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Please Pearl Jam , dont EVER play NOS Alive in Portugal again.
Never seen a crowd so bad and dead (and for start , im from Portugal).
Let me say we used to be one of the best crowds in Europe (only behind Italy in terms of passion but nº1 in "sing-a-long" see the 2010 , 2006 and 1996 if you have any doubts)
So when the festival sold out within less than week with just Pearl Jam announced i was really hoping the show would be amazing and the crowd would be its usual self.
Add to this Pearl jam hadnt played Portugal in 8 years(Ed was here solo on 2012 and 2014) so all the right ingredients were right for an amazing show (even if it was a festival ) and the usual amazing portuguese crowd.
So when the festival sold out within less than week with just Pearl Jam announced i was really hoping the show would be amazing and the crowd would be its usual self.
Add to this Pearl jam hadnt played Portugal in 8 years(Ed was here solo on 2012 and 2014) so all the right ingredients were right for an amazing show (even if it was a festival ) and the usual amazing portuguese crowd.
What happenned was far from this unfortunally...
I really dont know how it is in other countries in Europe but NOS Alive has become the hit thing to do or be apart of.
People just go because its the cool thing to do. music sadly does not matter. there a dozens of sponsor tents with soveniers that people line up
FOR HOURS just to get a purse or even just a pin. People go there to take selfies and show everyone they are there ... its really sad and pathetic.
FOR HOURS just to get a purse or even just a pin. People go there to take selfies and show everyone they are there ... its really sad and pathetic.
When i got there Saturday i was really up front , near the stage and hoping for an energetic crowd for Pearl Jam (after all you dont go there at 3 PM and stay in the same spot until 11.30PM if you want to really see Pearl Jam).
During other bands (The last internationale , Alice in Chains , Franz Ferdinand and jack White) i noticed the crowd were getting more and more fired up as the time went by in anticipacion of pearl jam but to my surprise
when pearl ham started there was no energy , no singing, no jumping , everyone just took out their smartphones and started taking pictures and making videos and selfies , its like the band or the music didnt matter at all.
The guy standing next to me brought a ticket for 170€ at the black market (normal price was 65€) and during the show didnt move at all at except for Jeremy and Alive.
There was a guy in front of me that spent the show making videos , i couldnt believe what i was seeing and hope to god the band didnt feel that lack of empaphy that was coming from the crowd because they were killing it on stage!
During other bands (The last internationale , Alice in Chains , Franz Ferdinand and jack White) i noticed the crowd were getting more and more fired up as the time went by in anticipacion of pearl jam but to my surprise
when pearl ham started there was no energy , no singing, no jumping , everyone just took out their smartphones and started taking pictures and making videos and selfies , its like the band or the music didnt matter at all.
The guy standing next to me brought a ticket for 170€ at the black market (normal price was 65€) and during the show didnt move at all at except for Jeremy and Alive.
There was a guy in front of me that spent the show making videos , i couldnt believe what i was seeing and hope to god the band didnt feel that lack of empaphy that was coming from the crowd because they were killing it on stage!
Everyone just stood there with their smartphones recording...really sad this is what it has become...and let me remind you...this is NOT the back of the crowd this was the first lines of the crowd near the stage!
About the show itself Pearl Jam just did an amazing setlist for a festival , perfect mix of hits and a few gems (Low Light opening , Rats , In My Tree , Down) and the band was really trying to get the crowd going but to no avail.
So Pearl jam if you ever play portugal again (which i hope you will in the near future) please DO NOT play at this festival ever again! Play a proper stadium , go back to Pavilhao Atlantico(now called Altice arena) but please not to NOS Alive!
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IMO, the band plays there so rarely that A. people wanted to record some of it, just to make sure they could relive it again. B. They are so inexperienced in the whole PJ routine they were clueless how to correctly act.
I actually had a blast at Nos Alive.
Franz Ferdinand in particular was a blast.
People didnt record some of it, there were people who spent the ENTIRE show with their smartphones on record!
Yes Franz Ferdinand was actually a nice surprise!
I was disappointed by Jack White. I thought his whole set was very blah, including Seven Nation Army, which I thought was gonna be insane.
but yes the crowd is dead silent
but what do you expect from a festival most of them are casual listeners
some of the girls even dress like kardashians lol
PJ 2018: London 1, Padova, Roma, Prague, Krakow, Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, London 2
EV 2017: Amsterdam 2&3, London 1&2
The cowd by us for NOS was pretty good, nothing like Barcelona but good for a festival.
I did go to the Maiden show in Lisbon on Friday the 13th, that showed the true Portugal crowd. They were loud and passionate and I felt like I was seeing Maiden in 1986 all over again.
Ten Club "Ambassador" (recap-writer) - DEEP.pearljam.com
2018: Chicago 2 (Wrigley Field) 8/20 | 20(20)22: St Louis 9/18 | 2023: Chicago 2 (United Center) 9/7, Indianapolis (Deer Creek) 9/10
EV:
2018: CURE Benefit Show (Chicago - Navy Pier) 10/15
RIP: Andy, Kurt, Chris
I was there, way in the back, and all I could see were people on their phones, with their backs to the stage, while the band was playing.
Selfies galore... ugh, so frustrating.
I do hope they come back soon, but in a solo act. No more of this summer fest nonsense.
Restelo Stadium - May 23rd 2000 ; Pavilhao Atlantico - Sep 4th 2006 ; Passeio Maritimo Alges - Jun 8th 2007 ; Optimus Alive! - Jul 10th 2010 ; NOS Alive - Jul 14th 2018
Eddie Vedder Solo:
Sudoeste Festival, Zambujeira do Mar - Aug 3rd 2012 ; Super Bock Super Rock, Meco - Jul 18th 2014
_____
Next?
-Christopher Walken
you're=you are
your=showing ownership
The truth has a well known liberal bias.
-Stephen Colbert
By the 2nd year, you could see a change coming.
This was 2002 & 2003.
I vowed never to attend another festival after that. When you commercialize something to that extent, with corporate tents, charging stations, etc. etc. and the audience makes it less about the music and more about just "being there"... being seen or going so you can drop acid or mushrooms or MDMA... it takes away from the overall experience, and gives it a walking through the mall feeling.
You can't say you went camping if you drove to a campsite and slept in a Winnebago and watched movies the whole time. That's called RV'ing and its totally different than building a fire, putting up a tent, sleeping outside, cooking over an open flame....
Festivals these days are corporate sponsored RV'ing...
Which is convenient, comfortable, easy and fun.
But it's not camping.
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” - Albert Camus
PJ 2018: London 1, Padova, Roma, Prague, Krakow, Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, London 2
EV 2017: Amsterdam 2&3, London 1&2