Pearl Jam are doing it just like Grateful Dead did

Tuolumne Mama

Patrickredeyes, as an alumni of the 78 wall of sound tour and many shows in the years after, I agree. IMO its about the fan family each maintains. It was always about the music and their fans with the Dead as it is with Pearl Jam. I will remain as faithful to PJ as I was the Dead. I find the PJ family I have met just as great as my deadhead friends who now follow PJ tours. Different styles but same altruistic hearts in love with music and true to their beliefs and fans.

Cob

the little guy wrote:

Agree about Hornsby. Garcia loved him and I think they definitely motivated each other. That first set at Giants stadium, where they opened the show with Eyes of the World, was a perfect example.

I was at that show, it was my birthday, 6/17/1991 yesterday was exactly 17 years ago. They also played New Speedway Boogie and China Doll, my best B-Day EVER, they also teased Dark Star about 6 or 7 time during the show.

A friend of mine was running a little late to the show, he started running when he could hear they were playing Eyes of the World, he thought he was way late and that they were playing the 2nd set already, only to be BLOWN AWAY when someone told him it was the 1st song.

I have seen PJ about 15 times and was Grateful Dead 169 times from 88 to 95 and yes if you listen to stuff from the 60's and 70's they play some songs 3 or 4 nights in a row. But for the most part starting in the 80's, unless the were playing new songs, they rarely played the same song two nights in a row. There will NEVER be another Grateful Dead, I LOVE Pearl Jam don't get me wrong and as for all the jokes about the drugs and acid that the fans took, it was ALWAYS about the music, I never have and never will again feel the magic I felt sometimes at a great show.

May the four winds blow you safely home.........

Get_Right

FoxyMHMama wrote:

Patrickredeyes, as an alumni of the 78 wall of sound tour and many shows in the years after, I agree. IMO its about the fan family each maintains. It was always about the music and their fans with the Dead as it is with Pearl Jam. I will remain as faithful to PJ as I was the Dead. I find the PJ family I have met just as great as my deadhead friends who now follow PJ tours. Different styles but same altruistic hearts in love with music and true to their beliefs and fans.

For me, PJ absolutely filled the concert void after JG's passing.

merkinball

Get_Right wrote:

For me, PJ absolutely filled the concert void after JG's passing.

I agree, 100%. Different music, same vibe, less patchouli.

zootown

Having seen 30+ Dead shows and somewhere around 15 PJ shows, I can say with certainty that there are some similarites with the varying setlists and the loyalty to the fans and the fanatical following each band had. The Dead didn't really experience the SUPER crazy fan situation until the mid 80's- 15-20 years into their existence.....Pearl Jam is 17 years old, so we'll see. that being said, here are some unique differences:

The Dead AVERAGED 73 shows EVERY FUCKING YEAR! I dont care who you are, that is a shit ton of shows that Pearl Jam cannot hold a candle to.

The downside of playing 70+ shows a year is that many Dead shows were just downright AWFUL! The worst Pearl Jam show is still MUCH better than the worst GD show from a musical integrity point of view.

If you know anything about Jerry and the Dead, they have been quoted as saying that some nights they butchered songs ON PURPOSE....they seemed to get off on making fans pissed off, like some punk bands used to do. Pearl Jam seem to put their best foot forward almost every night, driven to get better all the time.

Similarities:

Both Jerry and Eddie can be really nice guys, but are also notorious for being assholes at times. Jerry especially was known for this as his drug problems worsened- he could be a real dick!

They change their setlists around all the time and they play long shows.

They have fans who follow them around or do whole tours.

Both bands are capable of pulling from a very large song catalog, both covers and originals.

John Briggs 2008

I find both bands similar int he sense of it's following and audience recording policies. Other than that I see little in common. PJ is it's own entity for sure and it has borrowed from the great success of the past for sure.

the little guy

Cob wrote:

I was at that show, it was my birthday, 6/17/1991 yesterday was exactly 17 years ago. They also played New Speedway Boogie and China Doll, my best B-Day EVER, they also teased Dark Star about 6 or 7 time during the show.

That was a great show. I was right down front.

the little guy

zootown wrote:

The downside of playing 70+ shows a year is that many Dead shows were just downright AWFUL! The worst Pearl Jam show is still MUCH better than the worst GD show from a musical integrity point of view.

If you know anything about Jerry and the Dead, they have been quoted as saying that some nights they butchered songs ON PURPOSE....they seemed to get off on making fans pissed off, like some punk bands used to do. Pearl Jam seem to put their best foot forward almost every night, driven to get better all the time.

Not exactly. There were plenty of off nights but AWFUL is way off. And, they certainly never butchered songs on purpose. That's silly. But, they did butcher songs sometimes. Not too frequently however. They also weren't trying to piss their fans off. Far from it.

TKD

if I need to explain it you wouldn't understand

Tuolumne Mama

So true Get Right. Maybe you just had to live it to really get it! Will you be in DC?

Get_Right

FoxyMHMama wrote:

So true Get Right. Maybe you just had to live it to really get it! Will you be in DC?

unfortunately no
camden 1, both msgs, hartford and the beacon

Ill be the one holding the sign
"play dark star you pussies"

TKD

Get_Right wrote:

unfortunately no
camden 1, both msgs, hartford and the beacon

Ill be the one holding the sign
"play dark star you pussies"

can I stand next to you and scream that at set break

Veduren

i'll never understand the constant complaining about setlists and how certain songs are overplayed.

the upcoming hartford show will be my 5th PJ show. three of the four people i'm going with have NEVER seen them and the other(my wife) has only seen PJ once. as much as i would love to hear nothing but songs i've yet to hear them play, i couldn't imagine going to a PJ show for the first time and not hearing any of those songs. i would've felt ripped off and pissed off.

rebornFixer

Veduren wrote:

i'll never understand the constant complaining about setlists and how certain songs are overplayed.

the upcoming hartford show will be my 5th PJ show. three of the four people i'm going with have NEVER seen them and the other(my wife) has only seen PJ once. as much as i would love to hear nothing but songs i've yet to hear them play, i couldn't imagine going to a PJ show for the first time and not hearing any of those songs. i would've felt ripped off and pissed off.

That, and their setlists are not that repetitive compared to most bands out there ... Even most of their opening acts change their sets minimally, night-to-night ... Many bands on the "cutting edge", like Radiohead, play maybe 40-45 songs a tour, if that ... We're at well over 60 now, and its five shows in.

patrickredeyes

Wow this thread kinda grew a bit today.


Not gonna quote people but I will make some comments.

The Dead's music takes some time getting used too and not all will like it. I myself never understood the band Phish and their type of music.

Yea heard the jokes about having to be high and liking the dead. Many times I haven't been and I still love their music.

Yea the dead did repeat some songs each nite but not that many. I 'm glad PJ are not touring under a new album this time around. So far as I said I'm loving the setlist on this short tour.


My favorite quote about the dead is this:

Attending a Grateful Dead show was like diving into the waters of creation. The deeper you were willing to go the more interesting it became.

Ok so maybe for some the drugs helped on that. lol

I saw the dead in 1994 and 1995. 4 shows total and I will never forget them. The parking lot scene is something that will never be repeated again. heh

I've always felt the connection between the Dead and PJ. Saw my last Dead show one night and the next nite saw my first PJ show. It can't get much better then that.


peace

vitodacat

we need "kind" grilled cheese sandwiches and veggie burritos before a PJ show to make it like a Dead show

patrickredeyes

vitodacat wrote:

we need "kind" grilled cheese sandwiches and veggie burritos before a PJ show to make it like a Dead show

Oh that takes me back. hehehe


I remember some weird looking stuff people were cooking up in the parking lots. LOL

vitodacat

there must of been back to backers in the 90's.....I remember suffering through Corrina or Samba in the Rain too many times

guacamolejoe

patrickredeyes wrote:

D




I saw the dead in 1994 and 1995. 4 shows total and I will never forget them. The parking lot scene is something that will never be repeated again. heh

I've always felt the connection between the Dead and PJ.


The parking lot was a trip, nothing compares to it.

olderman

patrickredeyes wrote:

Meaning they are mixing it up VERY different every nite so far on this tour. Of course they never played the same setlist in the past. But it's just feels and looks different this time around. I'm loving the new Lost Dog songs and just how wild the setlists are. It's giving me something to smile about.

All we need now is for PJ to bust out the ''Wall of Sound'' hehe

For the non deadheads this is what I mean.


http://www.dozin.com/wallofsound/index.html

the wall of sound was awesome.

i saw the dead a few times 'back in the fucking day!!'

moreso than anythang, i remember the 'cloud of smoke' :eek: