**** Calgary Fanviews Here 9/21/11 ****

supersonicyears

nothingman4 wrote:

My cousin Sean was the inspiration for myself and the rest of my family to get into this band. He was the oldest cousin of ours and opened our eyes to this religion that we call Pearl Jam. He passed away in 2007 and it was devestating to our family.

My brother and I ran into Mike early in the day and had a nice chat with him about the city, jobs, and The Bow River. Before he left, I explained to him what I said above, and told him that Deep was Seans favorite song and that he never got to hear it live, and that we were wondering if there was any chance they could play it tonight while all of our cousins were at the show. Not only did they play it, as well as dedicate it to Sean, they did the same with Light Years as well. What an absolute surreal moment for all of us at the show tonight. That is something we will never ever forget, and something we will cherish forever.

Thank you so much guys.

So beautiful! Pearl Jam is awsome!!

WMAmorican

Not to be too much of a nerd, but I'm also an R.E.M. freak and I know Eddie is to, so I'm just curious exactly what he said before and/or after the R.E.M. song...did he simply dedicate it to them, or did he talk about how much he liked them, did he say he was bummed they'd broken up?

Any info would be welcome...

Brisk.

WMAmorican wrote:

Not to be too much of a nerd, but I'm also an R.E.M. freak and I know Eddie is to, so I'm just curious exactly what he said before and/or after the R.E.M. song...did he simply dedicate it to them, or did he talk about how much he liked them, did he say he was bummed they'd broken up?

Any info would be welcome...

Yup me too

UPLOAD YOUR VIDEOS OF IT PEOPLE ALREADY!!!

Hinn

It Happened Today.

That's all.

guitar59

WMAmorican wrote:

Not to be too much of a nerd, but I'm also an R.E.M. freak and I know Eddie is to, so I'm just curious exactly what he said before and/or after the R.E.M. song...did he simply dedicate it to them, or did he talk about how much he liked them, did he say he was bummed they'd broken up?

Any info would be welcome...

Can't remember his exact words...but he seemed a little shaken and distraught with this news. He talked for a bit about it before the song. He seemed to have a difficult time expressing himself as he talked about the formative years in the Seattle scene and his relationship with R.E.M. members.

The Waiting Trophy Man

Had a blast at the show last night! Calgary definitely brought it again. I sang my heart out and screamed my face off. My wife says I sound like I got hit by a truck today. Ready to do it all over again tomorrow night right here in Edmonton!!! This city better friggin bring it tomorrow night, unlike last time!!!!!! Wonder if I'll be 4th row center, like last time??? :think:

nothingman4

nc_jammer wrote:

Light Years in Calgary, First verse and Chorus .
sorry didn't get it all,...wanted to enjoy the tune. One of the highlights for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwkNc9Id-BM

PS check out my sig picture ,... Canadian tour shirt logo,..sweet

Thank you for getting the very beginning of Light Years

quarterto10

My name is Joe and this is my story. I wouldn't even have a Pearl Jam story if it wasn't for my friend Wendy, who introduced me to the band by playing them over and over and over until I really began to LISTEN, who decided that traveling from Edmonton to California in '98 to see Pearl Jam live wasn't the act of crazy people. If it wasn't for Wendy, I would never have seen 30+ shows over years, met people from around the world who have their own stories to tell and share the same love and devotion for the band. Simply put I would never have experienced the unadulterated joy that Pearl Jam provides. Three crooked hearts, swirls all around to you, Wendy...

When the eponymous album arrived in 2006, Wendy and I both immediately fell in love with the song Parachutes. It is a sonically beautiful poem, a song that I want to sing as loud as I can whenever I hear it. I traveled to Italy in 2006 to see them play in Pistoia, and hoped beyond hope that they would play Parachutes. Missed it by one show, as they played it the night before in Torino. Over the years, the running joke with my friends was that despite explicit pre-show vibes sent to the band telepathically, Parachutes was not played at any of the shows I attended.

Fast forward to September, 2011. A Pearl Jam fan's wet dream. PJ20 destination weekend, a movie, a book, two performances on Jimmy Fallon, and a Canadian tour which happens to travel through my home city as well as two other cities that at 3 hours and 6 hours drive are still the second and third closest I have had to travel to see them. At Alpine Valley, I decided I needed to take matters into my own hands to break the Parachutes curse, so I made a colourful sign that simply read 'PARACHUTES' on a two foot long strip of cardboard.

[img url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/67805551@N02/6176302976/][/img][/url]
original parachutes by laurier87, on Flickr

I didn't know if Wendy's fan club tickets would get us close enough for the band to see the sign; that point was made moot when the rain settled in on day 1 and the sign, despite my best efforts, became waterlogged and ruined.

For Saskatoon I decided to be a little more 'artistic' and create a sign that had both visual and textual components:

[img url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/67805551@N02/6172359539/][/img][/url]
PJSASKATOON1 by laurier87, on Flickr


Wendy's fan club tickets provided us with an incredible row 2 experience, and no, Parachutes was not played. But as the band took their final bows and headed off the stage, I held up my sign, pointing out the empty box beside Calgary, and Eddie SAW it. I could see him look at it for a second to read what it said, and then he gave a slight nod and understanding washed over his face as the meaning became clear. WOW!

Two days later, yesterday Sept 21, 2011 in fact, as Wendy and I drove from Edmonton to Calgary, just south of Leduc I pulled of the side of the road to sticker my car with the PJ20 sticker I had bought in Saskatoon and had (until then) forgotten to actually stick on. I opened the trunk to get the sticker out of my backpack, only to realize with horror that I had forgotten to BRING my backpack. The missing backpack in and of itself wasn't a great tragedy, save for the fact that my Parachutes sign was also in it. After a few moments of calculating how much time we would lose by turning around I decided, with Wendy's completely supportive blessing, to go back home for the sign. An hour and a half later, we were back where I had pulled over, but with backpack and sign. Good thing we had left really really early the first time!

[img
PJCALGARY by laurier87, on Flickr[/img]

Row 5 in Calgary, not as close as Saskatoon but still incredible. The show began with Release, which harkened by to the stunning Release that opened Alpine Valley; I don't think any performance of Release will ever touch the magic of that Alpine Valley opening, but I was extremely exited none-the-less that they opened with Release in Calgary. The setlist moved along tremendous song after tremendous song. The band seemed loose and energized and the crowd was unbelievable. I held up my sign a couple of times during the first set when Ed was talking and then as they left the stage. When the band came back on stage for the first encore, I held up the sign again, then suddenly my attention was drawn to the security person at the end of the row that was motioning me to come to him. I though to myself, damn he's going to take my sign, so I put it down as if to say 'okay' I won't continue to hold it up. He kept motioning impatiently for me to bring the sign to him, so resigned, I grabbed the sign and walked down the row to where he was. He leaned into me and said into my ear, "after the next song the band is going to call you up on stage, is that alright with you'?" Not comprehending what he had just said, I nodded and said "sure, no problem". He said that he would come and get me when the time came, so I shuffled back to my seat and proceeded to try and compute what had just happened. Wendy asked me what he had said and I told her that I was going up on stage for the next song. She screamed something to the effect of OMG. All I could think to do was give her my camera to take a picture of me up on stage, then the guard was back and took me out to the end of the row. When the song they were playing ended (Just Breathe), he led me through the gate around back to the side of the stage. Ed was introducing the song and suddenly there I was up on stage with Pearl Jam, showing my sign, hearing Ed say that according to the sign they could still play the song in Edmonton. Ha! Then he had me sit on a stool beside him so I could hold up the lyrics for him to sing and he gave me a swig of his wine. And he sang. The song that I had waited so long to hear, with me sitting and singing right beside him.

Thank u Wendy, thank u Pearl Jam

PS if any of you happened to get a good picture/video of this, please PM me. It would be fantastic to hear from you.

MayDay10

I know Im not supposed to comment, if I wasnt there...


But you people are lucky. This looks like a great show!

nc_jammer1

nothingman4 wrote:

nc_jammer wrote:

Light Years in Calgary, First verse and Chorus .
sorry didn't get it all,...wanted to enjoy the tune. One of the highlights for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwkNc9Id-BM

PS check out my sig picture ,... Canadian tour shirt logo,..sweet

Thank you for getting the very beginning of Light Years

You're very welcome,...glad I got it.

AndySlash

quarterto10 wrote:

My name is Joe and this is my story.

hell fucking yeah, dude.

rcs

Hey quarterto10 (Just Joe ) thanks so much for being so persistent and getting Parachutes played. I love the song and it was the last song I needed off of Avacado. I`ve now heard the entire album live but like you it`s taken me a number of years to get it. Well done!

RockinInCanada

Joe I will be honest Parchutes is not up there in my preferred PJ song list, BUT after reading your story and see how fucking happy you were on-stage last night it made my day to now put your story together with the on-stage guest appearance.

Hope someone can post a video so you can have an everlasting visual memory.

quarterto10

rcs wrote:

Hey quarterto10 (Just Joe ) thanks so much for being so persistent and getting Parachutes played. I love the song and it was the last song I needed off of Avacado. I`ve now heard the entire album live but like you it`s taken me a number of years to get it. Well done!

happy to oblige! :-D

The Waiting Trophy Man

You're pretty brave Joe. I think if I was told by security that the band wanted me to go up on stage and hold the lyrics, I would have folded. I would have been like no friggin way, lol. I might have just given Wendy that job and stayed in my seat. But good for you for going up there. I couldn't have done it though!!!!

quarterto10

RockinInCanada wrote:

Joe I will be honest Parchutes is not up there in my preferred PJ song list, BUT after reading your story and see how fucking happy you were on-stage last night it made my day to now put your story together with the on-stage guest appearance.

Hope someone can post a video so you can have an everlasting visual memory.

Thanks so much!

quarterto10

The Waiting Trophy Man wrote:

You're pretty brave Joe. I think if I was told by security that the band wanted me to go up on stage and hold the lyrics, I would have folded. I would have been like no friggin way, lol. I might have just given Wendy that job and stayed in my seat. But good for you for going up there. I couldn't have done it though!!!!

Thanks! Honestly, I am not in any way regretting what happened, nor would I take it back, but I think knowing Wendy and what Pearl Jam means to her, I wish she could have gone up there.

NWOntario

nothingman4 wrote:

My cousin Sean was the inspiration for myself and the rest of my family to get into this band. He was the oldest cousin of ours and opened our eyes to this religion that we call Pearl Jam. He passed away in 2007 and it was devestating to our family.

My brother and I ran into Mike early in the day and had a nice chat with him about the city, jobs, and The Bow River. Before he left, I explained to him what I said above, and told him that Deep was Seans favorite song and that he never got to hear it live, and that we were wondering if there was any chance they could play it tonight while all of our cousins were at the show. Not only did they play it, as well as dedicate it to Sean, they did the same with Light Years as well. What an absolute surreal moment for all of us at the show tonight. That is something we will never ever forget, and something we will cherish forever.

Thank you so much guys.

Awesome. Hence the "Sean" references before "Deep" and "Light Years". If you're ever struggling to explain Pearl Jam's appeal, here's your story.

NWOntario

Oh, and Joe, I was sitting directly behind you in the SHOW ME YOUR RIFFS t-shirt. Like someone else said: never been a "Parachutes" fan myself, but seeing you holding up the lyric sheet and then throwing your arm around Ed's neck while singing towards the end totally changed my relationship with the songs. See you in Edmonton!

neilybabes86

nc_jammer wrote:

Light Years in Calgary, First verse and Chorus .
sorry didn't get it all,...wanted to enjoy the tune. One of the highlights for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwkNc9Id-BM

PS check out my sig picture ,... Canadian tour shirt logo,..sweet

wow you just gave me blue balls