Just got back from Thunder Bay - great show!! I couldn't believe looking at the setlist that only 23 songs were played, it seemed like so much longer. Present Tense as an opener was amazing, as were my seats in the 13th row (thanks 10C!). Yeah it was hot, but there was so much energy in that place last night. Everybody where I was sitting was SO into it, although I did see a some lame-asses sitting down behind the stage. I thought it was really cool seeing PJ in such a small place.
Eddie was more animated than I've ever seen him. Granted this is the only show I attended/will attend on this tour, but he was into it, man. Jumping all around, climbed the speakers on Porch, etc...Just an overall awesome show, well worth the 6+hr drive from Wisconsin. It was one of those where the setlist doesn't look good on paper, but if you were there it didn't matter.
And the preset! Oh the preset! I had just found my seats and was about to go fetch a t-shirt when the lights go out and Eddie comes strolling onto the stage with a guitar and a harmonica. I knew Hide Your Love Away was coming and sure as shit, there it is. My timing was unreal, if I had left 10 mins later I would have missed it. Divine!
So thanks PJ...See you around the bend.
4-23-03 Champaign
6-21-03 Alpine Valley
9-9-05 Thunder Bay
thanks for all of the reviews, even though i wasn't there i can picture exactly what went down.
Is this the only show were Ed did a mini pre set (hide your love away)?
Can't wait for my first show of the tour tomorrow night. I'll be sure to give a formal report
"it feels like it's the end of the world and we all got a good seat. you know -- step right up, get your tickets...here we go."
Wow, only 23 songs that include Cropduster, Last Kiss, and Driven to Tears? This has to be the worst so far.
The show was much better than the setlist would indicate. Ed opening the show with Hide YOur Love, Mike joining Supersuckers for Thin Lizzy's Cowboy SOng, Ed joing them for Poor Girl and I believe in miracles, plus Ed bringing a fan onstage to sing Miracles cause he was wearing a Ramones shirt, Ed then jumping on his back and singing from there, Ed going into the crowd and singing Last Kiss from the 15th row, Supersuckers joing PJ for RITFW, Quatro singing and yelling about its time to rock! Many many things happened that didn't show up on that setlist. And I forgot the Ed Quote, "I fuck like a rabbit but I can't hear for shit"
Just rolled into Chicago back from ThunderBay!
I just want to say "Thanks!" to all the locals that took good care of us last night!
The after-parties at Players, Scuttlebutts, and the Vahalla Inn were sweet! Sing- alongs until 5 AM!
Did anyone else catch that Mike and Jeff were playing War Pigs during Alive?
Listen to the boot- It was hilarious they were face to face laughing during the whole thing! More later... Awesome time!
Just rolled into Chicago back from ThunderBay!
I just want to say "Thanks!" to all the locals that took good care of us last night!
The after-parties at Players, Scuttlebutts, and the Vahalla Inn were sweet! Sing- alongs until 5 AM!
Did anyone else catch that Mike and Jeff were playing War Pigs during Alive?
Listen to the boot- It was hilarious they were face to face laughing during the whole thing! More later... Awesome time!
Damn we had no clue where Scuttlebutts was so we skipped it, ended up chilling out at East Side marios with a couple other PJ fans from MN and WI. Someone had a War Pigs sign so that why I think they did it.
The best show of my life. I drove about 10 hours from South Dakota, and I about had a heart attack when Ed pointed me out to come up and sing I Believe in Miracles with him and the SuperSuckers. It was definately an experience that I'll never forget. I am still in shock as I type this back in South Dakota.
6/30/98 Minneapolis, 10/08/00 East Troy, 10/09/00 Chicago, 6/6/03 Las Vegas, 6/15/03 Fargo, 6/16/03 St. Paul, 9/9/05 Thunder Bay, 5/16/06 Chicago, 5/17/06 Chicago, 6/26/06 St. Paul, 6/27/06 St. Paul
The best show of my life. I drove about 10 hours from South Dakota, and I about had a heart attack when Ed pointed me out to come up and sing I Believe in Miracles with him and the SuperSuckers. It was definately an experience that I'll never forget. I am still in shock as I type this back in South Dakota.
You need to know this: you're a hero. Just an amazing moment last night...dude, YOU GAVE EDDIE VEDDER A PIGGY BACK RIDE!!! Got any pics?
Steve
Minneapolis 1998 | Jones Beach I & II, Montreal, and Toronto 2000 | Buffalo, State College, Toronto, Montreal and Hershey 2003 | Boston I & II 2004 | Thunder Bay, Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto 2005 | Toronto I & II 2006 | The Vic and Lollapalooza 2007 | Calgary and Toronto 2009 | PJ20 I & II, Toronto I & II, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton 2011 | London, Chicago, Spokane, Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle 2013 | Ottawa and Toronto I & II 2016 | Chicago I & II 2018 | Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto 2022
I won't go into much detail about last night's show, because it was too special for me...like, empirically, this show probably doesn't crack my top five Pearl Jam concerts of all-time, but subjectively it was the greatest concert-going experience of my life. I've got a blog that's documenting my progress on the 2005 tour, and I wrote in it something along the lines of, "I may eventually see another Buffalo '03 (which is my #1 Pearl Jam show ever with a bullet); I will not, however, experience another Thunder Bay '05." I was born in Thunder Bay, lived there for twenty-one years, spent my childhood learning how to skate on the Fort William Gardens' ice surface...and yesterday, the day after submitting my master's thesis, I was my band in my hometown. Just an utterly surreal night--can't wait for Kitchener!
Steve
Minneapolis 1998 | Jones Beach I & II, Montreal, and Toronto 2000 | Buffalo, State College, Toronto, Montreal and Hershey 2003 | Boston I & II 2004 | Thunder Bay, Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto 2005 | Toronto I & II 2006 | The Vic and Lollapalooza 2007 | Calgary and Toronto 2009 | PJ20 I & II, Toronto I & II, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton 2011 | London, Chicago, Spokane, Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle 2013 | Ottawa and Toronto I & II 2016 | Chicago I & II 2018 | Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto 2022
I wasn't at the show, but have been listening to the boot.
I'm guessing it was Mike, but during the outro lead to Alive from the TB show, someone played the Luke's Wall riff from the end of Black Sabbath's War Pigs! Outstanding choice / tribute!
You need to know this: you're a hero. Just an amazing moment last night...dude, YOU GAVE EDDIE VEDDER A PIGGY BACK RIDE!!! Got any pics?
Steve
I don't have any pics yet. A few people in my section took some of me and they said that they would email them to me. If anyone has some pics let me know. Thankyou Thunder Bay, I will never forget you.
6/30/98 Minneapolis, 10/08/00 East Troy, 10/09/00 Chicago, 6/6/03 Las Vegas, 6/15/03 Fargo, 6/16/03 St. Paul, 9/9/05 Thunder Bay, 5/16/06 Chicago, 5/17/06 Chicago, 6/26/06 St. Paul, 6/27/06 St. Paul
I WISH I had known that so many people from all over the US and Canada were coming for this show. I have to say thank you to everyone who helped make it one of the best shows that Thunder Bay has ever seen. (The Guess Who is also up there).
I've never witnessed a crowd in Thunder Bay so INTO a show. One poster knocked our city because his walk didn't include bars or anything. If you knew the history of our city, you'd understand why. We were previously two cites that amalgamated. Because of this, we have two downtown areas, and one Intercity area that is currently developing fast. Our city is quite spread out due to this, and you have to ask how to find the happening spots.
Had I known that this many people from out of town would be attending, I would have organized a huge party night for everyone. I'm glad to hear that Players and Scuttlebutts helped make some people's nights.
We may not have the best arena, that was referred to earlier as a "dump"! But it's our barn and we've had some DAMN successful hockey teams in there, and developed MANY NHL hockey players in there. That place gets rocking better than alot of places across Canada during hockey season, and Friday night, it rocked harder than I've ever witnessed before.
I invite many future PJ fans back the next time they stop in (fingers crossed). We will show you a good time before and after the show!! Thanks to PJ for coming and making us the smallest venue on the tour, and thanks to all the fans who came from all over to join us!!
I invite u all back next year to check out the Rock The Fort concert. If you're a fan of classic rock, it's for you. Next years should be great.
Thunder Bay defnitely rocked, but it couldn't have possibly lived up to what I experienced the night before in Winnipeg. My highlights were the PT opener, LIGHT YEARS (almost as good as hearing IN HIDING for the first time), NOTHINGMAN, and Ed just going crazy going into the crowd, jumping on speakers, climbing the ladder on stage, everything.
I yelled "PLAY LEASH!!!!" and Ed looked and said "What?" I yelled it again but then he said "I'm sorry I can't hear you. After all these years I can't hear too well. I fuck like a rabbit, but I can't hear shit." Funny as hell! But sadly, no Leash.
Also went out for beers with 62strat, I'mlostI'mnoguide, Dont_go_on_me, and RiotAct. Had a great time guys! (And girl) I think we ALL had Chipotle after we got back to the twin cities.
I yelled "PLAY LEASH!!!!" and Ed looked and said "What?" I yelled it again but then he said "I'm sorry I can't hear you. After all these years I can't hear too well. I fuck like a rabbit, but I can't hear shit." Funny as hell! But sadly, no Leash.
lol...awesome...that was you eh
Thunder Bay - 2005
Toronto - 2003
Cincinnati - 2000
The best show of my life. I drove about 10 hours from South Dakota, and I about had a heart attack when Ed pointed me out to come up and sing I Believe in Miracles with him and the SuperSuckers. It was definately an experience that I'll never forget. I am still in shock as I type this back in South Dakota.
Damn straight! That was great! I was wearing that ramones shirt too! Way cool. You knew the lyrics too.
I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell.
-Christopher Walken
you're=you are
your=showing ownership
The truth has a well known liberal bias.
-Stephen Colbert
Wow, only 23 songs that include Cropduster, Last Kiss, and Driven to Tears? This has to be the worst so far.
Having been at the show, on first glance the set list isn't all that impressive. This especially after seeing the setlist for Winnepeg the night before - oh to have been there eh.
But then again, present tense, light years, nothingman, breakerfall, down, lukin, SOLT and driven to tears were great.
While at times during the show I felt a little disappointed with the set but all I had to do was look around at like 5,000 people - and 5,000 people is not at all what I thought it would be; much smaller - and watch their reaction.
In talking to a lot of people from Thunder Bay there's a lot being drained from the city. Jobs are going west and are scarce, schools are closing and becoming more crowded, people are leaving town and to make matters worse (and I can see with the right perspective here) the last two MAJOR shows to come to town were something like REM and Nickelback. Bret Michaels from Poison is coming in October.
I could have done without hearing evenflo again but I will always remember how much the band gave out in terms of energy and how much the fans reciprocated. I left thinking this was/will have been the thing to do in Thunder Bay for sometime to come.
We all can get a little high on our preferences for PJ songs. But for me, just to feel and see the crowd reaction to a standard like Jeremy said it all and made me appreciate all the more what some of those songs from Ten can do. Consider how many times Alive has been played and yet the band never mails it in. The kick er in the tail and get it done eh. I'm happy to have been a part of it and at times felt bad that I was taking the seat of someone who had never seen the band before.
All that said, I turned 30 on the day of the show and I can think of no better way to celebrate a new part of my life than in the midst of 23 songs that will stand the test of time and for a night can bring a smile to the face.
So held by these thoughts They refuse to slip away Hangman in dreamland About to call your name Much to be done Much to be
07/26/98, 10/08/00, 06/21/03, 09/09/05, 05/16/06, 05/17/06 – (WOW), 05/19/06 – (DOUBLE WOW), 05/20/06, 08/05/07, 06/17/08, 05/07/10, 11/23/13, 11/24/13, 10/20/14 – (THE MOST MAGICAL THING EVER), 11/14/16 – (Temple of the Dog), 05/09/22. Coming Soon: 08/29/24 and 08/31/24.
im just listenin to the thunderbay bootleg and i believe the solo in "alive" contains a lil metallica reference...cant put my finger what song its from but as a big 'Tallica fan aswell its strickingly familiar...how cool i must say!
Having been at the show, on first glance the set list isn't all that impressive. This especially after seeing the setlist for Winnepeg the night before - oh to have been there eh.
But then again, present tense, light years, nothingman, breakerfall, down, lukin, SOLT and driven to tears were great.
While at times during the show I felt a little disappointed with the set but all I had to do was look around at like 5,000 people - and 5,000 people is not at all what I thought it would be; much smaller - and watch their reaction.
In talking to a lot of people from Thunder Bay there's a lot being drained from the city. Jobs are going west and are scarce, schools are closing and becoming more crowded, people are leaving town and to make matters worse (and I can see with the right perspective here) the last two MAJOR shows to come to town were something like REM and Nickelback. Bret Michaels from Poison is coming in October.
I could have done without hearing evenflo again but I will always remember how much the band gave out in terms of energy and how much the fans reciprocated. I left thinking this was/will have been the thing to do in Thunder Bay for sometime to come.
We all can get a little high on our preferences for PJ songs. But for me, just to feel and see the crowd reaction to a standard like Jeremy said it all and made me appreciate all the more what some of those songs from Ten can do. Consider how many times Alive has been played and yet the band never mails it in. The kick er in the tail and get it done eh. I'm happy to have been a part of it and at times felt bad that I was taking the seat of someone who had never seen the band before.
All that said, I turned 30 on the day of the show and I can think of no better way to celebrate a new part of my life than in the midst of 23 songs that will stand the test of time and for a night can bring a smile to the face.
I moved from T. Bay to Calgary in 1995. I know what it is like when bands don't play Thunder Bay. You have to drive to Minneapolis or Winnipeg or Toronto just to see a band. From reading these reviews, I think Thunder Bay got something special. Gee, I wish I was home.
It is rumoured that Pearl Jam used to play Crocks and Rolls in Thunder Bay in the time before they released "Ten". Can anyone here substantiate or deny this rumour?
how was the crowd? full of energy? i'm expecting every place to be loud as hell since this is PJ's first Canadian tour in a while. Many excited fans.....
Why not just start a Leash chant....that may work.....
For the most part the crowd was loud and really into it. Some exceptions - light years, cropduster, down because where we were standing people sat down for these songs. Down was great to hear live.
The noise level was great and for an arena not built exclusively with acoustics in mind the show sounded great. The first two songs were touch and go but the levels were fine the rest of the way.
So held by these thoughts They refuse to slip away Hangman in dreamland About to call your name Much to be done Much to be
07/26/98, 10/08/00, 06/21/03, 09/09/05, 05/16/06, 05/17/06 – (WOW), 05/19/06 – (DOUBLE WOW), 05/20/06, 08/05/07, 06/17/08, 05/07/10, 11/23/13, 11/24/13, 10/20/14 – (THE MOST MAGICAL THING EVER), 11/14/16 – (Temple of the Dog), 05/09/22. Coming Soon: 08/29/24 and 08/31/24.
I moved from T. Bay to Calgary in 1995. I know what it is like when bands don't play Thunder Bay. You have to drive to Minneapolis or Winnipeg or Toronto just to see a band. From reading these reviews, I think Thunder Bay got something special. Gee, I wish I was home.
It is rumoured that Pearl Jam used to play Crocks and Rolls in Thunder Bay in the time before they released "Ten". Can anyone here substantiate or deny this rumour?
Pearl Jam have never played here before. STP had a show scheduled at Crocks, but they never showed up. Plush had just hit it big and they stayed in the Toronto area. I guess the smack is better in Toronto.
1/12/1879, 4/8/1156, 2/6/1977, who gives a shit, ...
hmm. Peoples reactions to shows are funny, especialy the ones that werent there. Its fine, dont buy the boot. Doesnt matter to me:)
with thta said...
if pearl jam played anymore songs that night...i wouldnt have made it, i was too fucking tired, my face was rocked 1000 ways to sunday with that fucking show. 23 songs, none more was needed.
fuckin a man.
best alive ive ever heard, hands down....ed swinging from a ladder fromt he lighting rig, up on the speakers, in the audience singing
best version of i believe in miracles ive ever heard...
All I can say is it was DAMN hot in there, I was sweating so much my shirt was soaked. I don't blame them for playing a short set. It was definitly a high energy show. 14 rows back on the floor (Not bad for buying like a week after tickets went on sale, I was expecting SRO or behind the stage.) The floor was pretty wild, not general access wild, but good. The guys sitting next to us were pissed that they missed Hide Your Love Away, sucks for them to get there late. Did I mention the heat? Fuck, I think it was raining in there by the end of the show, I know the windows were fogged in the lobby (I guess only PJ could fog the windows of a whole arena.) The show just seemed to flow right along and I wasn't disappionted at the lenth of the set list, it seemed to go on forever. RITFW was so cool, 3,000 people belting out the chorus. The Ten songs definitly got the crowd going. The whole thing rocked, I don't believe that people were sitting down, I know I didn't. Although the 7' guy in the row in front could've used his chair more. Next time PJ is in the area (The Peg or The Twin Cities) I swear I'll make the drive.
I think it speaks a bunch that they stayed up there for 23 songs, I can't imagine the heat under the lights, at least they'll have something to remember TBay by....never think of Ontario as cold in September...
As for FWG being a dump....didn't you see the massive curling rock out front? What dump has a huge ass curling rock? None, I say!
I found this review of the Pearl Jam show in Thunder Bay on the internet. Is the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Jounrnal the MAIN newspaper in town? I hope not. Anyways, I wrote a reply on the story -- I had to. I figured I'd post the story since it's good for a laugh at least. I doubt the band is in the business of reading each night's reviews, but it kind of amuses me to think about what their reaction would have been to this one.
Some of you guys in TB should call the editor and ask that they send a MUSIC REPORTER to do their concert reviews from now on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There were several memorable moments during Friday’s Pearl Jam concert, but one sticks out.
At the end of the first encore, lead singer Eddie Vedder modified the lyrics of his song Alive and pointed to a few fans in the audience and belted, “Oooo, you’re still alive. You’re still alive!”
It was a fine gesture to Thunder Bay residents who may have suffered layoffs in the pulp and paper industry of late. And like the Allan Cup victory earlier this year, it gave people a positive vibe. The crowd roared after the song ended.
Pearl Jam, a band with a social conscience, put on a very good show Friday and used every weapon in their arsenal, including a simple, effective spotlight system to introduce themselves.
They also gave the audience, most of them from Generations X and Y, what they wanted: songs from their early albums. They played Black, Even Flow, Jeremy, Nothing Man and Animal.
The volume at the concert was just about right. They were loud, but not too loud, like a Smashing Pumpkins concert I went to in Edmonton several years ago that was painful. (You know you’ve hit 30 when you start talking about volume levels and damage to your hearing.)
By the third song, Vedder had the crowd in his back pocket. When he started clapping, nearly everyone in the stands and on the floor at Fort William Gardens was clapping along with him. Vedder looked comfortable on stage, casually sipping from a water bottle like he was in his kitchen.
Another reporter told me he saw Pearl Jam in Minneapolis a few years ago and believed Friday’s Thunder Bay show was better because they played more of their old stuff.
I agree. I was most impressed when they played songs from their first two albums, Ten and Vs. Vedder got the crowd blaring the lyrics of Animal back to him. And the best guitar moment of the night was Even Flow, when the bassist played a steady, rat-a-tat-tat solo that lasted a few minutes. It was impressive and showed that Pearl Jam isn’t just The Eddie Vedder Show.
Vedder, who comes across in magazine interviews as Mr. Serious, even displayed a bit of humour. He said the Gardens was a hot stadium to play in and added, “How the (expletive) do you play hockey in here?”
He even cracked a joke about losing his hearing. “I can (expletive) like a rabbit, but I can’t hear a thing,” he said.
The band didn’t do any crowd surfing like they did in the 1990s. Thank goodness. Those thirty- and forty-somethings might have broken a hip! ha. Instead, Vedder walked among the people in the stands sitting directly behind the stage. I’ve never seen the lead singer of a major rock ‘n’ roll band do that. It was a nice touch, very Gordie Howe-ish.
Pearl Jam is a good band, but for the life of me I still don’t understand what some of their lyrics are trying to communicate. I wish their songs were more straightforward, like when Vedder sat in the crowd and sang, “Oh where oh where could my baby be, the Lord took her away from me,” at the west end of the Gardens.
The concert was very good, but it left me wanting more. Pearl Jam is a band that is politically aware. And, unlike many others, they have the ability to shape the way people think. (Any band that lists Errol Morris’s documentary The Fog of War on their website must have brains.)
But where are their political songs? Creedence Clearwater Revival and other bands wrote straightforward songs about the Vietnam War.
Why can’t Pearl Jam do the same?
They showed they can do basic rock ‘n’ roll. At the end of the show, they and the Supersuckers did a rockin’ version of Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World. It was inspiring. Wouldn’t it be great if Vedder and Co. could write and perform snappy anti-Iraq War and anti-George W. Bush songs?
All I know is that was well worth the 33 hours of driving to see Pearl Jam in Thunder Bay. Talk about hot though. Man! I was sweating bullets out there and walked out so dehydrated, which was I can contribute partly to the alcohol consumed before the show.
The set was freaking awesome. And my seats....I about shit it when I picked up my tickets. I figured I'd have decent seats, being ten club and all, but I never expected to get 5th row center. Unbelievable! I've never been so stoked in my life. My calves were sore the next day from jumping.
Best parts...Ed piggy back singing I Believe in Miracles, the fist-pumping "Ay!" action during Alive (talk about adrenaline rush, I thought I was gonna pass out by this time in the show), the crowd starting off SOLAT, and Porch...
Despite the heat, the energy was so high at this show I left completely drained and changed aftershow plans from partying on the town to going back to the Valhalla with Little Caesars and resting up for the next days drive.
I couldn't have had a better time and I can't wait for next years US tour.
Thanks for the hookup ten club....made the gas money meaningless and the heat stroke painless.
so the guy who wrote this is basically saying: i cant read between lines and figure out what their songs are about.. why cant they say..we hate bush!..
Unless you were there dont complain. Ive had the priviledge of seeing them a pile of times and this was the best yet. They played there ass off in a hot venue and it was amazing. The pictures tell the story. It was great to see them here and they continue to amaze. 23 songs maybe, but the actual show was no shorter. They jammed out alot of them and to see poor girl and I believe in Miracles with the Supersuckers was awesome. It was a fantastic show and Ed was exhausted by the end. They never cease to amaze. The crowd didn't sit for the whole show. I m glad they came here and I hope they will come back. It was an amazing show.
I downloaded that really hot show last night and was unable to receive Cropduster and Animal to finish my first half of the disc. If you could email me those two files it would be great. I am rather upset with Basecamp. The Gorge show only gave me half the damn songs. Any help would be great.
There is NO time like the present to get ripped apart.
Chicago 95
Alpine 98
Indy and Alpine 00
St. Louis, Champaign, Chicago, Indy 03
St. Louis 04
Thuderbay 05
Chicago 1 and 2, Pitt, Cincy, Las Vegas, Portland, Gorge 1 and 2, Hawaii 06
Lolla 07
Hartford, Boston 1 and 2 08
Comments
Eddie was more animated than I've ever seen him. Granted this is the only show I attended/will attend on this tour, but he was into it, man. Jumping all around, climbed the speakers on Porch, etc...Just an overall awesome show, well worth the 6+hr drive from Wisconsin. It was one of those where the setlist doesn't look good on paper, but if you were there it didn't matter.
And the preset! Oh the preset! I had just found my seats and was about to go fetch a t-shirt when the lights go out and Eddie comes strolling onto the stage with a guitar and a harmonica. I knew Hide Your Love Away was coming and sure as shit, there it is. My timing was unreal, if I had left 10 mins later I would have missed it. Divine!
So thanks PJ...See you around the bend.
6-21-03 Alpine Valley
9-9-05 Thunder Bay
Is this the only show were Ed did a mini pre set (hide your love away)?
Can't wait for my first show of the tour tomorrow night. I'll be sure to give a formal report
- EV
Cheers to the world's greatest rock band! <raises his pint and salutes!>
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
The show was much better than the setlist would indicate. Ed opening the show with Hide YOur Love, Mike joining Supersuckers for Thin Lizzy's Cowboy SOng, Ed joing them for Poor Girl and I believe in miracles, plus Ed bringing a fan onstage to sing Miracles cause he was wearing a Ramones shirt, Ed then jumping on his back and singing from there, Ed going into the crowd and singing Last Kiss from the 15th row, Supersuckers joing PJ for RITFW, Quatro singing and yelling about its time to rock! Many many things happened that didn't show up on that setlist. And I forgot the Ed Quote, "I fuck like a rabbit but I can't hear for shit"
I just want to say "Thanks!" to all the locals that took good care of us last night!
The after-parties at Players, Scuttlebutts, and the Vahalla Inn were sweet! Sing- alongs until 5 AM!
Did anyone else catch that Mike and Jeff were playing War Pigs during Alive?
Listen to the boot- It was hilarious they were face to face laughing during the whole thing! More later... Awesome time!
Damn we had no clue where Scuttlebutts was so we skipped it, ended up chilling out at East Side marios with a couple other PJ fans from MN and WI. Someone had a War Pigs sign so that why I think they did it.
You need to know this: you're a hero. Just an amazing moment last night...dude, YOU GAVE EDDIE VEDDER A PIGGY BACK RIDE!!! Got any pics?
Steve
Steve
I'm guessing it was Mike, but during the outro lead to Alive from the TB show, someone played the Luke's Wall riff from the end of Black Sabbath's War Pigs! Outstanding choice / tribute!
Porch was sizzling hot, too.
I love these guys.
I've never witnessed a crowd in Thunder Bay so INTO a show. One poster knocked our city because his walk didn't include bars or anything. If you knew the history of our city, you'd understand why. We were previously two cites that amalgamated. Because of this, we have two downtown areas, and one Intercity area that is currently developing fast. Our city is quite spread out due to this, and you have to ask how to find the happening spots.
Had I known that this many people from out of town would be attending, I would have organized a huge party night for everyone. I'm glad to hear that Players and Scuttlebutts helped make some people's nights.
We may not have the best arena, that was referred to earlier as a "dump"! But it's our barn and we've had some DAMN successful hockey teams in there, and developed MANY NHL hockey players in there. That place gets rocking better than alot of places across Canada during hockey season, and Friday night, it rocked harder than I've ever witnessed before.
I invite many future PJ fans back the next time they stop in (fingers crossed). We will show you a good time before and after the show!! Thanks to PJ for coming and making us the smallest venue on the tour, and thanks to all the fans who came from all over to join us!!
I invite u all back next year to check out the Rock The Fort concert. If you're a fan of classic rock, it's for you. Next years should be great.
I yelled "PLAY LEASH!!!!" and Ed looked and said "What?" I yelled it again but then he said "I'm sorry I can't hear you. After all these years I can't hear too well. I fuck like a rabbit, but I can't hear shit." Funny as hell! But sadly, no Leash.
Also went out for beers with 62strat, I'mlostI'mnoguide, Dont_go_on_me, and RiotAct. Had a great time guys! (And girl) I think we ALL had Chipotle after we got back to the twin cities.
lol...awesome...that was you eh
Toronto - 2003
Cincinnati - 2000
Oh yeah. Just wanted everyone to know that I did my part to try to get Leash played.
Damn straight! That was great! I was wearing that ramones shirt too! Way cool. You knew the lyrics too.
-Christopher Walken
you're=you are
your=showing ownership
The truth has a well known liberal bias.
-Stephen Colbert
Having been at the show, on first glance the set list isn't all that impressive. This especially after seeing the setlist for Winnepeg the night before - oh to have been there eh.
But then again, present tense, light years, nothingman, breakerfall, down, lukin, SOLT and driven to tears were great.
While at times during the show I felt a little disappointed with the set but all I had to do was look around at like 5,000 people - and 5,000 people is not at all what I thought it would be; much smaller - and watch their reaction.
In talking to a lot of people from Thunder Bay there's a lot being drained from the city. Jobs are going west and are scarce, schools are closing and becoming more crowded, people are leaving town and to make matters worse (and I can see with the right perspective here) the last two MAJOR shows to come to town were something like REM and Nickelback. Bret Michaels from Poison is coming in October.
I could have done without hearing evenflo again but I will always remember how much the band gave out in terms of energy and how much the fans reciprocated. I left thinking this was/will have been the thing to do in Thunder Bay for sometime to come.
We all can get a little high on our preferences for PJ songs. But for me, just to feel and see the crowd reaction to a standard like Jeremy said it all and made me appreciate all the more what some of those songs from Ten can do. Consider how many times Alive has been played and yet the band never mails it in. The kick er in the tail and get it done eh. I'm happy to have been a part of it and at times felt bad that I was taking the seat of someone who had never seen the band before.
All that said, I turned 30 on the day of the show and I can think of no better way to celebrate a new part of my life than in the midst of 23 songs that will stand the test of time and for a night can bring a smile to the face.
They refuse to slip away
Hangman in dreamland
About to call your name
Much to be done
Much to be
07/26/98, 10/08/00, 06/21/03, 09/09/05, 05/16/06, 05/17/06 – (WOW), 05/19/06 – (DOUBLE WOW), 05/20/06, 08/05/07, 06/17/08, 05/07/10, 11/23/13, 11/24/13, 10/20/14 – (THE MOST MAGICAL THING EVER), 11/14/16 – (Temple of the Dog), 05/09/22. Coming Soon: 08/29/24 and 08/31/24.
Calgary 09-04-05
Edmonton 09-05-05
Calgary 08-08-09
Calgary 09-21-11
Calgary 12-02-13
"I Can fuck like a rabbit but I can't hear a thing" - Eddie Vedder, Thunderbay 2005
I moved from T. Bay to Calgary in 1995. I know what it is like when bands don't play Thunder Bay. You have to drive to Minneapolis or Winnipeg or Toronto just to see a band. From reading these reviews, I think Thunder Bay got something special. Gee, I wish I was home.
It is rumoured that Pearl Jam used to play Crocks and Rolls in Thunder Bay in the time before they released "Ten". Can anyone here substantiate or deny this rumour?
For the most part the crowd was loud and really into it. Some exceptions - light years, cropduster, down because where we were standing people sat down for these songs. Down was great to hear live.
The noise level was great and for an arena not built exclusively with acoustics in mind the show sounded great. The first two songs were touch and go but the levels were fine the rest of the way.
They refuse to slip away
Hangman in dreamland
About to call your name
Much to be done
Much to be
07/26/98, 10/08/00, 06/21/03, 09/09/05, 05/16/06, 05/17/06 – (WOW), 05/19/06 – (DOUBLE WOW), 05/20/06, 08/05/07, 06/17/08, 05/07/10, 11/23/13, 11/24/13, 10/20/14 – (THE MOST MAGICAL THING EVER), 11/14/16 – (Temple of the Dog), 05/09/22. Coming Soon: 08/29/24 and 08/31/24.
Pearl Jam have never played here before. STP had a show scheduled at Crocks, but they never showed up. Plush had just hit it big and they stayed in the Toronto area. I guess the smack is better in Toronto.
with thta said...
if pearl jam played anymore songs that night...i wouldnt have made it, i was too fucking tired, my face was rocked 1000 ways to sunday with that fucking show. 23 songs, none more was needed.
fuckin a man.
best alive ive ever heard, hands down....ed swinging from a ladder fromt he lighting rig, up on the speakers, in the audience singing
best version of i believe in miracles ive ever heard...
fucking a man.
awesome
I think it speaks a bunch that they stayed up there for 23 songs, I can't imagine the heat under the lights, at least they'll have something to remember TBay by....never think of Ontario as cold in September...
As for FWG being a dump....didn't you see the massive curling rock out front? What dump has a huge ass curling rock? None, I say!
Some of you guys in TB should call the editor and ask that they send a MUSIC REPORTER to do their concert reviews from now on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pearl Jam brings back early ’90s
By Ward Holland - The Chronicle-Journal
September 11, 2005
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/story.shtml?id=28857
There were several memorable moments during Friday’s Pearl Jam concert, but one sticks out.
At the end of the first encore, lead singer Eddie Vedder modified the lyrics of his song Alive and pointed to a few fans in the audience and belted, “Oooo, you’re still alive. You’re still alive!”
It was a fine gesture to Thunder Bay residents who may have suffered layoffs in the pulp and paper industry of late. And like the Allan Cup victory earlier this year, it gave people a positive vibe. The crowd roared after the song ended.
Pearl Jam, a band with a social conscience, put on a very good show Friday and used every weapon in their arsenal, including a simple, effective spotlight system to introduce themselves.
They also gave the audience, most of them from Generations X and Y, what they wanted: songs from their early albums. They played Black, Even Flow, Jeremy, Nothing Man and Animal.
The volume at the concert was just about right. They were loud, but not too loud, like a Smashing Pumpkins concert I went to in Edmonton several years ago that was painful. (You know you’ve hit 30 when you start talking about volume levels and damage to your hearing.)
By the third song, Vedder had the crowd in his back pocket. When he started clapping, nearly everyone in the stands and on the floor at Fort William Gardens was clapping along with him. Vedder looked comfortable on stage, casually sipping from a water bottle like he was in his kitchen.
Another reporter told me he saw Pearl Jam in Minneapolis a few years ago and believed Friday’s Thunder Bay show was better because they played more of their old stuff.
I agree. I was most impressed when they played songs from their first two albums, Ten and Vs. Vedder got the crowd blaring the lyrics of Animal back to him. And the best guitar moment of the night was Even Flow, when the bassist played a steady, rat-a-tat-tat solo that lasted a few minutes. It was impressive and showed that Pearl Jam isn’t just The Eddie Vedder Show.
Vedder, who comes across in magazine interviews as Mr. Serious, even displayed a bit of humour. He said the Gardens was a hot stadium to play in and added, “How the (expletive) do you play hockey in here?”
He even cracked a joke about losing his hearing. “I can (expletive) like a rabbit, but I can’t hear a thing,” he said.
The band didn’t do any crowd surfing like they did in the 1990s. Thank goodness. Those thirty- and forty-somethings might have broken a hip! ha. Instead, Vedder walked among the people in the stands sitting directly behind the stage. I’ve never seen the lead singer of a major rock ‘n’ roll band do that. It was a nice touch, very Gordie Howe-ish.
Pearl Jam is a good band, but for the life of me I still don’t understand what some of their lyrics are trying to communicate. I wish their songs were more straightforward, like when Vedder sat in the crowd and sang, “Oh where oh where could my baby be, the Lord took her away from me,” at the west end of the Gardens.
The concert was very good, but it left me wanting more. Pearl Jam is a band that is politically aware. And, unlike many others, they have the ability to shape the way people think. (Any band that lists Errol Morris’s documentary The Fog of War on their website must have brains.)
But where are their political songs? Creedence Clearwater Revival and other bands wrote straightforward songs about the Vietnam War.
Why can’t Pearl Jam do the same?
They showed they can do basic rock ‘n’ roll. At the end of the show, they and the Supersuckers did a rockin’ version of Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World. It was inspiring. Wouldn’t it be great if Vedder and Co. could write and perform snappy anti-Iraq War and anti-George W. Bush songs?
Then they would be even more impressive.
L O Fucking L
The set was freaking awesome. And my seats....I about shit it when I picked up my tickets. I figured I'd have decent seats, being ten club and all, but I never expected to get 5th row center. Unbelievable! I've never been so stoked in my life. My calves were sore the next day from jumping.
Best parts...Ed piggy back singing I Believe in Miracles, the fist-pumping "Ay!" action during Alive (talk about adrenaline rush, I thought I was gonna pass out by this time in the show), the crowd starting off SOLAT, and Porch...
Despite the heat, the energy was so high at this show I left completely drained and changed aftershow plans from partying on the town to going back to the Valhalla with Little Caesars and resting up for the next days drive.
I couldn't have had a better time and I can't wait for next years US tour.
Thanks for the hookup ten club....made the gas money meaningless and the heat stroke painless.
and he's a journalist??
All you Tunderbay folk can party. Thanks for the hookups. You guys are great!
You are welcome to come to Chicago and party anytime.
The dude from Winnepeg had me laughing all the way back to Chicago.
"So who do you know here?"
"Not a one"
Great time!
"I need honesty, I need truth, and I need hope...I need it! That's what music means to me." EV
Email:
daughter34@yahoo.com
Chicago 95
Alpine 98
Indy and Alpine 00
St. Louis, Champaign, Chicago, Indy 03
St. Louis 04
Thuderbay 05
Chicago 1 and 2, Pitt, Cincy, Las Vegas, Portland, Gorge 1 and 2, Hawaii 06
Lolla 07
Hartford, Boston 1 and 2 08