*** Missoula, MT Fanviews Here 8/13/18 ***

theboywil

Wonderful show, just got home to Seattle and had an absolute blast.   I was in the stands for Sea#1, at the front of the pit for Sea#2 and back of the pit for Missoula (and am regretting not putting in for Chi & Boston).

Last night there was a metric shitton of singing and dancing with a great setlist of known and deeper songs.  I am often described as someone who dances like no-one is watching and I got nothing but support and encouragement from the singers and dancers around me.  Loved it, thank you to the fine people of Montana.

People are talking about the politics, but I honestly didn't think there was an overabundance, but then maybe I am the sort of leftist scum that would actually prefer our country to vote with conscience rather than wallet.

Wish I was going to be at Wrigley and Fenway...

1ThoughtKnown

The only thing that would have made this show better is if they had played “Trumpleaguer” or Soon Forget with Eddie coming out wearing an orange mask and little tiny orange hands.

My wife and I were at the back of the 10c GA and has a blast. Lots of folks dancing and jumping around, just a great time had by all.

#morepolitics #fibreinyourdiet

This is the band folks.  If you want songs about chicks, motorcycles and beer I think Nickelback is still touring.  

sissonp33

The show was amazing. 

Yes, I’ve seen several better PJ shows, but that’s why this band is so great and why we all love them so much...the fact that this doesn’t rank as the greatest concert that I’ve been too is ridiculous. We’re so spoiled. We can’t just readjust the standards because they played a show like Seattle on Friday. I think part of the problem for people was the single encore, the regulars got confused and it was a more abrupt ending because everyone just expects a second encore. But they played what, five and eight fewer songs than the Seattle shows? The people who are complaining (just a vocal minority, I think) need to have a little perspective. I’m not going to dismiss a fun and different setlist just because it ended a little earlier than I had hoped (hoped, not expected). The bands energy was amazing, the energy at the back of the TC pit was great and the passion for our country is needed. 

The only comment I’ll make on the political aspect is that people wanting music to be an escape is absurd. Art should mean something, be based on strong opinions and challenge norms. Also, music has a long history of being political, it didn’t start with Pearl Jam. I align strongly with the bands beliefs so I’m biased, but you can’t say it’s out of line for them to incorporate their politics into the music and/or shows. They have a viewpoint and a platform to create change and awareness, not a new concept.

I love being in Missoula too. The town and people were great. I’d say they handled the PJ circus descending on their city pretty darn well. A few hiccups here and there, but nothing that doesn’t happen in Seattle or NYC too. I stood in line for a total of 20 minutes for merch, cash, beer tickets and beer once inside the stadium (15 minutes of which was at the ATM) versus 25 minutes just for a beer at Safeco. 

Thank you Missoula for hosting us and putting up with all our sh*t. Thanks to PJ and Jeff too...see you in Chicago!

tempo_n_groove

Here is my take of the Missoula show, mind you I’ve been to 13 shows since 2016. 

Lackluster. 

The politics werent even even a factor as I thought they were done tastefully. 

B girl and Fatal don’t register on the wow factor for me. 

The sing a long for Corduroy with the “hay hayyy yeah” needs to be retired along with the “it’s ok” and “runaway” tags for betterman and Daughter. 

The highlights for me were the improvs that were new. 

Another highlight and i forget which song, shame on me, was where Stone was jamming w Mike and Jeff joined in. I LOVE seeing Stone get into a song/Jam. 

This all being said said I won’t see the band for more than two shows in a row anymore. Too many repeats. 

That being said if you are seeing only one show you WILL NOT be disappointed!!! 

THEBIBLEISTEN

Terrible review

Falling Down

Green Disease was on setlist but not played.  I'd travel all the way to Montana for Green Disease (and Fatal). 

bb4packers

Took my 21 year old son for his first PJ show.  Highlight for me was when Stone walked out he said "that dude looks like someone's uncle just walked out on the stage and grabbed a guitar".  After they crushed Throw Your Hatred Down he looked at me and said that "holy shit these guys are good".  Weather was perfect, venue was great and we had a blast.  Loved Ed's Evel Knievel jacket too.

HughFreakingDillon

OceansJenny said:

No one going to mention “our first real show was 21 yrs ago”? Damn, Eddie really not into the origin years. I guess I can understand why.

For the politics complainers - wasn’t the message just to go vote? Very mild compared to ‘03-‘06. Considering the state of the presidency I’m surprised Eddie didn’t double down on the politics talk compared to the Bush years, but I suppose the band is older now. 

Love that Know Your Rights is back. Let’s get some Another Brick in the Walk tag with “leave those kids alone” back. Can pass on some of the others (No More).

I noticed that too, and my ears perked up a bit. But then he mentioned it was their first show with Matt, which is what I think he meant. Their first show as this incarnation of the band. Eddie has been nothing but respectful (publically) about their former drummers, and at least one of them is one of his closest friends, so I don't think that was a slight to them at all. 

thebuilder

Great show, great spot in GA, great set list, great people. Second time seeing them support Tester and it was barely more politically charged than when I saw them in Rome. I have to apologize, I took a picture and my flash was accidentally on.. such a bonehead move. When you listen to the boot later you’ll hear ed chastise me.. rightfully so, I hope he excepts my apologies and that we can still be friends. 
Had a blast waiting in line with Max from Montreal and the dudes that got him to Missoula from Seattle. Meeting other fans is always something to look forward to. The free beer guys were the shit. Wish I could have participated more in the festival scene, but it was a tough choice between that and being as close as possible. 
Best jammy version of corduroy, even if it was a miscue. Holy shit Jeremy was as great as ever! Jeff went full fucking icon at the end. I hope someone has a picture of him ripping the final riff in the spotlight. Know your rights was sooo fucking loud! The crowd’s scream was bone chilling. I could rip through each song and how great it sounded but there’s no need. Seemed ed had a few flubs and was visibly pissed at himself, it’s ok, it’s part of the charm. Thanks for a great show and as always keep using your soapbox for activism, it only upsets those that oppose free speech.

smithnic

ScottyBlack said:

I travelled a long distance to Missoula for a Pearl Jam concert....  not a political rally 

https://pearljam.com/thehomeshows/missoula-mt

Also see the entire history of Pearl Jam

smithnic

pulling69 said:

Not epic

guessing you weren't there?

ikiT

tempo_n_groove said:

Here is my take of the Missoula show, mind you I’ve been to 13 shows since 2016. 

Lackluster. 

The politics werent even even a factor as I thought they were done tastefully. 

B girl and Fatal don’t register on the wow factor for me. 

The sing a long for Corduroy with the “hay hayyy yeah” needs to be retired along with the “it’s ok” and “runaway” tags for betterman and Daughter. 

The highlights for me were the improvs that were new. 

Another highlight and i forget which song, shame on me, was where Stone was jamming w Mike and Jeff joined in. I LOVE seeing Stone get into a song/Jam. 

This all being said said I won’t see the band for more than two shows in a row anymore. Too many repeats. 

That being said if you are seeing only one show you WILL NOT be disappointed!!! 

I've been to 12 shows since 2010 and they've played ALIVE at every show.  I just COULDN'T enjoy it.

Except for the Stoney connents,   PFFFT.

You're welcome.

Go Beavers

BS44325 said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

BS44325 said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

BS44325 said:

It just wasn’t a great show. There’s nothing wrong with saying it. I have zero issue with them talking politics in fact I celebrate their right to do it but let’s not kid ourselves that the show morphed from an “Away Show” into a “Rock2Vote” show. Again that is fine and completely the bands perogative but it no doubt changed the atmosphere. The town was awesome, the venue was awesome, the crowd was ready to go but the band just didn’t deliver. And it’s ok... it’s ok...

I think it's more fair to say 'it no doubt changed the atmosphere for some'.

Most people are saying they had a blast and were not negatively impacted by the band publically stating their opinion on current affairs.

If one thinks this band was going to say nothing with regards to what is happening in their country right now... then they do not know this band very well. In all honesty, I'm surprised at Eddie's self control. While addressing the crowd in Seattle, he expressed out loud a couple times that he was trying to restrain himself from really sounding off (something I wouldn't mind hearing to be honest... it's typically funny and generally accurate).   

I think it’s fair to say “for some” but all of us do some sort of ranking of the shows we see and for me this slots right in at the bottom of 41. It wasn’t because of the setlist and it certainly wasn’t because of the politics...it just lacked a vibe. I can’t put my finger on it but I think it’s because the Rock2Vote Festival that was scheduled for outside came inside.

You're completely within your rights to feel the way you do about your experience. It's kind of a drag that you allowed the political banter to detract from your enthusiasm though.

I sincerely think you should have come to the show expecting this and mentally preparing for the moment so that it wouldn't affect you the way it did (brace for impact). I know you know it was coming.

Didn’t you read what i wrote? It had nothing to with the politics. Of course I knew it was coming. That doesn’t change the fact the show had a different vibe then the usual show. It was not an Away Show...it was a benefit concert. Again that is ok but it alters the tempo. It’s like festival sets being different then standard shows...it’s not necessarily bad but it’s different. This “different” just didn’t work in my opinion.

The show was awesome, but probably what changed the tempo was literally the tempo and song order. Rumor was Jeff did the setlist and I don’t know if that was confirmed or not, but it makes sense if he did. The tempo of the setlist mirrored the tempo of songs he writes. Ed links songs together in a way where the flow is entirely different tha. It was in Missoula. What Ed said on stage was pretty typical Ed so I’m not sure how that would change a vibe, but maybe expectations changed the vibe.  

Go Beavers

Red Mosquito said:

Terrific show. Band sounded incredible and was energetic on a beautiful evening to be outside. Amazing time. 

However, anyone else have trouble buying beer? I tried to get one late first set and the woman told me I needed to buy a drink ticket. I asked where to buy drink tickets, and she said they were sold out. I said, “So I have money, you have beer, yet we cannot make a transaction?” She said correct. Weird.

No problem buying beer and I was impressed by how it went for our group. 10c GA access was smooth and easy as was security. Great neighbors in our area that we chatted it up with. Getting beer was super quick and easy before the show started. I’m assuming the ticket thing is due to state and local laws. Reminded me of needing to buy tokens in the Amsterdam show. 

kerbjack

Missoula was full of the most friendly people, and my wife and I had a great time in the city. Wish we showed up a touch earlier than 10am to get in line as we got a good bake in the sun preshow. Met some awesome people in line, and pre show. Tried to get a few pre-show Jeff chants going without much success, but picked up once the show started.

Cool setlist, knowing that Jeff put it together was a bonus. Was a great celebration for a guy that has given so much back to his home state, and I hope he felt the love coming back.

cameramoonstone

For a hardcore Stone fan like me, Missoula was AWESOME. I love all the guys, of course, but getting to hear/see Stone on fire and ripping out so many solos, and seemingly enjoying himself so much on stage too, was such a wonderful treat. The only thing that could have been better was if they LET STONE SING lol.

ScottyBlack

smithnic said:

ScottyBlack said:

I travelled a long distance to Missoula for a Pearl Jam concert....  not a political rally 

https://pearljam.com/thehomeshows/missoula-mt

Also see the entire history of Pearl Jam

Dude... don't act like this show was advertised as a benefit concert the whole time!  Cause it definitely wasn't! It definitely took away from the experience, as many many people have pointed out.   It was really annoying getting asked to pledge to vote over and over again outside the venue.  Especially for all the Canadians that were in attendance.   
Why did this show have to be different from all the rest in the tour??  

Jbarker

You won’t feel it on a boot, you won’t feel it on a scope and you sure as hell won’t feel it on a forum thread. You had to be there. You had to be in the coffee shop with other fans, in the music store looking at records with other fans, walking the streets with other fans, seeing Jeff hug him mom, feeling the night breeze after the sun went down, and all the high fives all of the way. Some of us know this and some of us don’t. PJ rocked the shit out of Griz and it was awesome. We were surrounded by peace and love and it carried the music through us.

Go Beavers

ScottyBlack said:

smithnic said:

ScottyBlack said:

I travelled a long distance to Missoula for a Pearl Jam concert....  not a political rally 

https://pearljam.com/thehomeshows/missoula-mt

Also see the entire history of Pearl Jam

Dude... don't act like this show was advertised as a benefit concert the whole time!  Cause it definitely wasn't! It definitely took away from the experience, as many many people have pointed out.   It was really annoying getting asked to pledge to vote over and over again outside the venue.  Especially for all the Canadians that were in attendance.   
Why did this show have to be different from all the rest in the tour??  

I had the opposite reaction. The. Volunteers were really nice and it was cool talking to the people in the different booths. Sitting in the grass with beer and food listening to bands on the side stage was also a bonus. 

BS44325

THEBIBLEISTEN said:

If your complaining about going to concert built around voting and its pj and ur upset they spoke about politics then ur a moron. Plain and simple. It’s like a vegetarian going to a steak house and bitching about it smelling like meat. No one forced you to buy a tix and go. Get over it

Here is where I think people have a somewhat legitimate beef...

The shows were announced on January 24 2018

https://pearljam.com/news/announcing-the-away-shows

If you read the announcement there is no mention of this being an official Rock2Vote show. Tickets then went on sale February 7th and some fans might have purchased tickets thinking Missoula would be a standard PJ rock show.

On April 18 2018 it was all of a sudden announced that Missoula would be "recognized as Rock2Vote"

https://pearljam.com/news/rock2vote-in-missoula-mt

The announcement is detailed but not completely clear that the nature of the show has now changed. It isn't specified that it is now a "benefit show" which Ed said multiple times from the stage. My guess is as the show approached, along with election season, Jeff and the band got excited and the Rock2Vote aspect took over more and more. 

Here is where the problem exists...In my opinion it isn't completely on the up and up to sell tickets to the show under certain pretences and then change those pretences later on. While people definitely expect politics at PJ shows there might have been some fans who would have chosen otherwise had they known it would be a Rock2Vote show from the get go. Personally I would have still bought a ticket regardless because I like "off the beaten path" venues and desperately wanted to go camping in Montana but others might have made different plans. The Rock2Vote aspect should have been specified from the get go as not everybody wants a "benefit show".