Honest Lolla review

chatdean

I love Pearl Jam, especially live. They are the only band that I listen to, and I really get mad when someone talks shit about them... but I don't think they had a great night tonight, and I am not upset or mad or whining or crying... I really feel bad.


I was at the show... right up front six rows away from and in front of Mike. After Why Go he could not get on track, he was having major issues with his gear... he was way way too distorted. Ed seemed not happy about it, approached Mike, Mike sat out some parts and was constantly trying to adjust... as Ed was giving sideways looks... I felt bad. I feel it sort of set the tone for the other guys and they had to stretch and cover for Mike.

Though no fault of their own and if they were allowed I'm sure it would not be the case, but they seemed rushed tonight at times, again format of the event... not their control.

I am not disappointed or upset, the setlist was Incredible... it just seemed like a technical issue that I felt bad that they had to deal with... but it was there and I can't believe so many think they sounded their best.

LeatherMosquitoMan

chatdean wrote:

I love Pearl Jam, especially live. They are the only band that I listen to, ad I really get mad when someone talks shit about them... but I don't think they had a great night tonight, and I am not upset pr mad or whining or crying... I really feel bad.


I was at the show... right up fron in front of Mike. After Why Gom he could not get on track, he was having major issues with his gear... he was way way too distorted. Ed seemed not happy about it, approached Mike, Mike sat out some parts and was constantly trying to adjust... as Ed was giving sideways looks... I felt bad. I feel it sort of set the tone for the other guys and they had to stretch and cover for Mike.

Though no fault of tehir own and if tehy were allowed I'm sure it would not be the case, but they seemed rushed tonight at times, again format of teh event...

I am not disappointed or upset, the setlist was Incredible... it just seemed like a technical issue that I felt bad that they had to deal with... but it was there and I can't believe so many think they sounded their best.

Are you drunk?

smokeyrat

from stones side back in the middle, i kept thinking i couldn't hear the guitars very well and Ed sounded a little bit stretched. Yet, i DID think that their energy up there made up for/covered up a lot of the technical flaws they were having, and then some. wasn't perfect, but they could of easily "mailed it in" and imo, it was far from it.

chatdean

smokeyrat wrote:

from stones side back in the middle, i kept thinking i couldn't hear the guitars very well and Ed sounded a little bit stretched. Yet, i DID think that their energy up there made up for/covered up a lot of the technical flaws they were having, and then some. wasn't perfect, but they could of easily "mailed it in" and imo, it was far from it.

I do not think there was any lack of effort, definitely something not in their control... I still thought it was a great show, they busted ass.

somebodyelsessky2020

well from home it seemed like ed was out of breath..but i'll go with the equipment excuse if everyone agrees

dthomas

I posted this elsewhere:

not sure where to post this but the sound was not great for PJ. We were on the hill on the left side which seemed far I admit but MMJ came in loud and clear. PJ was muddy for at least the first hour and then I just stopped paying attention to it (the sound not PJ). Also they weren't as loud as any other act on that stage. Really weird. I'm sure the people in the front were fine but I'm wondering how many folks behind us were not impressed because of the sound. We were still probably the front 1/3 of the audience.

I was so impressed all weekend by the sound at Lolla, except for PJ. I have a feeling it was a sound guy turf war of some such.

Mine

I have a theory on that. They weren't loud in europe either, i remember thinking they will be set louder than the Futureheads in Munich, because they were not very loud at all, an they were not. Anyway my theory is that this is another way of saving energy and decrease polution. This is just what came to my mynd.

jrd

Mine wrote:

I have a theory on that. They weren't loud in europe either, i remember thinking they will be set louder than the Futureheads in Munich, because they were not very loud at all, an they were not. Anyway my theory is that this is another way of saving energy and decrease polution. This is just what came to my mynd.

well, they were pretty f**king loud in London!!!! everyone's ears were ringing the day after - apart from the smart-arses who wore earplugs...

dthomas

jrd wrote:

well, they were pretty f**king loud in London!!!! everyone's ears were ringing the day after - apart from the smart-arses who wore earplugs...

I think he meant the outdoor shows. yeah London was NICE and loud.

yielder

Mike had also gear problems in Nijmegen.

bryanfury

from the webcast, you could see they were having problems over at mike's area before they went on.

Swifty

i was center-right pretty close...i thought it was amazing and my ears are still ringing.

John Budge

chatdean wrote:

I do not think there was any lack of effort, definitely something not in their control... I still thought it was a great show, they busted ass.

That must've stunk.

justam

I noticed they had some sound problems a few times...some odd sounds coming out of the guitars in several spots, but it didn't ruin the concert.

meme

From home it seemed like the problem was Ed...

Anyway, I was thinking yesterday that this was probably the worst I have seen/heard PJ. Still, a fantastic show, a show where they give all they had. And what this also means is that for these 16 years they have always been in top form, and the preference for one show or the other by fans was determined by setlist and sound quality at the venue, or crowd.

I do hope that if heavy partying was the issue the lesson has been learned

How did Ed look at the Vic/his voice sound?

Two months ago in London they were full of energy and the show was flawless...

keenanite

I have to agree with the fact there were some issues with their levels. Mike's guitar was WAY too loud and muddy for a great deal of the songs, and the rest of the guys were often drowned out by it (or possibly not loud enough themselves). I'm sure it's very hard to mix properly in an outdoor setting when you're playing to 60,000+ people, but as one of the other people said, My Morning Jacket sounded pretty solid with their sound right before them, so something must have went wrong.

Nonetheless, they seemed to really feed off the crowd's energy and gorgeous setting in downtown Chicago to make it a fun night.

mookie_in_eugene

Swifty wrote:

i was center-right pretty close...i thought it was amazing and my ears are still ringing.

this is why I always use earplugs...ever since I saw a U2 show during the Popmart tour, my ears take about one week to recover from a concert...plus, if you use earplugs, you can hear the band more clearly (a little less distortion)

inmyrvm

It was visible (and you could hear) that ed was having voice problems. Big time. I could see on the webcast Mike was trying to adjust things quite a bit. Stone sounded horrible on life wasted, but someone said he tuned down cause of ed's voice, but I'm not sure that's what it was. They still put on a good show, but it wasn't one persons fault for the issues.

ajedigecko

mookie_in_eugene wrote:

this is why I always use earplugs...ever since I saw a U2 show during the Popmart tour, my ears take about one week to recover from a concert...plus, if you use earplugs, you can hear the band more clearly (a little less distortion)

perfect description on the use of earplugs...........i am glad i had mine in while i watched the show last night...........................from my computer

obiwon76

I agree, based on my view from the webcast, it was not their best performance.

milan

I watched the webcast at home in the UK with headphones - not prepared to annoy family at 0200 - 0430. Anyways through the headphones, in the mix, Mike dropped out of the left side and Stone came right up - thought it was weird until I read these comments anbout Mike's equipment. Different complexion on some songs and I thought Stone's slots/solos were great.

BTW at both Milan 06 and Madrid 07 - 1 inside 1 outside the support act had miles better sound quality than PJ - though the bootlegs turned out fine.

thefreshprince

milan wrote:

I watched the webcast at home in the UK with headphones - not prepared to annoy family at 0200 - 0430. Anyways through the headphones, in the mix, Mike dropped out of the left side and Stone came right up - thought it was weird until I read these comments anbout Mike's equipment. Different complexion on some songs and I thought Stone's slots/solos were great.

BTW at both Milan 06 and Madrid 07 - 1 inside 1 outside the support act had miles better sound quality than PJ - though the bootlegs turned out fine.

I noticed that too... I watched the webcast on headphones also and a couple of times I thought Stone was Mike and Mike was Stone because sometimes Stone would come out of the left headphone.

Ed's voice wasnt 100% thats for sure... he did look like he was having fun.

pjalive21

meme wrote:

From home it seemed like the problem was Ed...

Anyway, I was thinking yesterday that this was probably the worst I have seen/heard PJ. Still, a fantastic show, a show where they give all they had. And what this also means is that for these 16 years they have always been in top form, and the preference for one show or the other by fans was determined by setlist and sound quality at the venue, or crowd.

I do hope that if heavy partying was the issue the lesson has been learned

How did Ed look at the Vic/his voice sound?

Two months ago in London they were full of energy and the show was flawless...

his voice a the Vic sounded one of his best, IMO...watching Lolla on the webcast his voice was shredded and then made a come back after the intermissions at the end...

i agree this wasnt one of their best shows and i disagree with people who say Lolla was "their ground breaking show", because it wasnt

it was still a good PJ, greatest hits show, cant take away from that because the energy was amazing

shadowcast

I love all these web-cast reviews. Let's have a seperate thread called web-cast reviews and you all can debate the web-cast and the clarity of the web-cast wtih yourself. If you were at the show then lets talk. Yes we have all seen PJ many times. But, their were a lot of people that never saw them before and they were in awe. I liked being at a show with a good mix of vet's and rookies because seeing them smile and going nuts (along w/the vets) was GREAT!!!! Yea, there might have been some minor glitches but this was one of the most intense PJ shows I have been to. i thought Ed sounded fine and the vibe at the show was something that the web-cast reviewers will never feel. But let me tell you, the vibe was in full force.

soulsinging

inmyrvm wrote:

It was visible (and you could hear) that ed was having voice problems. Big time. I could see on the webcast Mike was trying to adjust things quite a bit. Stone sounded horrible on life wasted, but someone said he tuned down cause of ed's voice, but I'm not sure that's what it was. They still put on a good show, but it wasn't one persons fault for the issues.

he struggled at the vic at times too. i can't imagine it was easy. he was around the fest all dat sunday and it was hot as shit. id be struggling too. i bet he's in bed the next 3 days

there were some sound issues. mike had problems and ed i think was getting exhausted. but so was the crowd which i think almost helped the band. it was a fitting end to the festival, a sloppy, rowdy, singalong. i had a blast.

though they were oddly quiet. i remember thinking muse was twice as loud the night before.

blueredgray

dthomas wrote:

I posted this elsewhere:

not sure where to post this but the sound was not great for PJ. We were on the hill on the left side which seemed far I admit but MMJ came in loud and clear. PJ was muddy for at least the first hour and then I just stopped paying attention to it (the sound not PJ). Also they weren't as loud as any other act on that stage. Really weird. I'm sure the people in the front were fine but I'm wondering how many folks behind us were not impressed because of the sound. We were still probably the front 1/3 of the audience.

I was so impressed all weekend by the sound at Lolla, except for PJ. I have a feeling it was a sound guy turf war of some such.

Agree completely - for some reason, Kings of Leon and MMJ both sounded much much better and louder. PJ sounded like their instruments were dragged through mud. Doesn't make sense. And they need to turn that shit up. I thought the setlist was very good, though.

dthomas

blueredgray wrote:

Agree completely - for some reason, Kings of Leon and MMJ both sounded much much better and louder. PJ sounded like their instruments were dragged through mud. Doesn't make sense. And they need to turn that shit up. I thought the setlist was very good, though.

Besides all the "hits" (at least no Jeremy) I thought the setlist was great too. I could've stood for one less Alive, Even Flow, Better Man, Daughter, Elderly Woman...but what can you do.

Also I didn't realize the fireworks weren't a Lolla idea?! It was from the Bears family event at soldier field. I just assumed it was for Matt's drum solo during Even Flow and they messed up the timing. Wah!

Stryker

Good solid show. I think the problem with Ed's mike on Daughter seemed to put him in kind of a funk. Not as much energy as I've seen from them in the past. That being said, it was still worth standing in one spot for almost 12 hours and getting a nasty sunburn.

OpeningBand4theSun

Im Amazed At How Fat Mikes Head Has Grown. And The Incipient Baldness Of Eddie Vedder. Other Than That, A Pretty Standart Gig

somebodyelsessky2020

OpeningBand4theSun wrote:

Im Amazed At How Fat Mikes Head Has Grown. And The Incipient Baldness Of Eddie Vedder. Other Than That, A Pretty Standart Gig

GOOD THING THEY'RE MUSICIANS and not super models huh? all those that go to shows to see how pretty they look might stop going.

Kilgore_Trout

my only beef was that stones solos were drowned out on a few songs cause mikey was too loud... other than that they were on! and im sure casual fans wouldnt have really even noticed