Article - Salt Lake Tribune - Concert Preview, Jeff Quotes
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Pearl Jam back in Utah
David Burger
By David Burger The Salt Lake Tribune
24 September 2009
The Salt Lake Tribune
Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament has been to Utah plenty of times.
Last winter he vacationed at Brighton and Snowbird, and the avid snowboarder plans on another trip to Utah soon, Ament said in a Tribune interview.
Luckily, this time he is bringing his instrument.
Pearl Jam hasn't performed in Utah since 1998, but will headline the E Center in West Valley City Sept. 28 in what is sure to be one of the musical highlights of the year for fans eager to hear "Alive," "Even Flow," "Jeremy," "Last Kiss," "Yellow Ledbetter," "Betterman" and new songs off "Backspacer," released Sept. 20.
This time around, the tour stops for the Seattle rock band, which has sold more than 60 million records, were Boise, Salt Lake City and Missoula, Ament's hometown.
Despite some people's memories, Pearl Jam has never gone away. It has consistently sold out arenas since forming in 1990, when guitarist Stone Gossard and Ament were looking to start a new band after their previous band, Mother Love Bone, dissolved after the drug-related death of lead singer Andrew Wood. Before Mother Love Bone, Gossard and Ament were in Green River, a band credited as one of the creators of the "grunge" movement that led to the signings of many Northwestern bands in the 1990s.
While fellow Washington state bands Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains succumbed to deaths and disputes in the years since, Pearl Jam has remained strong with four core members -- singer Eddie Vedder, guitarist Mike McCready, Gossard and Ament -- plus, since 1998, former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron.
While its earliest albums, "Ten," "Vs." and "Vitalogy," all were huge sellers, the band has continued to release and sell plenty of records without traditional means of promotion, at the same building a fan community that has been compared to followers of the Grateful Dead. The intense band is famous for widely varying set lists that change from night to night, as well as for a live show that frequently extends more than three hours.
With "Backspacer," the band signed a deal with Target, in a move that some critics lambasted, although the deal still allows independent record stores to sell the album. "We've been thinking about this for six years," Ament said. "We wouldn't have done this without [the deal allowing] independent record stores. It's less of a corporate deal because we're not working with Best Buy and Wal- Mart. [Target's] the hippest of the big-box retailers, whatever that means."
"Backspacer" also marks the return of producer Brendan O'Brien, who produced most of Pearl Jam's 1990s albums. The band has always remained friends with O'Brien, Ament said, and decided to work with him again, in part because Cameron had never worked with him. In addition, the band was impressed with O'Brien's remix of the 2009 re- release of its first album, "Ten. " "He's one of the few people we trust," Ament said. "He made [the remix] more punchy and more immediate. It's a lot like this new record."
At 37 minutes long, the new album is the shortest of the band's career, and its sound owes a debt to pop and new wave, revealing a new side of the rock band. Vedder, who wrote all of the lyrics, also has a new attitude after the band's last two albums were filled with vitriol directed at the George W. Bush administration. "There is an optimism [on the album]," Ament said. "The whole country is filled with optimism, and we haven't felt that in eight, 10 years. It's hopeful."
In between the band's last album and "Backspacer," band members performed solo projects. Ament released his first solo album after 12 years of writing, and Vedder composed the music to Sean Penn's film "Into the Wild." Two ballads on "Backspacer" show an obvious influence to the acoustic vibe of the soundtrack.
"Solo work improves our work in the band," Ament said. "Ultimately, we're just trying to be better musicians. [Solo work] keeps our songwriting chops up."
There have been several interpretations about the title of "Backspacer."
It could be a reference to the "backspace" key on a typewriter, which allows writers to look back at mistakes they have made.
Or it could be about a turtle.
The Great Turtle Race was a race among 11 leatherback sea turtles from Canada to the Caribbean earlier this year. Turtles were tagged with satellite tracking devices that tracked the 3,700-mile journey, an expedition that helped scientists learn more about the migration patterns of turtles across the Atlantic Ocean.
Pearl Jam sponsored one of the turtles in the race. Its name?
Backspacer.
"The title was around before the turtle," Ament said. "When I first heard of it, I thought it was unique. I don't think it's a word. The definition isn't concrete. It's open to interpretation."
One thing that isn't open to interpretation: On Sept. 28, Pearl Jam will perform in Utah for the first time in 11 years.
Pearl Jam
When - Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Where - E Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City
Tickets - $50 to $65 at Ticketmaster outlets (801-325-SEAT)
Opening act - Ben Harper and the Relentless 7
Caption: Pearl Jam performs Monday, Sept. 28 at the E Center.; Pearl Jam performs Monday, Sept. 28 at the E Center.
David Burger
By David Burger The Salt Lake Tribune
24 September 2009
The Salt Lake Tribune
Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament has been to Utah plenty of times.
Last winter he vacationed at Brighton and Snowbird, and the avid snowboarder plans on another trip to Utah soon, Ament said in a Tribune interview.
Luckily, this time he is bringing his instrument.
Pearl Jam hasn't performed in Utah since 1998, but will headline the E Center in West Valley City Sept. 28 in what is sure to be one of the musical highlights of the year for fans eager to hear "Alive," "Even Flow," "Jeremy," "Last Kiss," "Yellow Ledbetter," "Betterman" and new songs off "Backspacer," released Sept. 20.
This time around, the tour stops for the Seattle rock band, which has sold more than 60 million records, were Boise, Salt Lake City and Missoula, Ament's hometown.
Despite some people's memories, Pearl Jam has never gone away. It has consistently sold out arenas since forming in 1990, when guitarist Stone Gossard and Ament were looking to start a new band after their previous band, Mother Love Bone, dissolved after the drug-related death of lead singer Andrew Wood. Before Mother Love Bone, Gossard and Ament were in Green River, a band credited as one of the creators of the "grunge" movement that led to the signings of many Northwestern bands in the 1990s.
While fellow Washington state bands Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains succumbed to deaths and disputes in the years since, Pearl Jam has remained strong with four core members -- singer Eddie Vedder, guitarist Mike McCready, Gossard and Ament -- plus, since 1998, former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron.
While its earliest albums, "Ten," "Vs." and "Vitalogy," all were huge sellers, the band has continued to release and sell plenty of records without traditional means of promotion, at the same building a fan community that has been compared to followers of the Grateful Dead. The intense band is famous for widely varying set lists that change from night to night, as well as for a live show that frequently extends more than three hours.
With "Backspacer," the band signed a deal with Target, in a move that some critics lambasted, although the deal still allows independent record stores to sell the album. "We've been thinking about this for six years," Ament said. "We wouldn't have done this without [the deal allowing] independent record stores. It's less of a corporate deal because we're not working with Best Buy and Wal- Mart. [Target's] the hippest of the big-box retailers, whatever that means."
"Backspacer" also marks the return of producer Brendan O'Brien, who produced most of Pearl Jam's 1990s albums. The band has always remained friends with O'Brien, Ament said, and decided to work with him again, in part because Cameron had never worked with him. In addition, the band was impressed with O'Brien's remix of the 2009 re- release of its first album, "Ten. " "He's one of the few people we trust," Ament said. "He made [the remix] more punchy and more immediate. It's a lot like this new record."
At 37 minutes long, the new album is the shortest of the band's career, and its sound owes a debt to pop and new wave, revealing a new side of the rock band. Vedder, who wrote all of the lyrics, also has a new attitude after the band's last two albums were filled with vitriol directed at the George W. Bush administration. "There is an optimism [on the album]," Ament said. "The whole country is filled with optimism, and we haven't felt that in eight, 10 years. It's hopeful."
In between the band's last album and "Backspacer," band members performed solo projects. Ament released his first solo album after 12 years of writing, and Vedder composed the music to Sean Penn's film "Into the Wild." Two ballads on "Backspacer" show an obvious influence to the acoustic vibe of the soundtrack.
"Solo work improves our work in the band," Ament said. "Ultimately, we're just trying to be better musicians. [Solo work] keeps our songwriting chops up."
There have been several interpretations about the title of "Backspacer."
It could be a reference to the "backspace" key on a typewriter, which allows writers to look back at mistakes they have made.
Or it could be about a turtle.
The Great Turtle Race was a race among 11 leatherback sea turtles from Canada to the Caribbean earlier this year. Turtles were tagged with satellite tracking devices that tracked the 3,700-mile journey, an expedition that helped scientists learn more about the migration patterns of turtles across the Atlantic Ocean.
Pearl Jam sponsored one of the turtles in the race. Its name?
Backspacer.
"The title was around before the turtle," Ament said. "When I first heard of it, I thought it was unique. I don't think it's a word. The definition isn't concrete. It's open to interpretation."
One thing that isn't open to interpretation: On Sept. 28, Pearl Jam will perform in Utah for the first time in 11 years.
Pearl Jam
When - Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
Where - E Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City
Tickets - $50 to $65 at Ticketmaster outlets (801-325-SEAT)
Opening act - Ben Harper and the Relentless 7
Caption: Pearl Jam performs Monday, Sept. 28 at the E Center.; Pearl Jam performs Monday, Sept. 28 at the E Center.
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
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