A plea - arena/stadium shows for all shows (no festivals!)

Eraserhead

Hello Pearl Jam fans

Before I start my message, I'd like to make two points:

1) I'm not boycotting festivals, PJ, or anything else for that matter
2) Festival shows are better than nothing, so I do appreciate seeing the band in Europe

With that in mind...

I'd like to politely request that the band play more arena/stadium (tiny clubs, every venue...) shows in Europe. Lets compare a like-for-like set of dates from the 2009 tour. In May 2009 the US got 13 shows, with 12 of them being arenas. Just over a month later, Europe got 11 shows, with only 2 of them being in arenas. I refer back to point 2 - this is better than nothing. However, PJ's own non-festival headling shows are better for everyone.

After the Hyde Park show in London there were a lot of comments on here about the general (mis)behaviour of the crowd. I'm not saying that everyone had a gripe, but the general vibe was that the crowd let themselves down and spoilt the day for some people on here.

Festival shows generally have shorter setlists than arena/stadium shows. Some of them barely clock up the 1hr 30 mark. Compare that to the recent indoor shows in Canada which lasted 2hr 30 or longer. Anyone here seen the PJ20 film? Of course you have! One thing that struck me was the whole Ticketmaster affair. I had no idea of the depth of the problem the band raised, and wasn't even aware that it was filmed. Stone made a point about ticket costs and getting a fair price for the fans. Ticket prices for festivals are extremely high. Why pay 3 times as much for a ticket to see PJ play for 90+ minutes, when you could see them play for twice that long for a third of the cost?!

I hope to see the band in Europe in 2012 (as do many others on here) and I hope it's their own shows and not added to a festival bill. :thumbup:

Pap

Eraserhead wrote:

I hope to see the band in Europe in 2012 (as do many others on here) and I hope it's their own shows and not added to a festival bill. :thumbup:

+1 Come back to Greece please!

dimitrispearljam

at 2009 was 5 shows at europe 4 indoor,1 outdoor,but was Berlin..2010 got 11,only 2 at indoor.9 out,1of them berlin
i like all,cos pj are in stage..i love open amphitheater like berlin..this would be the best choice..
ancient theaters,like Verona 06 show..and we have so many at Greece..

Johnny Aggro

The Olympia in Dublin. Its very like the theatre in the EV video. I saw STP and FNM there in the last two years, and the Cardigans about 15 years back.

You will also see it on the REM DVD release. They played there 5 nights in a row, and that of course, would be my dream Pearl Jam event!


Amazing venue

Pap

dimitrispearljam wrote:

This would be the best choice: ancient theaters,like Verona 06 show..and we have so many at Greece..

eddiec

Pap wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

This would be the best choice: ancient theaters,like Verona 06 show..and we have so many at Greece..

Summer tour at a few Greek cities. I'm in.

Pap

eddiec wrote:

Pap wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

This would be the best choice: ancient theaters,like Verona 06 show..and we have so many at Greece..

Summer tour at a few Greek cities. I'm in.

Yay!

CorduroyGirl

Eraserhead wrote:

I hope to see the band in Europe in 2012 (as do many others on here) and I hope it's their own shows and not added to a festival bill. :thumbup:

I agree 100%!!! Last two shows in Portugal were Festivals, it's always great but never the same

flintstoned

Obviously, Wuhlheide is such a kickass venue. That being said, there are also great arenas in Czech Republic and Poland(kickass Euro 2012 stadiums which are of moderate size). Dream spot for Europe show would be of course Spodek in Katowice, but it's not likely to happen.

YieldToNothing

i agree with you but keep in mind...
festivals pay better
festivals are easier for the band to play for many different reasons

big mick

I agree, come to England and play some long shows and not just Manchester and London. Spread the Jam guys!

CarolineSays

Eraserhead wrote:

<snip>

I hope to see the band in Europe in 2012 (as do many others on here) and I hope it's their own shows and not added to a festival bill. :thumbup:

+1

I desperately need to up my count of venue concerts... The festival slots were OK (especially Pinkpop) but it's just not the same.

Hubby and I will be having a semi-sabbatical in 2012 so we will be able to travel all around Europe. A 2012 Euro tour would be GREAT timing.

_annie_

Gordan: I am all in for a European Tour next summer. And you know that you can get everything in Croatia: ancient amphitheaters and modern arenas. So you can plan to play, at least, three shows in Croatia: start in Zagreb, go to Pula and then go along the coast and finish the Croatian Tour in Split. That is official request from Croatian wing of 10c. And we mean it

foursymbols

Johnny Aggro wrote:

The Olympia in Dublin. Its very like the theatre in the EV video. I saw STP and FNM there in the last two years, and the Cardigans about 15 years back.

You will also see it on the REM DVD release. They played there 5 nights in a row, and that of course, would be my dream Pearl Jam event!
Amazing venue

F*ck this would be the greatest show ever!! Love this venue, saw that STP gig too, brilliant stuff, Pixies also played incredible gig there too..,

Squarah

PJ have only come to Scotland twice in 20 years! My votes for a gig here!! Pleeeease!

Hinn

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Hyde Park.

Stadiums will always suck as music venues because none of them are built for music.

Berlin is Berlin. No more needs to be said. I didn't go in 2010, but I loved Goeffert Park at Nijmegen, a great venue for the 2007 show there.

I will pay many times over the price of that Rock Werchter ticket if it means Black Keys -> Alice In Chains -> Them Crooked Vultures -> Arcade Fire -> PJ again.

Yes, that right, I glossed right over Vampire Weekend . Besides, Arcade Fire played a better set than PJ that night.

From the rest of the European places I'd seen 'em

- Munich Olympiahalle - ordinary
- Chorzow Stadion Slaski - horrid stadium echo
- London Wembley Arena - nondescript
- Dusseldorf ISS dome - concrete block
- Copenhagen Forum - big pile of meh
- London SheBu Empire - the flat floor and the layout for this place really does suck compared to some of the other similar sized theatres, but eh, it WAS walking distance to get home afterwards
- Rotterdam Ahoy - borrrrring
- Manchester MEN - yuck
- London O2 - yeah yeah yeah, great sound, but it's still just indoor concrete tedium. In fucking North Greenwich. Can't get a fucking pint or 5 after the gig around the venue otherwise you're stranded. Fucking North Greenwich.
- Dublin O2 and Belfast Odyssey - let's face it, I was hungover at the former and overjoyed at the latter because the Aussies managed a win in the World Cup, so the venues really didn't matter

Alpine Valley was nice. We should introduce the idea of tailgating in Europe.

Not that there's any real comparative merit to the North American arenas I'd been over the last 3 years - Seattle Key Arena blows, Vancouver GM Place meh, Philly Spectrum was a firefighter's nightmare, and I can hardly remember Montreal's Bell Centre and Toronto's Air Canada Centre. ScotiaBank Place in Ottawa I remember cos of being an ordinary place in the middle of nowhere, and Copps Coliseum in Hamilton... it was Hamilton.

In short, Hinny loves the great outdoors

so02see

As Hinn so well explained, it's not always about the Venue, it's about what else is going on in your life on that day, who you're with, how well run the venue is etc.
Organisation at Dublin was shambolic and I almost got pushed aside by staff after sitting out from midnight the night before with 2 others, that didnt ruin my experience.
Manchester MEN I got great 10c seats
Philly Spectrum I was with some of the best people I ever met
MSG, again, great freinds and an iconic venue and great city
Key Arena, terrible seats but WTF it's a home town show.
Leeds Festival, an emotional Eddie but it poured with rain (ditto Alpine)

I could go on but I wont bore you further.
Suffice to say, my most memorable shows are INSIDE and mostly not surrounded by people so pissed up, they have no clue who's on stage.

Dirty Frankk

I don't care where as long is it only PJ show, no Festivals

Jennytree

Hinn wrote:

We should introduce the idea of tailgating in Europe.

I'd love to see it done here, but it made me sad that people left the party that was organised the night before the Dublin 2010 show to go sit outside the O2 all night.

Seb77

Totally agree! Nijmegen 2010 was definitely my least favorite concert as it was way too short (although the mini-festival was all about the PJ gig...). Didn't feel right - Berlin 3 days later was MUCH better...

Eraserhead

To fix my opening comment - yes, I meant 2010, not 2009. The last couple of years of PJ shows have become a blur!

I'd love to see PJ play outdoor shows in the UK, as long as they're not playing the festival circuit. It's just that we don't really have that many GOOD ones here. Heaton Park in Manchester (Stone Roses playing there next year...), Hyde Park (well, maybe). And factor in the good old British Summer for a rainstorm of bibical proportions!

I just feel we get the raw-end of the deal this side of the pond. Wait years for the band to play here and get a cut-down version of what's happening in the US, South America, Japan, Australia, etc.

so02see

Sorry about that Jenny but we were some of the first to arrive and had a great time till 11.45 at your pre party when some were going back to hotels to rest after a day's travelling

Jennytree wrote:

Hinn wrote:

We should introduce the idea of tailgating in Europe.

I'd love to see it done here, but it made me sad that people left the party that was organised the night before the Dublin 2010 show to go sit outside the O2 all night.

so02see

Yeh, 3+ hour long shows in the UK please

Eraserhead wrote:

To fix my opening comment - yes, I meant 2010, not 2009. The last couple of years of PJ shows have become a blur!

I'd love to see PJ play outdoor shows in the UK, as long as they're not playing the festival circuit. It's just that we don't really have that many GOOD ones here. Heaton Park in Manchester (Stone Roses playing there next year...), Hyde Park (well, maybe). And factor in the good old British Summer for a rainstorm of bibical proportions!

I just feel we get the raw-end of the deal this side of the pond. Wait years for the band to play here and get a cut-down version of what's happening in the US, South America, Japan, Australia, etc.

Eraserhead

3 hour UK shows is the dream!

Hinn

Jennytree wrote:

Hinn wrote:

We should introduce the idea of tailgating in Europe.

I'd love to see it done here, but it made me sad that people left the party that was organised the night before the Dublin 2010 show to go sit outside the O2 all night.

I can't remember leaving. I just remember waking up in some hostel room with Touring Van, Touring Van missus and Touring Van housemate.

Eraserhead

Got all night.... Got all night....

boyo79

Dirty Frankk wrote:

I don't care where as long is it only PJ show, no Festivals

I hope they go back to doing their own shows in Europe rather than than Festivals. I have no interest in going the festivals, plus festival setlists are not as good.

PJ Sweden

bump

leespj

I would love to see pearl jam at this venue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRQhbTxrNds

Eraserhead

That venue looks amazing!

AndiM

Hinn wrote:

- Munich Olympiahalle - ordinary
- Dusseldorf ISS dome - concrete block

All I remember about Düsseldorf: The big chaos at the entrance and standing for hours in the rain :?. Oh and the chaos afterwards when people tried to leave by car. As much as I'd like to see more than one German non-festival show on the tour: NOT DÜSSELDORF!

And the Olympiahalle has notoriously bad accustics. Even considering that I'll live close by Munich again next year, I don't want to see them in there.