How To Tell You've Seen Enough Ed?
acutejam
Posts: 1,433
Why, when he plays Ledbetter of course, that's it! These Bay Area shows have been just freakin intense and Ed delivered at Berkeley 2. Totally hit his stride tonight! Home run! Touchdown! Everything. Just an over the top show.
He played the "standards" and branched out into ever more new territory. Switched around the key of the Santa Cruz chorus and played it for us again. Wonderful! Decided he'd really had enough of the young republicans and dropped a mean Masters of War right off the bat (2 or 3 song?) -- hurting his cred if he can't get Berkeley to sing along to a protest song audience. Picture in a Frame! Soon Forget (the flip-side of Millworker, quoth Ed)! Wicked participation tonight, way better.
The place was so cozy tonight, he shrunk that performance hall into his living room. Around his campfire.
Like the 06 SF shows that PJ smacked us with, you know, you just gotta play a san francisco song -- how bout a little Watchtower! Liam on Drums, and the last element of what he didn't have on stage (a rug from Jeff, some drumsticks of Matt's, yep, Stone's guitar over there, hmmm, what missing) as they wheel McCready out on a dolly and uncart him behind a Strat!
Lil Watchtower, lil Yellow ... goodnight, goodbye. Stick a fork in me! I'm done!
[edit: and of course I got that wrong, Yellow Ledbetter THEN Watchtower.....]
He talked fervently about what he needed to talk about, and then said no more. Made his plea for why we should listen to him, his travels, his experiences, his connections with people -- not that I needed convincing.
He spoke of his little girl. Her names for his songs. Her questions about his lyrics. Really wonderful tales. Ed ... speaking to parents. "C'mon back me up here, parents!"
He was funny as hell -- as usual. And he was a little ... Ed? What was with the banter about the Amsterdam torture museum? Holding off on sermons, hitting us with wild segues!
He brought out Sean Penn and roasted him with a toasty song as they shared a smoke and a glass of wine. He played forever. He bantered with the crowd. The buzz was perfect.
Santa Cruz was a hoot, Berkeley 1 was serene, Berkeley 2 ... was everything an awesome show should be. I wouldn't change a thing. Though he was still a bit bummed by the drum circle.
SOCAL -- HE IS READY TO ROCK! ENJOY!!!!
He played the "standards" and branched out into ever more new territory. Switched around the key of the Santa Cruz chorus and played it for us again. Wonderful! Decided he'd really had enough of the young republicans and dropped a mean Masters of War right off the bat (2 or 3 song?) -- hurting his cred if he can't get Berkeley to sing along to a protest song audience. Picture in a Frame! Soon Forget (the flip-side of Millworker, quoth Ed)! Wicked participation tonight, way better.
The place was so cozy tonight, he shrunk that performance hall into his living room. Around his campfire.
Like the 06 SF shows that PJ smacked us with, you know, you just gotta play a san francisco song -- how bout a little Watchtower! Liam on Drums, and the last element of what he didn't have on stage (a rug from Jeff, some drumsticks of Matt's, yep, Stone's guitar over there, hmmm, what missing) as they wheel McCready out on a dolly and uncart him behind a Strat!
Lil Watchtower, lil Yellow ... goodnight, goodbye. Stick a fork in me! I'm done!
[edit: and of course I got that wrong, Yellow Ledbetter THEN Watchtower.....]
He talked fervently about what he needed to talk about, and then said no more. Made his plea for why we should listen to him, his travels, his experiences, his connections with people -- not that I needed convincing.
He spoke of his little girl. Her names for his songs. Her questions about his lyrics. Really wonderful tales. Ed ... speaking to parents. "C'mon back me up here, parents!"
He was funny as hell -- as usual. And he was a little ... Ed? What was with the banter about the Amsterdam torture museum? Holding off on sermons, hitting us with wild segues!
He brought out Sean Penn and roasted him with a toasty song as they shared a smoke and a glass of wine. He played forever. He bantered with the crowd. The buzz was perfect.
Santa Cruz was a hoot, Berkeley 1 was serene, Berkeley 2 ... was everything an awesome show should be. I wouldn't change a thing. Though he was still a bit bummed by the drum circle.
SOCAL -- HE IS READY TO ROCK! ENJOY!!!!
[sic] happens
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Comments
Great review...you lucky dogs!!!!!
________________________
Too many shows but never enough!
These guys are the fruit of the earth...
But I feel stupid asking this...
What is the drum circle?
I'm happy for you!!
a little jealous but it'll go away!
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
First night after flubbing a song he stopped, steadied himself, "Keep your head out of the drum circle, Ed."
Second night, he said he had now come to fully appreciate the beauty of hacky sac circles ... they're quiet!
What was the sweetest part of the night (sugary sweet, not sickly sweet) was his tales of his daughter. She calls No Ceiling - Reasonalby (kinda rhymes with "Wallaby") "reason-I'll-be." And she likes the Bear in ITW. She thinks Dad goes to the studio and works with the bear, of course. But she was brought up short, and brought Ed up short, by some lyrics, "Don't come closer or I'll have to go..." She was concerned why Dad was singing that. "No, no it's not me signing that."
"Who's singing that, Dad?"
"The bear."
I still don't know WHAT a drum circle is..
Now I understand better about the drumming circle situation.
The bear story is cute, too.
Anytime you need uplifting, just find any little kid full of wonders... that's the best part of being a parent.
They are really the teachers, not us.
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
I know wiki isn't a reliable source, but googling brought up similar descriptions of a drum circle:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_circle
"A drum circle is any group of people playing (usually) hand-drums and percussion in a circle. They are distinct from a drumming group or troupe in that the drum circle is an end in itself rather than preparation for a performance. They can range in size from a handful of players to circles with thousands of participants.
In 1991, during testimony before the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging, Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart stated:
Typically, people gather to drum in drum "circles" with others from the surrounding community. The drum circle offers equality because there is no head or tail. It includes people of all ages. The main objective is to share rhythm and get in tune with each other and themselves. To form a group consciousness. To entrain and resonate. By entrainment, I mean that a new voice, a collective voice, emerges from the group as they drum together. [1]"
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
LoL -- OK, people bring drums, bongos, big drums, tribal drums. They gather in a circle -- in this instance right in the main commomns area of UC Berkeley. Someone starts a basic tribal beat, others join in to enhance the beat, others start "solo'n" over the beat. People take turns leading the beat. It is a cacophany of drums. In a circle. Kinda like dueling banjos.
(Oh neat reference from Hart! Yeah, he could describe one!)
Usually involves a lot of pot as well....
How about when he plays a mean acoustic on Ledbetter followed by drums on Ledbetter?!? I still can't believe what I witnessed last night!!!
"The leads are weak? Fuckin' leads are weak? You're Weak! I've Been in this business 15 years"
"What's your name?"
"FUCK YOU! THAT"S MY NAME!"
Someone shouted out, "VITALOGY!"
"Well, OK. I guess I could play the whole album, we've got 45 minutes for that. But I don't want to lose you during the 9 minute epic space jam, Foxymophandlemama! ok? Bring me an accordian!"
________________________
Too many shows but never enough!
These guys are the fruit of the earth...
199xxx
Ewww!
And then yes, he was also saying each night folks had said they'd seen lots of babies at the shows, 4-5 each night so far, most nestled down with headphones on. Some feeding. "Uh, it's been awhile since I fed my baby. Don't they get a little high while feeding? C'mon parents back me up here! So a few are feeding at the show? Nice to know there's some babies tripping out there!"
Dead Center seats last night, we noticed ... when he sits down ...
HE HAS WINGS! Freakin looked like they were sprouting right outta his back!
"Where are we?"
Cheers, hoots, mayhem...
"I was actually in the place where I wrote it, I was warm, there were trees. I just disappeared. I just left the building..."
"I'm back now."
And on he goes....
awww
Ed: For a University there's not too many intelligent questions as of yet.
Question: Did you go surfing this weekend?
Ed: No.... I'm working. I'm wasting my life playing music when I should be out surfing. I know. I know.
And didn't he like start to say something about Porch, like.
Here's a song.... as if he was gonna say more but just forgot.
"And of course she wanted to know, 'Does the bear talk?'"
And as it turns out, the bear sings! Cause Eddie wasn't about to take credit for some of those lyrics. You could see how his little girl's reaction to the lyrics, i dunno, kinda scared him! Sure he is one grunge-surfer tough punk rocking mofo ... completely undone by the innocense of a 2-year-old. Precious!
yes, the set lists need to be updated to reflect the new name of No Ceiling: Reasoni'llbe!
But back to Ed, the shows have been phenomenal and as cool as it is to hear PJ and ITW, the best stuff for me has been his covers. I mean even Society and Hard Sun are covers right? (True, Far Behind is my fav ITW tune...) But those songs rock, they just sound right, the sound like Ed, they reverberate. They resonate from a place within Ed and come out so strong. (And that said, I for one totally dug hearing Jeffery sing Society! Dual ownership on dat...)
Like Crazy Mary -- i've heard other versions and it's just, nope, not real.
Kinda like All Along the WatchTower, have you heard Dylan sing it? Just sounds like it's Hendrix's song now huh? Nice try everyone else, it's a great festival jam band song for all to enjoy, but it's become Hendrix's song, neh?
And that's how it was for me at Ed at the Bay Trifecta. His songs were great, his covers, even better.
Hide Your Love Away -- As Ed said, here's John Lennon's Dylan! Now it's Ed's Lennon's Dylan!
--- SCREEEECH of brakes applied....
So a "thing" happened last night as I'm sitting there waiting for SB news. Yes, slapped down in the **official** show thread. Called out for being the fanboy I was, yes, i was kinda randomly bumping threads with thoughts of SB, i was sprinkling posts around the boards to let folks know I was on and back to work.
"Fanviews only please." WTF?!?!?!
So I apologized, got "back to the plot of things." And now I'm pouting. Mean Mr Threadowner. I don't want to play on his threads anymore!
See, I sacrificied a little bit of pure fanboyness at the shows for the sake of these boards, along with my near perfect conversational recall (want me to quote some stuff I overheard just standing in line each night? I don't think you want me to!) I'm also old school -- shorthand. What's more, shorthand in the dark! Not screaming, not watching Ed, just listening and scribbling... And yeah, it takes awhile to recreate what the heck my recollection is with the chicken scrathes that are my notes. So I'm working here!
And I do it for you, FOR YOU, just like in 2006 (which was admittedly a piece of cake with the boots! Hint, hint, anyone?) http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=207904&highlight=Spoke
I knew Ed would be a ramblin mofo and I came prepared to capture everybit of it, I hope I didn't bug the lady and gents near me too much as I was furiously scribbling away (it's not that hard really, Ed talks r e a l l y slow, hehehe.)
So yeah, you get some great quotes to drink up, but it comes with a few fanboy seeds as the buzz just won't wear off from these shows! So I like how "one" can read through the thread and drink up all this good stuff, hit a seed, and find, yep that's what I need to comment on! There's a seed in my drink! There's a bone in my fish! There's dirt in my salad!
Call a WHAAAAmbulance!
Well I may be off on this as well, but my recollection was that these show threads become "our" place to hang out, to keep reminiscing and make new friends from the shows (and friends all, i've made ya'll are the best!) But alas, I have been told otherwise. "Fanviews only please."
So I'm done. Pout! PM me if you want my full transcripts from the Bay Area trifecta, I should have 'em all ready in a few weeks or so. I'll just stop posting the juicy bits -- cause a seed might catch in yer caw!
"Fanviews are a sharing celebration of live Pearl Jam and I refuse to spoil the joy being generated by Ed’s first solo tour." -edwho (yeah, yeah, outta context, but it's priceless....)
LMAO -- joy, meet spoiled. Dude, chill, seriously....No soup for you!
I am myself........like you some how.........(Release)
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Thanks, JMCJC -- will just hijack your thoughts over to my own thread, right up above is an answer to how I do what I do. Old school journalism 101. And yeah, I felt too that it was a place for THE FEW of us to gather and keep the love going -- the **official** stickied fanviews. Shows were so small there's just not a lot of fanviews, I can see that other stuff could easily overwhelm the real fanviews. So few of us, so few....
So yeah, I do see the threadowner's point. It does get obnoxious to watch somewhat personal chat one-liners bouncing back and forth as you're scrolling through wanting to soak in the concert.
I actually thought I was getting busted for posting direct quotes from Sean and Ed! Those aren't Fanviews! But no, i'm pretty sure it's the one-liners, personal chat. I really don't know. The threadowner also personally called me out (and had since edited the post) ... it kinda killed my buzz thursday night hanging around here for SB news....
i'm sooo sensitive!
Sean really didn't have too much to say beyond the one great line -- he tried to say that Ed had given us a gift ... "and he's given me, he's given all of us, well really me, a great gift. The chance to say, 'Happy Birthday Robin.'"
LoL -- yeah Sean, that's not so much of a gift for me. But thanks for kinda thinking of me. "My favorite Asshole." lol... No, Bad Acting Hack was our second gift (Growing Up being the first) and then, ahem, McCready!
Jammergurl -- By seen enuf, I could have more clearly said "When the show is over." It was a riff off of seeing Ledbetter! Shazam! Yellow Ledbetter, shows over! And yeah, it was my last show, as much as I want to see the SOCAL shows, it's not to be. Three actually is enough for me, perfect. Each show different and crazy in their own way.
So yeah ... i'm just rationalizing. I agree. I will go to EV shows for the rest of my life if he'll grant me with the pleasure!
So far, Tuesday is the topper, worried about tonight. Yes, worried in a jealous way. "What if he tops Tuesday?!?!?! And I miss it!!!"
But it looks like he's been pretty even-keeled throughout, starting to repeat the gems. Suspect he'll play Parting Ways again (as impromptu as he made that sound on Monday.)
Ya never know -- lots of musicians in SOCAL. They're gonna have a great time! And yeah, I'll be lurking around all night waiting for news!
:::i'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't a bit jealous!::
said in my best Napoleon...........lucky~
http://forums.pearljam.com/showpost.php?p=5364297&postcount=6
"Hold me... Just hold me... Don't own (know) me... (I'm lonely?)... Just hold me...."
Barely on mic, he wasn't leaning into the mic, didn't know where the mic was, over and over, just singing cause he had to, it was just gushing out -- like he didn't even know he was singing. I didn't see or hear that on Sat or Mon? Was that a tag of something? It was hauntingly beautiful, spine tingly! Another awesome moment during a mind-numbing night. Just one more facet just that more shiny and sparkly than previous nights....
I knew right there ... Best Show Yet!
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/james+taylor/millworker_20069194.html
Millworker, I think, represents well what these shows where about. It's a cover to begin with, (and I haven't seen a tally or ratio of original to cover, sorry my thurs night buzzkill interrupted that train of thought, I'll get back to it eventually -- his "ownership" of his covers) and the song spans the spectrum.
If you want to know if you'll really enjoy these shows, check your love for Millworker.
Millworker begins soft, a nice little riff like forever young. A great acoustic number. It's by one of the titans of the acoustic folk song genre - James Taylor. It's poignant, it tells the humble tale of a hard life borne on the sturdy back of the common ... woman! (Yes, it's the "daughter" singing this song!) It's a tear jerker.
And then it builds, boy does it build. It builds up to every bit as fast, if not faster than Lukin and Porch. It cranks! And I was just lost in it, just gone, I was in another place just listening to it. Just like Ed during "Around the Bend."
Where ARE we???