why doesn't Pearl Jam play longer concerts

mcgruff10

A bruce show and a pearl jam show are completely different. 10th ave freeze out could be 12 or 15 minutes long as well as mary's place (the crowd could be chanting "turn it up" for 6 or 7 minutes...yawn). There's also a lull at a bruce show where he'll play something real slow to give the band a breather like the song the river (which I hated watching). While I always loved both bands bruce is more about music and a show and pearl jam is all about, "yeah we're here, we have no elaborate stage, no gimmicks, we just play fucking rock, like it or not".
I think a pj show should be anywhere from 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Any more and it would just be tiresome. I remember how tired I was after philly 4, I have no clue how pj sustained that energy level throughout the show.

I've been at some marathon shows (randall's night 2, penn state, philly 4) and it's nice when those shows are the exception and not the norm, it makes them even more special.

Big Bank Hank

how many shows did they play in 2012? like 17 or 18, I hardly think an extended 3h set, that would include an more songs like Around The Bend, is going to kill the band, if they only play 15 to 20 shows a year I am fine with that, but there are so many songs the band doesn't play anymore, so many chill songs that are in mothballs, obviously you can't do a 3hour set with all songs like Porch and Alive,I get that, but Thumbing My Way and Hard To Imagine, totally different story, but that is my opinion

Jamminonthe1

I can't believe this is even being discussed...

Eraserhead

3hrs and still nothing off Riot Act or Binaural!

:x

Big Bank Hank

3h setlist that would realistic

Thumbing My Way
Small Town
Society
Timeless Melody
Off He Goes
Around The Bend
Parting Ways
Army Reserve
Sad
Can't Keep
Sunburn (unreleased PJ song with Stone singing)
Bayleaf (Stone Gossard solo)
Ghost
Dirty Frank
Little Wing with a long Mike McCready solo

and the band can fill in whatever songs they want to fill the other 1.5 hours, I seriously doubt a setlist like that would kill the band, most of you are looking at this from one angle, I am looking at this from a different one, Pearl Jam likes to mix up their setlists, obviously you cannot play Alive and Porch for 3 hours straight, but what is one of the most popular albums PJ has made amongst it's hardcore fans? Live at Benroya Hall, 3 hours of that will not kill the band,or 1.5 hours of that and 1.5 hours of normal hard rocking stuff would not either

Big Bank Hank

Grand Rapids 2006 that would be the kind of show I am thinking about
http://pearljam.com/setlists/1021/all/20438/van_andel_arena?ref_album_id=18592

dimitrispearljam

Big Bank Hank wrote:

3h setlist that would realistic

Thumbing My Way
Small Town
Society
Timeless Melody
Off He Goes
Around The Bend
Parting Ways
Army Reserve
Sad
Can't Keep
Sunburn (unreleased PJ song with Stone singing)
Bayleaf (Stone Gossard solo)
Ghost
Dirty Frank
Little Wing with a long Mike McCready solo

and the band can fill in whatever songs they want to fill the other 1.5 hours, I seriously doubt a setlist like that would kill the band, most of you are looking at this from one angle, I am looking at this from a different one, Pearl Jam likes to mix up their setlists, obviously you cannot play Alive and Porch for 3 hours straight, but what is one of the most popular albums PJ has made amongst it's hardcore fans? Live at Benroya Hall, 3 hours of that will not kill the band,or 1.5 hours of that and 1.5 hours of normal hard rocking stuff would not either

the most of the songs you add will work with acoustic set in..
cant play an non acoustic show,and roickin like that in that age and ed screaming 3 hours..impossible

foodboy

i was at one that was 3 hours. buffalo just before the state college and second last night of the tour. unbelievable show and night. couldn't believe they just kept playing. came out for the encore and said stone or mike would pay the fine for going over curfew.this may also be part of the problem as well.if it is start the show earlier. also i might add bruce use to play 4 hour shows when i first saw him in 78. but he took a half hour break in the middle. grateful dead ,same thing. so maybe the y could do the same thing every now and then ,not saying 4 hours but at least 3 plus half hour break . would be interesting.

Big Bank Hank

dimitrispearljam wrote:

Big Bank Hank wrote:

3h setlist that would realistic

Thumbing My Way
Small Town
Society
Timeless Melody
Off He Goes
Around The Bend
Parting Ways
Army Reserve
Sad
Can't Keep
Sunburn (unreleased PJ song with Stone singing)
Bayleaf (Stone Gossard solo)
Ghost
Dirty Frank
Little Wing with a long Mike McCready solo

and the band can fill in whatever songs they want to fill the other 1.5 hours, I seriously doubt a setlist like that would kill the band, most of you are looking at this from one angle, I am looking at this from a different one, Pearl Jam likes to mix up their setlists, obviously you cannot play Alive and Porch for 3 hours straight, but what is one of the most popular albums PJ has made amongst it's hardcore fans? Live at Benroya Hall, 3 hours of that will not kill the band,or 1.5 hours of that and 1.5 hours of normal hard rocking stuff would not either

the most of the songs you add will work with acoustic set in..
cant play an non acoustic show,and roickin like that in that age and ed screaming 3 hours..impossible

I don't want Ed screaming for 3 hours, but one or two shows a year where they throw in a 1 to 1.5 hours chill set where they are sitting down and Ed is shooting the shit with the crowd would be a really cool mix up

Big Bank Hank

also this would be a way to play more song each year, instead of burying songs for decades

dimitrispearljam

Big Bank Hank wrote:

Grand Rapids 2006 that would be the kind of show I am thinking about
http://pearljam.com/setlists/1021/all/20438/van_andel_arena?ref_album_id=18592

exactly that..that was 7 years ago,has preopepers..

if they play 2:40 and 20 min eddie talking between songs and encores are like 10 min each with band members teasing each others and singing happy birthday
so we have 3 hours and 20 min set..at least some will say that seeing the bootleg..
like belfast 10..was the longest of 2010..but yeah..we have like 5-10 min encore to say to o'brain happy birthday.. and film it..this isnt real time at performance but the bootleg was the longest..

dimitrispearljam

Big Bank Hank wrote:

dimitrispearljam wrote:

Big Bank Hank wrote:

3h setlist that would realistic

Thumbing My Way
Small Town
Society
Timeless Melody
Off He Goes
Around The Bend
Parting Ways
Army Reserve
Sad
Can't Keep
Sunburn (unreleased PJ song with Stone singing)
Bayleaf (Stone Gossard solo)
Ghost
Dirty Frank
Little Wing with a long Mike McCready solo

and the band can fill in whatever songs they want to fill the other 1.5 hours, I seriously doubt a setlist like that would kill the band, most of you are looking at this from one angle, I am looking at this from a different one, Pearl Jam likes to mix up their setlists, obviously you cannot play Alive and Porch for 3 hours straight, but what is one of the most popular albums PJ has made amongst it's hardcore fans? Live at Benroya Hall, 3 hours of that will not kill the band,or 1.5 hours of that and 1.5 hours of normal hard rocking stuff would not either

the most of the songs you add will work with acoustic set in..
cant play an non acoustic show,and roickin like that in that age and ed screaming 3 hours..impossible

I don't want Ed screaming for 3 hours, but one or two shows a year where they throw in a 1 to 1.5 hours chill set where they are sitting down and Ed is shooting the shit with the crowd would be a really cool mix up

good you said that.all those songs need to practice them too..for play live..
they barely have time to do the new record,being busy with tour,solo tour,side projects..
wrigley is a chance this to happen..but helps the fact they dont have any other show close except london,there is no opening band,and its a special thing with the historical venue etc

CopTheRiotAct

I don't think the band need to play more songs, but i liked in 03 when listening to the bootlegs the show would just continue at a pace until it was done, whether it was 2hr to 3hrs, the show flowed through the encores more naturally. now they are kind of crammed and rushed and fit into the same time limit, and are also more predictable. I would enjoy some songs being drawn out a little more, just with jamming interludes and the band being a band.

Spiritual_Chaos

CopTheRiotAct wrote:

I don't think the band need to play more songs, but i liked in 03 when listening to the bootlegs the show would just continue at a pace until it was done, whether it was 2hr to 3hrs, the show flowed through the encores more naturally. now they are kind of crammed and rushed and fit into the same time limit, and are also more predictable. I would enjoy some songs being drawn out a little more, just with jamming interludes and the band being a band.

The 03 tour is such a treat to listen too.

But I would like the band to slow some songs down, take the time with them and extend the "epic" songs like NAIS and Given to fly with. I would skip 5 songs from the setlists to get this.

Quality over quantity. Even if the shows are 1:50h or 3h.

PhillyCrownOfThorns

I agree with the op, and really cannot understand why some people jump all over him.

A 3 hour show is not just limited to Bruce. I am not discounting the physical toll that a performance takes on the band members bodies,but we as fans can expect our favorite band to give us the most they have to offer.

The op never said he wanted it every show. A couple each tour.

Stop making excuses for the guy who drinks a bottle of wine + at each show and is still smoking. If they wanted to do it, they could do it.

And for the record, if Bruce is on stage for 60 more minutes than Eddie, he is burning more calories and exerting more energy even if it is 4 hours of "Tom Joad".

Pjdreamer

Wtf

Spiritual_Chaos

And also, why should their goal be to play longer shows - just because Bruce decides to do so? They are not BRuce.

Neil Young and NIN don't play 3 hour shows and they still make them close to 100% perfect.

But if they pull out an extra 25 minutes of acoustic songs after Just Breathe in the first encore - why not? They have a lot of acoustic material that rarely gets played (or you have to go to an Eddie solo show for them.)

What if PJ played thier 2:20-2:30 shows but mixed up the setlists even more than they do? (swapping GTD/DTE/Even Flow/ Yellow Ledbetter/Alive/Porch/Rocking in the Free Road etc for other songs more often than they do?) That would be nice

Indifference

Are there any other "mainstream" acts that play longer ON AVERAGE besides Bruce?

White Discussion

Dude this band spoils us already, most bands go 90 minutes tops :roll:

DewieCox

I'm on the "hell yeah go ahead and play 3 hours train". They just need to back off the tempo of the plethora of songs that have gotten way too fast and add a few more . Slowing stuff down is gonna help Ed with the singing too. I don't think it would be as difficult as some are making it out to be.

The notion that their songs are too difficult to play for that long seems pretty ridiculous to me. If Rush can play their tunes for 3 hours, anybody can. You think Cameron is a machine, you've obviously never watched Neil Peart play drums.

I think they've gotten too lazy or disinterested as a band to pull it off, though. They can't seem to even find the time to rehearse properly or record a few songs.