"The Moment"

I'm interested in hearing your story about the "moment" you realized that PJ would be in your life from that time on...when it went from a like to a love.

Was it an album, song, live performance on TV, or in your hometown, interview, Video, magazine article.

Can you narrow it down to one instant?

For me it was that performance of Animal at the VMA'S in...1993?...intense, and more important than I thought rock and roll could be.

How about you?
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Comments

  • hedonisthedonist standing on the edge of forever Posts: 24,524
    My like started with Black well WELL after its release.

    My love started with joining the Sony BBS late 1999 and finding like-minded/hearted people, among them my now husband.

    Wasn't an instant - never expected or even wanted it to be - but love sometimes finds you in the oddest ways, both with music and people.

    (and animals)

    Pearl Jam, I thank and love you :)
  • RibbertronRibbertron Posts: 163
    I agree with the above how love can find you in the strangest ways. I was just thinking about starting a thread like this, also a thread where you at first disliked PJ, because I did.

    I was born in 1988 so too young to catch PJ when they first exploded. I was just a young kid growing up and being influenced by what was popular. I remember carpooling with my friend's mom who would listen to 101.9 the mix. Chicago people know it as a radio station that plays the cleaner pop hits that are clean enough for a mom to listen to. I remember hearing "Wishlist" when it came out, so I was probably 10 years old, and HATING it. I remember thinking the lyric of "I wish I was an alien at home behind the sun" on the studio version was terrible. I really did not like at the time, and hated when it came on the radio.

    I am not sure of my PJ interaction after that, but I probably didn't know who they were or what songs they sang. I probably just heard them in passing and was trying to be cool by listening to rap like Eminem, Limp Bizkit and later alternative music.

    Then came a vacation road trip with my parents to see South Dakota/ MT rushmore etc. I was probably 15 at the time, so 2003. I asked my sister's boyfriend if I could borrow some CDs for the road trip , so that I could just ignore my parents lol. He gave me a big CD case, it included all of Led Zeppelin's CDs, Pink Floyd's Pulse and a whole bunch of other great albums. It also included Pearl Jam's VS and TEN as well as the 2003 bootleg of the Chicago show.


    My first moment came when I popped in VS on the computer as I prelistened to songs. I remember thinking "Go" was one of the best songs I have ever heard and that it was the perfect song to listen to start off a roadtrip. I remember also liking Rearviewmirror. So that is the album I played when we left for the roadtrip.

    Then during the roadtrip I listened to the 2003 Chicago bootleg and thought how amazing the band was, I loved Release and Betterman and fell in love with the CD. It may not sound amazing, but to me it was. At this point in my life, I was just listening to what was popular and liked some of the crappy alternative bands at the time. I was just waiting for culture to tell me who to like. Those moments changed all of that. Those moments changed my life.
  • HesCalledDyerHesCalledDyer Maryland Posts: 16,416
    It was shortly after Even Flow was released as a single. I was in 9th grade. I saved up the change from my lunch money for about 2 weeks and bought the cassette of Ten. Took it home, listened to it on my walkman over and over and over. I don't know what in particular it really was, if anything in particular at all... I just knew what I was listening to was something special. Call it intuition. Call it blind faith. There was something in the variety of songs. They could do hard rock (Once, Why Go, Deep), they could do ballads (Black, Garden), they could be radio-friendly (Even Flow, Porch), they could be artistic (Oceans), and they could tell stories (Alive, Jeremy, Release). Back then I didn't know quite how to digest it all, but I knew I wanted to digest it.
  • dimitrispearljamdimitrispearljam NINUNINOPRO Posts: 139,136
    sure i loved them from the beggining listen jeremy and alive at radio,,but the moment seal the deal was porch at mtv unplugged
    "...Dimitri...He talks to me...'.."The Ghost of Greece..".
    "..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
    “..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
  • DancedNLaughterDancedNLaughter the 509 Posts: 323
    I had always been a fan, probably more than casual, since Ten. I had one of the Vs. tapes that was labeled Five Against One. On the day No Code was released, I ran to the college student bookstore and got one of the first copies.

    Somewhere after No Code though, Pearl Jam just fell off my radar. To be honest, Vitalogy and No Code (at the time) didn't grab me like Ten and Vs. had. I graduated, got a job, got married, had babies, became a SAH mom, blah, blah. Since I live in the boonies of Eastern Washington, I wasn't hearing any new PJ music on the radio (just a shit ton of Nickelback). Pretty much like living under a rock.

    So last year around May, I was looking for something to watch on Netflix and I stumble upon PJ20. Watched it (may have immediately watched it again) and I just felt whole, like I had found my long lost best friend. I spent weeks watching it, discovering all the music I had missed in the meantime, and music I didn't know about from before, discovering many, many bootlegs, and gave my copies of Vitalogy and No Code another listen and fell insanely in love with those albums and most everything after.

    I am a little pissed at myself that I let 10 or so years of PJ get away from me in the first place! This music gives me such an emotional balance, and I know this sounds super cheesy, but it just makes me feel complete. Like I'm finally in the right place, at the right time, and PJ's music has been an big part of me getting here.

    dorky, I know :loser:;)
    Push me and I will resist . . .
    Let me run into the rain . . . .to shine a human light today . . .
  • BALLBOYBALLBOY Australia Posts: 990
    When i saw them live the first time & lying on a hill at the show looking at the stars listening to Black. Never looked back from that moment
    Eastern Creek 95,Syd 1 98,Bris 2 98, Syd 1&2 03, Reading Fest 06, Bris 1 06, London 09, Hyde Park 10, Gold Coast BDO 14


  • This music gives me such an emotional balance, and I know this sounds super cheesy, but it just makes me feel complete. Like I'm finally in the right place, at the right time, and PJ's music has been an big part of me getting here.

    dorky, I know :loser:;)

    Not at all! There are times while listening to a bootleg that I am really digging, and I think "this is beautiful", like you said, a balance, or peace of sorts.
  • shetellsherselfshetellsherself New Jersey Posts: 8,765



    dorky, I know :loser:;)

    If you are :loser: for all of that I'm happily right there with you. :smile:

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  • jlaustinjlaustin Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 2,355
    My moment was during Unplugged when Eddie stood on that stool and wrote Pro-Choice on his arm in Sharpie. Love, love, love... Most definitely the soundtrack to my adult life.

    :heart:
    2013 Wrigley, Pittsburgh, Buffalo
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  • DancedNLaughterDancedNLaughter the 509 Posts: 323



    If you are :loser: for all of that I'm happily right there with you. :smile:

    :)
    Push me and I will resist . . .
    Let me run into the rain . . . .to shine a human light today . . .
  • red mosred mos Posts: 4,953
    edited May 2015
    From watching mtv unplugged. Such a great performance. Liked everything they had released, and they just became my favorite band. Didn't get to see them live until the Binaural tour in 2000. First live song I got to hear them play was "Long Road."
    Post edited by red mos on
    PJ: 10/14/00 06/09/03 10/4/09 11/15/13 11/16/13 10/08/14
    EV Solo: 7/11/11 11/12/12 11/13/12
  • mfc2006mfc2006 HTOWN Posts: 37,368
    my oldest sister made me a copy (on tape) of Ten when I was 14 & sent it to me while she was at college..one year after it came out. She knew that I liked Soundgarden & thought I might like it. I had heard a little of their stuff up to that point, but nothing really grabbed me. Then, I listened to the tape she sent. I was almost hooked. Fast forward to Lollapalooza 1992 at the Ft. Bend County Fairgrounds (Houston) where I first saw them live. After that, I was hooked. I still thank my sister for that tape.
    I LOVE MUSIC.
    www.cluthelee.com
    www.cluthe.com
  • red mosred mos Posts: 4,953
    mfc2006 said:

    my oldest sister made me a copy (on tape) of Ten when I was 14 & sent it to me while she was at college..one year after it came out. She knew that I liked Soundgarden & thought I might like it. I had heard a little of their stuff up to that point, but nothing really grabbed me. Then, I listened to the tape she sent. I was almost hooked. Fast forward to Lollapalooza 1992 at the Ft. Bend County Fairgrounds (Houston) where I first saw them live. After that, I was hooked. I still thank my sister for that tape.

    Matt, there is footage from that show on youtube, awesome you were there. It's very grainy, but check it out.
    PJ: 10/14/00 06/09/03 10/4/09 11/15/13 11/16/13 10/08/14
    EV Solo: 7/11/11 11/12/12 11/13/12
  • SarahSarah Toronto Posts: 736
    I had purchased Ten at a used record store on cassette for $5, but did not listen to it until months later. That date, July 17, 1998, is when I first heard the opening lines to "Once" ("I admit it / What's to say?") and it was as if an entirely new world opened up. Never before had I identified with a band so strongly, directly and immediately. From that moment on, their music gave me a "safe" place to express my pain, my anger, my joy, my hopes, my fears and my strengths -- which is why Pearl Jam will probably always be my all-time favourite band.
    "Somewhere in between / There and here / I got lost / I got scared..."
  • PJfanwillneverleave1PJfanwillneverleave1 Posts: 12,885
    edited May 2015
    After listening to Ten on tape for the first time because the cover "looked cool" I tried to get others to listen (including my parents) and they just did not have the enthusiasm as I heard it.
    I knew then this band was going to be with me.
    One album or a hundred.

    edit - spelling
    Post edited by PJfanwillneverleave1 on
  • 2-feign-reluctance2-feign-reluctance TigerTown, USA Posts: 23,090
    120 Minutes 1992 I think. Threw away all my hip hop tapes.
    www.cluthelee.com
  • PureandEasyPureandEasy Posts: 5,769
    That "aha" moment for me was seeing them live for the first time, August '98. I was on a natural high for at least a week. It was a feeling I can't explain. Something happened that night that changed the course of my life.

    What happened in my life since that night, I could never have foreseen. I have traveled, experienced community and friendship beyond my wildest dreams. I have suffered the loss of a few of those people in death, pain and sadness, but if not for PJ, I never would have known them at all.

    And being on the PJ message boards for years, there are so many I have yet to meet, but some are very near and dear to me.

    God I love this band.
  • NanouNanou Posts: 191
    I've had two PJ moments in my life.
    The first one was when I was 13 (?) and watched a French rock music TV show because of Nirvana. I was into Nevermind back then but was disappointed by the interview. Second part of the show: Pearl Jam with Stone, Mike and Jeff talking about I don't know what. I just remember their smiles and clothes. The interview had Alive in the background, and I played the tape over and over just to hear the guitar riff again. I fell in love with that riff.
    I was hooked until Yield, when I moved to Croatia and was moving once a year, so I could only keep the minimum with me. Also I was/am broke, so I couldn't afford new CDs or concerts abroad. When they came to Zagreb, I saw a jumbo poster in the street for the soldout concert, and I was thinking "how did I miss that? Ah well I'm broke anyway"... Also, during these no PJ years, I tried to listen to Ten again, but couldn't because it made me too sad. Go figure!
    The second PJ moment was in September 2013, when I saw PJ20 on the Croatian TV, well half of it because I was breastfeeding. :wink: I was captivated just like in the old days. It was a revelation to me: that's why I've always loved them! Such normal guys, smiling... I knew then I wouldn't lose this music again.
    Like DancedNLaughter said, it was like finding old lost best friends, it was awesome discovering the music after Yield and it's an "emotional balance". Yes, their music heals my soul.

    Wow! Long post. I guess I just needed to express my moments.
  • PureandEasyPureandEasy Posts: 5,769
    Nanou said:

    I've had two PJ moments in my life.
    The first one was when I was 13 (?) and watched a French rock music TV show because of Nirvana. I was into Nevermind back then but was disappointed by the interview. Second part of the show: Pearl Jam with Stone, Mike and Jeff talking about I don't know what. I just remember their smiles and clothes. The interview had Alive in the background, and I played the tape over and over just to hear the guitar riff again. I fell in love with that riff.
    I was hooked until Yield, when I moved to Croatia and was moving once a year, so I could only keep the minimum with me. Also I was/am broke, so I couldn't afford new CDs or concerts abroad. When they came to Zagreb, I saw a jumbo poster in the street for the soldout concert, and I was thinking "how did I miss that? Ah well I'm broke anyway"... Also, during these no PJ years, I tried to listen to Ten again, but couldn't because it made me too sad. Go figure!
    The second PJ moment was in September 2013, when I saw PJ20 on the Croatian TV, well half of it because I was breastfeeding. :wink: I was captivated just like in the old days. It was a revelation to me: that's why I've always loved them! Such normal guys, smiling... I knew then I wouldn't lose this music again.
    Like DancedNLaughter said, it was like finding old lost best friends, it was awesome discovering the music after Yield and it's an "emotional balance". Yes, their music heals my soul.

    Wow! Long post. I guess I just needed to express my moments.

    Loved it. Nice read. Thank you.
  • WhatYouTaughtMeWhatYouTaughtMe I have no idea what's going on right now! Posts: 4,957
    Listened to Ten a lot and dug it, knew all the words and was heavy in my rotation. The first time I heard VS is when I was blown away. After that, I started getting into boots and you all know where it goes from there!
  • NanouNanou Posts: 191



    Loved it. Nice read. Thank you.

    :blush:
  • NanouNanou Posts: 191

    That "aha" moment for me was seeing them live for the first time, August '98. I was on a natural high for at least a week. It was a feeling I can't explain. Something happened that night that changed the course of my life.

    What happened in my life since that night, I could never have foreseen. I have traveled, experienced community and friendship beyond my wildest dreams. I have suffered the loss of a few of those people in death, pain and sadness, but if not for PJ, I never would have known them at all.

    And being on the PJ message boards for years, there are so many I have yet to meet, but some are very near and dear to me.

    God I love this band.

    Love the PJ family!
    My husband, who likes but does not love PJ, says he admits PJ fans are the most original and creative fans. Yeah! :sunglasses:
  • Amongst the AniAmongst the Ani @Wobbie Posts: 7,790
    I had really digged Mother Love Bone. Heard Even Flow and liked it but didn't know it was a lot of the guys from MLB. Read something later and went out and picked up 10 just based on that. Much like Nirvana at first it wasnt love at first listen. Coming out of the 80's when GNR was king it took a couple of weeks. Then all of sudden it just felt right. I remember seeing the poster for Vs on the wall of the music store for months before it came out. It was torture.
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  • mfc2006mfc2006 HTOWN Posts: 37,368
    red mos said:

    mfc2006 said:

    my oldest sister made me a copy (on tape) of Ten when I was 14 & sent it to me while she was at college..one year after it came out. She knew that I liked Soundgarden & thought I might like it. I had heard a little of their stuff up to that point, but nothing really grabbed me. Then, I listened to the tape she sent. I was almost hooked. Fast forward to Lollapalooza 1992 at the Ft. Bend County Fairgrounds (Houston) where I first saw them live. After that, I was hooked. I still thank my sister for that tape.

    Matt, there is footage from that show on youtube, awesome you were there. It's very grainy, but check it out.

    Yup. I've seen it. Crazy that I was there
    I LOVE MUSIC.
    www.cluthelee.com
    www.cluthe.com
  • I guess anyone who is not a member should divulge into the instrumental PJ20 given to fly.
    and go from there where it takes you
  • hedonisthedonist standing on the edge of forever Posts: 24,524

    I guess anyone who is not a member should divulge into the instrumental PJ20 given to fly.
    and go from there where it takes you

    I've seen this before but must've forgotten.

    Pulled it up just now. Beauty in that face and music - thank you!
  • jerparker20jerparker20 St. Paul, MN Posts: 2,399


    So last year around May, I was looking for something to watch on Netflix and I stumble upon PJ20. Watched it (may have immediately watched it again) and I just felt whole, like I had found my long lost best friend.

    Same here.

    I was in high school in the 90s and was a fan. Had Ten on cassette and continued to buy releases through Binaural. After Binaural, they fell off my radar completely.

    Sometime in 2012, I stumbled onto PJ20 on Netflix. A couple days later I picked up some boots from the 2000 tour at a used bookstore, and the rest is history.

    I'm not sure what it is about the PJ20 video. I went to the Moline show last fall with a two other people. All three of us strangers to each other as we had just met the week before. On the drive there this same question was brought up. All three of us had been fans in our earlier years, but drifted away, until PJ20. We all sited that as the spark that reignited the passion for this band.
  • pjradiopjradio Posts: 6,704
    edited May 2015
    There are 2 times in my life where I remember EXACTLY where I was & what I was doing when I first heard a new band...1st was "Teen Spirit", sitting on my bed in Orlando getting ready to feed my dog Jetta, and heard it on the radio....2nd? About a month after hearing Nirvana, I drove to Daytona to visit a friend. We were getting ready to go to the beach and as we were getting ready, my buddy put on a cassette..."Once" came on & the rest is history.
    Post edited by pjradio on
    aqo2t.jpg
  • my2handsmy2hands Posts: 17,117
    July 5, 2003... Camden Lawn... 1st Set... Rockin' In The Free World... with Fireworks exploding over the Delaware River

    went from fan, to fanatic
  • Annr95Annr95 Posts: 62
    PJ20 movie for me too. I found it on YouTube, watched it a couple times and then convinced my sister to watch it. We ended up going to the Dallas and OKC shows in 2013 and were blown away by the energy. We've now been to 6 shows and are anxiously awaiting more!
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