Jeff Ament spoke to my class yesterday

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Comments

  • Why are you bumping this? I apologized to Beaver if my insignificant call cost him any trouble. No harm, no foul. One would think a 42 year old would be a little past calling people names on internet message boards, with bad grammar and punctuation.

    Hehehehehehehehehe

    your a fucking hypocrite.....you had no problem ripping in to me for no fucking reason last week...right????

    i dont give a flying fuck if you apologized or not......you showed your true colors here.....mr. maturity....
    Take me piece by piece.....
    Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
  • your a fucking hypocrite.....you had no problem ripping in to me for no fucking reason last week...right????

    i dont give a flying fuck if you apologized or not......you showed your true colors here.....mr. maturity....

    I didn't "rip" on you. I made a comment about your messages being unnecessarily harsh, in a thread about precisely that. I never insulted you or called you names like an angry ten-year-old. Read the message again.
    That it sat with you enough to want to pick up some sort of "fight" weeks later is not my problem, but yours.
  • I didn't "rip" on you. I made a comment about your messages being unnecessarily harsh, in a thread about precisely that. I never insulted you or called you names like an angry ten-year-old. Read the message again.
    That it sat with you enough to want to pick up some sort of "fight" weeks later is not my problem, but yours.
    blah
    blah
    blah
    blah..........

    you are full of shit............and a fucking hypocrite............
    Take me piece by piece.....
    Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
  • blah
    blah
    blah
    blah..........

    you are full of shit............and a fucking hypocrite............

    Nice.
  • einatshauleinatshaul Posts: 2,219
    Boys!

    This is a civilized community

    :)
  • einatshaul wrote:
    Boys!

    This is a civilized community

    :)

    I agree. And if I regret having called anyone in the first place, it's cause how much of a dick PJ fans have been about this. Curiosity got the best of me (Bonaroo is a big deal since I'm probably going next year) and I took a minute out of my lunch hour to do it.

    I apologized to Evil Beaver. Evidently, he didn't get in trouble and the professor didn't mind. The call did no harm to anyone. Please, could we let this go?
  • FitzFitz Posts: 169
    What a great thread, this is what messageboards are all about. Would be nice not to see the abuse and all that as its really not needed. Some believed him, some didn't. No one was killed and yes JA did do what he said at the start, enjoy it!
    "First of all, there’s the palpable camaraderie and good feeling you get from the entire band as they smile and nod at each other, and huddle together in various formations throughout the show --- They look like they really like each other. They look stoked!"
  • Hey everyone!

    I’m a first-time poster here. I’m mostly a lurker over at Red Mosquito but that message board’s been down for several days.

    Anyway, something happened yesterday that I just can’t keep to myself. I’m a life-long Pearl Jam fan who’s seen them numerous times dating back to 1993 and as recently as two shows in 2006, but I won’t bore you with any more fandom stories …

    Anyway, I’m currently a student at the University of Montana and we had a guest speaker in my Entertainment Management class yesterday (Oct. 23) and it was none other Jeff Ament. All semester our syllabus had listed “Featuring Special Guest TBA” and we were not told who it was until he walked into our classroom.

    He spoke for almost an hour and a half and fielded questions for most of that time. Jeff is originally from Montana and keeps a home around the Missoula area, where the University of Montana is located.

    Anyway, knowing that I was witnessing something rare, I started taking notes and thought I’d share what Jeff had to say to our class. There was no media present, and I think his appearance was kept secret so that there wouldn't be a circus.

    These are paraphrased comments, so don’t interpret this as direct quotes. He was very candid, and I don’t think he’d mind me sharing this, otherwise I wouldn’t post it.

    - The first real gig Jeff ever played was with some friends at a bar in downtown Missoula called the “Top Hat.”

    - He was an art student here for a short time in the early 80s before dropping out and moving to Seattle to start his music career.

    - He said he had only $60 to his name when he arrived in Seattle.

    - Because he was speaking to an entertainment management class, he said networking was vital to his career. He described having a network of about 150 people in the Seattle punk scene.

    - Jeff said Pearl Jam has maintained a lot of control over their work through the years and has never really worked with any heavy-handed producers.

    - He talked a little bit about the evolving music industry and mentioned that some producers and managers are steering their bands toward providing music for commercials. For some bands it’s hard to turn down that kind of money. He said Pearl Jam is fortunate that it hasn’t had to do that and he said the band is approached all the time about providing material for ads, but they turn them down.

    - Jeff was asked about how Pearl Jam formed and he told a short story about picking Ed up at the airport and going directly into a room and playing music for five or six hours, then they shared a bottle of wine and immediately started to get to know each other. He said at that point he and Stone wanted to be in a band that was serious about music and wasn’t about partying all the time and getting chicks. He said Pearl Jam was all business right from the get-go.

    - He said there are three members of the band who are “super heavily opinionated.” He did not elaborate, but I’m sure you can guess who those three are.

    - He said the band is very good to its crew, which numbers between 40 and 50 during tours. He says they have profit-sharing programs and some of the crew members who have been around for a long time have made good livings.

    - He said “Stone and I have our own little language” because they’ve collaborated together for so long. He says this sometimes confuses other band members during jams or the music-writing process.

    - Jeff noted that he used to do all the artwork for the band but it became too demanding as they rose to fame. He said the record company would call him some days and say “we need artwork for the single – you’ve got two days” and then he decided he couldn’t do it all anymore.

    - He talked a bit about his upbringing in Big Sandy, Montana and that being a “jock, a punk rocker and a basketball player” didn’t go well together. He drew a lot of laughter when he said this.

    - He said the names “Mookie Blaylock” and “Pearl Jam” were last-minute names. Somebody asked him how they came up with Pearl Jam and it was interesting to hear his explanation after it was such a secret for so many years. He told the same story that’s only recently come to light. He said many names were floating around and everyone in the band liked “Pearl” and thought something needed to go with it. Then Ed, Stone and Jeff went to New York to sign a deal with Sony/Epic and they went to a Neil Young show where Young only played about eight songs but they were all “20 minute jams.” Jeff said he thinks he said suggested “how about Jam?” to Ed and Stone and that’s how it was added to make Pearl Jam.

    - He added a funny anecdote to this story. Three years later when Pearl Jam played the Bridge School Benefit and met Neil Young for the first time Young showed up in a ’55 Cadillac with a customized license plate that said “Pearl 10.” It was a total coincidence, but it gave the band members shivers.

    - Jeff thinks YouTube is great and doesn’t mind seeing Pearl Jam stuff up there. He just hopes that a five minute video of him playing with his fly unzipped never shows up there.

    - He talked about the band’s official bootlegs and told a funny story about being in a record store in New York years ago before MP3s were around and REAL BOOTLEGED COPIES of their shows were being sold for $30 or $40. He said there were three rows of Pearl Jam bootlegs and Mike McCready grabbed a copy of each one, walked up to the cash register and said something to the effect of, “I’m in this band. You are selling these illegally and I’m taking them and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Everyone in our class laughed, and I don’t know how much of that story is true, and how much of it is a joke or whether Mike really walked out with them.

    - Jeff was asked about fame and said that Pearl Jam really got big here in the states when they were touring in Europe for the first time and it caught them by surprise when they got home. He said when the band got back from Europe they played a show in Columbus, Ohio for a pretty big crowd by their standards at the time. He said that after the show the band could barely get to their bus because so many people were loitering outside wanting to meet them. That’s when they first realized that their music was catching on.

    - He said the whole Nirvana feud was generated by the media, and there was a time when they couldn’t get through an interview without a reporter pushing the issue. He said it got ridiculous.

    - Continuing his discussion of fame, he said there was a time when he couldn’t go to the grocery store without it being weird and the band eventually had to pull back. He said it was good for the band.

    - Somebody asked him who he listens to and he said Kings of Leon, The Strokes and My Morning Jacket and lots of others. He says people often complain to him that there’s no good music coming out anymore and he responds that that’s crazy. He said there’s lots of great stuff out there and technology has made it more accessible.

    - Somebody asked him what’s next for the band and he said he didn’t really know. He said they’re on “hiatus,” but they have one show already booked for next year. He says eventually band members will start calling each other and get the itch to start working together again. He said Ed usually is the last one to come into the fold.

    - Jeff said Ed’s work on Into the Wild is awesome and he appreciated it even more after seeing how it fit into the movie.

    - Someone asked him how many songs surface during the recording process but don’t make it onto the albums, and he said everyone usually brings 4 or 5 songs to the table and gets one or two of them on the album. He said a song doesn’t make the cut unless someone else in the band champions it. So if you’re a member of Pearl Jam and you want one of your songs on the next record, at least one other band member needs to be a big fan of it. He said there are songs that people have gotten onto the record that in retrospect probably didn’t belong, “myself included.”

    - Someone asked Jeff what he does during these “hiatuses.” He said the breaks are great and he still spends a lot of time jamming and recording music. He’s also very involved in the Missoula community and has championed local efforts to build skate parks and other things for the community.

    - The final question asked of Jeff was “Red Sox or Rockies.” His answer: Red Sox.

    There you have it. Hope you enjoyed.

    - Evil Beaver



    thats the coolest thing i have ever heard! you're so lucky :)
  • Red LukinRed Lukin Posts: 2,994
    I don't get how calling Beaver's prof would get him in trouble. It makes no sense.
  • sickgirlsickgirl Posts: 139
    Hey everyone!

    I’m a first-time poster here. I’m mostly a lurker over at Red Mosquito but that message board’s been down for several days.

    Anyway, something happened yesterday that I just can’t keep to myself. I’m a life-long Pearl Jam fan who’s seen them numerous times dating back to 1993 and as recently as two shows in 2006, but I won’t bore you with any more fandom stories …

    Anyway, I’m currently a student at the University of Montana and we had a guest speaker in my Entertainment Management class yesterday (Oct. 23) and it was none other Jeff Ament. All semester our syllabus had listed “Featuring Special Guest TBA” and we were not told who it was until he walked into our classroom.

    He spoke for almost an hour and a half and fielded questions for most of that time. Jeff is originally from Montana and keeps a home around the Missoula area, where the University of Montana is located.

    Anyway, knowing that I was witnessing something rare, I started taking notes and thought I’d share what Jeff had to say to our class. There was no media present, and I think his appearance was kept secret so that there wouldn't be a circus.

    These are paraphrased comments, so don’t interpret this as direct quotes. He was very candid, and I don’t think he’d mind me sharing this, otherwise I wouldn’t post it.

    - The first real gig Jeff ever played was with some friends at a bar in downtown Missoula called the “Top Hat.”

    - He was an art student here for a short time in the early 80s before dropping out and moving to Seattle to start his music career.

    - He said he had only $60 to his name when he arrived in Seattle.

    - Because he was speaking to an entertainment management class, he said networking was vital to his career. He described having a network of about 150 people in the Seattle punk scene.

    - Jeff said Pearl Jam has maintained a lot of control over their work through the years and has never really worked with any heavy-handed producers.

    - He talked a little bit about the evolving music industry and mentioned that some producers and managers are steering their bands toward providing music for commercials. For some bands it’s hard to turn down that kind of money. He said Pearl Jam is fortunate that it hasn’t had to do that and he said the band is approached all the time about providing material for ads, but they turn them down.

    - Jeff was asked about how Pearl Jam formed and he told a short story about picking Ed up at the airport and going directly into a room and playing music for five or six hours, then they shared a bottle of wine and immediately started to get to know each other. He said at that point he and Stone wanted to be in a band that was serious about music and wasn’t about partying all the time and getting chicks. He said Pearl Jam was all business right from the get-go.

    - He said there are three members of the band who are “super heavily opinionated.” He did not elaborate, but I’m sure you can guess who those three are.

    - He said the band is very good to its crew, which numbers between 40 and 50 during tours. He says they have profit-sharing programs and some of the crew members who have been around for a long time have made good livings.

    - He said “Stone and I have our own little language” because they’ve collaborated together for so long. He says this sometimes confuses other band members during jams or the music-writing process.

    - Jeff noted that he used to do all the artwork for the band but it became too demanding as they rose to fame. He said the record company would call him some days and say “we need artwork for the single – you’ve got two days” and then he decided he couldn’t do it all anymore.

    - He talked a bit about his upbringing in Big Sandy, Montana and that being a “jock, a punk rocker and a basketball player” didn’t go well together. He drew a lot of laughter when he said this.

    - He said the names “Mookie Blaylock” and “Pearl Jam” were last-minute names. Somebody asked him how they came up with Pearl Jam and it was interesting to hear his explanation after it was such a secret for so many years. He told the same story that’s only recently come to light. He said many names were floating around and everyone in the band liked “Pearl” and thought something needed to go with it. Then Ed, Stone and Jeff went to New York to sign a deal with Sony/Epic and they went to a Neil Young show where Young only played about eight songs but they were all “20 minute jams.” Jeff said he thinks he said suggested “how about Jam?” to Ed and Stone and that’s how it was added to make Pearl Jam.

    - He added a funny anecdote to this story. Three years later when Pearl Jam played the Bridge School Benefit and met Neil Young for the first time Young showed up in a ’55 Cadillac with a customized license plate that said “Pearl 10.” It was a total coincidence, but it gave the band members shivers.

    - Jeff thinks YouTube is great and doesn’t mind seeing Pearl Jam stuff up there. He just hopes that a five minute video of him playing with his fly unzipped never shows up there.

    - He talked about the band’s official bootlegs and told a funny story about being in a record store in New York years ago before MP3s were around and REAL BOOTLEGED COPIES of their shows were being sold for $30 or $40. He said there were three rows of Pearl Jam bootlegs and Mike McCready grabbed a copy of each one, walked up to the cash register and said something to the effect of, “I’m in this band. You are selling these illegally and I’m taking them and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Everyone in our class laughed, and I don’t know how much of that story is true, and how much of it is a joke or whether Mike really walked out with them.

    - Jeff was asked about fame and said that Pearl Jam really got big here in the states when they were touring in Europe for the first time and it caught them by surprise when they got home. He said when the band got back from Europe they played a show in Columbus, Ohio for a pretty big crowd by their standards at the time. He said that after the show the band could barely get to their bus because so many people were loitering outside wanting to meet them. That’s when they first realized that their music was catching on.

    - He said the whole Nirvana feud was generated by the media, and there was a time when they couldn’t get through an interview without a reporter pushing the issue. He said it got ridiculous.

    - Continuing his discussion of fame, he said there was a time when he couldn’t go to the grocery store without it being weird and the band eventually had to pull back. He said it was good for the band.

    - Somebody asked him who he listens to and he said Kings of Leon, The Strokes and My Morning Jacket and lots of others. He says people often complain to him that there’s no good music coming out anymore and he responds that that’s crazy. He said there’s lots of great stuff out there and technology has made it more accessible.

    - Somebody asked him what’s next for the band and he said he didn’t really know. He said they’re on “hiatus,” but they have one show already booked for next year. He says eventually band members will start calling each other and get the itch to start working together again. He said Ed usually is the last one to come into the fold.

    - Jeff said Ed’s work on Into the Wild is awesome and he appreciated it even more after seeing how it fit into the movie.

    - Someone asked him how many songs surface during the recording process but don’t make it onto the albums, and he said everyone usually brings 4 or 5 songs to the table and gets one or two of them on the album. He said a song doesn’t make the cut unless someone else in the band champions it. So if you’re a member of Pearl Jam and you want one of your songs on the next record, at least one other band member needs to be a big fan of it. He said there are songs that people have gotten onto the record that in retrospect probably didn’t belong, “myself included.”

    - Someone asked Jeff what he does during these “hiatuses.” He said the breaks are great and he still spends a lot of time jamming and recording music. He’s also very involved in the Missoula community and has championed local efforts to build skate parks and other things for the community.

    - The final question asked of Jeff was “Red Sox or Rockies.” His answer: Red Sox.

    There you have it. Hope you enjoyed.

    - Evil Beaver


    That's pretty cool!
    Fuck Cancer, fucking jerk
  • opsopcopolisopsopcopolis Posts: 1,197
    Hey everyone!

    - He talked about the band’s official bootlegs and told a funny story about being in a record store in New York years ago before MP3s were around and REAL BOOTLEGED COPIES of their shows were being sold for $30 or $40. He said there were three rows of Pearl Jam bootlegs and Mike McCready grabbed a copy of each one, walked up to the cash register and said something to the effect of, “I’m in this band. You are selling these illegally and I’m taking them and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Everyone in our class laughed, and I don’t know how much of that story is true, and how much of it is a joke or whether Mike really walked out with them.

    - Evil Beaver

    Jimmy Page does stuff like that in Japan
    2006: Hartford
    2008: Camden 2, Hartford
    2010: Hartford
    2013: Wrigley, Worcester x2, Hartford
    2015: NYC
    2016: Philly 2, MSG x2, Boston 2, (TOTD Philly 2, MSG)
    2018: Prague, Krakow, Berlin, Boston x2
    2022: San Diego, Sacramento, Las Vegas
  • Everything's cool folks.

    My professor wasn't angry. I talked to him yesterday and had him in class again today. Our guest speaker today was a marketing director for a company that promotes concerts. Jeff's visit sure makes the rest of the semester less interesting, but I still love it.

    Because I'm a first time poster, you understand why I panicked, don't you? When I saw my professor's phone number linked earlier in this thread and saw the number of hits climbing exponentially, I imagined him having 50 voicemails and his university inbox crashing. I also imagined him storming into the next class, throwing down his book and yelling, "WHO THE HELL DID IT!" But that wasn't the case.

    No harm, no foul. I don't blame anyone for satisfying their curiosity.

    Be friends, my Pearl Jam brothers.
  • Geez, why are some of you so suspicious? :rolleyes:

    Everytime someone meets the band or does/experiences something cool, they are telling a lie. Seriously.
    I dont think his story is BS. Seems true to me and some of you need to chill and just stop this poop talk...
    So sad. Go watch the dvd you all :p
    And over analyze THAT!
    Couldn't have said it better myself! All of the doubters are just pissed they weren't sitting in the class! NOTHING cool like that ever happened to me in college! Thanks for sharing such a great story.
  • pjfan31pjfan31 Posts: 7,334
    That is cool. Way coller then when Dr, Karl Kruselniski came and spoke to my class yrs ago. Thoug dr k is cool, check him out
    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
  • AnonAnon Posts: 11,175
    I'm glad you got an apology Beaver. Not all PJ fans are so rude! You are one lucky guy that many of us admire. Rock on!! :)
  • ucsbucsb Posts: 58
    Well...that explains a few things.

    Riot Act...I'm looking at you.

    PBM


    that's exactly what i thought
  • einatshauleinatshaul Posts: 2,219
    ucsb wrote:
    that's exactly what i thought

    You're talking about Matt's stuff, right?
  • Red LukinRed Lukin Posts: 2,994
    So it turns out Evil Beaver was legit...nice story
  • I should have included that. Jeff DID say the show they booked next year is Bonaroo.

    You heard it here first.

    But who am I? Just some jerk university student who happened to be in the same room where Jeff gave a speech yesterday.


    .... and he was right indeed.... I was just talking about this thread with my hubby
    "Without the album covers, where do you clean your pot?" - EV
  • whoyouare72whoyouare72 Posts: 2,154
    Hey everyone!
    - Jeff thinks YouTube is great and doesn’t mind seeing Pearl Jam stuff up there. He just hopes that a five minute video of him playing with his fly unzipped never shows up there.- Evil Beaver
    Take a peek at these 2 Footsteps clips from 5/17/2006 Chicago.
    Enjoy!
    (the first one starts a little shaky and the second one is awesome IMO)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUVpVuf2P1U
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5agv2cpPnMk
  • whoyouare72whoyouare72 Posts: 2,154
    - Jeff thinks YouTube is great and doesn’t mind seeing Pearl Jam stuff up there. He just hopes that a five minute video of him playing with his fly unzipped never shows up there.
    Enjoy these two Footsteps clips from 5/17/2006 Chicago!
    (the first one is a little shaky but the second one is excellent!)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUVpVuf2P1U
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5agv2cpPnMk
  • much props evil beaver.
    Atlanta 92
    Columbia 08
    Atlanta 12
    Charlotte 13
    St Louis 14
    Greenville 16
    St Louis 22
    Seattle 24
  • WOW!!! How utterly cool was that experience, i would've loved to have been there (mind u i would've been just a little starstruck & would've wanted to ask a million questions!!! :) )

    that's the best thing i've heard in ages..thanx...:)
  • bigbadbillbigbadbill Posts: 1,758
    :eek: Jeff's a jock! Oh no!

    ...if he comes back, will you ask him if he'll go on a date with me? ;)

    Is this really true?

    Yeah, he was once on MTV's annual basketball game between artists/celebrities and real NBA players. This was back in the early nineties.
    11/6/95, 11/18/97, 7/13/98, 7/14/98, 10/24/00, 10/25/00, 10/28/00, 6/2/03, 6/3/03, 6/5/03, 7/6/06, 7/7/06, 7/9/06, 7/10/06, 7/13/06, 7/15/06, 7/16/06, 7/18/06, 10/21/06, 4/10/08, 4/13/08, 9/30/09, 10/1/09, 10/6/09, 10/7/09, 10/9/09
  • aisleseatsaisleseats Posts: 1,403
    Well, this was an interesting read.

    So, last year for Austin N2, I was second row on the aisle next to the stage. And I was wearing a black Red Sox cap. Well, towards the end of the show, the band is meandering around the stage, waving at ppl in the crowd, etc. And I happen to glance up, and Jeff is looking right at me. He points at me and goes, "Go Sox!" It struck me at the time, because I had no clue he was a Red Sox fan. Perhaps I've just been oblivious all these years.  
    Anyway, for some reason that just popped in my head again. So, I decided to do a search for Jeff Ament & Red Sox to see if I could find anything. That led me to this old gem. 😂
  • SpunkieSpunkie Posts: 6,672
    I like Jeff's one red shoe lace this tour.
  • yosiyosi Posts: 3,037
    Wow. Lots of names I haven’t seen in a long time…

    Also, I forgot how feisty this place used to be. I can’t believe they called up the OP’s professor to see if he was telling the truth…
    you couldn't swing if you were hangin' from a palm tree in a hurricane

  • lastexitlondonlastexitlondon Posts: 13,869
    Nice to see the level of rude crazy is still high
    brixton 93
    astoria 06
    albany 06
    hartford 06
    reading 06
    barcelona 06
    paris 06
    wembley 07
    dusseldorf 07
    nijmegen 07

    this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
  • LoujoeLoujoe Posts: 9,466
    Zombie thread. I was reading like ot was yesterday!
  • Gern BlanstenGern Blansten Posts: 20,275
    edited June 6
    Great story...the guys made very good decisions early on. Actually very impressive management.
    Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018)
    The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)

    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
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