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Pearl Jam - my story (in surround sound where available)
(A little background info - the missus is out with some girlfriends and Im left to my own devices so I open a bottle of wine and get to work on researching my PJ tat. 5 hours later Im onto Massachusetts 3 Disc Boot, have polished off a few bottles and the vodka is going down nice - oh and I also watched Fistful of Dollars in between all this. Excuse the spelling and ramblings ahead).
Mango aka Mark, 31.
I can remember the day I first fell in love with this incredible band. I was 13 years old and was hanging round with a big gang of kids from the area. I heard TEN from a friend and asked for a lend of the tape. Im guessing it was out about a year and was doing pretty well. Obviously something I heard triggered a response. Like a lot of 13 year olds I was just getting into music, life, women, beer and anarchy. I always liked music and appreciated what my parents had handed down to me (The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan, Mowtown) but something about this tape intrigued me. I went home and stuck it on my cassette player (that big old Epic label!) and I can honestly say I fell in love with music right there and then. Like real music. The kind that gets inside you and doesn't leave.
I lay on my bed listening to an album more intensely then ever before or since. From start to finish - Once, Even Flow, Alive, Why Go, Black, Jeremy ... ... it just made sense to me. It was like a mathematical equation that instantly solved itself. That was the exact point in my life that led me down a path. It shaped me. TEN was the sound of my youth, my angst, frustrations, my excitement, love, loss and friendship.
So I handed the tape back and immediately bought my own copy which I still have today. It seemed so much more simple back then - Side A and Side B. A piece of work layed out to be listened to in that order. I miss that today, the simplicity of listening to tracks placed in a specific order. MP3's are great but vinyl and cassette tape made the experience better. Okay Im rambling, time to move on.
I bought Vs on its first day release purely by chance. Remember this is before the internet so, for me anyway, music reviews etc was restricted to magazines and radio. I bought it, again on tape, in HMV on Grafton Street in Dublin. I dont think I even had a Walkman then so had to endure the bus ride home to listen to it. Fuck this sounds like something my old man would say! But literally from the song GO it became a part of my life. I found TEN, I listened to it, understood it and loved it. With Vs I wanted it. It didn't let me down. This was when my parents started to bang on the door and walls screaming "turn that down!". But I was beyond talking to. This was quickly becoming a passion. Any teenage questions or frustrations I had were being answered by this band. It was a perfect harmony for me and thousands of others.
Vitalogy was given the honour of early release status through HMV - doors opened at 5am for those with special wristbands. Free posters, PJ pack (distinctly lack of any PJ stuff) and first listen was what we got. I remember my old man dropped myself and my buddy John off - we met through the swapping of Vs and remain best of friends to this day. Me his kids godfather, him my groomsman next year - at some stupid hour like 4.30am. This was on a school morning too! So we walked the corridors of high school with Vitalogy in our ears with some kids looking very jealous. Remember, no illegal downloading back then.
No Code released in 1996 was my first PJ CD (I bought the tape too thinking I was being loyal). For any Irish on here you might remmeber Virgin Records on the quays in Dublin. I managed to get some No Code merchandise too from the guys there. Shame that place is (long) gone.
So I wont go on like a discography. You all know what was released and when. I was speaking to my buddy John at the Belfast gig last month: fuck me its been a long time. We started this off as kids. Posters on our walls, every possible magazine bought, singles, imports, bootlegs before there were PJ bootlegs, vinyl, TEN Club, tours, travelling, school, exams. college, jobs, marriage (not to each other!), kids . . . and we're still at it. Our very first PJ gig in 1996 we left Millstreet, Cork drenched from sweat. We had got a train down from Dublin and got one back for the gig in Dublin the next night. Fast forward 14 / 15 years and we had just done Dublin and were in Belfast the next night. What a fucking band. WHAT A FUCKING LIFE.
It really is a joy to walk through life with this band. Its a soundtrack for me and many, many others. We had the pleasure of briefly meeting them last month and I shook hands with Mike, Eddie and Matt. I just thanked them. Im sure it was run of the mill for them but for us it was a dream come through and an absolute pleasure.
Pearl Jam Fans - Just Add Water And Watch Them Grow!
One Love,
Mango
Mango aka Mark, 31.
I can remember the day I first fell in love with this incredible band. I was 13 years old and was hanging round with a big gang of kids from the area. I heard TEN from a friend and asked for a lend of the tape. Im guessing it was out about a year and was doing pretty well. Obviously something I heard triggered a response. Like a lot of 13 year olds I was just getting into music, life, women, beer and anarchy. I always liked music and appreciated what my parents had handed down to me (The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan, Mowtown) but something about this tape intrigued me. I went home and stuck it on my cassette player (that big old Epic label!) and I can honestly say I fell in love with music right there and then. Like real music. The kind that gets inside you and doesn't leave.
I lay on my bed listening to an album more intensely then ever before or since. From start to finish - Once, Even Flow, Alive, Why Go, Black, Jeremy ... ... it just made sense to me. It was like a mathematical equation that instantly solved itself. That was the exact point in my life that led me down a path. It shaped me. TEN was the sound of my youth, my angst, frustrations, my excitement, love, loss and friendship.
So I handed the tape back and immediately bought my own copy which I still have today. It seemed so much more simple back then - Side A and Side B. A piece of work layed out to be listened to in that order. I miss that today, the simplicity of listening to tracks placed in a specific order. MP3's are great but vinyl and cassette tape made the experience better. Okay Im rambling, time to move on.
I bought Vs on its first day release purely by chance. Remember this is before the internet so, for me anyway, music reviews etc was restricted to magazines and radio. I bought it, again on tape, in HMV on Grafton Street in Dublin. I dont think I even had a Walkman then so had to endure the bus ride home to listen to it. Fuck this sounds like something my old man would say! But literally from the song GO it became a part of my life. I found TEN, I listened to it, understood it and loved it. With Vs I wanted it. It didn't let me down. This was when my parents started to bang on the door and walls screaming "turn that down!". But I was beyond talking to. This was quickly becoming a passion. Any teenage questions or frustrations I had were being answered by this band. It was a perfect harmony for me and thousands of others.
Vitalogy was given the honour of early release status through HMV - doors opened at 5am for those with special wristbands. Free posters, PJ pack (distinctly lack of any PJ stuff) and first listen was what we got. I remember my old man dropped myself and my buddy John off - we met through the swapping of Vs and remain best of friends to this day. Me his kids godfather, him my groomsman next year - at some stupid hour like 4.30am. This was on a school morning too! So we walked the corridors of high school with Vitalogy in our ears with some kids looking very jealous. Remember, no illegal downloading back then.
No Code released in 1996 was my first PJ CD (I bought the tape too thinking I was being loyal). For any Irish on here you might remmeber Virgin Records on the quays in Dublin. I managed to get some No Code merchandise too from the guys there. Shame that place is (long) gone.
So I wont go on like a discography. You all know what was released and when. I was speaking to my buddy John at the Belfast gig last month: fuck me its been a long time. We started this off as kids. Posters on our walls, every possible magazine bought, singles, imports, bootlegs before there were PJ bootlegs, vinyl, TEN Club, tours, travelling, school, exams. college, jobs, marriage (not to each other!), kids . . . and we're still at it. Our very first PJ gig in 1996 we left Millstreet, Cork drenched from sweat. We had got a train down from Dublin and got one back for the gig in Dublin the next night. Fast forward 14 / 15 years and we had just done Dublin and were in Belfast the next night. What a fucking band. WHAT A FUCKING LIFE.
It really is a joy to walk through life with this band. Its a soundtrack for me and many, many others. We had the pleasure of briefly meeting them last month and I shook hands with Mike, Eddie and Matt. I just thanked them. Im sure it was run of the mill for them but for us it was a dream come through and an absolute pleasure.
Pearl Jam Fans - Just Add Water And Watch Them Grow!
One Love,
Mango
"Life comes from within your heart and desire"
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