For those who have seen Pearl Jam over the years, how did this recent tour match up to the past?

Of The Aggie

I haven't seen all that many shows but I saw 3 shows post-COVID and have listened to tons of bootlegs spanning their career and my takeaways are:

- I don't like the two nights in each city. With the fact that they play so few shows that means they are only hitting 8-10 cities where they could hit 20 if they didn't do the two-night thing.

- the shows from the '10-'18, while they were long and full of surprises, they were also very sloppy and I think these past few years they sound much more tight and there are fewer mess-ups.

- Eddie's talking has gotten out of control. In a 2.5 hour show he probably talks for a total of 30 minutes. Maybe he uses the time to take a break but it really takes away from the flow of the show when there are two or three songs played and then a 5 minute stoppage. At least with the bootlegs the talking is at the end of the track and I can just skip it.

- With the shorter shows, the covers should be gone. I never have to hear RITFW, Crazy Mary, Baba O'Riley, or I Won't Back Down again. The encores should get a little less predictable too.  

- I did enjoy the shows I attended recently and I really liked DM and so them playing those songs was fine. I assume in future shows the DM songs will drop to one or two per show.

CROJAM95

MKSNYC said:

While the new DM material is certainly a driver for the current set-list rotation, I wonder if the decision to use a background screen and song specific video also factors in to a higher number of repetitive songs. While a nice visual change, I’m fine with more fans behind the stage and ditch the screen for more set-list flexibility - if a factor.

its def a factor.....I think it had its run, sign that bad boy and auction it off! I LIKED the visuals, but it was an era that now seams to be over

Merkin Baller

pjl44 said:

Merkin Baller said:

I don't get the hang up about the screens... at least not when it comes to stadiums or sheds, the only option for those venues besides the screen is nothing at all. 

I didn’t really dig them at Fenway. There were some nice moments (Setting Sun), but mostly I felt the visuals were fine but whatever (the DM stuff) or the band would get lost in whatever was on the large screen directly behind them (crowd shots, band shots, the DTE video).

I was quite happy to have those screens in Dublin & Fenway N2 when I wasn't all that close to the stage. I get the point of them getting lost in it, but in the end they didn't take that much away from my experience. 

Different strokes & whatnot. 

mca47

Daron Oshay said:

While I was very against it at first I have say the shorter sets have made a huge difference. Playing 6 or more songs less I think has translated into playing the 24 or so songs better. Especially when they pull out rarities. 

I also should say that I don’t know I could last another 5 or 6 songs on multiple nights anymore haha 

Listening to shows from like 2010-2018 they played a ton of songs, but one thing i noticed is how fast they played those songs.  I do miss the 3 hour shows, but I don't miss how fast they played them.  While the sets have become waaaay more predictable, I think the music and how they play the songs is better now.  

pjl44

Merkin Baller said:

pjl44 said:

Merkin Baller said:

I don't get the hang up about the screens... at least not when it comes to stadiums or sheds, the only option for those venues besides the screen is nothing at all. 

I didn’t really dig them at Fenway. There were some nice moments (Setting Sun), but mostly I felt the visuals were fine but whatever (the DM stuff) or the band would get lost in whatever was on the large screen directly behind them (crowd shots, band shots, the DTE video).

I was quite happy to have those screens in Dublin & Fenway N2 when I wasn't all that close to the stage. I get the point of them getting lost in it, but in the end they didn't take that much away from my experience. 

Different strokes & whatnot. 

Yeah I think it's the law of quibbles where if you have a few quibbles you feel compelled to present all of them but if it was just the one quibble I probably wouldn't think about it too much

BSully

Gern Blansten said:

Love the screens...makes a bad seat a good seat

This!

demetrios

Ledbetterman10 said:

They're still awesome. 

Vedd Hedd

I expect about 4-6 repeat songs a night. I'm ok with that. And the usual suspects are fine. (Alive, EFlow, etc)
I always hope for 1-2 really deep cuts. And on an album tour, i expect 5-6 off of that album. 

So, these shows were really good imo. They sounded great. Werent rushing. Vocals were amazing. Band looked and sounded great.

Honestly, in many ways, they are better now than they were. Go back and listen to some of the 95 shows. Raw energy, but they are much better musicians now.
Take each tour and moment for what it is and enjoy.