Why does Pearl Jam totally disregard Binaural?

Brisk.

12/727 songs (1.8%) played in 2018 were from Binaural. Kinda similar picture every tour. Yes I know they played it in full which was 100% badass but need more in the set!  How awesome would a show be opening with Breakerfall..


EDIT FOR SOME OTHER TOURS:

2016 was 3.8%
2015 was 1.3% 
2014 was 2.3%
2013 was 1.9%
2012 was 1.5%
2011 was 1.8% - Into the Wild songs were 2.3%!!!
2010 was 2.6% - Lost Dogs was 5.5%
2009 was 3.5% - It actually eclipses Riot Act (2.9%)

cp3iverson

Sleight of Hand is the best thing theyve put out this century but i personally like a show heavy on the first five albums.  Doesnt bug me too much

yosi

Agreed. I also don't love that cover songs are the second most represented songs...

Gern Blansten

I've been harping this (and Riot Act) for a few years.  I don't get it.

I went to both Chicago shows and both Boston shows and scratched exactly one song off my list of "haven't heard live" tunes.

There are 6 Binaural songs and 7 Riot Act songs that I haven't heard live.

Brisk.

Gern Blansten said:

I've been harping this (and Riot Act) for a few years.  I don't get it.

I went to both Chicago shows and both Boston shows and scratched exactly one song off my list of "haven't heard live" tunes.

There are 6 Binaural songs and 7 Riot Act songs that I haven't heard live.

Totally dude, this and Riot Act are the fucking bomb.

PeArLgOoNeR

My favorite album.. 
At least I got Of the Girl this year..

2-feign-reluctance

Might fall into songs that are too complicated to play. Several band members have mentioned liking the easier songs to play somewhere, sometime.

Foriginal Sin

2-feign-reluctance said:

Might fall into songs that are too complicated to play. Several band members have mentioned liking the easier songs to play somewhere, sometime.

This 

Gern Blansten

2-feign-reluctance said:

Might fall into songs that are too complicated to play. Several band members have mentioned liking the easier songs to play somewhere, sometime.

No way....I play guitar.  None of those songs are anymore difficult to play than RVM, GTF, etc.

2-feign-reluctance

Gern Blansten said:

2-feign-reluctance said:

Might fall into songs that are too complicated to play. Several band members have mentioned liking the easier songs to play somewhere, sometime.

No way....I play guitar.  None of those songs are anymore difficult to play than RVM, GTF, etc.

So do I - maybe Matt prefers playing less complicated time signatures?

Brisk.

Can anyone with guitar technical knowledge tell me if the songs are complicated? I highly doubt this is the reason, don't seem anymore difficult than any other songs from a drumming point of view. 

wnh1977

It gets into that "What kind of show do you want to see?" argument.  I've seen PJ 39 times, so I like the less popular stuff sprinkled in.  But for me, it's great being at a show and getting the classics.  I was at the Moline No Code show, and I enjoyed it... it's probably my favorite album.  But I honestly felt bad once I realized they were doing the full album because the people we went with were very casual fans, and I knew they were getting a 13-song block of tunes they didn't know!  To that point, Binaural tracks just aren't going to connect with the casual fans, in my opinion.  

They could do 2-hour, 23 song sets pretty much filled with "greatest hits".  The fact that one or two of their 10 studio albums is largely ignored is fine with me.

"Sleight Of Hand" was mentioned.  It's great, but I think it can be a crowd killer.  Really, the only tracks I'd be excited to see from Binaural at this point are "Nothing As It Seems", "Grievance" and "Parting Ways".  

I've seen "Gods' Dice" live way too much   

P.S. At Boston 1, I think I got treated to songs from 8 out of 10 studio albums in the main set alone!  They do an amazing job of spreading it out.  

Gern Blansten

2-feign-reluctance said:

Gern Blansten said:

2-feign-reluctance said:

Might fall into songs that are too complicated to play. Several band members have mentioned liking the easier songs to play somewhere, sometime.

No way....I play guitar.  None of those songs are anymore difficult to play than RVM, GTF, etc.

So do I - maybe Matt prefers playing less complicated time signatures?

Again...no way.  Matt wrote a lot of those songs.  He's a drummer....they thrive on odd time signatures.  He played with SOundgarden for gods sake

Brisk.

wnh1977 said:

It gets into that "What kind of show do you want to see?" argument.  I've seen PJ 39 times, so I like the less popular stuff sprinkled in.  But for me, it's great being at a show and getting the classics.  I was at the Moline No Code show, and I enjoyed it... it's probably my favorite album.  But I honestly felt bad once I realized they were doing the full album because the people we went with were very casual fans, and I knew they were getting a 13-song block of tunes they didn't know!  To that point, Binaural tracks just aren't going to connect with the casual fans, in my opinion.  

They could do 2-hour, 23 song sets pretty much filled with "greatest hits".  The fact that one or two of their 10 studio albums is largely ignored is fine with me.

"Sleight Of Hand" was mentioned.  It's great, but I think it can be a crowd killer.  Really, the only tracks I'd be excited to see from Binaural at this point are "Nothing As It Seems", "Grievance" and "Parting Ways".  

I've seen "Gods' Dice" live way too much   

Ed kills the crowd enough with these shit cover songs, like why would you play the travesty that is Arms Aloft like 3 songs into your final show "for a whilst"

2-feign-reluctance

I mean shit, Evacuation comes to mind. Weird tuning, time shifts and a vocal stretch that might not be Ed friendly. They've botched the shit out of it the last handful of times they've tried playing it.

Gern Blansten

Brisk. said:

Can anyone with guitar technical knowledge tell me if the songs are complicated? I highly doubt this is the reason, don't seem anymore difficult than any other songs from a drumming point of view. 

No more complicated than many other songs that they play.  Remember....they used to play all of these songs live.  They just stopped for some reason.

2-feign-reluctance

Also consider the energy of a huge baseball stadium. They are going to play only so many brooding songs IMO. Immortality and Tremor Christ? That's about it.

Brisk.

2-feign-reluctance said:

I mean shit, Evacuation comes to mind. Weird tuning, time shifts and a vocal stretch that might not be Ed friendly. They've botched the shit out of it the last handful of times they've tried playing it.

The bridge in Evacuation is so good! It's a great song, also one written by Matty :-)

Well the baseball shows were only like 1/3 of the shows this year but yea those parks don't help.

PeArLgOoNeR

I don't recall them having fumbled any of the songs I've heard live.. (I'm 2 songs away from completing it)
So it's not like they can't play them and nail them.. 

willbarclay

Binaural is probably just too awesome, therefore it is untouchable.

incidental immortality

Over my last 12 shows (going back to Mansfield 6/28/08) I've only got Binaural songs five times (Nothing As It Seems X2, Insignificance X2, and Grievance).  That's 5/378 or 1.3%.  

2-feign-reluctance

Brisk. said:

2-feign-reluctance said:

I mean shit, Evacuation comes to mind. Weird tuning, time shifts and a vocal stretch that might not be Ed friendly. They've botched the shit out of it the last handful of times they've tried playing it.

The bridge in Evacuation is so good! It's a great song, also one written by Matty :-)

Not disagreeing at all. Those two records back to back are out of this world. Who knows why, point is we all agree they should NOT be ignoring these records!!

Gern Blansten

2-feign-reluctance said:

I mean shit, Evacuation comes to mind. Weird tuning, time shifts and a vocal stretch that might not be Ed friendly. They've botched the shit out of it the last handful of times they've tried playing it.

They are professionals....all it takes is a few practice runs....like a sound check?  Similar to the sound check of Army Reserve that I listened to the other night.

Torontonian

I loved hearing all of Binaural in my home town May 10, 2016!

Brisk.

willbarclay said:

Binaural is probably just too awesome, therefore it is untouchable.

Hahaha!

wnh1977

2-feign-reluctance said:

I mean shit, Evacuation comes to mind. Weird tuning, time shifts and a vocal stretch that might not be Ed friendly. They've botched the shit out of it the last handful of times they've tried playing it.

Agreed.  I've seen that get butchered live plenty.  "Gods' Dice" as well, mostly lyrics, but I've seen the whole thing just collapse (Toronto 2011, maybe?).  Getting an average tune to begin with, then seeing it get butchered, ugh.

rummy

I know mega-fans at the Binaural show in Toronto 2016 would disagree but, trying to speak objectively, the crowd was pretty subdued during its performance. The energy picked up afterwards.

2-feign-reluctance

Gern Blansten said:

2-feign-reluctance said:

I mean shit, Evacuation comes to mind. Weird tuning, time shifts and a vocal stretch that might not be Ed friendly. They've botched the shit out of it the last handful of times they've tried playing it.

They are professionals....all it takes is a few practice runs....like a sound check?  Similar to the sound check of Army Reserve that I listened to the other night.

What's your take on why then?

wnh1977

rummy said:

I know mega-fans at the Binaural show in Toronto 2016 would disagree but, trying to speak objectively, the crowd was pretty subdued during its performance. The energy picked up afterwards.

Exactly.  It's hard for me to selfishly enjoy it when 9,000 fans are waiting for a hit!

2-feign-reluctance

Another thought is that those records weren't as 'popular' so they stay with material that is mostly familiar even to the casual fan.

Gern Blansten

wnh1977 said:

2-feign-reluctance said:

I mean shit, Evacuation comes to mind. Weird tuning, time shifts and a vocal stretch that might not be Ed friendly. They've botched the shit out of it the last handful of times they've tried playing it.

Agreed.  I've seen that get butchered live plenty.  "Gods' Dice" as well, mostly lyrics, but I've seen the whole thing just collapse (Toronto 2011, maybe?).  Getting an average tune to begin with, then seeing it get butchered, ugh.

Yet they play Hail Hail....which is basically the same tune.  It's all about practice.  If a song needs practice you figure it out during a sound check.  Or in the lounge before you take the stage.