Listening to their 1st ever show...just noticed something awesome

keenanite

After being inspired by the amazing shows and setlists during this fall's mini-tour, I'm going back and listening to some of my old PJ bootlegs.

At the moment I'm listening to their (well, Mookie Blaylock's) debut show from October 22, 1990 at Seattle's Off Ramp Cafe and I just heard something awesome I've never heard before.

The bootleg opens with the recorded soundcheck of Evenflow. It rips. Absolutely destroys. 

At the end of it the crowd in the club sounds really enthusiastic and impressed. After the applause dies down you hear out of nowhere you hear a voice that sounds like Stone's say to someone in the club "and that was just the soundcheck" Almost like he's saying, "oh you think that was great? well watch what's next..."

I know my ears might be playing tricks on me and I might be over-reaching, but if true I think it's pretty wild that at the first show of their hall-of-fame career, Stone seemed to be clueing us in to what he and the band already knew - that they were something special.

Now of course Stone didn't know that night that they'd go on to be considered one of the greatest live bands of all time and still be playing together 33 years later. But I still think it's a very fitting reaction to their first-ever live performance. 

So with that said, if given the opportunity to propose to the band what the name of their future career retrospective documentary should be, I'd propose "And That Was Just the Soundcheck..."

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

P.S. The entire show is astonishing. I don't understand how they wrote those songs and sounded like that after such a short time together. Mind blowing.

BF25394

It's also possible that he was hyperaware of every little flaw in the soundcheck and was being sarcastic, knowing that the band had only been together for a matter of days.

keenanite

Definitely sounds plausible as well. I just like the sappy story I made up in my head...

Loujoe

Robin from Howard stern show said once that "pearl jam's soundchecks become hits."
Likely unrelated to specific song op is referencing, but still right on Robin!

NEweather

keenanite said:

Definitely sounds plausible as well. I just like the sappy story I made up in my head...

        Pretty good story, and good idea for a 
        name for a future doc on them - cuz they
         definitely have been blisteringly one
         of The Best Live bands I've ever seen...
          for years