Was Wrigley Just Above Average (B+) for Anyone?

JB56195

Probably blasted for this but I was just curious with all of the positive responses about the concert if people thought it was just a "good show." Between the heat, rain delay, shortened set list, and difficulty getting out of the venue afterward I really wasn't as into it as much as I thought I would be. The set list that was played was good and the band sounded great, but I just felt like there was too many detractors to place it in an epic category ala the Gorge, PJ20, the Garden, the Experiment, etc. I realize these are mostly out of band control but for me personally it wasn't in my top 3 out of the 15 I've been to.

JB23237

Maybe you were tired and couldn't enjoy the show as much.....I saw a lot of that going on in the pit

Wilds

It was an A for me.

81

the show was meh.

the rain delay was awesome.

JB56195

JB23237 wrote:

Maybe you were tired and couldn't enjoy the show as much.....I saw a lot of that going on in the pit

Definitely part of it. Had to work late the night before and travel the day of show. I usually have 1-2 beers at the show but had around 4. Not a huge deal given the time span but the delay took up a lot of juice.

butte1

The rain delay sucked but there was just this weird and fantastic vibe for me when they came back out and midmight and played and the fact they played as long as they did after midnight just made it unique..... Had they played the same setlist from the hours of 9 to 11 I probably wouldn't be as positive but there is something about the witching hour that made it cool..... it's not #1 for me but it was pretty cool

MG9377

I thought it was an amazing concert, and I've been in the fan club for many years and have seen them upwards of 10 times. Great atmosphere, great fans, great location! Epic!

sherm

JB23237 wrote:

Maybe you were tired and couldn't enjoy the show as much.....I saw a lot of that going on in the pit

Yeah, i was in the pit. Just a whole different vibe around me after the rain than before. I think the show wouldve been pretty high on the list for me had we not had the weather situation. Still thankful to have been there though.

dimitrispearljam

ABSOFUCKINLUTELY!!!

Sea wrote:

PEARL JAM
WRIGLEY FIELD
CHICAGO IL.
JULY 19, 2013
SET LIST


01. Release
02. Nothingman
03. Present Tense
04. Hold On
05. Low Light
06. Come Back (Dedicated to Sarah “one of the good one’s that passed away” and her husband Andy)
07. Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
08. All The Way
09. All Night
10. Do The Evolution
11. Setting Forth
12. Corduroy -(instrumental part and the “everything has changed” part has been changed slightly. and has long outro)
13. Faithfull
14. Mind Your Manners-(new song from “Lightning Bolt” album
15. Lightning Bolt-(new song from “Lighting Bolt” album
16. State Of Love And Trust
17. Wishlist
18. Even Flow
19. Leatherman
20. Eruption-(Van Halen)
21. Bugs
22. Why Go
23. Unthought Known
23. Rearviewmirror

Encore Break

24. Future Days w/ Brendan O’Brien-(new song from “Lighting Bolt”)
25. Mother-(Waters)
26. Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns-(Mother Love Bone, A. Wood)
27. Porch (During Porch Ed goes into the crowd and when he gets back on stage he swings from the globes that hanging from the lighting truss)
28. Wasted Reprise/Life Wasted
29. Black
30. Rocking In The Free World-(Young)

JB56195

sherm wrote:

JB23237 wrote:

Maybe you were tired and couldn't enjoy the show as much.....I saw a lot of that going on in the pit

Yeah, i was in the pit. Just a whole different vibe around me after the rain than before. I think the show wouldve been pretty high on the list for me had we not had the weather situation. Still thankful to have been there though.

That's about where I put myself feelingwise, although wasn't in the pit.

dimitrispearljam

sherm wrote:

JB23237 wrote:

Maybe you were tired and couldn't enjoy the show as much.....I saw a lot of that going on in the pit

Yeah, i was in the pit. Just a whole different vibe around me after the rain than before. I think the show wouldve been pretty high on the list for me had we not had the weather situation. Still thankful to have been there though.

true..alot was tired!!isnt easy,especially the ones was standing hours for merch too..

Suziemay

If you take out the 3-hour rain delay, it was a solid show so I would agree with you on the B+.

With the rain delay and the anxiety about the pit since there was no info about lining up and then the mad rush when the barriers were randomly opened without any official announcement after the rain delay (and me fearing for my safety for the first time since my first PJ show in 2000) bumped it down to a B-.

However, the experiences that cannot be quantified or ever repeated, such as being able to share the rail on Mike's side with my ticket buddy who was on the rail for the first time since following them from day 1 was magical. I also had posted in the fanviews thread too, the folks lining up early for GA with the hopes of possibly getting on the rail were some of the best display of PJ camaraderie I've ever seen. A+

Ando

definatly b+ (or less). You would have a hard time convincing me that the whole expierience not just the show lived up to expectations for members on this board. In my head there was no way possible i could be disapointed in anyway. this was my biggest day of the year basicaly. It just didnt feel how i wanted it to feel.

literally 5 hours in line for posters. (not the bands fault, wrigley staff was not prepared)
3 hour rain delay with no beer or water on the field and they would not let me in anywhere else as it was full. (not the bands fault)
absolutely crushed tired from travel, heat, excitement, walking/standing 12 hours. (not the bands fault)

I guess what im trying to say is i just wish i played my cards differently knowing now what i didnt know that day.
slightly disapointed mostly in how Wrigley handled things NOT PEARL JAM. still glad i went though!

YieldToNothing

if you extrapolate just the set, then yes, i can see B+/A-

overall experience was something i'll never forget and neither will anyone who was there. most of that experience will not be able to hold up on tape.

i can see people who weren't there hating on this gig. it wasn't like msg 1 03 where anyone will acknowledge its greatness

october22

I have to be honest and say that my strongest emotion after the show was sadness.

It wasn't the show we spent months expecting and it wasn't the show at Wrigley Ed wanted it so badly to be. You could see it in his face and hear the sincerity in his voice when he said goodnight.

It was a very long day and probably felt even longer for those of us in the pit. The atmosphere never returned after the delay.

That being said, I love this band even more after that night. You know they were tired too but you could feel their commitment to us. They came out and killed it, song after song and their energy was incredible. I am lucky to say I was one off the rail, directly in front of Mike and he was on a mission to give us 110% and he was nothing short of on fire. They all were. Great to see the banter and laughter between him and Jeff.

We'll never know what the show could have been but I'm thankful my favorite band made it a priority to give us everything they had. And for that Wrigley gets an A+

SPEEDY BOX TURTLE

THIS!!!

october22 wrote:

I have to be honest and say that my strongest emotion after the show was sadness.

It wasn't the show we spent months expecting and it wasn't the show at Wrigley Ed wanted it so badly to be. You could see it in his face and hear the sincerity in his voice when he said goodnight.

It was a very long day and probably felt even longer for those of us in the pit. The atmosphere never returned after the delay.

That being said, I love this band even more after that night. You know they were tired too but you could feel their commitment to us. They came out and killed it, song after song and their energy was incredible. I am lucky to say I was one off the rail, directly in front of Mike and he was on a mission to give us 110% and he was nothing short of on fire. They all were. Great to see the banter and laughter between him and Jeff.

We'll never know what the show could have been but I'm thankful my favorite band made it a priority to give us everything they had. And for that Wrigley gets an A+

evenflow82

It was good but def not great.

After PJ20 and this I will NEVER see PJ outdoors again.

JB56195

evenflow82 wrote:

It was good but def not great.

After PJ20 and this I will NEVER see PJ outdoors again.

Just curious what you didn't like about PJ20? Was it the weather? As opposed to Wrigley, I thought that was epic. Although my complaint would be too many special guests (or more likely not the guests I was hoping for )

evenflow82

Too many special guests and a brutally underehearsed band (all the mistakes are the reason this remains unreleased).

lcusick

october22 wrote:

I have to be honest and say that my strongest emotion after the show was sadness.

It wasn't the show we spent months expecting and it wasn't the show at Wrigley Ed wanted it so badly to be. You could see it in his face and hear the sincerity in his voice when he said goodnight.

It was a very long day and probably felt even longer for those of us in the pit. The atmosphere never returned after the delay.

That being said, I love this band even more after that night. You know they were tired too but you could feel their commitment to us. They came out and killed it, song after song and their energy was incredible. I am lucky to say I was one off the rail, directly in front of Mike and he was on a mission to give us 110% and he was nothing short of on fire. They all were. Great to see the banter and laughter between him and Jeff.

Great Post!!

We'll never know what the show could have been but I'm thankful my favorite band made it a priority to give us everything they had. And for that Wrigley gets an A+

Bob Mayo on the keyboards Bob

Gut rating for me was above average to good. But you can't give the guys enough credit for coming back out, keeping Ernie Banks up, and playing until 2. About 10 years ago I drove from central Indiana to DC to see radiohead for what was supposed to be back to back shows at the Bull Run park. It got rainy on night one and they cancelled both, and I've never really felt the same way about the band since then. But PJ, unlike everyone else in town, stood by their fans and made it happen. Can't offer them enough love and respect for that!

Backspacer_Backer

I could have lived without Ernie Banks. That could have been another song being played. A little self indulgent for Ed. Most people there weren't Cubs fans (guessing). Some probably didn't give a shit and that just further drained the energy.

And, I was up at 4am Friday to catch my flight. So it was a loooooooong day. Not the band's fault, obviously. But there was definitely a drop in energy level for myself and most of the crowd after the delay.

Plus, ED was wasted after the delay. He could barely talk, and screwed up a few songs.

I'll still give it a B though.

EchosNobodyHears

JB23237 wrote:

Maybe you were tired and couldn't enjoy the show as much.....I saw a lot of that going on in the pit

It was definitely one of my top shows, and way above average. But yea it was tiring for us in the pit. I lined up around 1 (earlier for others) and hung out in the sun all day (which was awesome), then stood once we got let in and then the extra 2 1/2 hours just shredded me. I would have had plenty of energy if they played straight through like a normal show.

Once I got back in I still had a lot of energy, but there's no denying everyone in the ballpark (pit especially) was not like they would have been had the band played straight through til 11:30-12. No one thought or was prepared to be up until 2 that night and the long break killed the "buzz".

I also agree with the comment that this show (while amazing for me and totally worth the trip from MA), was not what it was suppose to be. I think all who looked forward to it for so long and traveled far to get there felt a little empty after. But it could have been much worse if they cancelled it and after all its not in anyones control.

Can't wait to relive it on the DVD. I think we all earned it.

Indifference71

It was just such a weird night. Play 7-8 songs, 2.5 hour delay, then come back on at 1145 and play 25 more songs until 2 am. Personally, I think they should have altered the setlist for when they came back on. All The Way into Up All Night didn't exactly get the crowd going after the really long delay. Should have came out banging with something like Corduroy or Alive. I still had a great time and rocked out, but that delay just killed the crowd. Like someone else said, you could see how upset Ed was when they had to end it when they did....it's too bad they couldn't play that original 40 song setlist because that would have went down as a classic show.

Merkin Baller

It was an A for me. The rain delay was pretty tough, and the two hour walk after was brutal, but a few things from this show stood out to me, the first two of which will probably never be replicated for me, the last of which I hope to see replicated in Brooklyn & Hartford in October:

1) From what I read, giving the circumstance of the rain delay, the band was still determined to give us what we paid for, and they did. No, it was not the epic 3+ hour show it clearly was supposed to be (see the setlist shirt). But for them to come out & play the way they did from 12-2 was phenomenal in my opinion, and like so many others have said, I can't really think of many bands that would do that.

2) The last time I heard 10 new PJ songs live was 13 years / 7 shows ago. Sure, I would have replaced some songs with others, but I've come to accept I will never ever get my dream set, so I'll take what I can get. I absolutely loved this setlist.
When all is said & done I got two white whales at Wrigley: Present Tense and All Night (the latter of which totally gave me faith that they were there to play and we were in for a long set). Mother put a tear in my eye, and I'm pretty excited to have been in the first crowd to hear 2 of their new songs. I can't say that's ever happened to me before. (at least with PJ)

3) The other 10 clubbers. I absolutely love talking to the other members & finding out where they are from & just sharing stories of other shows & life in general. They made waiting in a line on Friday bearable. The people in section 104 were awesome (thanks to the guys from Cincinnati in row 13 who shared their smoke, and then gave us advice to secure a good spot underneath, thanks to you we had comfortable spots to sit under cover) not too mention all the people we met at the bars on Thursday & Friday. I never got more than first names, but I sincerely enjoy this part of traveling to see PJ. I've traveled to Montreal, Philly & now Chicago & every interaction with other 10 clubbers at these shows has been overwhelmingly positive.

I could go on about the uniqueness of Wrigley, (my first time there) and a couple other points, but I don't need to. The first three points alone are enough to make it an A show for me. The rain delay & 2 hour walk after the show keep it from being an A+, but they are not enough to detract THAT much from everything else that went down for me over the course of those two days.

tempo_n_groove

Icusick and Echos, great posts!

I look at the circumstances and saw the bands faces when they came back on. They wanted to give back to the fans, and did.

This show could have been the best they ever did, it still was one of the best that they ever did because of the situation and execution.

Who plays in a stadium til' 2 am? Who fills the stadium with a HUGE amount of 10c's? Who else would embrace a fellow 10C member and acknowledge their partners passing(hoosier and Sarah)?!?

I was only worried that it was going to end...

Great show!

kevolution

I absolutely agree with you october22. I was actually shaking my head no as Eddie was talking to the crowd just before Rockin Free World. He sounded apologetic and you could feel the disappointment in his voice & see it in his face on the big screens. He had that gutwrenched look like we really tried and it feels like so many were let down. Shit, I think it's kinda perfect, anyone who knows the Cubs lore knows that the fan base has many curses & with Eddie being the diehard fan he is, I said to my fiancée immediately after the show as I looked up at their championship flag of 1908 that this felt like another type of Cubs curse. We've had really nice weather here in Chicago every day since the show.

He said and I'm paraphrasing 'we only have 5 more minutes and we gotta call it a night, we want to keep playing through tomorrow but theres other acts that want to play here, we cant fuck it up for them.' And with another show being Saturday, it was selfless to pull the plug when they did. He & the band definitely wanted this to be a special performance, but we got more of a special effort, unlike any show I've ever been to. I truly believe for all the hurdles that were cleared & getting to play that loud of a show from midnight to 2am, in Wrigleyville of all places which is right on top of living units, it's pretty badass how it played out.

This was my 5th PJ show and each one beforehand felt pretty special on paper. #1 was PJ opening for Tom Petty in 2006, 2 back to back shows in Chicago, PJ20 night 2, and now Wrigley. The Wrigley song performances were top notch to me, setlist strength was good but not great. London looked terrific setlist wise. My personal taste would've loved some more tunes like Not For You, Smile, Brother, Spin Black Circle, Supersonic.

october22 wrote:

I have to be honest and say that my strongest emotion after the show was sadness.

It wasn't the show we spent months expecting and it wasn't the show at Wrigley Ed wanted it so badly to be. You could see it in his face and hear the sincerity in his voice when he said goodnight.

It was a very long day and probably felt even longer for those of us in the pit. The atmosphere never returned after the delay.

That being said, I love this band even more after that night. You know they were tired too but you could feel their commitment to us. They came out and killed it, song after song and their energy was incredible. I am lucky to say I was one off the rail, directly in front of Mike and he was on a mission to give us 110% and he was nothing short of on fire. They all were. Great to see the banter and laughter between him and Jeff.

We'll never know what the show could have been but I'm thankful my favorite band made it a priority to give us everything they had. And for that Wrigley gets an A+

kevolution

Oh yeah, that was my first post I'm a bit of a lurker, in the best meaning of the word

DFBrooks

As always, the band played as if it were their last show. They leave nothing on the table, so to speak. Being at Wrigley at 2 am, with that sky, was surreal bordering on magical. Unforgettable. Can't wait for Fall Tour.

Lost In Ohio

evenflow82 wrote:

Too many special guests and a brutally underehearsed band (all the mistakes are the reason this remains unreleased).

That is a very interesting piece of logic.

We've had special guests before (I think we all know Corin Tucker's inability to SCREEEEEEEEEEECH Hunger Strike) but that was way too many, IMO. The whole TOTD with Boom Gaspar and 37 other people on stage was odd...it should have been just TOTD, IMO, and no one else. The large entourage of people accompanying Temple...supposed to keep it sacred.

inmyohiotree

Thought it was very good considering. Wasn't my favorite but really good. Grand Rapids 06 for me will always be my best show and that one was very unexpected.