoon and uh it was a long hot day in the Sun for sure yeah and I was going to say because you guys got there plenty early you sent me a The Opener: Glenn Hansard picture of the merch line and then they started they started their uh um their not their warmup up what do they call that sound check sound check yeah so pick it up there yeah so I I'll I'll talk about this like so Pearl Jam we've talked a lot on this show I I have some some feelings about what I call Pearl Jam Inc Pearl Jam LLC whatever you want to call it the big Corporation that is Pearl Jam um and I'll say like this the merch machine is just incredible like you first of all you will not see a show I don't think of where people wear the shirt of the band they're there to see more than Pearl Jam like I was it's just stunning how many people wear Pearl Jam shirts to Pearl Jam shows which I am against that practice I am a firm believer you do not wear the shirt of the band you going to see but uh anyways I I'll digress I think there's some bands I think there are some bands that are exceptions I think uh if the band is small enough and it's a real badge of honor that you have a shirt from a previous show I think you can get away with it but like if you bought if you bought the the Pearl Jam shirt at Target I don't know if they have one at Target but I know they have like Smashing Pumpkins at Target and stuff like that well I think with pearl J mostly they're like tour shirts I think they more wear it to show like that they've seen them before already on the tour and you know and whatnot but uh but no so they set up a merch Booth outside the uh wherever they're playing so if anybody follows them on Instagram you could the day of the show you go to Pearl James Instagram page they show you where the merch Booth is going to be and where the line is going to form and uh they have just they have a massive trailer with I don't know how many stations that you you can have lines and then they set up two additional tents beside it uh so there are just so many checkout Lanes they have but yet there was still a queue for the line where it goes back and forth and we were backed up outside of the que like when I got in line and I got there not at the longest that line got that line got incredibly long I mean I mean you just sit there and you watch these people and I say this with no judgment however you want to spend your money that's your business but like I mean we're talking people go up there with just a pile of shirts you know uh just spending hundreds upon hundreds of dollars I think Pearl Jam Just Raks in cash from these shows between you know they're pricey tickets to begin with and they sell so much merch at these shows it's unbelievable it's interesting though because as I've gotten really close to the social media channels that follow the band and the the current tour in some ways yeah it's kind of capitalism at its finest but in other ways the fans really want this so it is fan service as well um and so in that respect it's hard to be so judgmental because they're just doing what the fans seem to want and I can't be judgmental because I stood in that line and waited I I wanted a poster and I I wanted a shirt I'm shirt I'm wearing here I got at the show uh and I think they do like I think it's cool like they I love the posters that they do for every show you get a unique poster specific to that show they make a couple of shirts for every city they play in themed around the city uh the Indianapolis one they had a long sleeve shirt that had like racing or a checkered flag down the sleeves and race cars on the front representing you know indies's uh race car uh culture and then also uh the T-shirt they had had some basketball sneakers on the back some like old school basketball sneakers so uh you know they they theme it for the city which is cool the the poster for this show uh the artist did a rendering of with the um whatever that statue is that's downtown Indianapolis that lady I don't know I I forget what her name what what that's called but uh it it was based on that um and so you know it's cool that they do and then they also will do like stickers for that City they'll do um you can even get these tokens that say the date of the show and you can get a keychain to put the tokens on if you want if you're into that sort of thing like they do try to like at least put some thought time and effort into this it's not just turning out the same old stuff and for the record that's uh lady victory at the top of the soldiers and sailor Monument which I correct I kind of knew but I wanted to double check before I spouted off about it uh my wife's from Indianapolis I was married in Indianapolis I know a lot about it but I'm not a local so I have to double check my facts yeah so uh that was definitely the hottest part of the day uh standing and waiting in that line because you were just there was no shade it was out in the open so it was literally just standing there in just the sun just beating on us it was quite brutal and you're like watching people you know ask to see every shirt holding it up like inside your head like you're just like just buy the damn shirt you know like again like obviously if you're spending that money you want to make sure you're getting what you want and I can't really begrudge it but you know that's just how it works when you wait in lines you know uh but the other thing that was funny was when we were about I would say there was about six people maybe in front of me in the line yet so I was getting real close all of the iPads that they used to check out on the tents went out and so so they could no longer service people in the tents so we all had to wait for the lines for the trailer to uh to get in so it slowed the line down even more so I I spent a good hour in that line I think I told you I was I became a part of the uh merch machine that is Pearl Jam Inc and uh but you know like I said I mean I I did it for a reason I wanted the I wanted a poster I wanted a shirt and uh so so I was definitely happy to get those and the other cool thing was is I got to hear them sound check not for you uh while I was waiting in line I could hear them uh playing it and so I had a good feeling that uh maybe I was going to get that uh in the show so how much were the shirts uh the shirts were 40 yeah $40 the poster was that's not super offensive no and the poster was 45 um and then you also we're we're long gone from the the days of the $20 t-shirt exactly I seems kind of fair I think 40 is pretty reasonable for a tour shirt and I thought the posters being 45 I honestly thought they'd be like 70 that's really what I was expecting um I do appreciate though that you also you can bring in your own poster tube but if you want a poster tube you do have to pay extra for the poster tube and you know you got to do it um but you know but again it's so nice though I love that they sell this merch outside like this even though it sucked way an hour in line uh you get your merch and then you get to take it back to the car and you don't have to carry it around with you inside for the show so uh so I liked that and then we um yeah so then we just tailgated uh in the parking lot there uh for a while until uh until it was time to go in that's really cool I I guess I did hadn't put together the fact that you could buy the merch and put it back in your car and not have to carry it around all night because that's that's one of the biggest impediments for me with merch is number one the lines uh I did I never realized the uh the pre-show outdoor lines existed and I'm guessing they probably did not have that the last time I saw Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden but um but yeah the not carrying it around and and trying to keep a poster under your seat if you even have a seat it's just the worst I'll tell you this too um in all honesty if you want merch wait in the line outside so one of the guys that was with us he thought he kind of wanted something he's like well I'll see you know I don't want to wait in this line out here because they will sell merch inside as well obviously so he's like I'll go I'll go inside and get merch well the inside lines were just as long if not longer so uh the pro move if you want merch it sucks waiting in line but wait in the line and get it outside and so you can put it in your car um for sure all right so let's attack this a little bit by record first let's well let's before do that go ahead because I was hang on because I was gonna ask you to go over all the Dark Matter songs so do whatever you're GNA do but then I want us to talk about the Dark Matter songs because those are the new ones yeah I do want to talk about the opener first um so the opener is Glenn Glenn hanser um who very close friends with Ed he's they've collaborated on a lot of things I'm a big Glenn Hansard fan I love the frames I saw uh the swell season in a theater in Chicago way back I wrote about it on the album of record uh it's one of the best performing posts I ever did for some reason because the swell season picked it up on social media um but Glenn Hansard is just a phenomenal songwriter he is one of the most a uh I was gonna say aggressive but I don't mean it like metal aggressive he's one of the most aggressive singers in terms of never taking a note off and going for everything um um so I assume he was killer that night he was he won over a lot of people who I think were not super stoked for him um and I'll be honest like I I actually have not listened to him a ton I knew who he was um I have listened to him a little bit but definitely not a ton I didn't really have much in terms of expectations for it but he was awesome like his band was great um especially when they I especially when they Rock like when they when they go for it like they were they really put on a great show however so it was kind of funny because he's he came out and he's introduced the band and he's like we're gonna play for 45 minutes and then we'll [ __ ] off you know which is such a great like Pro opener move you know like you know people will listen to you they'll be polite but they're there for Pearl JM and so I thought that was just kind of a funny tongue and- cheek thing but he ended up only playing a half hour CU he was clearly having a a lot of technical difficulties I think he was having trouble hearing in the monitors or something because I kept seeing him like yelling to the sound the side of the stage and then at one point they brought out a guitar and I don't know if it wasn't working or if he couldn't if it wasn't in tune or what but then he frustratingly basically threw the guitar back at the side they played another song and then they walked off stage after just a half hour so that was a little unfortunate that they had uh that's those technical difficulties um to deal with but but you did get to see the second song they played was revelate which is one of the best frame songs absolutely rocks so I would say get to see some cool stuff it definitely it was great uh I really enjoyed it a lot the people around me all seemed to really enjoy it as well so uh it's a it's a perfect opener for Pearl Jam honestly like that that's a good good choice in opener um but yeah as so as for the Dark Matter songs you know uh the they started with their typical way they start their show with a random mixture of songs and we'll talk about that in a little bit but then The Dark Matter Songs they got to uh scared to fear and so then I knew just based on the history I was about to get the opening trio of uh scar to fear react respond and wreckage and I'll just say like so scared of fear which is like I said one of my favorite songs on the album anyways to begin with uh it was one of the songs I really wanted to hear and they just crushed that song live it they the I I was amazed at how much the crowd was into it like everybody was into that song and then they follow that up with react respond which I know you've been sort of iffy on but I'll tell you I think you're going to love it live uh for one part Ed's vocals he sings it a little bit more normally I know you don't like the delivery of the react respond chorus lines um he does sing it a little bit more normally uh but that song Just crushes life like it's just rock so hard live like it was well I'm guessing a lot of the things that I don't like about the studio version and I still like the song don't get me wrong but it it's like he's he's trying to make it New Wave or something right and it it is less new wave and more really Punk than anything else um um they uh I they they they just played it with such an attitude it was really great um and the again the crowd was super into that song and then they got to wreckage which is my favorite song on Dark Matter uh and I have to say like that was one that was maybe a bit of a let down and I I think the show had been so high energy up to that point that maybe that drop in energy um maybe just hit the crowd a little bit but like it was one of those things when like all of a sudden I realized like you the people behind us were all just talk they weren't even listening to the song like they were just talking to each other which was super annoying um and I could just tell the crowd wasn't really vibing with it and I it it really did feel like a sh SW in a way that it doesn't feel that way on the album like anytime on the album I'm always excited to get to wreckage but for some reason that song just didn't really wow me live like I was hoping it would so if there was any disappointment in the evening for me it was probably that song um which sucks to say but uh you know is is what it is uh then they played a couple uh older songs and uh then they played uh the song dark matter which again just phenomenal live really Highlights of the Setlist great uh but then they did the um they have it on a recording the uh intro to upper hand you know the slow building and they have the the displays with their screens it has this like uh orb thing that's like growing you just feel this slow build to it and I was so stoked uh that they were going to play that and uh yeah then all of a sudden uh it just kicks in with that sort of YouTu sounding you know Edge kind of uh guitar part and then they absolutely slayed that s Mike just I'll say this for Mike mccre Mike mccre is a absolute cheat code for a live band like it is not fair like he is an absolute machine live like watching him just absolutely shred it's just it's just unbelievable how good he is live and the cool thing is is again he doesn't play these solos any solos he doesn't play them the same at any show he just plays whatever he feels that night like he's just he is one of the best improvising soloists in rock music period bar nun and it's just not fair and like so he just had two just blistering solos on that song because that song has you know the first solo which is sort of more of a moody solo and then the second one he just goes to town on um well and this speaks to a lot of what we were talking about when we reviewed Dark Matter initially is that this was is the F it feels like the first time in a long time where they've let everybody kind of be the best version of themselves the version of themselves that everybody fall fell in love with or has fallen in love with because they love Pearl Jam and so in in a lot of ways because they brought in another producer who loves Pearl Jam it was the most Pearl Jam that's Pearl Jam since they Pearl Jam originally as Pearl Jam as well said sorry that was really obnoxious hey look Ed Ed on more than one occasion made a joke about how the people of Noblesville are noble so you know we're all entitled to our We're All Above 40 years old here like we're we're we're dad joke Central like we we've we've got the puns I've been I've been telling my friends that I far too old to be cool and when I was young enough to be cool I wasn't cool so here we are this is what you get sorry but no so yeah so upper hand was great um and then uh and by the way upper hand is not always in the set list you're not always gonna get that one um like if it hadn't been upper hand what would it have been because probably won't tell yeah I don't think they've been doing got to give very much or something special I don't think those are ones that they're really playing a whole lot so I think they seem to only play something special when Eddie's daughters in in the audience yeah which makes sense uh but um uh yeah I would say like won't tell is one that they do play quite a bit that that they didn't do so um and then uh they did running which again it's just a fun live like I to me it's like it's longer than Lucen but it sort of fills the whole of what Lucan is in that live set like just a real Spurt of adrenaline in a show to like you know get everybody going when at a spot when you need to um so that that was great live um all right let's break format for a second because I'm looking at that run of songs from 15 to 17 yeah insane they not only played running but they played it in the middle of do the evolution and then porch and I do the evolution has become one of the best songs that they play live like I for anybody who's yet to see them on this tour this includes you by the way you told me this before we started recording and I held off I'm shocked a little bit because do the evolution is a song that I like but I I don't love as a recorded song um it is better live but what you were telling me about you your observations of this one kind of surprised me a little bit yeah so so they slow it down a little bit and it almost feels heavier like they used to so the the other Craig who I went to the show with he's a he's a drummer um and uh you know he's been he's played drums in tons of bands ever since I've known him so he's an active drummer plays in bands he knows what he's talking about um he talked about how on these last like this tour and some of the last tour Matt has kind of changed up the way he plays some of the songs and he's noted that do the evolution is one that uh he definitely has changed up the way he plays it a little bit um and he puts a little bit more of a Groove to it that makes it feel heavier and they slowed it down like and this is true of a lot of songs they've really slowed down some songs like so for a while when pearljam was trying to do their like 33 song Set lists like they almost had to like rip through some songs like so they would you used to go to Pearl James shows and some of these songs would just be over before they even started and do the evolution was definitely one of those uh but now that they're doing uh you know 20 some songs there there's more room for these songs to breathe a little bit and uh you will you will notice when you hear it live that it is a different live song than the way they used to play it um it it has a it and it even though you might think well playing it faster would give it more energy I feel like it has more energy the way they play it it's got a lot more power behind it and the display that they use for it like they so you I mean I'm sure you're familiar with the video uh the animated Seth McFarland uh is that who it was Seth McFarland the animator I think so I can't remember um or Seth McFarland the Family Guy Seth McFarland's Family Guy uh okay yeah I'm pretty sure it's a m I'm pretty sure it's a McFarland but I uh who who did the animation for uh for the do the evolution video uh but so they have that all cut up but they sequence it like different and they make it look like a comic book and it's like flashing through and it just adds so much to the song it's so good Tod McFarland Todd McFarland thank you yeah yeah so Seth McFarland is uh is Family Guy okay do the evolution featuring Brian and Stewie yeah that wouldn't that be something uh so no so that I really hope and they have been playing do the evolution a ton like it's in almost every set I was going back to look to see cuz I wasn't sure how often they play it and they've actually played it almost every show so it is it is almost replaced given to fly as the staple yield song which you know given to fly was always one of the best live songs that they played so it's a little surprising that that's lost its status as a staple uh because it's a real crowd singal along it is y and they and it's not that they don't ever play it it's just that you used to feel like you had a pretty good chance of seeing given to fly now it's 50/50 or you know it's it's a little bit quite Even Flow but it was up there yeah so like if you made me bet which one you're going to get I would bet on do the evolution because they've been playing it way more than given to fly but uh yeah so then they hit into running and then they go right into porch which was and that was what ended the uh the main set that they that was right before the Encore break like porches like so they're tips they Encore and Closing Song don't always do this but they have a few songs that are usually typically sort of your main set Enders uh rear view mirror is one they'll do a lot which is great in that role cordoy sometimes will will be that uh but porch is always my favorite like main set Ender because it's such a great way to to end it with that extended Jam they do in the middle and yeah yep and then when it all comes back into the chorus One Last Time everybody just loses it and it's and not not to derail you but would you agree that the coming out party for porch was was unplugged oh yeah without a doubt had been all right thank you without a doubt yeah I I didn't know if that was commonly commonly felt it it is for me because at that time when unplugged came out like it was still in the like everybody was into alive Even Flow and Jeremy like you know I I think everybody was so focused on the hits at that point um black might have been out as well at that point but uh you know I think when people saw that performance of porch live I think everybody like because not that that song isn't good on album like it certainly is but when they play that live there it's it's just special the way they deconstruct that extent and really draw out Jeff Aon starts playing Crash symbols with the head stock of his face yeah and then uh like like I said then it just builds right back at the end and goes right into and explodes into that last chorus and uh so that was yeah so that was great and then um and then in the Encore the last uh dark matter song I got was uh Setting Sun um which was maybe maybe maybe my favorite song of the night um I I don't know that the crowd really loved it as much as I kind of wish they would have it seemed like maybe I don't know like I a lot of people started clearing out during Setting Sun and I don't know if it was just people who just thought that that was going to be the last song and they were trying to get to get to their cars but uh by the way another another dad ISM yeah nobody ever told their grandkids about the time they beat traffic that is that is true that's very true um but so yeah so Setting Sun I don't know what to say about it like it's incredibly powerful uh the visualizations the visualization phenomenal for that one um I wish that that was the last song of the night like it doesn't have to be in that spot like I wish they would have done some of the other ones they did after that before it or you know but uh it's just it's hard to top Setting Sun like you just really feel like that's the vibe that you should go out on um and I will talk a little bit about you know them closing with yellow lead better like I'm over it I've been over it for a while like I I'm just not crazy about that as a as a show Ender anymore and it's a real fan service kind of a thing though people do love it I'm with you they do but people are are in love with that song and as somebody who uh you know listens to a lot of the bootlegs like I've heard a lot of different iterations of it and I felt like I don't know if they were kind of getting pressed for time but it really felt like a rushed performance of it um same with Bob O'Reilly um that felt a little rushed I thought they didn't really jam out at the end as much as I've heard them in the past um and then like so like when yellow lead better ends and everybody's done playing except Mike and then Mike just just plays whatever he feels like at the end of the show even that was like really abbreviated it felt like like all of a sudden he was just done it was like oh that's it like okay like it was it's not my favorite performance of yellow Le better and I'm I don't know splitting hair is here a bit like I mean this is it it was still it was still good it's just I don't know not not my favorite way to end shows like I miss them closing shows with indifference or like I said Setting Sun would be my personal choice now and maybe it's a maybe it's a union thing you know these all these different concert venues Union restrictions and curfews and they stopped at exactly 11:05 p.m. according to the set list okay so yeah so that could be maybe they were already even running maybe they were supposed to be done at 11: and so they were pushing it you know I don't know but uh yeah yeah so that was the Dark Matter stuff um I think it's incredible how well these songs translate live I had heard them on the bootlegs I kind of knew what to expect with them but they just sound so good like somehow they sounded even better not just the Dark Matter songs this band like it's insane like I know they have the reputation like Pearl Jam is a great live band everybody knows this it's what they're today what they're most well known for more so than you know their Studio as much as we love Dark Matter people haven't in general and the general public have not cared about a Pearl Jam album since yield probably um and a lot of people were jumped off after vitology even which was 94 right yeah yeah 94 so I you know I think at this point that's kind of what they're known for but after 30 plus years of touring they are not going through the motions like this tour feels like a revitalization of Pearl Jam live like I had felt by 2010 I had sort of felt like when you went to a Pearl Jam show you kind of knew what you what to expect you knew what they were going to sound like and it was really for me it was always like Pearl Jam's Revitalization well what is going to be the rare songs I get this show I didn't feel that way at all I didn't care if I was getting hits or if I was getting rare songs I thought that they sounded better than they have ever sounded when I've seen them live I've always said the 2000 show in Columbus was my favorite time that I've seen them I think this might be my favorite Pearl Jam show um that I've ever seen and a in a large part is because of how good they sound they sound more young energetic and vital than they have sounded in forever and I I was honestly blown away and quite surprised at how good they sounded Ed sounded great I was worried you know would I was going to ask specifically about that because for me as as goes Ed go as goes the Pearl Jam show um and he's had some real ups and downs on this tour because I largely because I think the new material is the the degree of difficulty is high and uh at certain points I've been watching videos on YouTube and he'll point back to Josh klinghofer like hey pump it up a little bit or whatever because the Dude is a phenomenal singer not not not to even pigeon holem as a backup singer he's phenomenal um which and by the way that's fine by me I think that's cool but I think there're they're uh you know when we talk about Dave Gro if you see Dave gr towards the end of a tour he's very screamy very screamy um and with Ed he kind of takes a few more notes off maybe he's a little bit flat maybe it takes him a little bit longer to warm up um so to catch Ed on a good show is awesome yeah and I think you know we had the benefit of this being there only their second us show um on this leg of the tour so they're kind of fresh you know they were they definitely seemed fresh and sounded fresh um and like the big test was yeah let me interrupt you real quick so they played in Missoula on August 22nd and before that they they played July 13th yeah and they you're you saw the show on the 26 so there were three days off or whatever four days off three days in between yeah yeah and so like the big test was pretty early in the set when they started with uh Last Exit well not started but I'm saying when the song Started you I kind of thought to myself like oh we're gonna find out what Ed we getting because that's a song that pushes him and he sounded awesome on it like and then they spin the black circle another one that can really uh push his vocals and he nailed that not for you he sounded incredible and uh you know and even like Exceptional Live Sound nothing man the second song of the set like the second uh chorus of that like he really Soares with the you know he sings the first chorus in the lower register and then he hits it on that on that second one uh wash they opened with wash that's another one that he sings the first part in the lower register but by the time you get to the the last chorus he's just hammering it and uh he sound but and let's but let's talk about this for a second so I'm looking at the set list again and they go from last exit to spin the black circle to not for you to scare to fear to react respond vocally that is a run like if you're planning it for maximum efficiency and to give yourself a break you wouldn't program the set list like that yeah no definitely not Ed does the set list so he must have felt phenomenal backstage that's right um and you know he had made a couple comments comments about uh you know about the he was very complimentary of the crowd right from the beginning he like right from the beginning he he had made a comment like holy cow you guys are loud or something like that he was definitely the whole band was feeling the energy from the crowd um the the crowd was phenomenal uh because it had been 14 years since they had been Indianapolis as well so and he had made a couple comments about how the the show reminded them of how a great crowd can salvage what they thought was going to be a rough night or something like that so I think the combination of the Heat and seeing Glenn hanser have technical problems I think there was maybe a vibe that uh oh this show uh you know could be a rough one but they were they were so energized I and we got just the way the set list worked out we had a lot of songs where Stone played the solos we had a lot of songs that have stone solos and stone was great as well like he absolutely crushed his solos um I I don't know like it just it just felt like a special show um it was just like and by the way that that whole like you guys sound awesome tonight thank you Indianapolis uh you you and I have been to enough shows that we can kind of tell the difference between when they're just kind of like doing what they have to do versus oh wow this this this one feels different yeah absolutely um again the only other time that I've seen Pearl Jam that I've felt that way that they were had like a genuine like love of the crowd and feeling the energy was that 2000 Columbus show and the thing that backs that up is so when they released the 2000 boot that was the first time they released the official bootlegs so they did their 2000 tour they released all of them on CD so this was back when you we still had CDs and uh that was on the binaural tour and on a couple of the um they had like a logo they were using for that tour on a lot of the shirts it was like a human and then an ape like beside it kind of like an evolution type thing with a little DNA strand and on the back of just a small handful of the CD jackets would be that logo and that would actually signify that it was a show that the band had designated as one of their favorite shows and the Columbus show actually got one of those so I always felt Vindicated because you always do Wonder like but I always I just felt like that night like the band just seemed incredible it seemed like they were feeding up the crowd so I got a little validation of that so and I felt the same way about this uh Indianapolis show um and like just like so it was a it was a bit of a meat and potatoes Pearl Jam show like they played four songs s off of 10 five songs off of vitology um well and that's and that's where I'm going to interrupt you again so this feels like a vitology show and this also by the way this is like kind of my running theme of late I don't know if I've mentioned on this podcast but the our album turned 10 years old 20 years old 30 years old we're going to come out we're going to play the whole thing from front to back I think too many bands are doing this I think too many artists are doing this I don't think most albums should be played front to back I don't think most bands should be playing entire albums I think if you're going to honor the 10th anniversary of your record more often than not you should probably just pick four or five and make the set list heavy in that and if that's the case and that's what Pearl Jam decided to do that's what they did with vitology uh the other night yeah and they have on a few rare occasions played an beginning to end but they've never broadcasted ahead of time you don't know that that's going to happen so like um one of the famous ones was in Molen they did um no code nobody had any idea they were going to do it and like you know so they just start playing sometimes and you're like okay cool sometimes and they go into hail hail oh hey you know that's cool then who you are and then it's like wait what's happening here and then they get to in my tree and you're like oh my God it's happening so what was funny was because they played last exit spin the black circle and not for you back to back to back I did have some people around me start to freak out and say oh my God we're going to get vitology in in its totality but the problem was they had already played nothing man that was the second song of the show which was before they did this this Trio so uh I I knew we weren't getting it front to back I did start to like maybe hope well maybe they're just going to play all the Ed's Performance and Crowd Energy songs but not in order and we do know I didn't hear it sound checked but according to setlist.fm uh apparently they sound checked Satan's bed um and I told you this before show like that's the one song that they would have to like Workshop because the other songs that you know whipping better man uh immortality like these are songs they play enough that they oh I guess Tremor Christ would be another one that they would probably have to Workshop um because they don't play that one much but you know one that I'd be very excited to hear too by the way if they would have followed not for you with Tremor Christ then we would have known like okay something crazy's happening but uh but no that's also a really bold vocal choice is crazy absolutely uh but you know so yeah in general it was a bit of a meat and potatoes thing but like daughter is one that like you don't always get like it's not as commonly played as people think it would be like it is not it's not even flow is elderly woman more common than daughter I feel like it is but I don't know I would I'd have to look it up yeah but I love that we got the Another Brick In thewall tag at on daughter um on not for you we got modern girl um tag which is my favorite tag that they do at the end of not for you um you so like we just kind of got I don't know it was like it was like the basics of giving me exactly what I wanted in in a Pearl Jam show I was even like wash is my favorite of their like quote unquote standard openers as much as I love release as an opener and I have seen it live and it's amazing wash is actually my personal favorite of their standard show opener so I got that uh present tense is always phenomenal life a funny story about that is so that was a uh a request uh in Edge they put a picture up on the screens of a young fan I don't know how old he was um uh somewhere in the in between your kids ages I would say um and he held up 14 yeah so 13 perhaps uh but he had he had a sign and he said something about please play present tense he said that way I can say the FW which is funny because so when they play it live uh so there's not an F-word on the album but when they play it live uh uh Ed will often throw the um this whole [ __ ] trip or whatever uh line but what was funny was so Ed pointed that out and talked about it but then Ed didn't actually use the FW it uh on that he just did the whole encompassing trip thing both times man zags you you want him to Zig he zags it's how it goes yeah exact exactly so uh but that that song's always awesome live um uh we did get one pretty rare song and that was lightning bolt um which uh and it does say here that it it was their tour debut they hadn't played it yet at all on this tour uh which I personally love that song not everybody does but I I love lightning bolt so I was very happy to get that but what was funny was uh it's a good song but nobody knows it right but it was the it was a request of somebody who uh was I think they their I want to say their 57th show and they uh they had made the request for lightning bolts they played it and Ed said so yeah so Ed made a comment he's like so when you on your 57th show you get to make a request or something like that you know but are you reading the set list because it says it was dedicated to Aaron Joe and cait Clark well so he did also dedicate it as well to Caitlyn Clark but or maybe yeah no no no that was the I think the Aaron and Joe were maybe the fans that were celebrating um their 57th show or something like that that's funny um yeah uh reads in the set list it's Aaron Joe and Caitlyn Clark where I thought those were Aaron and Joe's parent or Caitlyn Clark's parents Aaron and Joe oh yeah no no no it it was just a random it was just because it was in Indiana and uh so he uh dedicated to Caitlyn Clark which was cool um but yeah uh corduroy we got corduroy which was which was awesome um I told you uh the loudest fan reaction of the night was when Stone played the opening Rift of alive the fans absolutely but but before you get there the idea that the second they played the most from dark matter which they said they were going to do which is cool to to get five from Vitaly and only four from 10 that's that's pretty sweet yeah no it was awesome as somebody who of Vitalogy Show their like iconic first three albums vitology is my favorite of the three so for me it was just awesome to get that many vitology shows or songs in one in one show um I think that speaks to our age by the way because I think vitology comes out at a what was that 94 or 95 94 yeah so we're 15 instead of 12 or 13 yeah everything felt more important when you were 15 and the hormones are raging and like in high school it's like a whole thing for sure the the music that hits you in high school is just it hits differently than any music that ever hits anywhere else yeah it is so I was you know I was in like seventh grade when I discovered 10 8ighth grade when uh versus came out so you know I was still pretty young for those albums uh vitology feels like it did hit me in that like perfect formative age you know um but yeah so like so that was all good um by the way corduroy I love I love that song but it kind of like doesn't have an ending they they don't they don't they don't really it's it's kind of an underwhelming ending as as far as like the greatest Pearl Jam song of all time so it kind of does but they actually like really crushed it uh the ending of it in this one they did like a like they did a little bit of a extended Jam at the end of it which was which was actually really good um it was one of my actual favorite songs of the night um but in my older years when I hear that song on the record I'm like oh they didn't have a way to end this one and they just they were they were so famous and it didn't matter and nobody could could tell them what to do that they just they just went and did it yeah um try to think if there's anything else uh they uh so Ed uh the first song of The Encore is always something usually Ed does either Solo or it's like a strip down thing or they'll do a lot of covers there so that he actually brought Glenn hanser back out with him and did a Glenn hanser cover which was which is actually cool to cover the song with the guy there but Ed Ed sang the main vocals not Glenn which was kind of interesting it was uh it was a very emotional I don't know I don't know the story but he dedicated it to a fan who was going through something pretty hard um and so they did song of Good Hope um and Ed seemed really emotional during it so I I'm assuming there's probably more backstory to them doing that but uh all in all I um you know I like I was saying that I started to talk about this earlier this band is so much better live at this age than they have any right to be and they went from a period where I thought maybe Pearl Jam shows were going to start to feel like they were kind of played out but I love that they really changed things up for this they did the whole set design with a projection screen uh adding visuals to the show which really adds an extra element that we had never seen from Pearl Jam live before bringing Josh on the road with them has added so much Dynamics to their live show uh I mean he does a little bit of everything uh he plays guitar uh percussion uh sings back you know backup vocals harmonies I think his backup vocals if I have to pick one thing I think his backup vocals are the most key to the entire performance he's such a killer and when I when when I saw him at at MSG a couple years ago they they let Josh sing Purple Rain and so that's how good of a singer he is that he can he can you know with with a a degree of professionalism sing Purple Rain yeah no absolutely um and I just love the fact that they still even though they've done some they've also changed up their I talked about they don't play two encores anymore you know you used to always get two encores at pear jent they don't do that anymore you're just going to get one Encore they've cut the set from 30 songs down to 20 some what how they do 20 24 24 songs um they added this you know uh scared to fear react respond wreckage Trio of songs that they play pretty much every show um and I actually think that that's actually kind of a good thing uh I think it's really you think that's a video production thing right it's a video production thing yes and they but they wouldn't have to play those songs back to back to back like that but something about that has really allowed them to really nail those songs I think playing them every single night they've just gotten really good at playing those songs live um and so like they they're they're changing some things up but they still are playing a different set list every single night and it's just an incredible thing like I just don't think people will ever appreciate how difficult that is to they these guys they don't know what the set's GNA Ed does the set you know a couple hours before soundcheck and then they come out for sound check they get the set list if there's any songs they feel they need to play to work through they do but otherwise they just have to know their entire catalog because you have no clue what Ed is going to throw Pearl Jam's Unmatched Live Ability at you on any given night you know like they hadn't played lightning bolt at all on this tour and it sounded great like they killed it like I that's just insane like what year did lightning bolt come out that had to been 2013 is 14 2014 maybe some I mean somewhere around there but so we're talking it's that album's been out a decade I bet already and uh and they 2013 2013 so that yeah it's been out 11 years and they hadn't played it at all in this tour and all sudden it's like well we need to play lightning bolt and they crush it like this is such an unbelievable live band that we're just lucky to have them we're like I always talk about this like how fortunate I feel that my favorite of the Seattle bands was Pearl Jam and they're the one that's intact still like I always feel lucky about that they're still putting out out Dark Matter was an incredible album one of my abs like setting aside any qualifications it's one of my absolute favorite albums of this year and they go out and just put on an unbelievable show so I like they just wiped out all my gripes I've had this year about some of my frustrations with the 10 Club I hated the ticket process which were Legit by the way and and it sucks that you know I had to pay $244 to see this show and uh Pro tip by the way um if you guys want to see Pearl Jam wait until like the day of the show then go to SeatGeek you can get some pretty good seats for pretty good prices I know maybe what you had looked up there was a really good seat available yeah there was a there was a single for 150 bucks that was uh stage left um you know maybe 15 rows behind the pit yeah and and if you you know you got to be willing to go go to a show as a single from time to time but I got no I have no problem with that yeah and Es especially at a projam show like projam fans are generally pretty friendly and welcoming like you know it it it's it's usually a pretty chill crowd like as far as like being respectful to each other but anyways so yeah so I just think that this show just revitalized yet again my love of this band as you know as much as dark matter was a shot of adrenaline now seeing them live for the first time in 14 years was a second shot of adrenaline I it's just my love for Pearl Jam has just grown so much this year and I'm so glad that I just decided to bite the bullet and go to this show um I really felt that I got the payoff I I hoped so well let's let's be honest about something um none of us know when the last time is that we're going to get to see Pearl Jam they might still be going uh at Rolling Stones ages or it could be next year like it's all we're all in bonus time and that's not me being morbid or predicting a bad outcome I'm just saying Life Is Life we've seen it with all these other bands that you're talking about from Chris Cornell to to whatever uh to Lane Staley and Allison Chains yeah you never know when the last time is that you're going to see any of these guys um and that's they're not catastrophic old but if you ever want to see them do not wait um yes so so that's a a really crazy kind of um attention getting question but if if this turns out to be the last time you ever see Pearl Jam pretty good yeah I mean this would be I hope it's not I I The Uncertainty of Future Performances really absolutely hope to see them again but man if if this is that would be a great way to go out oh one thing I forgot to mention and this is I suppose a bit of a downer when I was ending this on an upside but so after every Pearl Jam show they always put on their Instagram the handwritten set list that Ed does so Ed handwrites the set list on paper and they always put show that so for this show I talked about the fact that they did the song Dark Matter well on the handwritten set list it said Stevie dark matter and then Stevie was crossed out and I'm kind of crushed by the fact that their original intention was to play Waiting for Stevie that's like the one thing that would have really put this show over the top for me because they have only played it have they still only played it once no I think they played it more than that but I don't know it they do not play it very often um and so like the fact that we had I originally had the chance to get to hear it which is a lot of people's favorite song on dark matter it's really up there for me it's a it's an incredible song uh so I don't know if like they've played it 10 times now okay but not a ton if uh if uh when it was written on the set list I don't know why it said Stevie darkat so I don't know if it was a thing where they were going to decide how they felt when they got out there to that point or was it going to like run one right into the other in some way I don't know why why it was written that way on the set list it was not so somebody had posted they got uh they got one of the actual set lists from the stage like so they always will hand out picks and the people will get their hands on the actual set list Stevie has not crossed out on the actual set list that was done afterwards by whoever posted it to the set list because they didn't play it but so on the actual set list Stevie is not crossed out they intended to play it at some point when I'd like to think that it's more about Vibes than uh the fact that dark matter is two minutes shorter and just for technical timing reasons yeah yeah but who knows so yeah so I'm I'm I'm really excited that you know in a few weeks we're going to be able to flip the roles and I'm really excited to hear you talk about your experience with it I hope you get a show as electric as this one I hope the band is into it well you're seeing them twice so you'll have two shows Worth to talk about both both Fenway shows but you know maybe maybe we'll I'll just talk about Manchester Orchestra from Saturday night instead oh and there we go so no no it's I'm I'm glad uh you know my my throat is really dry I'm struggling to talk I've talked way too much in this episode but um I we didn't even get to I wanted to talk about The Oasis reunion we'll save that for another episode which for me is another just unbelievable thing that I'm excited to talk about but I couldn't talk about it now if I wanted to I my voice is shot so I think we need to wrap it there so yeah and a little little Easter egg for those who stuck around this long Andrew and I have an episode recorded in the bank for when we have a trouble scheduling and it's all about the movie Almost Famous so yeah little little uh teaser for you I don't have no idea when it's going to be released but it's sitting there and the thing is the thing that's funny too is like so like we had a lot of recording conflicts this week it was actually difficult for us to find a time to record this so we had talked about well do we just run the Almost Famous episode but this I was so excited to talk about the show I was like we cannot push off talking about this show I really wanted talk about this so I appreciate you Craig giving me a chance uh you know finding time to sit there just listen to me Yap incoherently for an hour about the show and just totally geek out about it but uh that's how it goes much like the Pearl Jam uh merch lines this is fan service this is what our people want to hear so with that I say and oh no oh another another if you guys want to hear this show if you would like to hear this show I don't know when it debuts on Sirius but um the bootleg will be available September 6 so already got that circled on my calendar very excited to get to listen to the show again but you guys can hear this show and decide for yourselves like I I am kind of curious to hear like were we just in a really because when you are at an outdoor Amphitheater show sometimes shows can sound better or worse than you think they did based on where you are and we were we made sure that we were in the center so I think we had a very good audio location so so I'm curious to see like am I inflating how good this show sounded because I just had a good location so I'm kind of actually excited to see like did these songs really sound as good as I think they did and uh we'll find out yeah soundboard don't lie we'll find out for sure that's right and with that uh you can hear us again next week we thank you so much for listening do all the things uh like And subscribe on YouTube find it on your podcast platform form help us out tell a friend we appreciate you this has been the album of record podcast