PJ - 09/23/98: West Palm Beach II, 08/12/00: Tampa, 04/12/03: Orlando, 04/13/03: Tampa, 06/12/08: Tampa, 06/27/08: Hartford, 09/22/09: Seattle II, 04/11/16: Tampa, 05/01 &05/02/16: MSG I & II, 09/18/21: Sea Hear Now, 10/01& 10/02/21: Ohana Encore I & II, 05/06 & 05/07/22: Los Angeles I & II, 09/11/22: MSG, 09/16/22: Nashville, 09/02/23: St. Paul II, 09/07/23: Chicago II, 09/18& 09/19/23: Austin I & II, 05/16& 05/18/24: Las Vegas I & II, 08/29& 08/31/24: Wrigley Field I & II, 09/03& 09/04/24: MSG I & II, 09/27& 09/29/24: Ohana Festival I & II
EV - 08/04 & 08/05/08: (Eddie solo, w/Liam Finn) NYC I & II, 11/27 & 11/28/12: (Eddie solo, w/Glen Hansard) Orlando I & II, 02/09 & 02/10/22: (Eddie & the Earthlings) Chicago I & II, 09/30/23: (Eddie & the Earthlings) Ohana Festival
Song Wishlist: Oceans, Brother, Alone, Let Me Sleep, full W.M.A., Hold On, Bugs/all of Vitalogy, Gremmie Out Of Control (BAM!), Mankind, Around The Bend (full band), Whale Song (DOUBLE BAM!), The Long Road, Don't Gimme No Lip, Pilate, Push Me Pull Me, All Those Yesterdays, Rival, Parting Ways, Ghost, Bu$hleaguer, WWS, Parachutes, Army Reserve, low octave Driftin', Strangest Tribe, Other Side, Undone, Fatal, Hitchhiker, Education, Black Red Yellow, Of the Earth, Love Reign O'er Me, Gonna See My Friend, Amongst the Waves, Santa Cruz, Infallible, Yellow Moon, Alright, Comes Then Goes, Got to Give, and the Mamasan Trilogy.
Wanted Posters: WPB '98, Tampa/WPB '00, Tampa '03, EV Batmobile '08 ISO: any picks, or setlists from any of my shows!
It has to exist, but it's probably never been made public.
I thought mugshots are a matter of public record.
This is as close as we'll get, I'd wager:
PJ - 09/23/98: West Palm Beach II, 08/12/00: Tampa, 04/12/03: Orlando, 04/13/03: Tampa, 06/12/08: Tampa, 06/27/08: Hartford, 09/22/09: Seattle II, 04/11/16: Tampa, 05/01 &05/02/16: MSG I & II, 09/18/21: Sea Hear Now, 10/01& 10/02/21: Ohana Encore I & II, 05/06 & 05/07/22: Los Angeles I & II, 09/11/22: MSG, 09/16/22: Nashville, 09/02/23: St. Paul II, 09/07/23: Chicago II, 09/18& 09/19/23: Austin I & II, 05/16& 05/18/24: Las Vegas I & II, 08/29& 08/31/24: Wrigley Field I & II, 09/03& 09/04/24: MSG I & II, 09/27& 09/29/24: Ohana Festival I & II
EV - 08/04 & 08/05/08: (Eddie solo, w/Liam Finn) NYC I & II, 11/27 & 11/28/12: (Eddie solo, w/Glen Hansard) Orlando I & II, 02/09 & 02/10/22: (Eddie & the Earthlings) Chicago I & II, 09/30/23: (Eddie & the Earthlings) Ohana Festival
Song Wishlist: Oceans, Brother, Alone, Let Me Sleep, full W.M.A., Hold On, Bugs/all of Vitalogy, Gremmie Out Of Control (BAM!), Mankind, Around The Bend (full band), Whale Song (DOUBLE BAM!), The Long Road, Don't Gimme No Lip, Pilate, Push Me Pull Me, All Those Yesterdays, Rival, Parting Ways, Ghost, Bu$hleaguer, WWS, Parachutes, Army Reserve, low octave Driftin', Strangest Tribe, Other Side, Undone, Fatal, Hitchhiker, Education, Black Red Yellow, Of the Earth, Love Reign O'er Me, Gonna See My Friend, Amongst the Waves, Santa Cruz, Infallible, Yellow Moon, Alright, Comes Then Goes, Got to Give, and the Mamasan Trilogy.
Wanted Posters: WPB '98, Tampa/WPB '00, Tampa '03, EV Batmobile '08 ISO: any picks, or setlists from any of my shows!
It has to exist, but it's probably never been made public.
I thought mugshots are a matter of public record.
This is as close as we'll get, I'd wager:
I see two rockers
I had that set. Pinnacle was the shit. Also, what a mullet.
PJ - 09/23/98: West Palm Beach II, 08/12/00: Tampa, 04/12/03: Orlando, 04/13/03: Tampa, 06/12/08: Tampa, 06/27/08: Hartford, 09/22/09: Seattle II, 04/11/16: Tampa, 05/01 &05/02/16: MSG I & II, 09/18/21: Sea Hear Now, 10/01& 10/02/21: Ohana Encore I & II, 05/06 & 05/07/22: Los Angeles I & II, 09/11/22: MSG, 09/16/22: Nashville, 09/02/23: St. Paul II, 09/07/23: Chicago II, 09/18& 09/19/23: Austin I & II, 05/16& 05/18/24: Las Vegas I & II, 08/29& 08/31/24: Wrigley Field I & II, 09/03& 09/04/24: MSG I & II, 09/27& 09/29/24: Ohana Festival I & II
EV - 08/04 & 08/05/08: (Eddie solo, w/Liam Finn) NYC I & II, 11/27 & 11/28/12: (Eddie solo, w/Glen Hansard) Orlando I & II, 02/09 & 02/10/22: (Eddie & the Earthlings) Chicago I & II, 09/30/23: (Eddie & the Earthlings) Ohana Festival
Song Wishlist: Oceans, Brother, Alone, Let Me Sleep, full W.M.A., Hold On, Bugs/all of Vitalogy, Gremmie Out Of Control (BAM!), Mankind, Around The Bend (full band), Whale Song (DOUBLE BAM!), The Long Road, Don't Gimme No Lip, Pilate, Push Me Pull Me, All Those Yesterdays, Rival, Parting Ways, Ghost, Bu$hleaguer, WWS, Parachutes, Army Reserve, low octave Driftin', Strangest Tribe, Other Side, Undone, Fatal, Hitchhiker, Education, Black Red Yellow, Of the Earth, Love Reign O'er Me, Gonna See My Friend, Amongst the Waves, Santa Cruz, Infallible, Yellow Moon, Alright, Comes Then Goes, Got to Give, and the Mamasan Trilogy.
Wanted Posters: WPB '98, Tampa/WPB '00, Tampa '03, EV Batmobile '08 ISO: any picks, or setlists from any of my shows!
1998-06-30 Minneapolis
2003-06-16 St. Paul
2006-06-26 St. Paul
2007-08-05 Chicago
2009-08-23 Chicago
2009-08-28 San Francisco
2010-05-01 NOLA (Jazz Fest)
2011-07-02 EV Minneapolis
2011-09-03 PJ20
2011-09-04 PJ20
2011-09-17 Winnipeg
2012-06-26 Amsterdam
2012-06-27 Amsterdam
2013-07-19 Wrigley
2013-11-21 San Diego
2013-11-23 Los Angeles
2013-11-24 Los Angeles
2014-07-08 Leeds, UK
2014-07-11 Milton Keynes, UK
2014-10-09 Lincoln
2014-10-19 St. Paul
2014-10-20 Milwaukee
2016-08-20 Wrigley 1
2016-08-22 Wrigley 2 2018-06-18 London 1 2018-08-18 Wrigley 1 2018-08-20 Wrigley 2 2022-09-16 Nashville 2023-08-31 St. Paul 2023-09-02 St. Paul 2023-09-05 Chicago 1 2024-08-31 Wrigley 2 2024-09-15 Fenway 1 2024-09-27 Ohana 1 2024-09-29 Ohana 2
The late 1993 shows in NOLA are when Ed was arrested for a bar brawl. He kept joking about it years later.
Ah, yes. Y'all seem to like jumping the gun though, and missed the point of what I was doing here by going Deep on a NOLA PJ date each week leading up to the concert.
So therefore, lets have another history lesson shall we?
Fast forward from Lollapalooza to about 14 months later. The band more than made up for their 14th month absence by announcing 2 shows originally and eventually adding a 3rd show in the arena they had just played in the shadows of.
By the time Pearl Jam came back to New Orleans in November 1993, much had changed. For one, Ed's famously long hair had been chopped off. The band had traveled the world over once more, this time opening for the likes of Neil Young and U2 in Europe, and now they were gearing up for their first larger venue headlining tour in support of their new album "Vs." which had just been signed, sealed, and delivered a month earlier in October. The dynamic of everything seemed to change. Ed become more secluded. More angry. More drunk.
This run of shows happened to fall after a 3 day break from their last show which was in Dallas on November 12th. It would be during these next 6 days they would spend in the New Orleans area that they would already start attempting to record their next major record: (the yet to be named...) Vitalogy.
PJ needed a secluded place to lay back and work. After all, this was the first session for the new album, while also being on the road. Thankfully, producer Daniel Lanois had just recently bought an 1800's style 12,000 sq ft private residence in the French Quarter and converted it into a full blown studio. Known as "Kingsway", Lanois was not afraid to lend his private studio to bands he believed in. R.E.M. had just recorded some of "Automatic For the People" here. That album would go 4x Platinum in the U.S., and 6x Platinum in the U.K. Blind Melon would also record some of "Soup" here.
If you're visiting New Orleans and find yourself in the French Quarter, you can still see this building at 544 Esplanade Ave. While it is no longer a studio, this would be the same building Pearl Jam recorded bits and pieces of Vitalogy in. There are no tours, and I just wouldn't recommend trespassing. It is very close to the French Market and Frenchman Street.
While not too MUCH is known about these sessions, in the book PJ20, Brendan O'Brien states that Eddie tried to take a stab at "Better Man" multiple times while they were "...in New Orleans." But wasn't getting the sound that he wanted. Eddie was "not digging it." Better Man by this point dated back 5+ years to Ed's older band Bad Radio.
In a 1995 interview with Musician Magazine, Stone Gossard says of the sessions for Vitalogy: "'Tremor Christ' seemed to write itself. It was just
a riff-and-a-half, basically. On a
muggy, beautiful New Orleans
afternoon we came into a very
cool studio and it poured out.
That and 'Nothingman,' which
Jeff wrote, were recorded a day
apart. They were very spontaneous, but with a simple yet indescribably
beautiful vibe to them." Last Exit would debut on 11/16, the first night of the 3 night run.
Based on the information we're given and what we know of that time period, It seems as if while the band were writing music during the day, Ed would disappear to write lyrics or his own music, then would have separate sessions with Brendan O' Brian when the band wasn't around.
While in town to record, the band thought it best to make a few dollars and deliver the first 3 night run of their career: 3 nights, November 16th, 17th, with an added date of the 19th at the UNO Lakefront Arena. All 3 nights would sell out. Urge Overkill would open all 3 nights.
Thanks to the taper community AND the bootleg recording community, we not only have pretty amazing video for 1993 standards, but also crystal clear audio from the first show:
If you had not seen a Pearl Jam show before, or didn't know they were doing a 3 night run, this show alone would have been a run for your money. To put it in perspective, this show happened 11 days after the "Shoe the Shoeless" Indio show. The intensity level was high. Through the roof even. This might be one of the more vocal shows from Ed at the time, as well as being one of my favorite "quotable shows. The band came out opening with Release, the first time NOLA would get released in it's 4th show. Ed would then ask the crowd for a favor, a message he himself should have heeded 24-27 hours later: "take care of each other tonight, okay?"
The band would then break into "Go," with this being the first time NOLA was receiving "Vs." era music, all hell proceeded to break loose. Before "Animal" Ed would mention to the crowd "This song is about my mother..." something common at the time. At the show in Denton, Texas before this date, Eddie would straight up say "Fuck my mother..." Hopefully one day when Ed writes his "tell-all" book, we'll find out what happened between him and his mother in 1993....
After "Animal" a single spotlight stays on Eddie after the final note to which he screams "GET THAT FUCKIN' LIGHT OFF OF ME!" The wine was speaking. The band would then rip into a tumultuous Why Go > Deep with an interesting "Sick O' Pussies" intro. Both songs had been played in NOLA by this point.
After "Deep", Eddie addresses the crowd: "I got some advice for ya. Don't die." They then rip into Jeremy. Ed starts pumping up the crowd during the "ou ou ou ou" parts, then straight up flips them off, then uses the middle finger to mock blowing his brains out...
Before "Dissident", Ed gives an improv of "Could have been me. Could have been you. This love is living proof." While it sounds like an established song while he's singing it, it could have just been an improv that he made up on the spot.
While deep into "Even Flow" after the solo, Ed goes over to his guitar thats sitting on a stand and just straight up kicks it over, then proceeds to scream into the mic "LOOK AT ME MOM! LOOK WHAT I CAN DO! LOOK WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH! Look what you can do. You can do it too!" Again, I hope one day we find out what the beef was during this era!
Before Glorified G, Eddie sings "Glorified version of a Mardi Gras...."
Before Daughter, Ed addresses the crowd yet again: "Hey, do you ever feel like saying 'you know what? I've been fucked in the ass so many times, that i've got shit coming out of my mouth' and you know what? I feel like kissing you. Thats how I feel.." Daughter gets a "W.M.A" tag with an added "Let me lose... set me free." at the end.
Ed address the crowd again: "Some songs are like colors. If that were true, which i think it is, this song is definitely RED." They then rip into a mid-set high intensity "Blood" which ends with Mike McCreedy on the floor in front of his monitors in a fetal position and Ed pointing at him like he just saw something insane.
Before "Alive" Ed quips: "If you want Blood? I got it." AC/DC had played the UNO Lakefront Arena 3 times before these PJ shows had taken place, something Ed probably wasn't familiar with. A funny coincidence. Something happens to Stone's guitar during the breakdown, so he has to switch it during the "is something wrong she said?" part. Eddie responds to his own question: "of course there is you fucking bitch!" McCreedy fades out of Alive with the intro to Voodoo Child.
With the lights down, Ed screams "FUCK!" at the top of his lungs, which leads into a song "about love and trust." which starts with Stone and Jeff leaning on each other while playing the intro. Ed proceeds to start throwing water all over the crowd.
After SOLAT, Ed asks the crowd "ever met an angel before?" after singing a bit of Angel, and probably leading some of the Faithful to believe they were about to play Angel. Ed follows up with "I swear I met one once. And we got to know each other really good. And then this angel got really pissed. You don't really picture angels as getting pissed off, but sometimes they get pissed off. Then they kind of turn into Devils. So if you ever meet an angel, don't piss them off, alright?"
The band would rip into a mind melting almost 6-minute Porch. Ed would throw in an improv during the breakdown: "The Doctor just said, you're gunna be alright. I'm gunna be alright. You're gunna be alright! It's gunna be alrighttttttttttttt!" A moment of positivity over a throughly dark night.
With the main set done, the band would leave the stage. Ed would return to the stage solo with his guitar and immediately thank someone who had just thrown something on stage. Ed thanks the crowd, then says the next song is for someone who is in attendance tonight. "They know who it is, and it's by Pete Townsend." Ed would then play "The Kids Are Alright" by The Who for only the 3rd time in Pearl Jams history.
Rearviewmirror would follow.
Ed addresses the crowd again: "Hey guess what?" unveiling a piece of paper with words to a NEW song that no one has ever heard before. "We invented it last night... and I don't think Mike knows it yet. But we're gunna play it anyways!"
"Last Exit" in a very bare-bones form is unleashed to the public with the whole band looking back at Dave for time. Mike gets a little lost before the solo, and Dave messes up the outro with everyone with a guitar just strumming until it becomes a cacophony. Mike plays a few notes on the guitar after, almost mocking himself.
Ed asks the crowd for a fast song or a slow song, then has the crowd vote. The crowd votes for a fast song. Sonic Reducer is played. On the written setlist, Alone and Garden are written for the encore, but aren't played. Both could be considered "slow" songs in my opinion, so maybe thats where Eds brain was going. Sonic Reducer and Rearviewmirror seemed to be a complete audible.
To cap off this high energy first night, the band comes out one last time, something else that might have been an audible, to play "Indifference" to what seems like the surprise of everyone in the crowd. Mike actually sounds like hes attempting to start playing Rockin' in The Free World, which makes me think they didn't know what they were gunna do once they came back out.
correct encores:
Encore 1: The Kids Are Alight (ed solo) RVM Last Exit Sonic Reducer
Encore 2: Indifference
The band would end the night with the promise of 2 more shows to follow. This night would end calmly, but that wouldn't be said around 24 hours later, as a clearly enraged Ed would land himself in the national spotlight.....
Pearl Jam also recorded a portion of No Code, including Off He Goes, at the same former studio on Esplanade in New Orleans. It wasn't only used for parts of Vitalogy. 🥑
Any insights into single day ticket sales from a timing perspective?
Wondering the same thing myself. Haven’t fully decided if I’m going but single day tickets would push me in a direction.
There will be single days sold. Just a matter of when I cant remember how long after the weekend tix go on sale the singles followed. $100/day typically.
Any insights into single day ticket sales from a timing perspective?
Wondering the same thing myself. Haven’t fully decided if I’m going but single day tickets would push me in a direction.
There will be single days sold. Just a matter of when I cant remember how long after the weekend tix go on sale the singles followed. $100/day typically.
Last year it was around now. But they might have started selling multi day earlier last year.
PJ: 2013: London (ON); Buffalo; 2014: Cincinnati; 2016: Sunrise, Miami, Toronto 1-2, Wrigley 2; 2018: London (UK) 1, Milan, Padova, Sea 2, Wrigley 1-2, Fenway 1-2; 2021: SHN, Ohana, Ohana Encore 1-2; 2022: LA 1-2, Phx, Oak 1-2, Fresno, Copenhagen, Hyde Park 1-2; Quebec, Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto; MSG, Camden, Nashville, Louisville, St. Louis, OKC; 2023: St. Paul 1-2, Chicago 1-2; Fort Worth 2; Austin 1-2; 2024: Vancouver 1-2, LV 1-2, LA 1-2, Napa, Barcelona 1-2
EV Solo: 2017 Louisville and Franklin, 2018 Ohana, 2019 Innings Fest, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Dublin and Ohana; 2021 Ohana Friday (from beach) and Saturday; 2022 Earthlings Newark; 2023 Innings Fest and Benoraya 1-2.
Gutted: London 2 2018, Sacramento 2022, Noblesville 2023
Wish I could do the whole thing but I can only squeak Saturday in for PJ. Who else would you guys like to see that day, if you had your druthers?
11am - ANY of the brass bands, or blues/jazz artists
12pm - Tab Benoit, or Dirty Dozen Brass Band
1pm - Rickie Lee Jones, or Better Than Ezra
2pm - Morris Day & the Time, or Marty Stuart
3pm - Kenny Wayne Shepard, or Margo Price
4pm - John Fogerty, or My Morning Jacket
5pm - Pearl Jam, 2-hr set
PJ - 09/23/98: West Palm Beach II, 08/12/00: Tampa, 04/12/03: Orlando, 04/13/03: Tampa, 06/12/08: Tampa, 06/27/08: Hartford, 09/22/09: Seattle II, 04/11/16: Tampa, 05/01 &05/02/16: MSG I & II, 09/18/21: Sea Hear Now, 10/01& 10/02/21: Ohana Encore I & II, 05/06 & 05/07/22: Los Angeles I & II, 09/11/22: MSG, 09/16/22: Nashville, 09/02/23: St. Paul II, 09/07/23: Chicago II, 09/18& 09/19/23: Austin I & II, 05/16& 05/18/24: Las Vegas I & II, 08/29& 08/31/24: Wrigley Field I & II, 09/03& 09/04/24: MSG I & II, 09/27& 09/29/24: Ohana Festival I & II
EV - 08/04 & 08/05/08: (Eddie solo, w/Liam Finn) NYC I & II, 11/27 & 11/28/12: (Eddie solo, w/Glen Hansard) Orlando I & II, 02/09 & 02/10/22: (Eddie & the Earthlings) Chicago I & II, 09/30/23: (Eddie & the Earthlings) Ohana Festival
Song Wishlist: Oceans, Brother, Alone, Let Me Sleep, full W.M.A., Hold On, Bugs/all of Vitalogy, Gremmie Out Of Control (BAM!), Mankind, Around The Bend (full band), Whale Song (DOUBLE BAM!), The Long Road, Don't Gimme No Lip, Pilate, Push Me Pull Me, All Those Yesterdays, Rival, Parting Ways, Ghost, Bu$hleaguer, WWS, Parachutes, Army Reserve, low octave Driftin', Strangest Tribe, Other Side, Undone, Fatal, Hitchhiker, Education, Black Red Yellow, Of the Earth, Love Reign O'er Me, Gonna See My Friend, Amongst the Waves, Santa Cruz, Infallible, Yellow Moon, Alright, Comes Then Goes, Got to Give, and the Mamasan Trilogy.
Wanted Posters: WPB '98, Tampa/WPB '00, Tampa '03, EV Batmobile '08 ISO: any picks, or setlists from any of my shows!
Comments
Song Wishlist: Oceans, Brother, Alone, Let Me Sleep, full W.M.A., Hold On, Bugs/all of Vitalogy, Gremmie Out Of Control (BAM!), Mankind, Around The Bend (full band), Whale Song (DOUBLE BAM!), The Long Road, Don't Gimme No Lip, Pilate, Push Me Pull Me, All Those Yesterdays, Rival, Parting Ways, Ghost, Bu$hleaguer, WWS, Parachutes, Army Reserve, low octave Driftin', Strangest Tribe, Other Side, Undone, Fatal, Hitchhiker, Education, Black Red Yellow, Of the Earth, Love Reign O'er Me, Gonna See My Friend, Amongst the Waves, Santa Cruz, Infallible, Yellow Moon, Alright, Comes Then Goes, Got to Give, and the Mamasan Trilogy.
Song Wishlist: Oceans, Brother, Alone, Let Me Sleep, full W.M.A., Hold On, Bugs/all of Vitalogy, Gremmie Out Of Control (BAM!), Mankind, Around The Bend (full band), Whale Song (DOUBLE BAM!), The Long Road, Don't Gimme No Lip, Pilate, Push Me Pull Me, All Those Yesterdays, Rival, Parting Ways, Ghost, Bu$hleaguer, WWS, Parachutes, Army Reserve, low octave Driftin', Strangest Tribe, Other Side, Undone, Fatal, Hitchhiker, Education, Black Red Yellow, Of the Earth, Love Reign O'er Me, Gonna See My Friend, Amongst the Waves, Santa Cruz, Infallible, Yellow Moon, Alright, Comes Then Goes, Got to Give, and the Mamasan Trilogy.
Song Wishlist: Oceans, Brother, Alone, Let Me Sleep, full W.M.A., Hold On, Bugs/all of Vitalogy, Gremmie Out Of Control (BAM!), Mankind, Around The Bend (full band), Whale Song (DOUBLE BAM!), The Long Road, Don't Gimme No Lip, Pilate, Push Me Pull Me, All Those Yesterdays, Rival, Parting Ways, Ghost, Bu$hleaguer, WWS, Parachutes, Army Reserve, low octave Driftin', Strangest Tribe, Other Side, Undone, Fatal, Hitchhiker, Education, Black Red Yellow, Of the Earth, Love Reign O'er Me, Gonna See My Friend, Amongst the Waves, Santa Cruz, Infallible, Yellow Moon, Alright, Comes Then Goes, Got to Give, and the Mamasan Trilogy.
2003-06-16 St. Paul
2006-06-26 St. Paul
2007-08-05 Chicago
2009-08-23 Chicago
2009-08-28 San Francisco
2010-05-01 NOLA (Jazz Fest)
2011-07-02 EV Minneapolis
2011-09-03 PJ20
2011-09-04 PJ20
2011-09-17 Winnipeg
2012-06-26 Amsterdam
2012-06-27 Amsterdam
2013-07-19 Wrigley
2013-11-21 San Diego
2013-11-23 Los Angeles
2013-11-24 Los Angeles
2014-07-08 Leeds, UK
2014-07-11 Milton Keynes, UK
2014-10-09 Lincoln
2014-10-19 St. Paul
2014-10-20 Milwaukee
2016-08-20 Wrigley 1
2016-08-22 Wrigley 2
2018-06-18 London 1
2018-08-18 Wrigley 1
2018-08-20 Wrigley 2
2022-09-16 Nashville
2023-08-31 St. Paul
2023-09-02 St. Paul
2023-09-05 Chicago 1
2024-08-31 Wrigley 2
2024-09-15 Fenway 1
2024-09-27 Ohana 1
2024-09-29 Ohana 2
So therefore, lets have another history lesson shall we?
Fast forward from Lollapalooza to about 14 months later. The band more than made up for their 14th month absence by announcing 2 shows originally and eventually adding a 3rd show in the arena they had just played in the shadows of.
By the time Pearl Jam came back to New Orleans in November 1993, much had changed. For one, Ed's famously long hair had been chopped off. The band had traveled the world over once more, this time opening for the likes of Neil Young and U2 in Europe, and now they were gearing up for their first larger venue headlining tour in support of their new album "Vs." which had just been signed, sealed, and delivered a month earlier in October. The dynamic of everything seemed to change.
Ed become more secluded.
More angry.
More drunk.
This run of shows happened to fall after a 3 day break from their last show which was in Dallas on November 12th. It would be during these next 6 days they would spend in the New Orleans area that they would already start attempting to record their next major record: (the yet to be named...) Vitalogy.
PJ needed a secluded place to lay back and work. After all, this was the first session for the new album, while also being on the road. Thankfully, producer Daniel Lanois had just recently bought an 1800's style 12,000 sq ft private residence in the French Quarter and converted it into a full blown studio. Known as "Kingsway", Lanois was not afraid to lend his private studio to bands he believed in. R.E.M. had just recorded some of "Automatic For the People" here. That album would go 4x Platinum in the U.S., and 6x Platinum in the U.K. Blind Melon would also record some of "Soup" here.
If you're visiting New Orleans and find yourself in the French Quarter, you can still see this building at 544 Esplanade Ave. While it is no longer a studio, this would be the same building Pearl Jam recorded bits and pieces of Vitalogy in. There are no tours, and I just wouldn't recommend trespassing. It is very close to the French Market and Frenchman Street.
While not too MUCH is known about these sessions, in the book PJ20, Brendan O'Brien states that Eddie tried to take a stab at "Better Man" multiple times while they were "...in New Orleans." But wasn't getting the sound that he wanted. Eddie was "not digging it." Better Man by this point dated back 5+ years to Ed's older band Bad Radio.
In a 1995 interview with Musician Magazine, Stone Gossard says of the sessions for Vitalogy: "'Tremor Christ' seemed to write itself. It was just a riff-and-a-half, basically. On a muggy, beautiful New Orleans afternoon we came into a very cool studio and it poured out. That and 'Nothingman,' which Jeff wrote, were recorded a day apart. They were very spontaneous, but with a simple yet indescribably beautiful vibe to them." Last Exit would debut on 11/16, the first night of the 3 night run.
Based on the information we're given and what we know of that time period, It seems as if while the band were writing music during the day, Ed would disappear to write lyrics or his own music, then would have separate sessions with Brendan O' Brian when the band wasn't around.
While in town to record, the band thought it best to make a few dollars and deliver the first 3 night run of their career: 3 nights, November 16th, 17th, with an added date of the 19th at the UNO Lakefront Arena. All 3 nights would sell out. Urge Overkill would open all 3 nights.
(if you want to know more about the musical history of the UNO Lakefront Arena, check out this history lesson from the Billy Strings reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BillyStrings/comments/1hkx8p1/41_years_of_history_how_billy_strings_is_keeping/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Thanks to the taper community AND the bootleg recording community, we not only have pretty amazing video for 1993 standards, but also crystal clear audio from the first show:
If you had not seen a Pearl Jam show before, or didn't know they were doing a 3 night run, this show alone would have been a run for your money. To put it in perspective, this show happened 11 days after the "Shoe the Shoeless" Indio show. The intensity level was high. Through the roof even. This might be one of the more vocal shows from Ed at the time, as well as being one of my favorite "quotable shows. The band came out opening with Release, the first time NOLA would get released in it's 4th show. Ed would then ask the crowd for a favor, a message he himself should have heeded 24-27 hours later: "take care of each other tonight, okay?"
The band would then break into "Go," with this being the first time NOLA was receiving "Vs." era music, all hell proceeded to break loose. Before "Animal" Ed would mention to the crowd "This song is about my mother..." something common at the time. At the show in Denton, Texas before this date, Eddie would straight up say "Fuck my mother..." Hopefully one day when Ed writes his "tell-all" book, we'll find out what happened between him and his mother in 1993....
After "Animal" a single spotlight stays on Eddie after the final note to which he screams "GET THAT FUCKIN' LIGHT OFF OF ME!" The wine was speaking. The band would then rip into a tumultuous Why Go > Deep with an interesting "Sick O' Pussies" intro. Both songs had been played in NOLA by this point.
After "Deep", Eddie addresses the crowd: "I got some advice for ya. Don't die." They then rip into Jeremy. Ed starts pumping up the crowd during the "ou ou ou ou" parts, then straight up flips them off, then uses the middle finger to mock blowing his brains out...
Before "Dissident", Ed gives an improv of "Could have been me. Could have been you. This love is living proof." While it sounds like an established song while he's singing it, it could have just been an improv that he made up on the spot.
While deep into "Even Flow" after the solo, Ed goes over to his guitar thats sitting on a stand and just straight up kicks it over, then proceeds to scream into the mic "LOOK AT ME MOM! LOOK WHAT I CAN DO! LOOK WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH! Look what you can do. You can do it too!" Again, I hope one day we find out what the beef was during this era!
Before Glorified G, Eddie sings "Glorified version of a Mardi Gras...."
Before Daughter, Ed addresses the crowd yet again: "Hey, do you ever feel like saying 'you know what? I've been fucked in the ass so many times, that i've got shit coming out of my mouth' and you know what? I feel like kissing you. Thats how I feel.." Daughter gets a "W.M.A" tag with an added "Let me lose... set me free." at the end.
Ed address the crowd again: "Some songs are like colors. If that were true, which i think it is, this song is definitely RED." They then rip into a mid-set high intensity "Blood" which ends with Mike McCreedy on the floor in front of his monitors in a fetal position and Ed pointing at him like he just saw something insane.
Before "Alive" Ed quips: "If you want Blood? I got it." AC/DC had played the UNO Lakefront Arena 3 times before these PJ shows had taken place, something Ed probably wasn't familiar with. A funny coincidence. Something happens to Stone's guitar during the breakdown, so he has to switch it during the "is something wrong she said?" part. Eddie responds to his own question: "of course there is you fucking bitch!" McCreedy fades out of Alive with the intro to Voodoo Child.
With the lights down, Ed screams "FUCK!" at the top of his lungs, which leads into a song "about love and trust." which starts with Stone and Jeff leaning on each other while playing the intro. Ed proceeds to start throwing water all over the crowd.
After SOLAT, Ed asks the crowd "ever met an angel before?" after singing a bit of Angel, and probably leading some of the Faithful to believe they were about to play Angel. Ed follows up with "I swear I met one once. And we got to know each other really good. And then this angel got really pissed. You don't really picture angels as getting pissed off, but sometimes they get pissed off. Then they kind of turn into Devils. So if you ever meet an angel, don't piss them off, alright?"
The band would rip into a mind melting almost 6-minute Porch. Ed would throw in an improv during the breakdown: "The Doctor just said, you're gunna be alright. I'm gunna be alright. You're gunna be alright! It's gunna be alrighttttttttttttt!" A moment of positivity over a throughly dark night.
With the main set done, the band would leave the stage. Ed would return to the stage solo with his guitar and immediately thank someone who had just thrown something on stage. Ed thanks the crowd, then says the next song is for someone who is in attendance tonight. "They know who it is, and it's by Pete Townsend." Ed would then play "The Kids Are Alright" by The Who for only the 3rd time in Pearl Jams history.
Rearviewmirror would follow.
Ed addresses the crowd again: "Hey guess what?" unveiling a piece of paper with words to a NEW song that no one has ever heard before. "We invented it last night... and I don't think Mike knows it yet. But we're gunna play it anyways!"
"Last Exit" in a very bare-bones form is unleashed to the public with the whole band looking back at Dave for time. Mike gets a little lost before the solo, and Dave messes up the outro with everyone with a guitar just strumming until it becomes a cacophony. Mike plays a few notes on the guitar after, almost mocking himself.
Ed asks the crowd for a fast song or a slow song, then has the crowd vote. The crowd votes for a fast song. Sonic Reducer is played. On the written setlist, Alone and Garden are written for the encore, but aren't played. Both could be considered "slow" songs in my opinion, so maybe thats where Eds brain was going. Sonic Reducer and Rearviewmirror seemed to be a complete audible.
To cap off this high energy first night, the band comes out one last time, something else that might have been an audible, to play "Indifference" to what seems like the surprise of everyone in the crowd. Mike actually sounds like hes attempting to start playing Rockin' in The Free World, which makes me think they didn't know what they were gunna do once they came back out.
correct encores:
Encore 1:
The Kids Are Alight (ed solo)
RVM
Last Exit
Sonic Reducer
Encore 2:
Indifference
The band would end the night with the promise of 2 more shows to follow. This night would end calmly, but that wouldn't be said around 24 hours later, as a clearly enraged Ed would land himself in the national spotlight.....
(night 2 and 3 recap coming soooooonnnnn....)
All those tidbits. Wow. A history lesson. Thx
Gutted: London 2 2018, Sacramento 2022, Noblesville 2023
Song Wishlist: Oceans, Brother, Alone, Let Me Sleep, full W.M.A., Hold On, Bugs/all of Vitalogy, Gremmie Out Of Control (BAM!), Mankind, Around The Bend (full band), Whale Song (DOUBLE BAM!), The Long Road, Don't Gimme No Lip, Pilate, Push Me Pull Me, All Those Yesterdays, Rival, Parting Ways, Ghost, Bu$hleaguer, WWS, Parachutes, Army Reserve, low octave Driftin', Strangest Tribe, Other Side, Undone, Fatal, Hitchhiker, Education, Black Red Yellow, Of the Earth, Love Reign O'er Me, Gonna See My Friend, Amongst the Waves, Santa Cruz, Infallible, Yellow Moon, Alright, Comes Then Goes, Got to Give, and the Mamasan Trilogy.