to americans or europeans who have crossed the atlantic to see pearl jam...

mol.cameron

basically, ive come into a little bit of money, and im planning to 'invest' it in pearl jam. i think there are strong-ish?? rumours of a north american tour this summer. if so, i thinking about going state-side for a few shows. does anybody have any idea how much this will cost/any methods of reducing costs. im from england, and furthest ive ever travelled is dublin...to see pearl jam, so im pretty inexperienced with regards to travelling. any help will be much appreciated. thank you.

meistereder

Are you asking about ticket costs, travel costs, or what specifically?

The good thing for you is the dollar is so weak right now. So in terms of things that you will be paying for while in the States, including the tickets, hotels, etc., you are getting a built-in discount. That would work in reverse for us in the states wanting to see a show in Europe.

camaros

IT'S A hard question to answer without knowing where and for how long you will be staying for the "tour"

mol.cameron

pretty much travel costs and accomodation. it'll probably me/my girlfriend, and we'll be quite happy to stay in cheap hotels/motels or hostels?how much more expensive is it to fly to say, the west coast, as opposed to the east...if they tour, how difficult is to travel from show to show? obviously england is tiny compared to the states, so i guess it must be quite tricky? are trains good in the us, or will we have to fly inbetween shows?

potnik

Well, I have followed them for a west coast (US) leg as well as a European Leg and the major difference in travelling was that on the West Coast I used a car to get from show to show while in Europe I relied on rail.

I can't comment on how to see them on the East Coast as I have yet to make it back East for any show, yet alone a couple.

As for costs, until the tour is announced it will be pretty tough to estimate costs, and those will probably change depending on which area of the US you are planning on seeing them.

The best advice I can give is figure out which cities you would like to visit and work them into the shows. While I followed them around Europe I only ended up seeing every third show as I wanted to work in a vacation. Personally I think that is the way to go as I had a blast visiting historic sites while knowing I was going to be able to see Pearl Jam every fourth or fifth day. Also this depends on how much time you can get off.

Sorry no hard costs given, just some of my thoughts from doing this back in 2000.

Whatever you decide it should be a great time.

itsevolutionbaby

It's really going to depend on where they play. The easiest place to see lots of shows is going to be on the east cost. There are typically a ton of dates in a relatively close proximity to one another. Once you start heading west or south, you could have significant drives involved in getting from city to city. Also, the transit system is generally better on the east coast. Outside of that, you will need to rent a car and drive. The down side to staying on the east coast is going to be the cost of hotels etc. Especially in NY Boston, etc. But like someone earlier said, the dollar is really really bad right now, so you shoud do fine. To me the west coast would probably be the most enjoyable, but there might not be as many shows, and your commutes to the next city will be longer. To save on airfare, you might want to consider starting and ending in a major city that has a direct flight back to the UK. Just my 2C

AmentsChick

mol.cameron wrote:

basically, ive come into a little bit of money, and im planning to 'invest' it in pearl jam. i think there are strong-ish?? rumours of a north american tour this summer. if so, i thinking about going state-side for a few shows. does anybody have any idea how much this will cost/any methods of reducing costs. im from england, and furthest ive ever travelled is dublin...to see pearl jam, so im pretty inexperienced with regards to travelling. any help will be much appreciated. thank you.

Need a date?

snipes824

i followed them for 2 weeks in europe staying in hostels and taking trains everywhere it cost me about $2500. a lot of money but totally worth it.

cropdustress

You'll need plenty of money, but yes, it is so worth it

mol.cameron

ok, thanks everyone for the advice...i think i can budget about $2,500. i think, a return flight to new york, will be like $800.ish. i may seek further assitance if/when dates are announced. again thanks for the advice.

Hinny

When there's a tour announced, look out for people who announce their plans for touring and try to buddy up to form a convoy.

AmentsChick

Hinny wrote:

When there's a tour announced, look out for people who announce their plans for touring and try to buddy up to form a convoy.

I think that's probably the best advice so far!!

nfanel

AmentsChick wrote:

I think that's probably the best advice so far!!

yep, and once you know what cities you want to hit i'm sure there will be people that live in the area that can help you out with the details!
now here's praying for a tour!

Hinny

Oh yeah. If you're thinking you can stay in hotel after hotel across a tour, you're either filthy rich or naive beyond help

5882300

Hi,

I am from the US and have been lucky enough to follow them all over the place. My last excursion was the european tour last summer. While it can get pricey, just figure out where to cut costs. Like meals for instance, I ate a lot fo cheese sandwiches and didn't mind a bit. Also we have a website called price line where you name your own price for hotels and they can accept or deny it. I did this all through Europe the day before I left for the next city. I would make sure you know what neighborhoods you are getting yourself into first though. I know plenty of people all over the place so if you need help, just ask. I am from Chicago but in Denver now. If they do the Democratic National Convention, you are welcome to shack up at our place as long as you are not a serial killer or crack hound. I would fly into a city and rent a car to take to all of the shows in the area and then fly on to the next and repeat. PM me if you want more info. The best tiems of my life have been PJ tours, if you can do it, don't miss out.

2-feign-reluctance

with the cost of fuel in this country, it might be economical to pool together with others that can afford to travel and see pearl jam in every city.

shadowcast

Judging on how good the Euro is doing you should make out like a mother f-er. Drinks on you!!!!!!!!!

Hinny

freeworld4u&me wrote:

Judging on how good the Euro is doing you should make out like a mother f-er. Drinks on you!!!!!!!!!

They use the pound in the UK.

And fuel in the US is dirt cheap compared to UK/Europe.

Thierry Henry

Hinny wrote:

They use the pound in the UK.

And fuel in the US is dirt cheap compared to UK/Europe.

Are you going to go to the US if theres a US tour announced??

Im hoping for a cool city and get both a holiday and a PJam gig out of it.

East coast or west.......MMM

Hinny

Thierry Henry wrote:

Are you going to go to the US if theres a US tour announced??

Im hoping for a cool city and get both a holiday and a PJam gig out of it.

East coast or west.......MMM

Can't afford any US tour this year. I have a one month round-the-world from next Saturday, and I'll go to Munich for Oktoberfest for a week or 2 in September. After that, I'm moving to London so going on tours will be less expensive than doing it from Australia.

Thierry Henry

Hinny wrote:

Can't afford any US tour this year. I have a one month round-the-world from next Saturday, and I'll go to Munich for Oktoberfest for a week or 2 in September. After that, I'm moving to London so going on tours will be less expensive than doing it from Australia.

Good stuff.

Howz the mullet??

Ive seen many pictures!! Was it the 06 or 07 tour you were on??

Hinny

Thierry Henry wrote:

Good stuff.

Howz the mullet??

Ive seen many pictures!! Was it the 06 or 07 tour you were on??

Started in Perth 06 in Australia, decided to take it with me to Europe in 07

Didn't go to Europe in 06 :( Jeez, World Cup and jumping on a tour bus for Pearl Jam GA shows? That'd be my heaven.

Pegasus

Hinny wrote:

When there's a tour announced, look out for people who announce their plans for touring and try to buddy up to form a convoy.

yeah, there's a few of us Euro 06-07 veterans (from Europe, Oz, Can, mexico, US) that are 'planning' on doing whatever happens this summer.

ONCE it's announced (really wished they do it bloody soon! the Werchter festival has an awesome line-up this year, few other festivals too, wished I knew if I'll be in the US or Europe then!), we'll start planning how we go around, depending on where the shows are.. hostels/motels, greyhound, van/cars.. we'll see..if you look for comfort though, avoid us.. the 2 words here are : cheap and fun .. though only advantage of seated shows is that we'll get more sleep not having to queue I guess (still would rather have GA!)

mol.cameron

cool cool cool. the other thing that the previous post reminded me, was with regards to tickets. am i right in thinking that in america, all ten club tickets are seated, and are they all based on seniority? although ive never sat at a gig, so i cant really complain, im pretty sure id rather stand..

Pegasus

mol.cameron wrote:

cool cool cool. the other thing that the previous post reminded me, was with regards to tickets. am i right in thinking that in america, all ten club tickets are seated, and are they all based on seniority? although ive never sat at a gig, so i cant really complain, im pretty sure id rather stand..

normally yes (though San Francisco shows in 06 were GA).
seats suck but, from what I understand, in the US, at PJ shows, people don't actually seat, at least not in the 10c sections.. small mercies..still would rather have normal GA because the atmosphere is better, even if you're not up front (ok doesn't happen often to me at GA shows .. I mean right at the barrier..I'm always up front )

Nickrand

The major difference between US and Euro shows is that there's more of a sense of community at Euro shows. At most shows in the US, you pick up your 10C tickets during the day and have a pre-assigned seat. In Europe, you wait all day for the best spot and end up hanging around others with the same motivations.

There's also a stronger international following on European tours, so you get to meet people from all over the world.

Finally and most importantly, you get to see Pegasus heckle scalpers and organize the 10C queue in Europe.

Pegasus

Nickrand wrote:

The major difference between US and Euro shows is that there's more of a sense of community at Euro shows. At most shows in the US, you pick up your 10C tickets during the day and have a pre-assigned seat. In Europe, you wait all day for the best spot and end up hanging around others with the same motivations.

There's also a stronger international following on European tours, so you get to meet people from all over the world.

Finally and most importantly, you get to see Pegasus heckle scalpers and organize the 10C queue in Europe.

I'd gladly leave the organising to someone else..
I'll keep the scalper bashing though :mad:

Yeild2PearlJam

Still paying off my 07 Europe trip--45 bucks a month for the people I met, AMAZING beer I drank, stories I have, and most importantly the killer PJ shows I saw is so worth it. For U.S. travel the things to remember are (some as stated before)
1. EAST COAST- for more shows at a shorter distance. The Boston and NY shows are always a good time
2. WEST COAST- Longer drives, but much better weather--no matter what season you come in. The San Diego, Santa Barbara (the venue alone is worth it), and especially last tour, San Francisco shows are not to be missed. Of course any Seattle show is just SPECIAL, and the GORGE, you just can NOT miss. That's another one that will take your breath away from the venue alone.
3. Cheap Hotels- Usually, our group has a "as long as you can breathe" rule for hotel rooms. We will pack as many people who can horizontally fit for the night as we can. It will cost you about 10-15 bucks a night if you do it this way.
4. Seating- it is "seated" but barring its some sort of acoustic show (and even then) no one sits down for the shows and claps lightly at the end. It’s no EUROPE show for sure, but listen to the Boston, Seattle, San Diego shows and you will see there is something special going on between the crowd and the band. Lots of Ed talking. At the bigger shows (New York, L.A., Seattle) you will have a big chance of seeing or even sitting next to a famous fan. This has happened to me so many times, and a lot of the times you have better seats then them because of the fan club numbers...which brings me to the last point
SENIORITY- while most of the seats are organized this way there are always chances to get closer. Last tour there were the GA shows and also the Grand Rapids ticket switch (which I am almost sure was not an accident;) )

Once they announce a tour (:)) take all of these things into consideration and remember that most pairs of tickets cost around 110-130 U.S. Dollars

God, you are going to have such a good time~

Pegasus

BeerBaron wrote:

It will be very interesting to see if the US shows this summer will be seated or GA. They did experiment with GA shows for the 3 SF shows in '06 and the band seems to be much more comfortable with the idea of GA shows now, so you never know what they will do in '08...

That said, I would still prefer seated shows

I thought that most Arenas in the US don't do/don't allow GA..
I mean here, GA is the rule for the floor..only old acts or really quiet ones have all seated shows.. but do Arenas in the US have them?

I'd be glad if tehy were back to GA..or at least mix it.
I mean, if it's GA, there's still seats for the people that want them..

UKpearljammer

I'm from England and in 2003 went to the 2 MSG shows, Boston 3 and Lollapalooza in Pittsburgh. New York is pretty easy, good public transport (well seemed okay to me) with the underground stopping at MSG (Penn St I think) and just find somewhere that fits your budget to stay, near Grenwich Village would be my suggestion as it's a cool place to go out. More difficult places are the Ampitheatres which are often out of town eg the Tweeter Centre (Boston) is in a place called Mansfield which is about an hour train from Boston from memory. We stayed at a motel near by and got taxi's too and from the venue. I'm glad we didn't get the train back to Boston as we'd probably have missed the last one back with them breaking the curfew. Book accomadation early would also be my advice as otherwise you could get stuck further away or with something outside your budget. If you drive and can hire a car that's a good option also for these out of town amphitheatres.
We picked the NY and Boston shows as I knew PJ had a reputation of putting on great shows at these cities and they didn't disappoint, 3 of the best on the tour. Good luck with it and feel free to ask any questions, I'm envious!!

Pegasus

BeerBaron wrote:

To be honest I am not sure.

I always assumed that NA venues gave bands the choice of GA versus seats because I have personally been to both at various venues in NA. But you may be right ...

well, if they have the choice, I find it strange that most band don't chose GA: better atmosphere and more people in the house (though I presume they need more security and perhaps insurance is higher).