First Pearl Jam live experiences.

Chazz

The Rock wrote:

My first show was the Astoria on April 20th, 2006. Great show, but wasn't my favourite. It took me a while for it to sink in that the band were right in front of me. I couldn't snap out of the surreal feeling

Prepare yourself, because your life will change once you've seen PJ live.

I had the same feeling at my first PJ concert in Dublin 06.....I just could not get over the fact that they were there in front of me, it was just a big fat daze for several songs......(i'd been waiting so long to see them, missing out for different reasons in 94, 96 and 2000!) Great memory of hearing them soundcheck The Boys are Back in Town in the 10C queue and seeing Ed skakeboard past a window, being there for a while before anyone noticed him then everyone going MENTAL!

Once you've seen them live you will be forever hooked One tip i'll pass on for first timers........ DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME AND EFFORT TRYING TO TAKE PHOTOS OF YOUR OWN. This was my only regret, I wasted time looking at the gig through a camera viewfinder only to realise that my photos were rubbish and that there would be loads of awesome ones on the internet the day after!! :oops: :roll:

Another tip, don't pass up any opportunity to see PJ live, I seriously regret not seeing them in previous years :(

redstardream

lolla 92, barrie on, eddie climbs the scaffolding on one side of the stage, this is an outdoor festival walks across the tarp material above the structure and climbs down the left side of the stage. i have film pics somewhere that i took on a disposable camera i had brought that day. if i ever find them, i'll post them, but that was like maybe 12 moves ago. it was an epic day. Yes, soundgarden were there, unfortunately their sound (what the techs set up) was lacking. The chilis closed, this was not at a peak time of their careers, and the performance, well, we left. Minstry performed one of the most epic, energetic, sets I have ever seen to this day. They had released Psalm 69 and ripped that place to peices when the sun went down. My favourite band of all time, the Jesus and Mary Chain were there. What a day, but Pearl Jam blew me away. They were inspiring.

ponner1us

Lollapalooza, August 1992 Montage Mountain, Scranton, PA

The beginning of a Long Road taken with this band-great memories have been made so far, I'm sure there are many more to come.

MAS

bigeye21 wrote:

4/3/94 Atlanta, GA

I couldn't make the 92 Atlanta Lollapalooza dates and had been jonesing for years to finally see these guys live. Unbelievably, I scored tickets to this show. Not only did it live up to my lofty expectations -- but it blew them out of the stratosphere! I was transfixed from the start -- lights down, the first notes of Release washing over me, back of the stage slowly lit like a rising sun revealing the guys' silhouettes against the backdrop -- I could hardly breathe. It was 3-4 songs into the set before I could finally surrender to the moment and allow myself to even sing along. It was nothing short of a religious experience. This bootleg gets a ton of hype -- and rightfully so, it's amazing. But as good as the audio is, the live experience was exponentially better. Totally worth the wait.

That show produced my favorite all-time version of Black, fuckin insane!...my first live show was a few weeks after that at the Paramount in NYC....the cool thing about that show was they opened with Rearviewmirror and me and my buddies were blown away when we found out that Ed played guitar. At the time it was a huge deal...Although that was my first taste of the live experience that night paled in comparison to my next two live shows which were Randalls Isle 2 and MSG 98 2...

Empty Glass

95 Austin, TX -- PJ hits stage at like 5:30pm on a very hot day.

My first thoughts:
1) Ed comes out in a black trench coat on a sunny, hot afternoon
2) Ed's shorter that I thought.

Open with Act of Love

jbmulder9

my first pearl jam concert was april 11, 1994 in the old boston garden (now td banknorth, but whatever). i was in my second year of college (go rhody...play the dunk pj! sorry. anyway) and went with my best friend.

i remember being very sad and confused about going to the show...my buddy and i were HUGE nirvana fans as well (we were lucky enough to see them live, in fitchburg mass in '93) and kurt cobain had, ya know, did what he did the week before. it has been well documented of the...differences between the bands and i know it sounds very cliche but a lot of kids, like me, really were shocked over his death.

i dont think the band even mentioned his death or anything like that that night...but it was clear, the performance that night was frenzied and passionate. from the opening chords of release straight into rearviewmirror...and if you notice in the set there are a few "new" tracks that night (vitalogy was not released until later that year, and is this not the first live performance of whipping?) i also remember during the RITFW encore eddie slammed the mic stand through the stage and went under it or something like that...the band totally blew me away.

i've been lucky enough to see the band 11 times since then, and that first live experience is the reason i'll continue to see them as long as the band exists

cheers.

Indi4ence

Randall's Island, September 28, 1996 was my first show......sort of.

Being that Randall's is all GA a few friends and I arrived early and took our spot in the second GA area up against the railing. As the lights went down and the band took the stage everyone pushed forward. They broke out into Last Exit.....simply amazing. The next thing i know there's a guy on top of myself and my friend standing in front of me...we were so focused on the stage we didn't even think to look behind us for people surfing. My friend ended up bashing her face on the railing and chipping her teeth. She was upset wanted to go to the first aid area and I being "the good Boy Scout" helped over over the railing and off to find first aid. We directed into a room which looked like a triage, there were at least 15 other people in there with random injuries already. Being that we were only 16, she was told she had to go to the hospital, so I went with her. All this time you could hear PJ playing and the crowd screaming. We were loaded into one of the waiting ambulances and headed off to some Hospital in NYC. She was taken off into the ER and I sat in the waiting room thinking about what had happened. At some point an ER nurse had come up and talked to me. Telling me that I should bring the Hospital paperwork to the show tomorrow night and they would probably let us in. After a while her Father had arrived and she was released to go home.
We arrived the next day with paperwork in hand( she already had a ticket). They let us in with no problem before almost everyone else and we took a seat in the stands (Mike side) . That night we were treated to one of the best shows.....this was my first real PJ concert and have returned to see them, after this tour, 20 times.

on a side note, I haven't seen her in probably 10+ years, as she was a friend of a friend. Hopefully she still enjoys PJ and remembers that crazy weekend

veddertown

Cool to see this thread reappear, since I posted it I've added Berlin to my itinery so even more to look forward to. Just read most of these stories again and have the boots to most of them too! I can't wait for the chance to add my own for Dublin Damn envious at those who got some of those early shows though, Boston/Atlanta 94 would be high up my list and the Atlanta live broadcast was the first live PJ I ever heard.

tuktuk

My first show was Sept. 16, 2005 in Ottawa. They opened with Wash followed by Go, Hail Hail, Animal, Brain of J and Corduroy. I was hooked. That entire show was amazing as have been all the others I have a been to since. Vitalogy had been my favourite and most played album since it came out when I was 10. The first time getting to experience live versions of Corduroy, Immortality, Better Man and Not For You... can't explain the feeling but I'm sure most of you know. The version of Black from that night still ranks as the best song I have seen live. Cleveland and Buffalo this year will be shows 5 and 6 for me and first time seeing them outside of Ontario, can't wait.

Teddyledbetter

July 8th , 1995 Summerfest Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Opened with Oceans ended with Porch. My girlfriend and I drove up from Chicago without tickets.
We had limited money and tickets were very scarce. We got there around noon trying to find extra tickets...
Anyway a car drove up at about 6PM and a guy yelled out the window he had 2 tickets but was looking for trade for night 2. We told him we would buy the night one tickets but we didn't have any for night 2. They said no deal and drove off. About 20 minutes later they drove up again and we made a deal. I think it cost me $80 each for the tickets. Our seats were 2nd from the last row in the seated section but we were in! It made for a very long day. I was determined to see them- as I was afraid they were going to break up or something and I'd miss out completely. Not my favorite show but the work it took to get the tickets was very memorable!

Grimbliss

Milwaukee July 9th '95.... my first PJ concert.... first concert period. I just remember Eddie coming out very early to sing a song with the Frogs, who were the first of two opening bands. He came out in a shiny suit, sunglasses, and a wig... at first nobody knew it was him. Once he started singing people started to realize who it was and the place erupted, at least the lucky ones who were there...It had to only be half full at that time. PJ in their prime...I had goosebumps that whole night and no concert will ever live up to it.

ArmchairJammer

Shepherds Bush, London 11th August 09 - After a crazy frenzy for tickets, I managed to snag one. It was unreserved seating upstairs so i queued and queued and got dead center made a couple of friends around me (as i was sitting on my own) and still talk to them from time to time on facebook. Metamorphsisis by Philip Glass came on and the lights went down, the opener was Sometimes and it gave me goosebumps. Nothing compares to PJ live!

Save Who

8/18/98 - East Lansing was my first show. Wasn't the best show that I"ve seen,only 20 or so songs and closed with Soldier of Love, but an awsome TC member traded me his 4th row tix for our lower bowl tix because he didn't want to take his daughter on the floor. Those are the best seats that I've had and I'll never forget the experience. If you're out there man THANKS!

pearljgirl2010

September 24, 1996...Merriweather Post Pavillion...up on the lawn and I was hooked :-)

deserteddotse

Roskilde Festival, Denmark 1992.

Eddie with a weird hat and an acoustic guitar... Redemption Song... Amazing...

CosmoCramer

My first show was Indianapolis 2000, wasnt really into PJ much at the time. I got lucky and won pretty good tickets on the radio for being the 9th caller. My friend had been in the club for a couple of years by then and my seats were better than his and he was pissed. I have been hooked ever since.

veddertown

Another 54 days until my first PJ show and I'll be able to write my story. Many lucky folks will be having their first next month I guess and I hope they all enjoy them as much as all these people have. Can't wait now... so near, so far!

Lizard

Wow---have fun at your 1st concert.

My first time was Nov .1995 in San Diego--opened with Release. I got teary even though I was not one-fourth of the fan at that time that I am today!!!

veddertown

Lizard wrote:

Wow---have fun at your 1st concert.

My first time was Nov .1995 in San Diego--opened with Release. I got teary even though I was not one-fourth of the fan at that time that I am today!!!

Hey thanks! I have 4 to enjoy. Love to have gone back in 95 though.

Divka

March 6th, 1994, (Paramount Theatre in Denver), a make-up show after the November 28th, 1993 (Boulder) show was cancelled. I was 15, and it was my first rock concert. I cheered so loudly that I had no voice for the next 2 days.

I can still picture it, as if I'm sitting there right now. If I think on it, I can feel the butterflies I had as I waited for them to walk on stage.

I still have the $2 in change I had after spending the rest of my money on paraphernalia, the ligher I held up as they opened with Indifference, and the piece of paper on which I wrote everything I could possibly remember about the show after it was over.

The feeling of anticipation I had that night is still as strong as it was then, every time I'm about to see them. I'm really excited to be able to introduce my baby sister to them, after all these years.

1st 10C tix - Oct 22nd, 2000 - When I found out I was in the front row, I nearly barfed, and started shrieking as if I was 13 or something. I apologize to anyone who was within a mile, I must have hurt your ears.