Live On 4 Legs: Pearl Jam Podcast

Without an album to tour for, 2005 was an adventurous year for Pearl Jam taking them to places they’d never been before, and some they haven’t been to since. It was their first time venturing coast to coast to tour the entirety of Canada and the first visit and experience down to South America playing for some of their most passionate fans. This week’s episode in the Chronology takes us to Kitchener, one of the small towns in Canada that was only played on this tour.

There is something special about when Pearl Jam plays a smaller city and venue, they feel very comfortable playing for these crowds in a more intimate setting. As Ed would mention in this show, it felt like playing in a small bar. So when the crowd is invested in that kind of environment, you feel the power of every voice in that arena. Songs like Animal, Jeremy, Even Flow and Small Town make this crowd feel like there's 50,000 in the room instead of 7,000.

We'll also talk about a red hot start to this show, more political discourse at the time that can be relatable today, and a conversation about a cult classic movie from the era.

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2004 was an important Presidential election year following all of the political storylines that took place on the prior year’s tour. Sprouting from multiple artists’ displeasure with the Iraq War and other important issues that Americans faced, the Vote For Change tour was created and ran through early October leading up to the election. It featured headlining acts such Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Dave Matthews Band, The Chicks and more alongside Pearl Jam. Every location played was a city in a key swing state such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, North Carolina and Missouri. Prior to those shows, the band played two warm up shows in Boston to prepare them for the run.

This night in Boston that we'll cover in this episode features a handful of songs that you would never see come anywhere near a Pearl Jam show nowadays. Shows in 2004 included a lot of cover songs from the political spectrum that addressed the climate of the country at that point in time, songs like American In Me by Avengers, Lion's Share from The Germs and X's classic The New World. This show also features two songs from the early 90's returning to the stage for the first time in ten years - Alone and a cover of The Beatles I've Got A Feeling.

Our discussions in this episode will stem from what was happening in America that time and why it was important for them to do this tour, how the death of Johnny Ramone shortly before this tour effected the band and the awkward setlist structure that may have some elements that the band can implement today. We'll also discuss our successful EB fundraiser and the Matter Of Time documentary.

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Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Last summer, the Pearl Jam world was devastated by the news that Matt Cameron would be leaving the band after 27 years. After much debate and discussion about who Pearl Jam's 6th drummer in their history could be, we finally know who will be behind the drum kit for the foreseeable future! Check out this episode with an exclusive interview with the brand new drummer and learn a bit about his background around the Seattle scene!

2003 Was a huge year for Pearl Jam that set up the template for what their live shows were going to look like moving forward from that point. This included longer shows, multiple surprises per night and a sonic display that kept pushing the boundaries of each and every one of their talents. While shows from State College, Madison Square Garden, Mansfield and Benaroya Hall dominate the conversation from this tour year, the show that we'll be covering for our Chronology Series is from the famed Budokan venue in Tokyo. The band is re-releasing this bootleg in tandem with Eddie's upcoming solo tour of Japan, so it was the perfect time to get back and investigate a pretty unique show and crowd from the far east.

We've become so accustomed to Pearl Jam crowds from South America, Europe and the United States bringing their a-game every night, singing and bouncing along to every song in the pit that any time where this doesn't happen at a show can seem like an outlier. The Japanese crowds intake their concerts a little differently. The respectful crowd is engaged with the show, but are much more reserved than the normal concert goer. We'll analyze it in this episode as two major Pearl Jam singalongs, Better Man and Elderly Woman, do not have the same kind of flair as they normally do.

We'll also get into 2003 being a heavily political year for Pearl Jam and how the satire of the Bu$hleaguer performances that mocked the former President were their way of expressing art, and we get to hear perhaps the most perfect attempt at Lukin that exists in the band's catalog!

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Following the tumultuous 2000 tour, Pearl Jam took a year off to recalibrate their energy for 2001. After clearing their heads and writing new music, they were ready to release a brand new album with a different outlook on their personal journeys and the world around them. Riot Act has two centralized themes. One of them deals with the aftermath of Roskilde directly with songs such as Love Boat Captain, I Am Mine, Thumbing My Way and Arc. The other theme is a scathing critique of the United States decision to go to war after the attacks on 9/11. They were extremely critical of President George W. Bush, as well as the corporations that profited from the war.

While the album released in November of 2002, the band didn't spend a lot of time focusing on touring as it was 2003 that would get the massive exposure for the record. The show we're covering is the first night at famed Seattle club, The Showbox, that would be followed up by a highly regarded show that turned into a DVD release. This show featured seven live debuts of Riot Act album songs and b-sides, and would be a great indication on how this material would end up working on the live stage during the ensuing tour. The band also hired their beloved B3 organist, Boom Gaspar, around this time, so the crowd gets their first experience of his sound for songs such as Love Boat Captain, Black and others.

We'll also take time in this episode to chat about life after Matt Cameron and how some of these Riot Act songs that were written by him may not be played moving forward.

Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com

Contact the Show - [email protected]

Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Donate to our EB Fundraiser - http://give.ebresearch.org/team/807317