Disappointing Shows

wouldyouhitme

"Hershey 2003 - A decent show in general but the venue sucked, and the mosquito bites girl soured the mood even further. The encore was only two songs!"

Couldn't agree more. Just wasnt feelin it that night. The crowd/setlist/sound - Just missing- Even th poster sucked from that night. it was a late add on with alot of anticipation- just never materialized.

meme

Not a bad show, but in Cincy 06... the setlist was not outstanding (apart for my first leash ). I could have used a couple slow/rare songs more.

YieldInHiding

GivenToFly982 wrote:

OK, I have been a PJ fan since about '98...I missed out on the Binaural tour, but was fortunate to catch them in Atlanta in 2003...My first (and, to date) only Pearl Jam show. As anyone here that has been to a show can tell you, losing your Pearl Jam concert virginity is an incredible experience...much better than losing your real virginity, plus i remember more about the concert...anyway, hearing your favorites, screaming until your vocal cords bleed, seeing the guys live...and who could forget at the end when all the house lights come on and you hear Mike hit those first few licks of Yellow Ledbetter. It really wasnt until long after the concert, even after i got the boot when i realized one thing that really bothered me....

Number of songs played from Yield (my favorite album): 0.

No Given To Fly, no DTE, not even Wishlist. I couldn't believe it. Now, don't get me wrong...it was still an incredible show, and i had the great honor of hearing PJ play Crown of Thorns live for only the second time ever. Truth is, they could have played a 14 hour show, completely exhausting their entire catalog, and i would have still been there screaming for more.

While i am by no means dissastified with my Pearl Jam live experience, have any of you out there been disappointed with a show you went to? It could be anything...maybe you didnt hear your favorite song, maybe it was shorter than you thought it should be, maybe it was a shitty setlist, maybe the weather sucked, maybe you were stuck on the lawn or in the back of the house with a bunch of people who looked like the couldn't care less about being there (another thing that bothered me)....or, it could even be that you got too drunk/high to enjoy the show and you dont remember anything. Post your Pearl Jam regrets here. there's always the next tour, and, god willing, they will play the south again so I can get my Ten Club tix.

Maybe you shouldn't have sent in so many damn postcards.

brainofPJ

slightofjeff wrote:

Dude, Fuckin' Up was on Live on Two Legs ... so it's your own damn fault

yea, i know...

i think i just picked up Live On Two Legs that year...maybe right before the tour and never listened to it all the way through.

i was waaay begind my Pearl Jam when i started out.

its_ok

tkepearljamn wrote:

I saw creed for free... now talk about disappointing. I wish that was only a joke.

You dont get disappointed if you dont have high expectations


You could say my first PJ show was a disappointment....it was at the Roskilde festival 2000...

Second show also a disappointment, Barcelona 2006, the show is great on the bootleg, but could barley hear Eddie in the front rows.

Loved the other two I seen, London and Copenhagen 07

NC_Irie

markymark550 wrote:

Charlotte 2000....I thought it was a great first concert. Present Tense was awesome. Had a blast and no complaints.

Charlotte 2003....Another great experience. Great setlist (imo), played my favorite song, played other great songs. Had a blast and no complaints.

My thoughts exactly! I had seen PJ many times before, but these 2 shows in Charlotte (despite the criticism) exceeded my expectations and gave me the rejuvination I was waiting for.

good call.

RiotAct10

its_ok wrote:

You dont get disappointed if you dont have high expectations

I have to agree with this. It has been a problem if mine. If you go to a show really wanting to hear a certain song, or songs, and you dont hear them, it can really bum you out. One thing I try to tell myself is,..
hey, pearl jam is only playing one show right now,..this is the only song you could be watching them play live at this moment anywhere in the world, so at least you've got that going for you...
But it can still be hard. One of the reasons I didn't enjoy NYC 03 so much, was because it was only my third show, and almost all of the songs were songs I had already seen them play. I definitely appreciate seeing a song for the first time, but now that I have been to 7 shows, I do realize that will get harder and harder.

cc10106

i thought Dallas 03 was a bit disappointing, especially after shocking everyone by opening with Alive. finding out later that Habit was scratched from that set really annoyed me too. Houston 03 was kind of halfway. the setlist made up for a pretty lame crowd.

bcsbadboys

Of the 8 I've seen: Thunder Bay, 2005

Coming off a great show in Winnipeg, a small 4,600 seat venue, opening with Present Tense, what's not to like right?...

Ed was complaining about the heat in a hockey arena (everyone was sweating) and I think that's part of why the setlist was cut to 23 songs. Had the potential to be a great show in the most intimate location of the tour, but dissapointed in so many ways...

GivenToFly982

tkepearljamn wrote:

I saw creed for free... now talk about disappointing. I wish that was only a joke.

Free? Dude you got ripped off.

Its Evolution Baby

I saw a couple of votes for Toronto 05 but I would have loved that show. I've listened to the boot and Ed sounds average but hes been worse. I never have heard Habit, 1/2 Full or Harvest Moon before. Plus they tagged Some Sort Of Homecoming on Daughter which sounded cool.

And I don't have an irrational hatred of Bono so seeing him on stage to end the show and seeing two superstar lead singers having fun would have been aces in my book.

daughter68

I would have to say Detroit 2003; after reading the other posts, it seems as if 2003 wasn't their year.

Evensteven

Birmingham 2003. Eddie was sick. It was cold as sh*t in the outdoor stadium. Greatest hits setlist. Plus the debut of the cruel..."One Note".

slightofjeff

cc10106 wrote:

i thought Dallas 03 was a bit disappointing, especially after shocking everyone by opening with Alive. finding out later that Habit was scratched from that set really annoyed me too. Houston 03 was kind of halfway. the setlist made up for a pretty lame crowd.

You're right. Dallas '03 was probably the least favorite of the 14 shows I've been to. Not that it was bad. Just least favorite.

Houston '03, I actually liked a lot.

slightofjeff

daughter68 wrote:

I would have to say Detroit 2003; after reading the other posts, it seems as if 2003 wasn't their year.

Except the San Antonio show in '03 is my favorite one ever. There are also a shitload of shows from that year that sound badass on the boots, at least.

So I dunno.

RockinInCanada

Edmonton 2005 was a let down...

However I think it had more to do with the great Calgary performance show the night before (love that show....just love it.....great crowd!).

Army & Navy

daughter68 wrote:

I would have to say Detroit 2003; after reading the other posts, it seems as if 2003 wasn't their year.

2003 was NOT A GOOD TOUR. They were sloppy beyond belief. Bum notes all over the place. Just listen to any boot for proof

McCready seemed to rise to prominence on this tour..Long, long solos, and he was at most times briliant, but Vedder seemed a little flat with his singing, the growl wasn't there, the intensity.

The setlists were totally random..Opening shows with Alive, Betterman, Present Tense etc etc..BUT it was too random..The shows didn't seem to have rhythm and it sometimes felt like a P.Jam shuffle on your ipod.

Ofcourse on some shows they were red hot, like any top class band. S.College is amazing, Buffalo, Vancouver.

For me though, the 2006 tour was 10X better, especially the European shows.

jGreer81

I have been a fan since around 1993, but due to various circumstances I've never been able to attend a show. Obviously, I was able to get my live "fix" through the sucession of numberless bootlegs that have been released over the years.

I was hesitant to attend my first show due to the very fact that anything short of the Diety himself descending upon the arena NOTHING could meet my expectations...

I'm not sure what the problem was, maybe: high expectations, shitty sound, the fact that I couldn't hear Eddie singing, the fact that they seemed "off" (especially Eddie). I've detected a consistent theme to this thread and it seems to center around either Eddie not sounding very good, their sound system, the venue, etc.

What I'm wondering is from people who have attended multiple shows is their sound always that bad? Does it vary from show to show? Multiple people have mentioned that couldn't hear Eddie sing, does this depend on the show?

Anyway, thanks. This has been bugging the hell out of me for the better part of a year. I realize that speaks volumes about my life, but when you dream about the night your going lose your Pearl Jam virginity for 15 years and it turns out to be a rape...well that's going to leave one disillusioned.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

jGreer81 wrote:

I have been a fan since around 1993, but due to various circumstances I've never been able to attend a show. Obviously, I was able to get my live "fix" through the sucession of numberless bootlegs that have been released over the years.

I was hesitant to attend my first show due to the very fact that anything short of the Diety himself descending upon the arena NOTHING could meet my expectations...

I'm not sure what the problem was, maybe: high expectations, shitty sound, the fact that I couldn't hear Eddie singing, the fact that they seemed "off" (especially Eddie). I've detected a consistent theme to this thread and it seems to center around either Eddie not sounding very good, their sound system, the venue, etc.

What I'm wondering is from people who have attended multiple shows is their sound always that bad? Does it vary from show to show? Multiple people have mentioned that couldn't hear Eddie sing, does this depend on the show?

Anyway, thanks. This has been bugging the hell out of me for the better part of a year. I realize that speaks volumes about my life, but when you dream about the night your going lose your Pearl Jam virginity for 15 years and it turns out to be a rape...well that's going to leave one disillusioned.

sound definitely varies from show to show....

cc10106

slightofjeff wrote:

Except the San Antonio show in '03 is my favorite one ever.

Yeah, that was by far the best of the TX shows in '03. Not even counting that it was my first time to see them. The happy birthday singing to Mike was classic live PJ.