Randalls Island, New York shows from 1996

joewillie

The 10C tix were also really cool for those shows...they had you name printed on them which would have made for a great keepsake, until the rain came.

evenflowwma

giventoflyjbs wrote:

Eddie was clear stoned out of his gourd. According to TFT.com, the entire show lasted 168 minutes, that is, 2 hours and 48 minutes.

yeah that's possible, it seemed like 5 hours i can tell ya that!

NY PJ1

great show.. still feel bad for the surfer who had to be thrown head first onto the floor ,,, he kicked me in the head and i had enough of him

joewillie

evenflowwma wrote:

yeah that's possible, it seemed like 5 hours i can tell ya that!

it took about 5 hours to get into the venue...total cluster F

evenflowwma

joewillie wrote:

it took about 5 hours to get into the venue...total cluster F

that i remember...took longer to get out..

NotoriousIMP

I have a good boot from night II. 3 cds and at the end of disc 3 has eddie playing with the Doors at the Rock N Roll HOF.
Why isnt there a boot from night I???
Or is there??????

and if so, how do i get one?????????

NotoriousIMP

This should help from TFT.com


09/28/96 - Downing Stadium (Randall's Island): New York, NY [115m]
attendance: 30,000
support act: Ben Harper, The Fastbacks
set: Last Exit, Hail Hail, Animal, Spin the Black Circle, Red Mosquito, In My Tree, Lukin, Not for You, Better Man/(Save it for Later), Corduroy, Jeremy, Dissident, State of Love and Trust, Black, Habit, Rearviewmirror, Alive, Blood/(Noise of Carpet)
enc 1: Who You Are, Even Flow, Daughter/I Believe in Miracles/WMA, Whipping, Leaving Here, Indifference
notes: Despite the torrential downpour, Blues Traveler's John Popper jams with Mike during 'Even Flow.' (Ed gives John a big hug and a handshake at the end.) 'Whipping' is paused very briefly in the middle because someone seems to be hurt or fighting. Ed says, "Is that all?" and with a quick "1, 2, 3, 4," the song resumes right where they left off. Prior to 'Indifference," Ed comments on how it seems to him from letters the band gets, the things they read and people they've met, that lots of people are meeting each other through PJ's music. He adds, "To me, that's the best part of this whole thing and I'm honored to be a part of it." (so true ... and very cool to have it acknowledged)


09/29/96 - Downing Stadium (Randall's Island): New York, NY [168m]
attendance: 30,000
support act: Ben Harper, The Fastbacks
set: Sometimes, Go, Spin the Black Circle, Hail Hail, Animal, Tremor Christ, Who You Are, Corduroy, Lukin, Better Man, Not for You, Jeremy (new), Once, Rats, Last Exit, Habit, Rearviewmirror, Immortality, Whipping, I Got Shit, Black, Alive, Porch
enc 1: In My Tree, Even Flow, Daughter/(The Real Me)/(ABitW)/(WMA), Mankind, Long Road, Leaving Here
enc 2: Off He Goes, Present Tense, Yellow Ledbetter
notes: A nearly three-hour show with a raging pit. The band stops playing several times in an effort to get the crowd to settle down. During 'Porch,' Ed duct-tapes his *entire* body and jumps into the pit. (Thought we'd never see that again!) Just before the first encore, someone throws an "Eddie Vedder for President" t-shirt up on stage. Ed looks at it and says, "Well I'll tell you the truth ... I smoke pot! I didn't exhale though!" Stone asks for a chant of "Stone, Stone, Stone!" before singing 'Mankind.' During the encore, Mike starts playing 'Yellow Ledbetter' after 'Leaving Here,' Ed stops him and they go into 'Off He Goes' followed by 'Present Tense!' Incredible setlist.

wma11

My first show as well, I waited at the gate for like 5+ hours waiting and when they opened the flood gates there was a mad rush (like full-on sprint) to the front...I sat there with some new-found friends and waited through Ben Harper (no Innocent Criminals back then) and I'll never forget Ed coming up the stairs behind the stage giving everyone in the front rows a wave, he was dressed in a black with sequins (I was sober) and they came on with Last Exit, which will be burned into my memory forever...we all got slammed around in the sea of the pit, and I ended up getting pulled out during SOLAT...and watched the rest of the show from side of the GA area...and yeah "it was a bitch getting out"

Night 2, I spent the whole show in GA, hanging with friends and I ended up burning my eyelash lighting 'something' (not sober Night 2) but amazing show, boot for Night 2 is C-, but Night 1 pretty decent, all in all, a life-changing event!

Poncier

NotoriousIMP wrote:

Night 1 was my first ever PJ concert.
Blew outta my brothers wedding reception to go to it.

I remember it being fucking crazy hot and humid. Until it poured.
It was a GA show, so the pit was insane. The crowd was crazy. Im 6-3 and was having such a hard time. Which ever way the crowd swayed thats the way you moved.
John Popper (blues Travellers) came out during evenflow.
Eddie had to calm down the crowd a few times.
Traffic leaving was a real bitch.

Plus there was a tarp on the field that once it got wet and the crowd pushed, keeping your feet was a real challenge.


And the traffic was brutal.
Had planned to drive back to Boston, made it as far as Hartford and got a hotel room there.

NYLIPJ

My First Show Too. It Was Unreal As Stated Above By Numerous People. Remember The Crazy Atmosphere, Ed Trying To Keep The Crowd At Bay , One Girl Was Getting Crushed In The Front And Had To Stop Playing Two Or Three Times To Make Sure She Was Ok. But The Set List Was Amazing Never See Something Like That Again. Little Rain Here And There From What I Remember. Was So Stoned That Show It Was Great. Just The Best Concert I Have Ever Been Too. It Was Like A Circus That Day, Everyone Was Just Hanging Out And Have A Great Time No Cares In The World Besides Pj Playing. I Was 18, Just Started My First Year At College, What A Way To Start Wish I Could Go Back And Relive That Day. Even Though It Took Hours To Get Out Of The Lot It Was The Best Parking Lot Jam, After That Concert It Did Not Seem To Matter That You Had To Wait.

LeatherMosquitoMan

NotoriousIMP wrote:

I have a good boot from night II. 3 cds and at the end of disc 3 has eddie playing with the Doors at the Rock N Roll HOF.
Why isnt there a boot from night I???
Or is there??????

and if so, how do i get one?????????

I have it, and the quality is fine.

nukeboot

LeatherMosquitoMan wrote:

I have it, and the quality is fine.

Any chance you can share it?

pink1969

Hey all, first time posting and new member to the pit. That was an awesome show. I was on vacation in Wildwood, NJ when I started calling frantically from the hotel phone trying to get tickets. I was lucky before getting tickets to the Paramount show in April of '94 and got lucky again this time. Got 4 tickets and took my husband (who is now my ex) and two of our friends. The parking lot was insane (especially trying to get out). The show opened up and once the mosh pit started, I got separated from everyone I was with. No prob. though cause I just went to the beer tent and got myself a couple beers (one for each hand) and found some new PJ fans to hang out with. They were so cool, they just took me in to there group like I was an old friend (thanks guys!). Goes to show you what kind of fans PJ has. The rain was coming down so hard, but no one even cared or complained. That show was rockin!!

Get_Right

night two was fucking nuts in the pit
probably the best show Ive ever seen (250+)

jdelin

Wow, I am so glad someone posted about this show. Like a lot of others who commented, the Randall's Island 9/29/96 show was my first PJ show (probably a first for a lot of people because of the Ticketmaster crap - it was so hard to see them before this). I remember getting lucky getting tickets - PJ used their own ticketing system where you had to call in, and I think I might have gotten some of the last tickets since I got through after redialing for a half hour. The tickets were awesome with a cool design on them (I still have my stub).

The show itself - out of the 12 shows I've seen, this is still the best one. I remember getting there early with my friends and trying to get as close to the stage as possible. Things were great when they opened with "Sometimes," but then when they went into "Go" I thought I was going to die getting trampled. I am not a big guy, and I had tons of sweaty, big guys all around crushing me. I started getting dizzy, trying to ask someone to pick me up so that I could crowd surf to the front and get out, but there was not even any room to have someone pick me up. My head went down, and I thought I was going to collapse right there and that would be it for me.

Then by some miracle, Eddie stops the show right in the middle of "Animal." I know I wasn't the only one getting trampled, and Ed noticed it and made his comments about it to the crowd. I finally managed to get someone to pick me up and I made my way to the front. When I finally gathered myself after landing in the space between the stage and the crowd, getting ready to walk around to the seats on the side, I looked up and Ed was right there looking down at me. I mouthed "thank you" and he took notice and nodded. That moment right there made me realize why I love PJ so much!

I did make it around to the seats, found some of my friends there, and watched the rest of the show there. And it was amazing. "Black" was so emotional. I remember leaving the show at the end speechless. I was a big PJ fan since 1992, and with this being my first show, it was more than I could have expected.

I was lucky enough to find the bootleg of this show a couple of years ago. The quality is alright, but does anyone have one with great sound quality?

Again, thanks for bringing this up - brings back amazing memories for me!

milwmatt

My God I will never forget that weekend.

I had seen Pearl Jam MANY times and even met the guys once but it was my first trip out of state on my own (well with a friend). First time on a plane which was kinda sad. I was a sophomore in college and me and my friend Ken followed PJ around on the tour. We used our 10C tix for these two shows. My mom booked a hotel and transportation. We figured it would be a dump but it turned out to be real nice inside. We entered through a back way and went to the desk - "sorry we already gave your room away" was the first thing we heard. We were crapping our pants just as the desk guy said - we will put you in a suite instead. We get in our room and look out the window figuring it would be just any old street and it was times square!!! We were excited of course and walked around the whole area for hours. We left very early for the show. Took a bus to Central Park and then got on the subway right by the Apollo. Many cops at all of those sub stations just because of the concerts. They gave us advice and we were on our way. I was excited to see the place that Pele used to play and other major events took place. Obviously it doesnt exist anymore so that was cool. We made it to the stage early. I think I remember them handing out flowers at the gate?? The set was minimal was most of the shows were during that era. Just the chandelier with the spikes and no backdrop from the 95/96 era and the typical props like Jeff's lamp etc.

Anyhow we bought t-shirts and posters and went to the stage. It was our 3rd or 4th show of the tour (We traveled with our parents for the others). We were big fastbacks fans so we jammed out to them - they did a cover of behind blue eyes. Then Benb Harper who we had seen before but was an added treat. PJ came on - John Popper played an AWESOME harp solo during evenflow. Dennis Rodman and Mariah Carey were also supposedly there. I think I caught a glimpse of Rodman but am not 100%. I used to work in the Bucks locker room and had met him before and I was pretty sure it was him. VERY hot and steamy. We saw a girl pass out and never hit the ground because people were packed so tight close to the stage she had nowhere to fall. The rain came and was like a mist colling everyone off and it was beautiful - cooled us down but messed up my poster some. I got it laminated which did get the wrinkles out. Crowd surfed all the way from the back to the stage during "Leaving Here" and Ed winked at me as I was walking past. Great night. Second the complaints about leaving - it was VERY difficult. Mounted police pushing you with their horses. We also caught a bus to the Yankee Stadium subway station. Took pics in front of the sign.

The next night we were determined to be front row. We knew from past experience that the second night is always better setlist wise (at least if you like rarities) and they always pull out all the stops. The fastbacks recognized me and my friend singing to their songs and threw a pick to me. Seemed great. It was even warmer than the first night but no rain. I took some pics of ed and stone - might dig em out and scan them if interested. From the pics you can tell I was right there. The crowd control barriers were in the shape of a "t".

Stage
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The problem was that it was damn hot and WAY too many people were pushing their way to the stage and no one could get out - the only way was to crowd surf and get to the stage and walk out the side. I fully blame that setup for what was to happen to me. (Not PJ's fault - no way to predict the outcome). By the first few songs many people decided they couldn't handle it and panicked clawing over everyone up front. It was VERY hard work just standing there trying not to get kicked. At some point I was pulled down by someone trying to climb out over me and pulled to the ground. I kept my composure and reached up for help and no one helped. A chain reaction caused a pileup and I must have had people 3-5 high on top of me. I relaxed knowing that if I struggled I might make it worse. It felt like forever. Someone's shin was pressed on my neck and it started cutting off my air. I relaxed and accepted that I was probably going to die. Really. I thought about what my mother would think about reading about my death in a paper. I thought about the tramplings at the Who show way back when. I thought - if I am going out - what better place than seeing the band I loved that pulled me out of depression in my high school and freshman year of college. I was actually happy and calm went all over me. Then nothing. I saw fuzz that

I woke up on an ambulance with my shirt cut off of me kicking and flailing not knowing where the hell I was. My arm was numb. They told me where I was and that they had revived me and I was lucky to be alive. I had no idea how I would get home and how my friend would find me. It took a while. Soon after I arrived more and more pj fans were on beds in this large room by me. With each new fan I found more and more of the setlist out and was so angry that I was missing the greatest PJ show ever. Luckily I went to enough shows to see songs like Rats after that but at the time I was so disappointed. Eventually my friend found me after trying two other hospitals that the security staff said people were being sent to. He told me that the band had stopped playing and after they cleared all of the people he saw people in the crowd freaking out and pointing. Someone picked me up and passed my over the front barrier and he said I was completely limp and lifeless and was blue in the face. He thought I was a goner. I remember that one of the doctors wanted to do an anal test to check for internal bleeding and we had a big fight over that and luckily an x-ray was enough. The doctor gave us subway money to get to our hotel and catch our flight in the morning on a promise that I would see my doctor immediately because he felt bad that we might not get home and had no real way of taking care of ourselves not having arrangements to stay another night. I had a LOT of bruises form being trampled and some minor nerve damage in my arm but that is fine now.

I listened to the tape of the show once but it still freaks me out. I could hear the tension in Ed's voice at the point where I believe he saw me being carried out and haven't been able to listen to it again. I almost died at that show but it woke me up and made me appreciate life a hell of a lot more. Every September I celebrate the fact that I am still Alive and listen to Pearl Jam. Everytime I have seen PJ after is one more day that wasn't promised and I love it. I usually have to hold back a little tear for the first song. I will be at the Milwaukee EV show and can't wait. So for me, Randall's Island was a life changing experience in so many ways.

LeatherMosquitoMan

Not the best quality in the world, but it's something...

Randall's Island, NY - September 28th, 1996

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NCGSNYQQ

Enjoy!

Rjonesrm20

milwmatt.....that is one helluva story man....glad you are here to see more PJ shows and live life!!!

milwmatt

Me too rjones. I was meant to be here. 4 year old daughter and 1 year old son and I am a teacher now. That whole event gave me direction. I also was able to meet my birth mother and do some amazing things so I am very thankful to the medical staff and to the band for realizing there was a problem.

It sure is a hell of a story - wouldn't want to live it again but I am glad I experienced it too. I checked my pockets on the subway to the hotel to get our stuff and catch our flight and the fastbacks pick was still there too!

I have seen about 30 PJ shows since 96 and have had the chance to also see Brad and Three Fish a few times too. Talked to Jeff about what happened after a Three Fish show and the problem that particular barrier caused. I still think those T type barriers should be gone or they should have a max number for people allowed into that area. It was the whole reason for the trampling because the people were packed so tightly the only way out was to crowdsurf.

freindlyfired

sucks because i dont have specific memories of each show. my memory jumbles both together.