Earliest PJ Memory and First Concert

F Me In The Brain

MP59559 said:

Must have been summer of 91 or 92; I was in seventh or eighth grade, at Boy Scout camp as a Counselor-in-Training. The coolest area of the camp was the nature/discovery house. The counselors were in either late high school or early college, and really into alternative music. I was into pop at the time. I wish I could remember more of the stuff they played, but I remember "Alive". Me and my fellow CITs would walk back to our cabin belting out, "IIIII - oh - I'M STILL ALIVE!" Still didn't really get into them for a couple more years, though, until my older brother made a mix tape featuring Alive, Jeremy, and others, as well as stuff by STP, Rage Against the Machine, and others. At that point, I was hooked on grunge. When a friend who is a PJ nut (and probably on these boards somewhere) made me a PJ mixtape with live stuff and rarities, I knew I had to see them live.

My first show was Hartford, 96. a handful of rows from the back. Nearly didn't happen, as getting tickets for that show was a nightmare. No on in our group was able to get through on the phone - a friend who wasn't even a Pearl Jam fan helped us out, though, and managed to get through. I remember being scared about getting into the show, because his name was on the tickets, and there were rumors that the buyer had to be there to use the tickets. So much has changed in 22 years!

Actually - in a way -- not much has changed.  Buyer has to be there for 10C tickets. 

theebradness

I'm sure the first time I heard them was the Alive video. First time I saw them was Lollapalooza 1992 in Mansfield MA. I also got heavily into punk around that time and ended up getting tired of how popular they were, so I paid no attention to them until about 2007. DUMB move man. Missed so many awesome shows

feeder

While studying for a mid-term in college, spring of ‘92, roommate turns on MTV......when they actually still played videos....heard that roaring voice scream HAAAaaaaahhh, that launched into Evenflow. 
Later that summer, my then girlfriend said we were going to some music thing/festival called Lollapalooza at Shoreline in Mtn. View CA.  She said the dude from Janes Addiction puts it on.  I looked the the lineup & said....”Cool, Ice Cube is going to be there...........with all these alternative rock bands.....this will be interesting.  Oh, & I like that Evenflow song by that band Pearl Jam, I hope they sound as good live as they do in the video.  Still surprised they were 2nd on the bill, almost missed them as I was watching the side show The Jim Rose circus.  PJ took the stage & I was hooked.

Oh, Ice Cube was pretty good, too.  Ministry was by far the loudest band I’ve ever experienced, Soungarden was ok, & the Chili Peppers were pretty damn good.  I remember Flea barfing on stage.  Good times!

SomethingCreative

First time:sometime in 92... I was 5.  Porch was the first PJ song I really remember hearing... prolly cause of the F bomb in the first line lol.

 Like others have mentioned Yield/lo2l where the releases that really starting pulling me in.  Then my dad bought Touring Band and seeing them live became an obsession.  After missing all the Seattle area shows 2002-2004, I signed up for tenclub cause I heard from a coworker that it was the best way to get tickets.  Finally, I saw them 3-18-05 at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. The show was a benefit for Stone's highschool.  It was a short set, but featured the first ever performance of Comatose (Crapshoot Rapture) and what I still think is the best ever version of the "slow intro" Porch.  Also Ann & Nancy Wilson and President of the USA opened the show.  What a friggin night.

bflynn1

Some really cool stories in here

Jvollman

bflynn1 said:

Some really cool stories in here

Yes, love hearing these!  

Who I Am

1996 - High School video project on Bubonic Plague. Tied fishing line around Master Shredder's neck (whilst Rats playing in the background) and lowered him from the top bunk to the bottom where I was sleeping and "got bitten"...

First show - 2003 State College - Quite thee introduction

JP218404

1991- packing up the 3 song cassette to the MLB fan club when i was an intern at Epic Records..  Then seeing the first ever NYC show at the Marquee that year.  The rest as they say is history

JOEJOEJOE

I first heard of Pearl Jam when they were announced as part of the triple bill of RHCPs/Nirvana/PJ in December 1991 at the L.A. Sports Arena

That was also my first PJ show.

RoleModelsinBlood31

Started with 10 in middle school, by high school starting in 94 my friends and I were all absorbed in the grunge nirvana vs pj stuff, buying bootleg cd’s with whatever cash we had.  We were obsessed, all fan club members, and crazy as shit- I remember all of our dates in our high school prom limo senior year in 98 made the driver play Ten because they assumed that would keep us calm and romantic or something.  We all had our first show in nyc 96 at Randall’s island where we were completely guilty of being those guys in the pit.... just slamming into people, going completely ape shit and crowd surfing continuously for pretty much the whole show,  I think I got thrown over the front rail at least 10 times. Crazy fuckers at age 16.  I then saw them in Montreal in 98 but it was much different experience without GA.

Travels With

This moment is cemented with me.  Spring break after graduating high school (Spring 1994), three buddies and I went backpacking in Yosemite.  During the 3 hour drive to get to the park, my friend Lee played Ten on repeat -- the entire time.  We backpacked the upper falls, set up camp in snow and got little sleep.  After a few nights we headed back home and he played Ten the whole way back.  My first concert was Cal Expo in Sacramento, Ca 1995.  Finally joined the Tenclub in 1996.  

letsongsprotest

Sitting in my basement and saw the Evenflow vid on Mtv Headbangers Ball.  Lol.  Hooked after I saw Eddie climb up the wall and fall back into the crowd.  I was in Junior high then.

First concert was maybe 4 years later in 1996, Toledo. Only found out I was going around 1 or 2pm the day of.  This was the non ticketmaster tour so getting tickets was impossible. I was home watching football and a good friend of mine called and his brother was bailing on the show because he was hungover.  So I got his ticket!  Fast forward a few hours later and we were drinking 40 oz's in the parking lot of Savage Hall in Toledo.(I was only 18 so couldn't go to a bar).   Most memorable moments of that show were the opening notes and vocals of Sometimes as it was the first time I was ever in the same room as PJ and was in shock and when they closed the show with Indifference with the house lights up.  It was stunning.   

The next day I was walking around campus with my new No Code shirt on.  Still in slight disbelief that I went so it was so spur of the moment.  I miss the 90's........

twmills

tschav said:

The Jeremy video on 120 minutes sold me in a heartbeat. Didn't understand hair bands and wasn't really interested in music, but damn that video struck so many different emotions that I couldn't look away.

Sadly I waited to see them live years later at Alpine Valley in 98. Funny enough the friend that took me messaged me about our 20th high school reunion and asked if I was going to be "that guy" traveling to see them in Seattle. And I will. 

'98 Alpine Valley was my first PJ show as well. I was a Sr in High School then, drove up from the Chicago burbs to see that show with a group of friends.

darwinstheory

letsongsprotest said:

Sitting in my basement and saw the Evenflow vid on Mtv Headbangers Ball.  Lol.  Hooked after I saw Eddie climb up the wall and fall back into the crowd.  I was in Junior high then.

First concert was maybe 4 years later in 1996, Toledo. Only found out I was going around 1 or 2pm the day of.  This was the non ticketmaster tour so getting tickets was impossible. I was home watching football and a good friend of mine called and his brother was bailing on the show because he was hungover.  So I got his ticket!  Fast forward a few hours later and we were drinking 40 oz's in the parking lot of Savage Hall in Toledo.(I was only 18 so couldn't go to a bar).   Most memorable moments of that show were the opening notes and vocals of Sometimes as it was the first time I was ever in the same room as PJ and was in shock and when they closed the show with Indifference with the house lights up.  It was stunning.   

The next day I was walking around campus with my new No Code shirt on.  Still in slight disbelief that I went so it was so spur of the moment.  I miss the 90's........

My parents went to that show. They did not take me (just like the Soldier Field 95 show). Only for this show, not only did they not take me, but the went with an unused ticket because one of their friends bailed on them. I would have hampered the fun my parents (in their mid-thirties at that time, I was a teen) had at these shows. 

Fast forward, they saw them twice since 96 (98 & 03) and I have been to 15 shows, 3 Ed solo shows and 2 more at Wrigley this season. Winning!

darwinstheory

twmills said:

'98 Alpine Valley was my first PJ show as well. I was a Sr in High School then, drove up from the Chicago burbs to see that show with a group of friends.

My first show was a day or two later at the United Center in Chicago. 

manitouman

I had heard the radio versions of the Ten singles and yea, they were good. But I was into the hair bands still. Then on a party weekend night I found myself staring at a hot blonde dancing to a new song I hadn't heard. Now mind you, I was living with 3 dancers at the time. Two were sisters and I was dating the friend. So I would go to their office have a beer and drive them home.

Those first few licks of Go had me hooked. Vs had just come out and this dancer was going off. I asked her, "who was that?" "Pearl Jam's Go", she replied. I said, "holy shit that was intense!" Been hooked ever since.

First show was Soldier Field 95. Will never forget that experience!

JH6056

feeder said:

JH6056 said:

First time I heard them was the Alive video, and I thought the singer swung his hair around too much and I wasn't impressed.  Then I read the Spin magazine article with I think Ed on the cover near a fence?  It was when they were recording Vs.  Now I was impressed with several aspects of his character and the band's approach/attitude to music.

Went to another band's show and my sister met Stone and Stone mentioned Ed was there.  Concert ended and my boyfriend was like "Why aren't we leaving?" and I was scanning the dissipating crowd saying "Don't worry about it.  Just wait."  Finally spied Ed, went over, no one was trying to talk to him.  Had a very nice talk and he told me about an alias they'd probably play a club show under.  Boyfriend was not happy.  

They announced a show under the alias (wish I could remember the name! It was the Slims show in SF in '93 I think) but word got out it was PJ and the show almost didn't happen.  I MISSED the show because my boyfriend and I got into an argument about me going!  Grrrrrr...

Then they played the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA and I never got in until the very end.  Walked in during Porch which was an encore I think and it was insanity, found out Ed had just climbed up to a balcony and jumped into the audience from the balcony.  That's the frenzy I walked into.  That was pretty much the last song I think, maybe one more song.

First real, full, proper show that I saw all of was soon after, San Francisco the Warfield. GA theater, I was front center literally under Ed's mic, I could have tied his shoelaces together.  My little sister was further back on the floor and some guys behind her were looking at the front row and picking out all the people who would never make it through the show.  They described short little old me and were like "Oh, she is DEFINITELY NOT going to make it past the 2nd song!"  My little sister turned around "Oh, you do NOT know my sister!"  I was there the entire show, what a first show!

There was another PJ show in '95 that my boyfriend and I almost broke up over, and then we did break up later in '95, but not because of PJ.  

Kevorkian or Gunn Band, I think?

I don't think it was either of those, although those sound familiar.  I gotta ask my little sister, she should remember what it said in the paper for the show because she went down there.  

JH6056

F Me In The Brain said:

91, senior year in high school, a buddy invited me to go with him to Burlington (VT) to see RHCP and the Pumpkins.  I was gonna go but bailed to do something with my girlfriend.  He came back the next day and told me I missed the best show he had ever seen.  I asked who was better and he said "Pearl Jam!"  Said they were way better than either of the other bands.  I got their album and was pissed I did not see them pretty much right away.
First time I saw Pearl Jam in concert was Oct 31, 1993.  Bezerkely CA.  Rollins opened.  Awesome show, blew my fucking mind.  Drove to Indio to see them again within a week, where the shoeless ran wild.

I have this bad boy and my ticket in a frame.  Not my favorite poster but one of my favorite memories.


https://youtu.be/NCwmmv3jU6A

I was at that Berkeley Halloween show, it was indeed scorching!  But do I also remember correctly that we didn't get any costumes?

feeder

JH6056 said:

feeder said:

JH6056 said:

First time I heard them was the Alive video, and I thought the singer swung his hair around too much and I wasn't impressed.  Then I read the Spin magazine article with I think Ed on the cover near a fence?  It was when they were recording Vs.  Now I was impressed with several aspects of his character and the band's approach/attitude to music.

Went to another band's show and my sister met Stone and Stone mentioned Ed was there.  Concert ended and my boyfriend was like "Why aren't we leaving?" and I was scanning the dissipating crowd saying "Don't worry about it.  Just wait."  Finally spied Ed, went over, no one was trying to talk to him.  Had a very nice talk and he told me about an alias they'd probably play a club show under.  Boyfriend was not happy.  

They announced a show under the alias (wish I could remember the name! It was the Slims show in SF in '93 I think) but word got out it was PJ and the show almost didn't happen.  I MISSED the show because my boyfriend and I got into an argument about me going!  Grrrrrr...

Then they played the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA and I never got in until the very end.  Walked in during Porch which was an encore I think and it was insanity, found out Ed had just climbed up to a balcony and jumped into the audience from the balcony.  That's the frenzy I walked into.  That was pretty much the last song I think, maybe one more song.

First real, full, proper show that I saw all of was soon after, San Francisco the Warfield. GA theater, I was front center literally under Ed's mic, I could have tied his shoelaces together.  My little sister was further back on the floor and some guys behind her were looking at the front row and picking out all the people who would never make it through the show.  They described short little old me and were like "Oh, she is DEFINITELY NOT going to make it past the 2nd song!"  My little sister turned around "Oh, you do NOT know my sister!"  I was there the entire show, what a first show!

There was another PJ show in '95 that my boyfriend and I almost broke up over, and then we did break up later in '95, but not because of PJ.  

Kevorkian or Gunn Band, I think?

I don't think it was either of those, although those sound familiar.  I gotta ask my little sister, she should remember what it said in the paper for the show because she went down there.  

Courtesy of Five Horizons (archive):
05/13/93 - Slim's Cafe: San Francisco, CA [110m]
attendance: 900
soundcheck: Daughter instrumental, Why Go, Blood instrumental, Rats and Release guitar warm-ups, Animal instrumental, Animal, Dissident
set: Animal, Go, Even Flow, Blood, Daughter, W.M.A., Dissident, Why Go, Alive, Hard to Imagine, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, Dirty Frank/Rats, Baba O'Riley, Once, Jeremy, (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)/Porch/(Tearing), Release, Alone, (Dirty Deeds)/Whipping, Leash, Sonic Reducer
notes: This was a secret show was a benefit to assist in legal support for a member of the Surfrider Foundation. PJ is billed as the "David J. Gunn Band" and most of Vs. (plus 'Better Man' and 'Whipping') premier as they have just completed recording the new album. The band even asks for requests at this show. Ed jokes around: "We're accepting any donations of acid that you may have. Just put it in a little envelope with your name on it ... and if we write a great song while we're on it, we'll put your name in the credits." A guitar riff from Van Halen's 'Eruption' is played between 'Why Go' and 'Alive.' 'Alive' is dedicated to Ed's uncle, Freddy Vedder. The transition from 'Dirty Frank' to 'Rats' is very cool sounding.A bit of AC/DC's 'Dirty Deeds' is played.

JH6056

feeder said:

JH6056 said:

feeder said:

JH6056 said:

First time I heard them was the Alive video, and I thought the singer swung his hair around too much and I wasn't impressed.  Then I read the Spin magazine article with I think Ed on the cover near a fence?  It was when they were recording Vs.  Now I was impressed with several aspects of his character and the band's approach/attitude to music.

Went to another band's show and my sister met Stone and Stone mentioned Ed was there.  Concert ended and my boyfriend was like "Why aren't we leaving?" and I was scanning the dissipating crowd saying "Don't worry about it.  Just wait."  Finally spied Ed, went over, no one was trying to talk to him.  Had a very nice talk and he told me about an alias they'd probably play a club show under.  Boyfriend was not happy.  

They announced a show under the alias (wish I could remember the name! It was the Slims show in SF in '93 I think) but word got out it was PJ and the show almost didn't happen.  I MISSED the show because my boyfriend and I got into an argument about me going!  Grrrrrr...

Then they played the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, CA and I never got in until the very end.  Walked in during Porch which was an encore I think and it was insanity, found out Ed had just climbed up to a balcony and jumped into the audience from the balcony.  That's the frenzy I walked into.  That was pretty much the last song I think, maybe one more song.

First real, full, proper show that I saw all of was soon after, San Francisco the Warfield. GA theater, I was front center literally under Ed's mic, I could have tied his shoelaces together.  My little sister was further back on the floor and some guys behind her were looking at the front row and picking out all the people who would never make it through the show.  They described short little old me and were like "Oh, she is DEFINITELY NOT going to make it past the 2nd song!"  My little sister turned around "Oh, you do NOT know my sister!"  I was there the entire show, what a first show!

There was another PJ show in '95 that my boyfriend and I almost broke up over, and then we did break up later in '95, but not because of PJ.  

Kevorkian or Gunn Band, I think?

I don't think it was either of those, although those sound familiar.  I gotta ask my little sister, she should remember what it said in the paper for the show because she went down there.  

Courtesy of Five Horizons (archive):
05/13/93 - Slim's Cafe: San Francisco, CA [110m]
attendance: 900
soundcheck: Daughter instrumental, Why Go, Blood instrumental, Rats and Release guitar warm-ups, Animal instrumental, Animal, Dissident
set: Animal, Go, Even Flow, Blood, Daughter, W.M.A., Dissident, Why Go, Alive, Hard to Imagine, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, Dirty Frank/Rats, Baba O'Riley, Once, Jeremy, (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)/Porch/(Tearing), Release, Alone, (Dirty Deeds)/Whipping, Leash, Sonic Reducer
notes: This was a secret show was a benefit to assist in legal support for a member of the Surfrider Foundation. PJ is billed as the "David J. Gunn Band" and most of Vs. (plus 'Better Man' and 'Whipping') premier as they have just completed recording the new album. The band even asks for requests at this show. Ed jokes around: "We're accepting any donations of acid that you may have. Just put it in a little envelope with your name on it ... and if we write a great song while we're on it, we'll put your name in the credits." A guitar riff from Van Halen's 'Eruption' is played between 'Why Go' and 'Alive.' 'Alive' is dedicated to Ed's uncle, Freddy Vedder. The transition from 'Dirty Frank' to 'Rats' is very cool sounding.A bit of AC/DC's 'Dirty Deeds' is played.

Well there ya go, David J. Gunn Band it is!  What's funny is, I don't know that that was the name Ed told me.  REALLY WISH I had written it down - it's one of those things you'll think you'll always remember, but nope.

Oh and thanks feeder for reminding me what a blistering amazing show in a venue of 900 I missed that night by posting the setlist, including missing Dirty Deeds dagnabbit!