When did you become a fan?

donraven

I thought it would be interesting for everyone to post when they first became pearl jam fans, not just when you first liked them casually but full on fanatic.

For me, oddly enough it was when Riot Act first came out and Save you and I am mine were playing on the radio (Though I enjoyed the few songs I heard and knew from the earlier years). I bought the album and got the CD singles and listened the hell out of those and then when back and bought the rest of their catalog and have been hooked ever since.

TT8270

1994

EDIT: and became anti-fan around "Binaural". Just the regular 7" 10C subscribe's going on these days.

LikeAnOcean

Summer of '93.. I was 14 had no cds.. my friend made me buy Ten.

I remember my first Listen. Once annoyed me with the Chester Bennington type scream.. but Even Flow blew my mind for the first time my mind had ever been blown musically. Alive I remembered from the radio and the rest grew on me.. and a month or two later, Vs. was released.. the rest is history.

bigbadbill

The end of 1992. I bought (received Ten via gift cerftificate from Christmas). I really became a big fan in early 1994, after Vs. was out for a few months; before Cobain's suicide.

Paul Andrews

From the first riff of Alive played for the first time on JJJ in the early 90's.

marcos

I was sort of a late comer in the sense that I originally a Nirvana person I think as I guess I was living a poor music exposure life through the 80's. But when I saw PJ on unplugged I was blown away, as I followed through with following most of their live performances at the time. I just thought "wow, this is an awesome band" purely based on their live performances. So whenever MTV first aired the unplugged is when I became a fan. It just says alot the way a band plays live. It's like you gain a respect for their studio work. And I am still blown away by Pearl Jam live more than any other modern day band.

djjazzy276

I want to say it was around 92-93. I was only about 10 at the time, in 5th grade. In retrospect I find it odd that I was that young and had already made up my mind that they were definitely my favorite band. I'm surprised I was even allowed to hear that music yet, considering the language and subject matter. I can't remember any definitive moment when I was hooked, I just know I was. The earliest thing I remember was digging around for my Christmas presents before Christmas and stumbled upon VS. I was pretty excited. I still revert back to that 10 year old whenever a new album is about to come out.

theoceansmademe

I have been a fan since Ten, really saved me from some bad music.

But a fanatic would be after Monkey Wrench and the release of Vitalogy.

No Code then put me over the top and this was the tour I first saw them live, 10/02/06.

I still have the No Code t-shirt with only the 10/2 date on it. Those were the days.

Evergreen

In October of 1991.

I went to one of my favorite clubs in Dallas with my best girlfriend and her brother, who was visiting from San Diego and was in a band called the Rugburns. He got us in, 'cause it was packed. Trees was a small place...like 100-150 people.

I had no idea who was there or what I was in for. They opened with Wash...I was DONE about 1/4 into the song. Eddie Climbed walls. They were back in Decmeber 1991, opening for RHCP and after their set, they ran over to Trees again and played. That sealed the deal.

eMMI

3-4 years ago (I honestly couldn't tell you exactly when it was, my sense of time/the past is rubbish) I went to my local library. My favourite bands at the time were G'nR and Nirvana and I was just browsing through the 'rock' albums.

Then I picked up Ten. The names of the band and some of the songs sounded familiar (especially Jeremy) so I took it home. And then I listened to it. And I was hooked.

There was no transition from casual fan to raving mad fan, it all just clicked.
The first time I listened to Jeremy I had a few (blurry, mind you) flashbacks from when I'd seen the video - years earlier. Some of Ed's expressions had stuck on my mind.

Love at first listen!

ryph raph

Saw them play a bar that held only 600 people April of 92'. Walked out KNOWING that I had just witnessed something "special".Have been a junkie for thier music ever since.

oona left

Late 1991.

Heard "Alive" and "Even Flow" on the radio, saved up the money, and went out and bought the album. I had not heard anything like it in my life.

That was the first album that evoked that feeling of hearing my own thoughts and feelings expressed by a poet (who just happens to have a gorgeous voice).

It was after "Vs" that I dedicated the altar

And so it goes.

Up Here In My Tree

I grew up with Andy Wood so watched Malfunkshun and later Mother Love Bone my whole childhood. So, I've essentially followed PJ from their roots and have always been a huge fan. When 10 came out I was still spinning Apple from MLB and was blown away. I've been lucky enough to see Mookie at the Offramp in Seattle before they truly hit and have followed whenever possible.

My favorite story is how I became a PJ fan club member.

There was word that PJ was playing at the Moore theatre one night (I was a bike messenger and there was always rumors about who was playing where when) and I was a the Sonics game when I heard confirmation. The Sonics were playing the Spurs and PJ had invited the Spurs to come see the show (Dennis Rodman was on the Spurs and him and Ament were hitting it off). I went to the Moore only to find out that the show was for fan club members only. I was fucking pissed! I wrote this 2-3 page letter to the fan club bitching about how just because I wasn't a fan club member didn't mean I wasn't there biggest fan...bitching about how I'm sure none of the Spurs were in the club, blah, blah,blah. I was pretty mad. Two weeks later I get a letter from the 10c that litteraly just said, "send $10 to this address".

I've been in the 10 club ever since.

OGT92

In mid to late 93, when my ex-girlfriend's brother (big PJ fan aswell) gave me a few of the rare tracks on b-sides such as E-flow re-record, Elderly...acoustic, I've Got A Feeling, Oceans remix, and the 2 Singles tracks. I went out and bought all the singles and been trying to collect all the rare and live songs I can ever since. I still think I was a huge fan before that, but at that time I needed to get everything PJ as possible, which pushed it to the next level.

JerFlow48

Im a junior in high school now. Around 2002 I was in the 6th grade I heard Alive and Even Flow on the radio and something hit me like a fist to the jaw. I purchased Ten and listened to the whole thing over and over again during the summer everyday I listened to Ten. Then I started buying their albums sometime after 6th and now I have them all. Now Im a hardcore Pearl Jam fan.

Vedder_Girl77

When I saw the video for Jeremy on MTV in early 1992 and then the MTV Unplugged performance...begged my parents to buy me Ten right after that.

mcgavinj

I had Ten not long after release but never really got into it much later. A friend reccomended "Black" and it didn't really strike me at the time(what an idiot). Then one October I think in 91 or 92 while watching the Braves and Pirates in the NLDS the opening riffs of Alive were played while the broadcast was heading to a commercial. I knew I had heard it before but didn't know where. I scoured my CD collection until I came across of TEN. I found "Alive" and listened to it nonstop for weeks until one day forgetting to hit repeat on that song I went through the album. I was floored to say the least. The following Christmas my then stepsister got me Vs. Been a fan club member ever since. Will have seen my 30th show by the end of this tour and plan on bringing the newest "Stone" to planet earth in the form of my first child.

Travels With

I know exactly when. I went on a backpacking trip with three buddies from high school during Spring Break the year after we graduated. It would have been (April 1994). My friend Devin played Ten on repeat the entire four hour trip to Yosemite there and back. Prior to this I mainly only listened to "oldies" and country music :oops: I had never heard anything like PJ before. I immediately went out and bought Ten and Vs. It absolutely changed the style and way I listen to music. Another buddy that was on the trip (Lee) gave me a ticket to my first PJ show (Sacramento, 1995). I still have the ticket, I didn't know it at the time but I know now by his name and number printed on it that is obviously a tc ticket.

acutejam

'93-'94 I recall hearing Alive/Evenflow/Jeremey A LOT on local Sacramento radio -- and it was all the rage so I kinda pushed it away, "Nah, not gonna buy into another flash in the pan band...."

But I did, bought Ten and really enjoyed it -- saw them in a great show Sacto '95 and they were pretty much my band after that. Started collecting bootlegs around '96-'98 -- but it wasn't until they put out their official European Boots that i was hook/line/sinker. Got so busy from about '98 to '05 that I didn't follow 'em too closely -- kept collecting boots official and audience, but they only played the Shoreline here in the Bay Area, which I can't stand ('cept for Bridge, sigh).

But then came the 06 Civic Center Trifecta -- and that's when intense fanboi'dom kicked in hard. '06 Bridge was mind-blowing (even Neil was all, "Whoa!"). EV 3x in '08 once in '09. And now 3 PJ shows this year, with tour funds accumulating nicely for 2010! (Enjoying the fruits of 98-05 with no life...)

Senior Vice President, age 55+ easy, just walked into my office -- "Dude! I dropped the 180gram Ten on my new ProJect Debut 3 turntable last night and was BLOWN AWAY."

Yeah you were!

idrapr

I still remember where and when I first heard PJ. I was hooked instantly. It's kind of a lame story but in '92 my high school girlfriend had just gone away to college to major in art and my heart was broken. We were still dating but figured that with 2500 miles between us it would never last. So I am at a bonfire party a few days after she left and what do I hear blaring on the radio "Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay..." I was hooked immediately. That song and that album got me through many hard times. Almost 20 years later they still blow me away. And as for the girl, in May we celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary with our two children. For all the young people out there some words of wisdom. All you need is love and Pearl Jam.

MagnusonPark

Right after the commercial release of Ten. I remember a friend at work raving about Mookie Blaylock and telling me I should go to the next Off Ramp show.....but I never did. :(

Aaron 23

Started listening heavily around 92-93 (well, as heavily as a 11-12 year old with chronic ADD can, haha), but my favorite band at that time was Soundgarden. I grew up in Olympia, Washington, so it was pretty hard to escape the Seattle sound, thankfully. Somewhere between Yield and Binaural Pearl Jam really took a forefront in my life and Binaural sealed the deal and Pearl jam became my favorite band hands down...

...with that timeline, makes me wonder if I just have some odd fascination with Matt Cameron. :?

CaliBigWave

First became a fan in December 1993.

I was 13 and in 8th grade. The varsity basketball team was traveling to a weekend tournament and brought a few of us junior varsity players along. Sitting in the back of the school bus driving from LA to San Fran, one of the seniors gave me two cassettes to listen to: Ten and Vs … blew my friggin’ mind!

They were my favorite band until I saw them live for the first time in 1998. Then they became an obsession. I think I spent every penny I earned that summer on bootlegs and t-shirts.

joeybuckets

1993

reecewg2006

when i was little in 4th or 5th grade, back in 2003, i was really into nirvana and foo fighters, so i was listening to the radio and i hear even flow and automatically the next day i got ten. the rest is history

kenny olav

Late winter/early spring 1992. A friend had left a copy of Ten at my house, along with Nevermind. I was 15 at the time. I actually didn't like Ten at first... it sounded too different from what I was used to (which was Van Halen, Guns n' Roses and Def Leppard). I liked Nirvana right away. But something about Ten (well, a lot of things about it, really) made me keep going back to it. I didn't return it to my friend until about a week later, and I listened to it at least once every day that I had his copy. I then joined Columbia House because that's how he had gotten his CDs. My first 8 CDs from Columbia House were Ten, Metallica's ...And Justice For All, both of GnR's Use Your Illusion albums, Van Halen's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, Motley Crue's Decade of Decadence, Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet and... uh... Tom Cochrane's Life is a Highway. My taste in music was still in adolescence, although I still get a kick out of all of that shit.

camaros

Borgata

krymsin

Winter, 1992 ... i'm in 10th grade, new kid, new school.

I'd come from a school where the "alternative" kids were a freak sideshow, and i'd never really paid attention to their music -- especially the CD with the naked baby in the water chasing the $1 bill.

But while alone and trying to find my way, i got my first car -- a 1982 Ford Fairmont. My stepdad talked me into accepting this most uncool of vehicles by putting in a killer sound system. Anyway ...

While flipping through the radio dial one afternoon i came into a song that's already halfway through, but i can tell has built to this amazing crescendo and was going places i'd never heard before. The radio DJ told me that it was Pearl Jam with their latest, "Jeremy."

I get home and went straight to MTV. Within minutes -- "an affluent suburb" ... old newspaper clippings ... "64 degrees and cloudy" ...

By the end of that song, i had chills down my back and tears in my eyes. "Ten" was purchased with the next paycheck that i earned cashiering at the local grocery store.

I've never looked back ...

I_Am_Mike

saw an un-named band open up for Chili Peppers and Smashing Pumpkins in State College, PA 1992. i thought they blew the headliners away. bought the cd right away and started spreading the word!

Lizard

idrapr wrote:

I still remember where and when I first heard PJ. I was hooked instantly. It's kind of a lame story but in '92 my high school girlfriend had just gone away to college to major in art and my heart was broken. We were still dating but figured that with 2500 miles between us it would never last. So I am at a bonfire party a few days after she left and what do I hear blaring on the radio "Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay..." I was hooked immediately. That song and that album got me through many hard times. Almost 20 years later they still blow me away. And as for the girl, in May we celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary with our two children. For all the young people out there some words of wisdom. All you need is love and Pearl Jam.

Awwww.......nice story.

May 30th

my parents had the ten cassette and as a kid (11-12 yrs old) I used to play it and sing jeremy over and over. in school i would write the lyrics to jeremy and my best friend thought i was crazy. i bought yield and live on two legs and was absolutely hooked. yield was life changing, especially faithful and no way. red dot was also hilarious as i would blast it and laugh with my one buddy. loved that album and will always love this band. it will be 9 shows after seattle twice and vancity. hope this band has many more years in them. take care guys.