No one knows how it all went down for sure... but I have a VERY hard time believing the band was like 'hey Chris, you muffed a few lyrics in that 8 minute Reach Down song last night, so lets try that again to fix those lyrics.'
Given that Reach Down is one of the two direct tribute songs to Andy Wood on the record, I have NO trouble believing that they asked him to sing it twice, it's also the song that gives Mike the most opportunity to show off. Are you implying that Cornell somehow insisted that he got to sing Reach Down?! Doesn't make a lot of sense......
Obviously no one knows... but they added stuff on night 1 that wasnt on the setlist (Say Hello to Heaven) and repeated two on night 2 with Reach Down being a song many in the crowd didnt get into and it was probably the longest song played over the two nights.
Well they soundchecked Say Hello 2 Heaven, so they must have been at least toying with the idea. They repeated Hunger Strike, which is a given since Ed shares vocals, and perhaps their perception of Reach Down's audience response was different to yours - and maybe they just like that song.
No one knows how it all went down for sure... but I have a VERY hard time believing the band was like 'hey Chris, you muffed a few lyrics in that 8 minute Reach Down song last night, so lets try that again to fix those lyrics.'
Given that Reach Down is one of the two direct tribute songs to Andy Wood on the record, I have NO trouble believing that they asked him to sing it twice, it's also the song that gives Mike the most opportunity to show off. Are you implying that Cornell somehow insisted that he got to sing Reach Down?! Doesn't make a lot of sense......
Having *zero* Pearl Jam songs repeated, but repeating the LONGEST ToTD song makes no sense whatsoever. I have a very hard time believing that they would repeat Reach Down w/o being asked by Chris because I just don't see any chance Stone/Ed/Jeff/Matt/Mike was like 'hey Chris, since you flubbed one of the lyrics lets repeat that.'
No one knows,obviously, but repeating Hunger Strike makes sense because its the one ToTD song everyone know... Reach Down was not known (or well received) by a large part of the crowd. I like the song, but the second night I just wanted to get back to more PJ since they were cutting so much to do the ToTD stuff.
Regardless... I'm just hoping for a 100% PJ show in Toronto. I doubt I get my wish, but hopefully they limit it a bit if they bring out CC or Neil to a song each or something. I've seen Neil "steal" a PJ show encore as well...
Having *zero* Pearl Jam songs repeated, but repeating the LONGEST ToTD song makes no sense whatsoever. I have a very hard time believing that they would repeat Reach Down w/o being asked by Chris because I just don't see any chance Stone/Ed/Jeff/Matt/Mike was like 'hey Chris, since you flubbed one of the lyrics lets repeat that.'
No one knows,obviously, but repeating Hunger Strike makes sense because its the one ToTD song everyone know... Reach Down was not known (or well received) by a large part of the crowd. I like the song, but the second night I just wanted to get back to more PJ since they were cutting so much to do the ToTD stuff.
Regardless... I'm just hoping for a 100% PJ show in Toronto. I doubt I get my wish, but hopefully they limit it a bit if they bring out CC or Neil to a song each or something. I've seen Neil "steal" a PJ show encore as well...
I think it bears repeating that this song in particular along with Say Hello 2 Heaven were the two original songs written for Andy - and without his death Pearl Jam would more than likely never have existed, so it more than makes sense that they would want to honour his memory. So what if Chris flubbed a few lines? Singers do it all the time. Plus as I said, maybe the band love to play that song and they never really get the chance to do it - Mike seemed to be absolutely lost in it.
I think it bears repeating that this song in particular along with Say Hello 2 Heaven were the two original songs written for Andy - and without his death Pearl Jam would more than likely never have existed, so it more than makes sense that they would want to honour his memory. So what if Chris flubbed a few lines? Singers do it all the time. Plus as I said, maybe the band love to play that song and they never really get the chance to do it - Mike seemed to be absolutely lost in it.
OK... maybe originally they were going to to do Say Hello to Heaven on night 2 then (since it wasnt on the setlist), yet they CUT four PJ songs and ADDED that one.
Again no one knows... it just felt like CC really wanted more time than the situation would dictate.
We can all speculate and I know what you are saying. But when the band is so careful as to not do any repeats, its hard to believe they would repeat an 8+ minute song because a few lyrics were flubbed. If that's the case I know they should have repeated In My Tree and a few others from night 1 as well.
If that's not enough... Crown of Thorns would have just as much significance to the event and was cut on BOTH nights from the set to make time for ToTD/CC stuff.
Cornell being there was a massive bonus, and I think anyone there should do their best to put it in perspective: if you were hoping for something "special", something "unique", well...that was kinda it, right? I mean, 21 years ago (roughly) EV didn't even know Stone, Jeff or Mike...but those 3 guys were spending a lot of time with Matt and Chris. They made an emotional tribute album to a special friend, Andy Wood, and as timing would have it EV rolls into Seattle at just this moment to lay down vocals on a few tracks. Soundgarden was, by far, the big respected band at this time, and for Cornell to recognize how special a voice this guy "Crazy Eddie" guy had was a big deal. Rather than play big-shot, he essentially gave Eddie a break and invited him into his world, took him under the wing. Don't forget...Stone, Jeff, Mike, Matt, Chris were a real band that recorded a real album with EV as a guest vocalist, and TOD essentially was launched at the very same time PJ was launched. So, yes - in my opinion this reunion differentiated both nights from any "regular" PJ show, and that's something it seems most of us in attendance were hoping for. ADDED BONUS: Cornell still brings it much the same as EV! The guys voice is still so powerful. Watching Stone pretty much just become a fan while watching side-stage should tell us all something. PJ has huge respect for Cornell, as they should. And while some may feel the back-to-back was too much, I disagree. For one, it was just plain awesome. But two, consider this: not everyone in attendance was doing both nights, so anyone that missed Night 1 but who'd heard all about the TOD reunion had to be elated to get Cornell night 2.
Final thought: keep in mind this was PJ20, not PJ5 or PJ10. It was clear that EV was trying his best to "save" his voice. No way he goes 6 hours in 2 days without some help, and him being able to take a 15-20 minute "Breath" both nights must've been a relief.
Nice post. Stardog Champion blew me away on Night 1. Singing along with the chorus and outro was too cool. Then the following day when going through the PJ museum, the great (almost cosmic) history of it all really hit me, and I admit I got pretty emotional walking through the band's history. Hard to put it into words, but this festival was a lot more than just 2 nights of music. If I deconstruct the setlists each night, I can certainly find parts that I wish were different, so I've tried avoided doing this, and like you said, just keeping it all in a greater perspective.
Regardless... I'm just hoping for a 100% PJ show in Toronto. I doubt I get my wish, but hopefully they limit it a bit if they bring out CC or Neil to a song each or something. I've seen Neil "steal" a PJ show encore as well...
Having Neil come out in an encore to do Long Road as a tribute to the 9/11 victoms would be amazing. I don't think it would be Neil stealing the encore.
Toronto Sept 96. Barrie Aug 98. Toronto Oct 00. Toronto June 03. Hamilton Sept 05. Toronto May 06. Toronto Aug 09. Toronto Sept 11. London July 13. Toronto May 16 (I & II).
Eddie solo. Aug 08 (Massey Hall II)
Having Neil come out in an encore to do Long Road as a tribute to the 9/11 victoms would be amazing. I don't think it would be Neil stealing the encore.
No - that would indeed be awesome. I'm more thinking of when I saw PJ in Toledo 04 and he was the last 5 songs...1-2 is fine... 5 is overkill. :(
its 20 years of Pearl Jam... the earlier part of it was what it was. But this was 20 years of PJ.
be like seeing the Beatles play a 20 year celebration weekend and then devoting 8 songs to John Lennon's shit skiffle band and a guest appearance by Johnny Moondog on washboard.
oh.. i 'complained' about the cover songs... again i find it odd that a band with a gargantuan back catalogue such as theirs would play Arms Aloft and an MC5 song. :?
Well, since you traveled all the way from Scotland to Wisconsin, I guess you have a right to complain ... you did make the show, right?
who's complaining? i'm saying i find it odd that they played cover songs at their 20th anniversary concert... i also find it odd that they devoted a chunk of time to a period before PJ were formed. Not complaining... more querying.
i went to the 50th anniversary of a unified Germany a few years back... it was bit weird cos they got out some old Nazis and let them speak for a bit. I said to the guy next to me that i found that a bit odd but he just said "oh well... i mean they kinda helped set-up the country and all that" and i said "i thought it was to celebrate 50 years of Germany?" and he said "its not about the anniversary my friend, its about how they got there" ... which again was weird as it was definitely called PJ20... eh i mean... 50th Anniversary of the Unification of Germany... but still... people will find a way to justify anything.
oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
Oh well, I'm looking at these two shows as a warm up for the Canadian tour. I have a really good vibe about the Canadian tour for some reason.
I don't mean this to be mean, but I feel sorry for Canadians and South Americans. Your shows are going to suck by comparison. There's nowhere to go but down.
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i'd take last night's setlist over both shows in wisconsin.
Oh well, I'm looking at these two shows as a warm up for the Canadian tour. I have a really good vibe about the Canadian tour for some reason.
I don't mean this to be mean, but I feel sorry for Canadians and South Americans. Your shows are going to suck by comparison. There's nowhere to go but down.
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i'd take last night's setlist over both shows in wisconsin.
uncle neil > cornell too. just sayin'...
100% absolutely agree. Last night's set (on paper), along with the addition of Neil, blows away both PJ20 sets.
But, we won't understand because we weren't there.
For me, if you lay out all 3 bootlegs in front of me, and give me a choice, I'm taking Toronto all day long.
i'd take last night's setlist over both shows in wisconsin.
uncle neil > cornell too. just sayin'...
100% absolutely agree. Last night's set (on paper), along with the addition of Neil, blows away both PJ20 sets.
But, we won't understand because we weren't there.
For me, if you lay out all 3 bootlegs in front of me, and give me a choice, I'm taking Toronto all day long.
I was lucky enough to be all three... I'll take either PJ20 anyday. Last night was a great show, but there was nothing in there that wasnt at PJ20... the Neil stuff at the end was cool but that was just a few minutes.
Just my opinion... I thought last night was great but nowhere near either PJ20 show.
Comments
Given that Reach Down is one of the two direct tribute songs to Andy Wood on the record, I have NO trouble believing that they asked him to sing it twice, it's also the song that gives Mike the most opportunity to show off. Are you implying that Cornell somehow insisted that he got to sing Reach Down?! Doesn't make a lot of sense......
Well they soundchecked Say Hello 2 Heaven, so they must have been at least toying with the idea. They repeated Hunger Strike, which is a given since Ed shares vocals, and perhaps their perception of Reach Down's audience response was different to yours - and maybe they just like that song.
No one knows,obviously, but repeating Hunger Strike makes sense because its the one ToTD song everyone know... Reach Down was not known (or well received) by a large part of the crowd. I like the song, but the second night I just wanted to get back to more PJ since they were cutting so much to do the ToTD stuff.
Regardless... I'm just hoping for a 100% PJ show in Toronto. I doubt I get my wish, but hopefully they limit it a bit if they bring out CC or Neil to a song each or something. I've seen Neil "steal" a PJ show encore as well...
I think it bears repeating that this song in particular along with Say Hello 2 Heaven were the two original songs written for Andy - and without his death Pearl Jam would more than likely never have existed, so it more than makes sense that they would want to honour his memory. So what if Chris flubbed a few lines? Singers do it all the time. Plus as I said, maybe the band love to play that song and they never really get the chance to do it - Mike seemed to be absolutely lost in it.
Again no one knows... it just felt like CC really wanted more time than the situation would dictate.
We can all speculate and I know what you are saying. But when the band is so careful as to not do any repeats, its hard to believe they would repeat an 8+ minute song because a few lyrics were flubbed. If that's the case I know they should have repeated In My Tree and a few others from night 1 as well.
If that's not enough... Crown of Thorns would have just as much significance to the event and was cut on BOTH nights from the set to make time for ToTD/CC stuff.
Nice post. Stardog Champion blew me away on Night 1. Singing along with the chorus and outro was too cool. Then the following day when going through the PJ museum, the great (almost cosmic) history of it all really hit me, and I admit I got pretty emotional walking through the band's history. Hard to put it into words, but this festival was a lot more than just 2 nights of music. If I deconstruct the setlists each night, I can certainly find parts that I wish were different, so I've tried avoided doing this, and like you said, just keeping it all in a greater perspective.
Having Neil come out in an encore to do Long Road as a tribute to the 9/11 victoms would be amazing. I don't think it would be Neil stealing the encore.
Eddie solo. Aug 08 (Massey Hall II)
who's complaining? i'm saying i find it odd that they played cover songs at their 20th anniversary concert... i also find it odd that they devoted a chunk of time to a period before PJ were formed. Not complaining... more querying.
i went to the 50th anniversary of a unified Germany a few years back... it was bit weird cos they got out some old Nazis and let them speak for a bit. I said to the guy next to me that i found that a bit odd but he just said "oh well... i mean they kinda helped set-up the country and all that" and i said "i thought it was to celebrate 50 years of Germany?" and he said "its not about the anniversary my friend, its about how they got there" ... which again was weird as it was definitely called PJ20... eh i mean... 50th Anniversary of the Unification of Germany... but still... people will find a way to justify anything.
i'd take last night's setlist over both shows in wisconsin.
uncle neil > cornell too. just sayin'...
100% absolutely agree. Last night's set (on paper), along with the addition of Neil, blows away both PJ20 sets.
But, we won't understand because we weren't there.
For me, if you lay out all 3 bootlegs in front of me, and give me a choice, I'm taking Toronto all day long.
Just my opinion... I thought last night was great but nowhere near either PJ20 show.