I'm not a Matt hater, and I think there are very few if any here. There are a lot of us who's favorite Pearl Jam drummer is Dave Abbruzzese, even Dave in interviews praises Matt as a drumming "God". Now Jack is another story, I love No Code and Yield. I've seen Jack drum with Pearl Jam twice in '96 and '97, that said I think Jack Irons has more to do with Dave Abbruzzese getting fired from Pearl Jam than any other reason. Also while No Code and Yield are excellent pieces of work, it took the band away from it's well toned roots as a rock band and in the direction of fast sloppy punk. They've been trying to get back to their rock roots with Riot Act, Self Titled and Backspacer and it's not been successful.
Randalls Island New York 9/29/96 - Oakland Coliseum Oakland California 11/15/97 - MSG New York New York 09/10/98 - Key Arena Seattle Washington 11/05/00, 11/06/00 - PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel New Jersey 7/14/03 - Tweeter Center Camden New Jersey 5/28/06, MSG New York New York 06/25/08, Spectrum Arena Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 10/27/09
While i agree that a lot of what pearl jam has done over the last few years is different from Ten - vitalogy, I would argue that it is just as good if not better. I think Matt has added some continuity at the kit which is much needed. The band seems much more complete with him.
What I think all the Matt hate boils down to is people always like what is older with music. Not sure why but that is generally true. People often use the term "I like their older stuff much more ..." People often start hating bands once they become popular and more people listen to them. Look at a lot of the revisionist history people are going through with Binaural right now. By a lot of comments on these boards you would think people loved that album from the start, when in fact I think most panned it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but to say matt is not good or to hate on him for any reason seems strange to me. The guy can truly play. Whether you like his style or not I think everyone should agree on that fact. I mean, a lot of people dislike Tool as a band but their drummer is the best around right now. He is so good it is scary but most will never agree because they don't like the music.
that’s right! Can’t we all just get together and focus on our real enemies: monogamous gays and stem cells… - Ned Flanders
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
While i agree that a lot of what pearl jam has done over the last few years is different from Ten - vitalogy, I would argue that it is just as good if not better. I think Matt has added some continuity at the kit which is much needed. The band seems much more complete with him.
What I think all the Matt hate boils down to is people always like what is older with music. Not sure why but that is generally true. People often use the term "I like their older stuff much more ..." People often start hating bands once they become popular and more people listen to them. Look at a lot of the revisionist history people are going through with Binaural right now. By a lot of comments on these boards you would think people loved that album from the start, when in fact I think most panned it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but to say matt is not good or to hate on him for any reason seems strange to me. The guy can truly play. Whether you like his style or not I think everyone should agree on that fact. I mean, a lot of people dislike Tool as a band but their drummer is the best around right now. He is so good it is scary but most will never agree because they don't like the music.
I agree with you here. But on the other hand, Jack and Dave seemed to have more "snap" to their playing where Matt's sound is more smooth. I prefer the latter.
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I'll take Dave or Jack over him any day of the week.
I cringe every time I hear him start to play Why Go.... bleah. He's a great drummer though. His work in Soundgarden backs that up. I just don't think his style ever really fit with Pearl Jam's work.
i like dave/jack/matt equally. they were all extremely important to the bands success during their given era.
i think dave was the most important pearl jam drummer overall though. can you imagine VS and vitalogy with another drummer? those two albums really propelled the band's success in my book.
from 2000 on, there is no doubt matt is the man. can you try and imagine listening to dave play off he goes or sleight of hand in concert? i can't.
Matt's a great drummer but he can't seem to get the Jack Iron songs to sound right. Jack had this loose, tribal thing about his style that Matt just doesn't have.
“May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine.” - Frank Sinatra
sigh... another one of these threads, huh... OK, I can't help myself. I'm in.
I think your description above is very much over simplified about Matt having "no groove" or "not hitting the cymbals like a madman". His groove and cymbal use have been brought up in conversation before, but in a more nuanced discussion.
Matt does sound pretty good on this one! A nice fill in particular at 2:14. He's altered his kit to add more cymbals, seemingly ever since around the Bonnaroo show. Before that he rarely used crash cymbals on a number of songs. On the below '98 version of Dissident he kinda horse-shoed tom fills in, and otherwise sounded pretty dry an very predictable:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pS3QLB1ITI
Now his kit is starting to look like Dave A's with the additional cymbals, a few of them looking somewhat redundant. ...I think Dave used too many splashes and such, but any crash additions to Matt's is welcome since there were few to begin with. I'd prefer Matt to add a china rather than another crash, just to shake it up a bit and add a sound element he is missing.
Luckily, Dissident is a song where as long as the cymbals are played "wet", it sounds pretty good, and Matt does a really decent job play on this recent version, especially comparing to how he used to play it. This new version that Matt is playing sounds MUCH better than in previous years. The sound on this video is amazing, so that helps my opinion of it too. I used to play Sabians and Zildjians since the late 1980's and a few years ago I became a Paiste-only drummer, but damn those Zildjians sound good on this vid.
To get to the heart of differences between the drummers, I'm gonna post below (since this is the most recent thread to compare drummers) my thoughts on songs where drumming is more noticeably different, which really compares and contrasts on songs where you really can hear and see it.
matt is a better player than dave, imo... and pearl jam has played/ put on much better shows in the past decade than most shows in the early nineties. their sound is warmer and they play together much much better. I can understand why people jump on that stupid fuckin dave a. bandwagon though.. only because he set up his cymbals to look cool while he bashes on them the whole time.
...sigh...
How about we do an "apples to apples" comparison, and just base this on the music... deal?
Dave just posted new video of Blood.
I actually don't like how he has all the splashes and such, so for me your assessment of "only because he set up his cymbals to look cool" is way off. Frankly I think he looks a little too "metal" when he plays... but then again, i'm not judging by looks, as you are suggesting. I'm judging strictly by the music.
Dave just posted this video camera footage of him playing. From this angle, you can't see the cymbals very well, so you'll just have to pay attention to the actual playing.
Dave's timing was great. It lined up with the guitar changes. The right hand is playing the china and/or crashes with the guitar changes, and his left hand is keeping a straight snare beat. The snare and cymbal hits only line up once per measure as the count restarts each go-around. It has a great musicality to it. Dave also did great, tight rudiments on a tight hihat during this song.
Jack's timing was pretty much identical with Dave's. Jack's right hand was striking the cymbals and his left was keeping a straight snare beat, once again the snare and cymbal hits only line up once per measure. He used different cymbals (a ride many times), but Jack "got it" as far as how the cymbals interlocked with the guitar changes, while keeping a steady on the snare. Jack couldn't do the rudiments (imho as a drummer), so he just did a simple beat on the hihat, and his fills were a bit loose. Seeing as how he got the rest of the song right, I won't begrudge him this difference. Dave's "thing" was rudiments, so it's hard for most drummers to compare on that part.
I chose this audience video because it sounded a little less muddy than the pro-shot stuff, and on the latter-half of the video you can see Matt playing more at the 2:00 mark, than the pro-shot stuff. Matt's timing on cymbals is a basic beat - he's not hitting the crashes in timing with the music. Matt's just kinda playing a generic beat and slamming the crashes in time with himself, regardless of how the rest of the song goes. His cymbal hits and snare hits line up twice per measure.
Now I know my description may be lost on some... if you can't hear the difference, I truly envy you. This song used to be a favorite because of how intertwined the cymbal hits and guitar intertwined, plus the rudiments, and now with all the changes, it is no longer.
For those who complain that "Dave played cymbals too much", then where are you now on this? If you count, every measure, Matt is hitting the cymbals 6 times. Dave is only hitting them 4 times. This makes it muddy sounding when Matt is playing (plus not in time with the guitar changes), whereas Dave's cymbal hits were spaced out, so you could hear each one.
In order of my preference on Blood: Dave, Jack, Matt
edit: However dreamweaver, I will agree that on new records, I enjoy Matt's approach. Even simple songs like Light Years sound better with Matt than they probably would have with Dave. I'm commenting strictly on the pre-Matt material, particularly Vs & Vitalogy... and some of Ten and No Code.
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*NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
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*Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
*Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
*Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
*VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
*EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
*Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
Matt's songwriting takes more of a beating here than his drumming does.
what?? "You Are" is my favorite song off Riot Act...
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I'm not a Matt hater, I don't know of any Matt haters and in my opinion any one who hates him for his drumming is an idiot. They became the True Pearl Jam when he joined. ( my opinion again )
agree....he is a great drummer...end of story no argument
anyone who disagrees is fucktarded
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1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago 2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy 2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE) 2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston 2020: Oakland, Oakland:2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana 2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville 2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
sigh... another one of these threads, huh... OK, I can't help myself. I'm in.
I think your description above is very much over simplified about Matt having "no groove" or "not hitting the cymbals like a madman". His groove and cymbal use have been brought up in conversation before, but in a more nuanced discussion.
Matt does sound pretty good on this one! A nice fill in particular at 2:14. He's altered his kit to add more cymbals, seemingly ever since around the Bonnaroo show. Before that he rarely used crash cymbals on a number of songs. On the below '98 version of Dissident he kinda horse-shoed tom fills in, and otherwise sounded pretty dry an very predictable:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pS3QLB1ITI
Now his kit is starting to look like Dave A's with the additional cymbals, a few of them looking somewhat redundant. ...I think Dave used too many splashes and such, but any crash additions to Matt's is welcome since there were few to begin with. I'd prefer Matt to add a china rather than another crash, just to shake it up a bit and add a sound element he is missing.
Luckily, Dissident is a song where as long as the cymbals are played "wet", it sounds pretty good, and Matt does a really decent job play on this recent version, especially comparing to how he used to play it. This new version that Matt is playing sounds MUCH better than in previous years. The sound on this video is amazing, so that helps my opinion of it too. I used to play Sabians and Zildjians since the late 1980's and a few years ago I became a Paiste-only drummer, but damn those Zildjians sound good on this vid.
Lately hes been hitting the cymbals more. In the past I can see what you meant after watching that 98 vid of dissident. I would actually get a little confused when you would say he doesn't hit the cymbals enough because all of these newer performances he hits them just as much as any drummer should.
But the reason I put up that video and not a better performance is because the only drummer to ever play that song right was Dave. I always thought dissident was a big hit or miss for me when jack or matt would play it. that song does need more cymbals and for me particularly great drum fills during the bridge. I HATE listening to jack play Dissident. He is flat out terrible at it. He does absolutely nothing during the bridge, maybe one or two crappy fills but thats it. While I prefer matts playing on Porch, RVM, Alive, Evenflow, Once, etc I always thought he was hit/miss with that song. But lately hes been playing that song great. I also love the real hard floor tom/snare flams at the beginning, thats a little "Dave A" sounding.
Oh and another song he is hit/miss on is Hard to Imagine. there are so many versions of that song where Matt will start playing a groove at the beginning and you can just tell hes saying in his head "this doesn't sound good" and hell sort of stop playing it and go back to the floor toms or whatever. He also sucks at playing Garden at times. the Hartford (I believe) version of Garden has some terrible playing.
The Immortality drum outro especially from 2000 was incredible, his best solos with Pearl Jam no doubt. I am a fan of all of his work, he's MATT FUCKIN CAMERON!!
sigh... another one of these threads, huh... OK, I can't help myself. I'm in.
I think your description above is very much over simplified about Matt having "no groove" or "not hitting the cymbals like a madman". His groove and cymbal use have been brought up in conversation before, but in a more nuanced discussion.
Matt does sound pretty good on this one! A nice fill in particular at 2:14. He's altered his kit to add more cymbals, seemingly ever since around the Bonnaroo show. Before that he rarely used crash cymbals on a number of songs. On the below '98 version of Dissident he kinda horse-shoed tom fills in, and otherwise sounded pretty dry an very predictable:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pS3QLB1ITI
Now his kit is starting to look like Dave A's with the additional cymbals, a few of them looking somewhat redundant. ...I think Dave used too many splashes and such, but any crash additions to Matt's is welcome since there were few to begin with. I'd prefer Matt to add a china rather than another crash, just to shake it up a bit and add a sound element he is missing.
Luckily, Dissident is a song where as long as the cymbals are played "wet", it sounds pretty good, and Matt does a really decent job play on this recent version, especially comparing to how he used to play it. This new version that Matt is playing sounds MUCH better than in previous years. The sound on this video is amazing, so that helps my opinion of it too. I used to play Sabians and Zildjians since the late 1980's and a few years ago I became a Paiste-only drummer, but damn those Zildjians sound good on this vid.
Lately hes been hitting the cymbals more. In the past I can see what you meant after watching that 98 vid of dissident. I would actually get a little confused when you would say he doesn't hit the cymbals enough because all of these newer performances he hits them just as much as any drummer should.
But the reason I put up that video and not a better performance is because the only drummer to ever play that song right was Dave. I always thought dissident was a big hit or miss for me when jack or matt would play it. that song does need more cymbals and for me particularly great drum fills during the bridge. I HATE listening to jack play Dissident. He is flat out terrible at it. He does absolutely nothing during the bridge, maybe one or two crappy fills but thats it. While I prefer matts playing on Porch, RVM, Alive, Evenflow, Once, etc I always thought he was hit/miss with that song. But lately hes been playing that song great. I also love the real hard floor tom/snare flams at the beginning, thats a little "Dave A" sounding.
Oh and another song he is hit/miss on is Hard to Imagine. there are so many versions of that song where Matt will start playing a groove at the beginning and you can just tell hes saying in his head "this doesn't sound good" and hell sort of stop playing it and go back to the floor toms or whatever. He also sucks at playing Garden at times. the Hartford (I believe) version of Garden has some terrible playing.
Matt's been getting better at a number of songs. In 2000 when I heard them soundcheck Garden at Jones Beach, he was missing the changes. He's gotten better at that song and now also Dissident. When I was lucky enough to be standing behind Matt during the soundcheck at MSG in '08, it looked like he had been practicing WMA, and it sounded pretty darn good. If he brought the speed up a bit, that would have been even better.
I think the band doesn't give him any instruction nor criticism on his playing at all, so it's solely up to him on how to play it. I still think that songs like Porch are still too dry live, compared to the intensity of drumming they used to have, but I'm sure everyone has their preferences.
There's a huge number of songs I prefer Dave on. A small number that I prefer Jack on, and a huge number of songs I prefer Matt on. Dave and Matt are both amazing drummers, playing very different styles.
I'd really love it to hear just one show with all drummers playing their originally recorded songs, as a 20th anniversary set of shows. Playing each album songs, in song order and in album order, with the lineup that recorded the album - with 3 albums per show. It would be so cool to listen to a boot of Vitalogy, or a boot of No Code, or of Backspacer, and so on, with the people who created the music. PJ has had a rich history of music and musicians, and I'd hope that on their 20th anniversary they would be able to celebrate everything PJ.
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*NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
*MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
*Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
*Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
*Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
*VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
*EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
*Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
+1
I love his work on No Code and Yield. Jack is the perfect Pearl Jam drumer for me!
Matt is good too, though there's something about his style that sometimes leaves me cold.
But I really like his songwriting. He contributed some great tracks to the PJ catalog.
I'd really love it to hear just one show with all drummers playing their originally recorded songs, as a 20th anniversary set of shows
I would love to see that, shows with Dave, Jack and Matt. I wouldn't do it in one show though. I would make it like a Boston expreriment.
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anyone who went to the 4 Philly shows knows MATT IS A FUCKING PHENOMENAL DRUMER!!!
HE TORE SHIT UP!!!!
I always thought he was a skilled drumer but after the Philly 4 i had a new respect for him....even if it was the 9th, 10th,11th & twelfth time i have seen him live....and when they did Breath...HOLY FUCK!!! MATT WAS ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!!
anyone who thinks he isn't worthy of PJ needs to get a fucking miracle ear!!!!!!!!!!!
I go by ear, and Jack was the best fit for me. Like a previous poster said there is something tribal about Jack's play and I LOVE it.
Prior to Jack WMA and Immortality are the only drums songs that really come to my mind. The others are heavy guitar, which I realize is 90% of PJ's music. Thats cool.
But when No Code came out and I was treated to Who You Are, In My Tree, and Smile--Jack became MY drummer.
Yield-Jack bangs out Faithful, No Way, GTF, and In Hiding.
But yes, Matt is great at what he does. In the Moonlight is one of my favorites from Lost Dogs, so Matt does have skills.
+1
I love his work on No Code and Yield. Jack is the perfect Pearl Jam drumer for me!
Matt is good too, though there's something about his style that sometimes leaves me cold.
But I really like his songwriting. He contributed some great tracks to the PJ catalog.
+1 Although Matt is great, you should listen to Jack on I n My Tree and then listen to Matt on In My Tree. Jack is the drummer on my two favorite PJ albums so he's definetly my favorite. I think they're both awesome, just in different ways.
check out that performance of RVM. The drumming is just unbeliavable. After watching that it just amazes me how anyone cant like him. Matt is a freakin powerhouse around the kit.
Well I'm not a Matt-hater but there was nothing about this performance that is going to make the haters stop hating.
But what I really liked about this video was the sound quality. Probably the best sound I've ever heard on a PJ youtube video recorded from the audience.
word...sounds better than the bootlegs
"Well, I think this band is incapable of sucking."
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If you think Matt Cameron is bad at drums there is just no hope for you. Like someone earlier said it takes a drummer to know a drummer and Matt Cameron is the man on drums.
Comments
What I think all the Matt hate boils down to is people always like what is older with music. Not sure why but that is generally true. People often use the term "I like their older stuff much more ..." People often start hating bands once they become popular and more people listen to them. Look at a lot of the revisionist history people are going through with Binaural right now. By a lot of comments on these boards you would think people loved that album from the start, when in fact I think most panned it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but to say matt is not good or to hate on him for any reason seems strange to me. The guy can truly play. Whether you like his style or not I think everyone should agree on that fact. I mean, a lot of people dislike Tool as a band but their drummer is the best around right now. He is so good it is scary but most will never agree because they don't like the music.
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
I agree with you here. But on the other hand, Jack and Dave seemed to have more "snap" to their playing where Matt's sound is more smooth. I prefer the latter.
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I'll take Dave or Jack over him any day of the week.
I cringe every time I hear him start to play Why Go.... bleah. He's a great drummer though. His work in Soundgarden backs that up. I just don't think his style ever really fit with Pearl Jam's work.
good clips, but like many posters have stated he was great with Soundgarden but some of the PJ catalog is better off with Dave or Jack playing.
i think dave was the most important pearl jam drummer overall though. can you imagine VS and vitalogy with another drummer? those two albums really propelled the band's success in my book.
from 2000 on, there is no doubt matt is the man. can you try and imagine listening to dave play off he goes or sleight of hand in concert? i can't.
sigh... another one of these threads, huh... OK, I can't help myself. I'm in.
I think your description above is very much over simplified about Matt having "no groove" or "not hitting the cymbals like a madman". His groove and cymbal use have been brought up in conversation before, but in a more nuanced discussion.
Matt does sound pretty good on this one! A nice fill in particular at 2:14. He's altered his kit to add more cymbals, seemingly ever since around the Bonnaroo show. Before that he rarely used crash cymbals on a number of songs. On the below '98 version of Dissident he kinda horse-shoed tom fills in, and otherwise sounded pretty dry an very predictable:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pS3QLB1ITI
Now his kit is starting to look like Dave A's with the additional cymbals, a few of them looking somewhat redundant. ...I think Dave used too many splashes and such, but any crash additions to Matt's is welcome since there were few to begin with. I'd prefer Matt to add a china rather than another crash, just to shake it up a bit and add a sound element he is missing.
Luckily, Dissident is a song where as long as the cymbals are played "wet", it sounds pretty good, and Matt does a really decent job play on this recent version, especially comparing to how he used to play it. This new version that Matt is playing sounds MUCH better than in previous years. The sound on this video is amazing, so that helps my opinion of it too. I used to play Sabians and Zildjians since the late 1980's and a few years ago I became a Paiste-only drummer, but damn those Zildjians sound good on this vid.
To get to the heart of differences between the drummers, I'm gonna post below (since this is the most recent thread to compare drummers) my thoughts on songs where drumming is more noticeably different, which really compares and contrasts on songs where you really can hear and see it.
I took this from this thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=95437&start=75 so feel free to reply on either thread.
*NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
*MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
*Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
*Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
*Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
*VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
*EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
*Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
what?? "You Are" is my favorite song off Riot Act...
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Los Angeles 7/10/06
Los Angeles 7/12/08 (VH1 Rock Honors the Who)
Los Angeles 10/01/09
Los Angeles 4/12/08 (EV solo)
Los Angeles 10/06/09
MSG 5/20/10
San Diego 7/5/11 (EV solo)
Los Angeles 11/23/13
Los Angeles 11/24/13
Sao Paulo, Brazil 11/14/15
Ohana Encore 10/01/21
San Diego 5/03/22
Los Angeles 5/21/24
Los Angeles 5/22/24
agree....he is a great drummer...end of story no argument
anyone who disagrees is fucktarded
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Lately hes been hitting the cymbals more. In the past I can see what you meant after watching that 98 vid of dissident. I would actually get a little confused when you would say he doesn't hit the cymbals enough because all of these newer performances he hits them just as much as any drummer should.
But the reason I put up that video and not a better performance is because the only drummer to ever play that song right was Dave. I always thought dissident was a big hit or miss for me when jack or matt would play it. that song does need more cymbals and for me particularly great drum fills during the bridge. I HATE listening to jack play Dissident. He is flat out terrible at it. He does absolutely nothing during the bridge, maybe one or two crappy fills but thats it. While I prefer matts playing on Porch, RVM, Alive, Evenflow, Once, etc I always thought he was hit/miss with that song. But lately hes been playing that song great. I also love the real hard floor tom/snare flams at the beginning, thats a little "Dave A" sounding.
Oh and another song he is hit/miss on is Hard to Imagine. there are so many versions of that song where Matt will start playing a groove at the beginning and you can just tell hes saying in his head "this doesn't sound good" and hell sort of stop playing it and go back to the floor toms or whatever. He also sucks at playing Garden at times. the Hartford (I believe) version of Garden has some terrible playing.
8/7/08, 6/9/09
The Immortality drum outro especially from 2000 was incredible, his best solos with Pearl Jam no doubt. I am a fan of all of his work, he's MATT FUCKIN CAMERON!!
6/03/06 6/24/08 6/25/08 6/28/08 8/28/09 10/30/09 10/31/09 3/13/10 5/15/10 5/18/10 5/20/10 5/21/10 9/3/11 9/4/11 9/2/12 10/18/13 10/19/13 10/25/13 10/22/14 9/26/15 5/1/16 5/2/16 8/5/16 8/7/16 8/20/16 4/7/17
Ed Ved
8/5/08 6/12/09 6/21/11 6/22/11
Brad
5/23/12
Soundgarden
7/9/11 1/23/13 8/1/14
RNDM
3/7/16
Matt's been getting better at a number of songs. In 2000 when I heard them soundcheck Garden at Jones Beach, he was missing the changes. He's gotten better at that song and now also Dissident. When I was lucky enough to be standing behind Matt during the soundcheck at MSG in '08, it looked like he had been practicing WMA, and it sounded pretty darn good. If he brought the speed up a bit, that would have been even better.
I think the band doesn't give him any instruction nor criticism on his playing at all, so it's solely up to him on how to play it. I still think that songs like Porch are still too dry live, compared to the intensity of drumming they used to have, but I'm sure everyone has their preferences.
There's a huge number of songs I prefer Dave on. A small number that I prefer Jack on, and a huge number of songs I prefer Matt on. Dave and Matt are both amazing drummers, playing very different styles.
I'd really love it to hear just one show with all drummers playing their originally recorded songs, as a 20th anniversary set of shows. Playing each album songs, in song order and in album order, with the lineup that recorded the album - with 3 albums per show. It would be so cool to listen to a boot of Vitalogy, or a boot of No Code, or of Backspacer, and so on, with the people who created the music. PJ has had a rich history of music and musicians, and I'd hope that on their 20th anniversary they would be able to celebrate everything PJ.
*NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
*MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
*Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
*Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
*Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
*VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
*EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
*Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
+1
I love his work on No Code and Yield. Jack is the perfect Pearl Jam drumer for me!
Matt is good too, though there's something about his style that sometimes leaves me cold.
But I really like his songwriting. He contributed some great tracks to the PJ catalog.
I would love to see that, shows with Dave, Jack and Matt. I wouldn't do it in one show though. I would make it like a Boston expreriment.
Precisely. Three albums per night of the festival. Three shows total.
NIGHT 1:
TEN (with Krusen)
VS (with Abbruzzese)
Vitalogy (with Abbruzzese)
-plus rarities from that era for the encore
-Krusen, Irons and Cameon join in on additional percussion during WMA
NIGHT 2:
NO CODE (with Irons)
YIELD (with Irons)
BINAURAL (with Cameron)
-plus rarities from that era for the encore
NIGHT 3:
RIOT ACT (with Cameron)
AVOCADO (with Cameron)
BACKSPACER (with Cameron)
-plus rarities from that era for the encore
I had a whole thread about it. Feel free to bump it!
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=98508
*NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
*MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
*Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
*Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
*Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
*VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
*EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
*Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
HE TORE SHIT UP!!!!
I always thought he was a skilled drumer but after the Philly 4 i had a new respect for him....even if it was the 9th, 10th,11th & twelfth time i have seen him live....and when they did Breath...HOLY FUCK!!! MATT WAS ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!!
anyone who thinks he isn't worthy of PJ needs to get a fucking miracle ear!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.miracle-ear.com/
I go by ear, and Jack was the best fit for me. Like a previous poster said there is something tribal about Jack's play and I LOVE it.
Prior to Jack WMA and Immortality are the only drums songs that really come to my mind. The others are heavy guitar, which I realize is 90% of PJ's music. Thats cool.
But when No Code came out and I was treated to Who You Are, In My Tree, and Smile--Jack became MY drummer.
Yield-Jack bangs out Faithful, No Way, GTF, and In Hiding.
But yes, Matt is great at what he does. In the Moonlight is one of my favorites from Lost Dogs, so Matt does have skills.
I often wonder what other songs we might have.
+1 Although Matt is great, you should listen to Jack on I n My Tree and then listen to Matt on In My Tree. Jack is the drummer on my two favorite PJ albums so he's definetly my favorite. I think they're both awesome, just in different ways.
check out that performance of RVM. The drumming is just unbeliavable. After watching that it just amazes me how anyone cant like him. Matt is a freakin powerhouse around the kit.
8/7/08, 6/9/09
word...sounds better than the bootlegs
-my dad after hearing Not for You for the first time on SNL .
I'm glad you are justifying my opinions in this thread.
*NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
*MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
*Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
*Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
*Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
*VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
*EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
*Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10