Old quotes from Mike

BF25394

I've been going back over old newspaper and magazine clippings and came across a 2016 Rolling Stone article about Pearl Jam "On the Road." It talks about the April 16, 2016, show where they played Vs. straight through. Anyway, here are some quotes from Mike that are fun to read in retrospect (from the May 9, 2016, issue with Prince on the cover):

On playing Vs. straight through:
"[Ed] said, 'It's Record Store Day, so let's do a record. It was cool to see fans' eyes light up when they realized what was happening."

On three-hour sets:
"Before the tour, we had a meeting where we said, 'We're all getting a bit older. Let's think about cutting the set down a bit.' There's definitely times I'd rather play for two hours, but Ed always gets into it, and we follow his lead."

On the band's 25th anniversary:
"Ed cares about the legacy. But I feel like we covered it in the 20th [anniversary]."

On cancelling a show in North Carolina to protest the state's "bathroom bill":
"There were drawn-out meetings over a period of days. We wanted to play, but we felt we needed to support people that don't have a voice. We felt like it was morally right to boycott the state."

On the follow-up to Lightning Bolt:
"We're all working on songs for it, but I'm not sure when we're going to record."

On future touring:
"I'd love to do a residency where we play every record. I mean the B sides too, one record a night. It would be so cool."

JimmyV

I think about that residency quote a lot. Could be pretty cool. 

on2legs

Just my opinion… I feel like a residency would be so un-Pearl Jam. As would playing all the albums.  Mike’s overthinking it and he’s messing with the formula that made them so successful.  Like Coke giving us New Coke.  Don’t mess with what works Just book some shows and change the setlist enough from night to night to keep that unique show feeling. 

BF25394

Another random thing I came across was an item in the New York Daily News in October 1992 about Eddie Vedder and Mike "McReedy" being among several musicians who were going to be playing at a Dylan tribute in town. (I had saved this particular newspaper not because of the PJ item, but because it was the day after Francisco Cabrera's pennant-winning hit in Game 7 of the 1992 National League Championship Series. I'm not a Braves fan but this was one of the most exciting and consequential plays in baseball history. Actually, I hadn't saved the Rolling Stone because of the PJ item either; I saved it for the Prince tributes.)

mcgruff10

on2legs said:

Just my opinion… I feel like a residency would be so un-Pearl Jam. As would playing all the albums.  Mike’s overthinking it and he’s messing with the formula that made them so successful.  Like Coke giving us New Coke.  Don’t mess with what works Just book some shows and change the setlist enough from night to night to keep that unique show feeling. 

A residency would be awesome but playing entire albums is lame and boring.  

BF25394

I think the problem with full-album shows is that, if they happen on a whim like the Vs. one apparently did, then they end up playing songs they haven't practiced in a while and it sounds kind of shambolic. A show featuring a full album and its B sides sounds interesting on paper but Ten and Vs. are the only ones that have a chance at being remembered well enough to pull it off with no notice. If it's any other album, Eddie's going to struggle to remember the words to half the songs.

Plus, if you're going to do it, take the time so that you really do it right. Listening to the Moline show recently, they didn't really play "I'm Open." Eddie just repeated "I'm open/Come in" a bunch of times. The verses were completely missing in action.

Loujoe

Met mm after show in Vancouver.

Me:"hey Mike, great setlist"
Mike:"I had nothing to do with it"
Me:"well.....great.... job....playing... setlist"

Something dumb like that.

I should have just asked him for picks!

on2legs

Shambolic… is my new favorite word.  😁