Is this what it's like growing up and getting older?

The Rock

This has been a fascinating discussion so far. I'm definitely a newbie compared to most, as I'm only 23 and I discovered PJ back in the summer of 2002.

In a way though, I'm glad it worked out like that because the early to mid-90s era sounds like it was a bit too dramatic and tense. My view of the albums aren't influenced by the era it was released. For example, when No Code came out in 1996 many were disappointed because it was so different from Ten/Vs/Vitalogy. For me, I heard one or two songs randomly and decided to check them out. I bought Binaural and Vs first, and the last album I bought was Yield. The summer of 2002 turned out to be magical because every single album spoke to me and I was able to experience each one for just what they were rather than being affected by which album came before it.

I didn't get to see any live shows until 2006 but every single show I've seen has been perfect and felt magical. I feel so lucky because there isn't one album or one song that I actually dislike. There are obviously songs I enjoy more than others, but none that I cannot listen to.

I don't feel that same sense of getting old with the band because I'm still young, but if PJ are willing to carry on the way Bruce Springsteen and others have then I'll damn sure be coming along for the ride.

Hearing Ed's solo version of The End once again confirmed in my mind that they're the greatest band on the planet.

meme

STT757 wrote:

slightofjeff wrote:

STT757 wrote:

The problem with MSG in 2008 is the same problem with the new Yankee stadium, the good seats are gobbled up by folks with money from out of town who are not as rabid as fans as the ones sitting further back. There should definitely be a limit to the amount of Ten club seats available to those outside the area the show is being held, that would open those seats up to locals who are not fan club members but would still go to the show.

Again the comparison I'm making is from my own experiences in '96 and '98, there were not all these out of towners who gobbled up tickets on the internet before locals who are not fan club members even had a chance. I know I've read that Pearl Jam sold a few thousand fan club tickets each night to MSG '08, unfortunately from my own estimate at least half of those (if not more) were sold to people who don't even live in the area. The Ten club should set aside a certain number of seats for folks who live within 100 miles of the venues, if the seats don't sell they can open them up for people from outside the area.

I've seen Pearl Jam in Seattle and Oakland, both times I purchased my tickets on Ticketmaster the day they went on sale to the general public.

Why does it matter if the fans come from the area or not? Who gives a fuck? If you want to see a Pearl Jam show in a place nobody travels to from out of town, move to Alabama.

Or, maybe you can convince Pearl Jam to play a show in your living room.

I seriously don't understand this bias against people traveling from out of town. I read that as: "I couldn't sit as close as I wanted, so the show sucked. Waa waa waaa!"

Because it keeps out the locals who are not fan club members who would otherwise go to the show, give locals who are not Ten club members a chance to buy those premium seats.

This makes absolutely no sense to me. But then again, you are the guy who thinks that anyone who started attending concerts after 2000 is a poser, so I just think we work on different logics.

Also, perhaps I should be happy if they adopted your odd logic. That way people from central jersey would be shut out and us New Yorkers would enjoy them in a (perhaps half empty) MSG. Wait... let's just restrict it to us leaving in Manhattan!

Bearclaw53

Dark Star wrote:

What's the main issue some of you people have? The fact that you are getting older or the fact that PJ is getting older? There is nobody in the world that likes aging, but I don't see how that feeling should fall on the weight of Pearl Jam's shoulders, in respect to your lives. They are just five normal human beings like us all. (And who knows, maybe they don't feel too old themselves, Jeff did say 50 was the new 18.)

If watching PJ on Conan makes you feel older..., then looking at your parents, old high school friends, or a picture of yourself 20 years ago will obviously cause the same reaction. Doing these things makes me feel older too but that doesn't make me dissapointed by my parents, friends, or old pictures..., I just know my time of being older is upon me, and they are all in the same boat. Fact of life.

Some people may think "Man, Eddie looks beat up, tired, and fat, where did the last 10 yrs of my life go?" and I do understand your sentiments. (Even though in this case I thought he looked fine.) It is a rare thing to grow up side-by-side with a band that has affected your life for so many years, so it's only natural for us die-hard fans to try and find that common ground between PJ's career span and our own life's progression. Can you think of any other band from 1991 that your friends have had similar experiences? Probably not. Even the Beatles only lasted 6 or 7 years.

If you don't like their last few albums and are asking yourself "why not, maybe I am too old" or "maybe the band is too old." The real answer is: Your overall satisfication in their music has not been delivered by the band like it once used to be. (This isn't the case for me.) I think those feelings have less to do with age and more to do with art appreciation and personal taste. Yes, Ed's voice isn't as powerful as it once was. Yes, as you get older (busier) you find less time to dedicate your life to music, as a fan and musician. Yes, you lose the teenage angst that PJ effectively addressed in the earlier years. Sure, fans will continue to grow apart from PJ but the parting of fan & band has always been a forward linear equation, as is with all relationships.

So to answer the posters question. Yes, this is what it's like getting older. I'm sure my parents feel old when they hear "Yesterday" or "In My Life" by the Beatles, but that is hardly the Beatles fault. Blame the aging process for feeling older, not PJ. We should count our blessings that an amazing rock band is still around and making viable music. I hope I can live to see them around a long time.

My favorite post in a very interesting thread--trainwreck or not!

wayne823

I do understand where the poster is coming from. The first three albums were released while I was in the Marine Corps. I remember listening to VS. on my Walkman while deployed overseas.

decides2dream

slightofjeff wrote:

Sometimes I freak myself out with thoughts such as these:

The distance between Ten and Binaural is the same as the distance between Binaural and Backspacer.

Eek.

and here i only freak myself out over thoughts of my eventual death.


it IS amazing to have something like a band, their album's releases, etc....as a timeline and you can truly see JUST how much time has passed, as a reflection of just how much time has passed in your own life. i haven't been a follower of pj from day 1, tho of course i did know about them. even so, i can think back to their beginnings and see quite the trajectory of my own life. got engaged in 91, graduated/married in 92, etc, etc....and then when i did get into the band seriously.....LOTs of new *markers* in my life, like so many other life events in there. i don't really know if it's related to *growing up* as i still really don't feel all that grown up, even at 40 :P....but it definitely is linked to growing old, b/c that is the only direction in which life moves.

rise! life is in motion!



*edit - i just went back and read the thread in it's entirety. outside of the 'ticket talk' which i think we have plenty of other threads all about that......this has been a GREAT read!


and this:

2-feign-reluctance wrote:

don't regret growing older. its a privilege denied to many.
-unknown

perfection.
i always say how much i look forward to/love birthdays....b/c they are way better than the alternative.

Catwoman1

I'm glad this thread got bumped up -- don't know how, but I missed it the first time. This has been really interesting, because my perspective is so different. I love how so many of you have been using Pearl Jam as a timeline for your lives, and I guess it's been that way for me too. Mostly, though, the time has gone by in a blink of the eye, but I think that's because I'm one of the truly older fans (we're talking in the 50's here). I was in my later 30's when I first became a fan -- watching Unplugged on MTV when it first came out. I had seen the Jeremy video (this was back in the day when MTV played videos), and thought it was a great song with a really hot lead singer (oh those eyes!!!). But when I heard Unplugged, I realized that this wasn't just a one-hit wonder band. I went out the next day and bought Ten, and have been hooked every since.

But because I'm older, time passes really quickly (you younger people will notice this when you you hit your mid-30's), and it just seems like yesterday to me that I was sitting entranced by Black. And even though this body is older, I still feel like the same 17 year-old-girl inside when I get lost in my rock & roll. I feel older when my feet hurt and my ears ring after a Pearl Jam concert, but I feel young again when I'm at the concert, and I'm feeling that synergy between the crowd & the band.

Sleep.With.Innocence

You know I've only been listening to them for about 6 years (But I've listened to them everyday in the past six years)

It's easy to notice they aren't the same band they were when they first started. That rage, aggression, and rebellious attitude is gone.

I always noticed the biggest difference in the lyrics between Leash and LBC

1991 - "Troubled souls unite, we got ourselves tonight, oh... Delight, delight, delight in our youth...oww...
Get outta my fuckin face..."

2003 - "And the young, they can lose hope cause they cant see beyond today,...
The wisdom that the old cant give away"

- I was happy to get that line because I'm talking about people much older than us, people who are 70 or 80 and they've got attitudes that don't have the deep peaks and valleys as someone who in adolescence who is faced with some things and they go, "Fuck this, this sucks, how can we have any hope?" These are people who been through the invention of the horseless carriage to the car to the TV set and are dealing with internet. How do they view it? It's almost with disdain. This is the wisdom they can't give away, that is what I'm talking about and that youth doesn't have that time line beneath them. So they just see something in front of them and think there's no hope, no getting over it, what's the point and so on. They are also bombarded with information more than ever these days, and negativity and cynicism and I can understand why they would feel that way. But they don't have to. There really are positive actions that can be taken. - EV

Itsmyblooood

I frequent this board daily but find it hard to write my thoughts on the many subjects due to work and my family. I first started listening to Ten back in 90-91 when I was in college. It was an amazing album and since I already liked the grunge coming out of the Northwest I was hooked instantly. If only Cobain and Staley were here to see PJ today. I remember waiting in line to get Versus and the box set, Hallucinogenic Recipe( which by the way has an incredible version of Porch from the Vegas show) at the local record store before it was to be released. My first show was at Soldier Field in 95 and will always be remembered as one of my favorites. Incredible energy and the mosh pit was out of control. Have seen the band about 15 times and Eddie 4 times. Got to share some wine with Eddie at Memorial Stadium in Seattle. Have seen them in Canada and throughout the Northeast. Just recently got to meet Eddie after the 2nd Tower show. He has got to be one of the most down to earth guys you could ever meet. It meant a lot to about the 100 of us who were waiting for him to step off his bus and say hello. What do you say to someone you have followed throughout the years from coast to coast. I was speechless and just thankful to have shaken his hand. He did comment on my CUBS hat and said maybe this year with a grin. I am sure there are some good pictures out there. I have a few on my phone that will always help me remember that moment where I got to meet Mr. Vedder. I too am in my late 30's and always go through some withdrawal when they are not on tour. I am hoping they age like fine wine and look forward to the release of Backspacer. Have friends going to the Chicago shows but I am moving from the Northeast to the South so am bummed I am going to miss my favorite band. I guess I will add my name to the petition to play the South. I have enjoyed the ride so far and look forward to what the future brings. By the way here is another cool story. Back in 92 during Lollapalooza my wife was playing hackey sack with her "dead head" friends. There were some other people nearby holding onto a blanket and tossing people up into the air. This guy in a flannel comes out of the crowd and asks her if she would mine if he give it a try. She said go ahead. This guy turned out to be Eddie Vedder and he was being tossed up into the air on the blanket just like the other concertgoers. He says thanks and just disappears into the crowd. My wife was not a PJ fan she was more into the Chili Peppers but the others around her knew that was Eddie. So she always trys to one up me saying she met him first. Anyway time to go the wife and kids are calling.

One favor to ask anyone who will be going to the Chicago shows. On night one they sold out of the 3/4 baseball shirts in Philly. I would be forever grateful if someone could pick me up an XL in Chicago. PM me if this is possible. Enjoy the rest of the tour and hopefully I will get back to Philly to see them play the Spectrum in October.

Jeanwah

Catwoman1 wrote:

But because I'm older, time passes really quickly (you younger people will notice this when you you hit your mid-30's), and it just seems like yesterday to me that I was sitting entranced by Black. And even though this body is older, I still feel like the same 17 year-old-girl inside when I get lost in my rock & roll. I feel older when my feet hurt and my ears ring after a Pearl Jam concert, but I feel young again when I'm at the concert, and I'm feeling that synergy between the crowd & the band.

This basically sums it up for me. I'm up there, almost 40, and remember the early 90s very well, along with my crazy days. The thing is, we may all grow up and feel older when seeing how our musical stars are aging too, but it all doesn't matter when we are living the moment and feeling the music. It's not how old we are, or how our musical heroes are aging; everything is timeless as long as we allow ourselves to still get lost in the music. Not to mention, it's not how old you are...it's how old you feel.