Cool story about Ed choosing support band
How The Meanies Met Pearl Jam – by Wally Kempton
14 August 2009 | 21:00
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september 1993 and the meanies are in seattle thanks to our illustrious leader from au-go-go records, bruce milne. with his help we tee’d up a european tour and the ginger ninja (our affectionate moniker for milne, due to his red hair and love of all things japanese) wanted to stop off in the states on the way to record at a studio that bands like mudhoney and sonic youth had recorded at.
we played half a dozen gigs which was pretty exciting for us to tell you the truth. we played in bellingham near the canadian border with young fresh fellows, we did a show at an infamous venue called ‘the off ramp’ with the supersuckers, but the most memorable show was at a little place called the lake union pub. this was bruce’s party night, where he invited every seattle friend and contact he could muster.
luckily, we did good. link was on fire, we were tight from the road and the ok sized gathering had a ball and drank the place dry. back to the apartment we trotted, feeling pretty good about ourselves. tas mentioned how impressed he was that the lead singer of pearl jam was in attendance and that he struck him as a pretty down to earth guy. not really having a clue who pearl jam were or what they looked like at that stage, i thought tas was having a lend but the others confirmed that the little fella with the curly locks throwing himself and his many beers around down the front was in fact eddie vedder.
a few days later and the ginger ninja had arranged a ten pin bowling session. meanies vs mudhoney vs supersuckers. we kicked everyone’s arse, but only ‘cos we weren’t used to being able to drink while bowling and getting pissed seemed to miraculously give us an edge! i was doubled with a mate from chicago and our direct opponents were a couple called ed and beth. ed tells me how much he enjoyed the meanies gig at the lake union pub and that his band would be touring our part of the world the following march, would we be interested in supporting? i naturally said yeah, sure, why not, but can you believe it still hadn’t twigged who the hell this ed guy was! i told the ninja what this fella had said and he started laughing hysterically. they sell millions, they’ll be playing stadiums, meanies on that tour? as if, what a joke, it’ll never happen. once i realised who and what i naturally got a bit excited and raced back to ed to confirm what he said and told him we’d be delighted to join his band pearl jam on the road in australia. i was gracious enough to offer our services for asia and nz also.
fast forward about a year to september ’94 and an announcement is made of a pearl jam trip to the land of oz. not one to forget something like eddie’s offer, i visited bruce and greta at au-go-go to see if they thought it was feasible. they laughed and said to forget about it, that ed probably says that shit all the time and we’d be overlooked for a mainstream band or a band who was affiliated with frontier’s sister booking agencies, premier or harbour. i decided to ignore their negativity, found pearl jam’s management contact details and wrote a long fax outlining what had happened, faxed it and posted it as well to be sure. ya never never know if ya never have a go.
a week or so later i get a phone call from premier’s booker mick newton, asking me if the meanies would be available to tour with pearl jam throughout australia the following march. you little beauty, eddie vedder had a memory and was a man of his word. mick was laughing and said it was hilarious seeing frontier boss michael gudinski storm into the premier office yelling, “who the fuck are the meanies, do we book ‘em? and who the hell is fucking wally meanie?!”
the tour was huge and pearl jam and their crew and entourage were great to us. the start of the tour in perth was pretty funny. during our sound-check, there was a lone figure looking on from the stands of the perth entertainment centre. after we were done he wandered into our band room to say g’day. it was eddie vedder, come to thank us for comin’ along for the ride. he told us we saved his nuts by being a good band. as it turns out, he remembers the bowling and the offer of a tour, but his recollection of the gig we played at the lake union pub was pretty hazy. knowing the uproar having us play caused with the promoter, the rest of the pearl jam people were on his back, saying “geez eddie, these cats better be good or you’re in deep shit” and he kept saying, “i think they are”, followed by “i sure as hell hope they are!”
on subsequent tours of australia, eddie has always looked us up and given us tickets to their shows too, which is bloody lovely i reckon. in return tas took him for a surf! gotta love that action.
wal
Sydney 11/02/2003
Sydney 14/02/2003
Sydney 07/11/2006
Sydney 18/11/2006
Sydney 22/11/2009
EV Sydney 18/03/2011
EV Sydney 19/03/2011
EV Sydney 20/03/2011
Melbourne 24/01/2014
Sydney 26/01/2014
EV Sydney 13/02/2014
Sydney 14/02/2003
Sydney 07/11/2006
Sydney 18/11/2006
Sydney 22/11/2009
EV Sydney 18/03/2011
EV Sydney 19/03/2011
EV Sydney 20/03/2011
Melbourne 24/01/2014
Sydney 26/01/2014
EV Sydney 13/02/2014
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Comments
thanks,
dark star
side note and dont mean to jump off topic...
did anyone else notice he reffered to Australia as the LAND OF OZ
i totally get that
Well Dark Star, this guy is actually in a very good band called Even. So yes, he is cool and a bit of a rockstar.
Sydney 14/02/2003
Sydney 07/11/2006
Sydney 18/11/2006
Sydney 22/11/2009
EV Sydney 18/03/2011
EV Sydney 19/03/2011
EV Sydney 20/03/2011
Melbourne 24/01/2014
Sydney 26/01/2014
EV Sydney 13/02/2014
I'll check em out on utube.
anyzoo, yeah hadnt heard that before. love to fill up the missing links in the pearl jam knowledge base. thx!
Aero83_
Check out a myspace, youtube doesn't have many good recordings. The album 'a different high' is good. Or check out songs 'life gets in the way' or 'rock'n'roll saved my life'. I used to know the drummer, but this band open for dandy worhols. They go alright
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU0UppQN ... re=related
Sydney 14/02/2003
Sydney 07/11/2006
Sydney 18/11/2006
Sydney 22/11/2009
EV Sydney 18/03/2011
EV Sydney 19/03/2011
EV Sydney 20/03/2011
Melbourne 24/01/2014
Sydney 26/01/2014
EV Sydney 13/02/2014