Matt leaving the band

Gern Blansten

CantKeepmedown said:

I'm sure having to find another drummer at this point in their career came at somewhat of a shock. So it would make sense that they might have been a little stung by it.  Especially when it was basically Matt saying "I just kind of want to do my own thing now". Which again, is well within his right. And it's not like he left them completely in the lurch. He finished a tour/album and gave them ample time to look for someone else. I'm sure they were just a bit blindsided which is understood. 

I really don't think they were blindsided. It sure seems like they adjusted set times and touring to try and accommodate him...blindsided would have been him quitting out of the blue. They clearly knew that was his late show in Pitt due to all the attention they were giving him.

mace1229

CantKeepmedown said:

I'm sure he is at a point where he and his kids/grandkids are set for life financially.  He can get away playing 70 minute sets and charging $25-30 a ticket.  As Ed has stated before, PJ is a large corporation with lots of mouths to feed. They need to play more shows/longer shows to justify how much they are charging. He likely decided he didn't want to or need to do that anymore.  

I saw Everclear a few months ago. The set was exactly an hour. It felt so very short, was just getting warmed up!
My first Weezer concert was the same back in 2001. Anything less than an hour and half I feel I got shorted, especially with ticket prices now. 

Spiritual_Chaos

he also says he gave plenty of notice

mace1229

CantKeepmedown said:

I'm sure he is at a point where he and his kids/grandkids are set for life financially.  He can get away playing 70 minute sets and charging $25-30 a ticket.  As Ed has stated before, PJ is a large corporation with lots of mouths to feed. They need to play more shows/longer shows to justify how much they are charging. He likely decided he didn't want to or need to do that anymore.  

I always got the vibe he didn't see himself as PJ's drummer. He wouldn't expand on questions about Pearl Jam, and try to talk about Soundgarden more. This last response reflects that too, talks about how he was more proud of SG because he was there from the beginning, but came into PJ when they were already well established. And I don't blame him for that, I'd probably feel the same way. All of PJs hits are from before he joined.
Not that he didn't do a great job or that he even hated it. But I always got the vibe he wanted SG to work out more, and if he could make the same money touring with just them, he would have. PJ was his income, SG was his passion. 

PJ_Soul

mace1229 said:

Ryan said:

JimmyV said:

Shaindli1 said:

One day we'll get together for a beer - tells me there's definitely some tension there. 

Yes, that is how I read it. 

He literally says that it was amicable, as did the band.
PJ wasn’t scratching the creative itch for Matt, he’s done with big tours and long shows.

It’s funny how people here seem to think the band members hang out a ton in their downtime; they do not.
These guys are coworkers with their own family obligations and friends and creative endeavours.  

If someone had left where I worked in July, it’s a good bet I haven’t bothered to catch up with them yet either.  

That’s true. But when you’re a coworker for 27 years, you’ve probably created a deep bond. I haven’t been working that long yet, but when my dad retired, it was a big deal to the people who were with him the majority of the time.
Then you add that they were friends before coworkers, and their experience as coworkers is vastly different from ours which would naturally create a tighter bond (I would assume), it is quite different.
Not that I expect them to be hanging out every weekend. But I would fully expect them to be in each others lives, unlike my workers that left over the summer too.

Maybe if they all lived close to one another and/or weren't travelling a lot, but all of PJ are busy with their own stuff and usually nowhere near one another when they aren't touring or working on new music. 

Abe Froman

mace1229 said:

CantKeepmedown said:

I'm sure he is at a point where he and his kids/grandkids are set for life financially.  He can get away playing 70 minute sets and charging $25-30 a ticket.  As Ed has stated before, PJ is a large corporation with lots of mouths to feed. They need to play more shows/longer shows to justify how much they are charging. He likely decided he didn't want to or need to do that anymore.  

I always got the vibe he didn't see himself as PJ's drummer. He wouldn't expand on questions about Pearl Jam, and try to talk about Soundgarden more. This last response reflects that too, talks about how he was more proud of SG because he was there from the beginning, but came into PJ when they were already well established. And I don't blame him for that, I'd probably feel the same way. All of PJs hits are from before he joined.
Not that he didn't do a great job or that he even hated it. But I always got the vibe he wanted SG to work out more, and if he could make the same money touring with just them, he would have. PJ was his income, SG was his passion. 

Which seems a bit odd to me. He’s been contributing to the songwriting for seven fucking records and over two decades with PJ

Weston1283

mace1229 said:

CantKeepmedown said:

I'm sure he is at a point where he and his kids/grandkids are set for life financially.  He can get away playing 70 minute sets and charging $25-30 a ticket.  As Ed has stated before, PJ is a large corporation with lots of mouths to feed. They need to play more shows/longer shows to justify how much they are charging. He likely decided he didn't want to or need to do that anymore.  

I always got the vibe he didn't see himself as PJ's drummer. He wouldn't expand on questions about Pearl Jam, and try to talk about Soundgarden more. This last response reflects that too, talks about how he was more proud of SG because he was there from the beginning, but came into PJ when they were already well established. And I don't blame him for that, I'd probably feel the same way. All of PJs hits are from before he joined.
Not that he didn't do a great job or that he even hated it. But I always got the vibe he wanted SG to work out more, and if he could make the same money touring with just them, he would have. PJ was his income, SG was his passion. 

Got this vibe as well.  Some of the comments make it sound like the rest of the band are total strangers to him which seems odd.  Also, it sounds like this is something that they have likely known or talked about for at least 4-5 years now.  The shorter shows were likely an attempt to accommodate Matt, but ultimately, it just sounds like he ended up getting bored with PJ.  

A Compliment For Us

Following up on these observations and I got a similar vibe from Matt as well. When discussing Pearl Jam, it seemed like he'd go out of his way to not say "we" or "us" very much and it seemed like there was sort of a wall/barrier. I get it on the one hand with him not stepping in until the '98 tour but as others mentioned, he's been a part of every studio album and tour since. Since his July departure and reflecting on the most recent '25 shows that were a bit more hits heavy, I kind of wondered if MC sort of felt like he was just a cover drummer up there pounding out hits that he had nothing to do with.

I also noticed how when Ed introduced the band, he always seemed to heap more praise on MC and go a little over the top possibly in an effort to try and integrate or meld MC into the band more - which is weird to say with him being in it for 27 years.  And come to think of it, Ed generally worked in a Soundgarden reference or remark about MC being in two bands etc. Typing that last point out just now, maybe Ed did so feeling like it was necessary to recognize MC's contributions to rock outside the context of PJ given his disconnection to PJ's pivotal albums.

Whatever the case, I'm excited about a possible return to longer sets and more touring.

We All Believe

Still really bummed that he left, and that the shortening of shows and the decrease in touring wasn't enough, or was enough until it wasn't. Sounds like it's something he raised to them a while ago. I'm glad they scaled back to keep him around, even if it wasn't forever.

Even more of a bummer considering that this happened somewhat on the heels of what is generally considered to be the band's best record in a very long time. DM had & has me super-excited for the next record and the next chapter of the band. Now the band has to start over, in a sense. But since Matt didn't have a whole lot of creative input in general when it comes to their records, maybe it won't be as bad as I'm fearing. Not that it would be bad, but you get the idea. I don't know. It just sucks. He's such a bad ass, and was the perfect fit at the perfect time.

I wonder if DM has the band so jazzed that they wanted to get back into the record/touring cycle quicker than normal, and Matt wasn't interested, so he bowed out, rather than have them put their plans on the shelf because of him.

100 Pacer

Spiritual_Chaos said:

he also says he gave plenty of notice

The other band members were aware of Matt’s intentions in 2024.

fl247556

100 Pacer said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

he also says he gave plenty of notice

The other band members were aware of Matt’s intentions in 2024.

At the begining of the year or after the Australia tour?

mace1229

PJ_Soul said:

mace1229 said:

Ryan said:

JimmyV said:

Shaindli1 said:

One day we'll get together for a beer - tells me there's definitely some tension there. 

Yes, that is how I read it. 

He literally says that it was amicable, as did the band.
PJ wasn’t scratching the creative itch for Matt, he’s done with big tours and long shows.

It’s funny how people here seem to think the band members hang out a ton in their downtime; they do not.
These guys are coworkers with their own family obligations and friends and creative endeavours.  

If someone had left where I worked in July, it’s a good bet I haven’t bothered to catch up with them yet either.  

That’s true. But when you’re a coworker for 27 years, you’ve probably created a deep bond. I haven’t been working that long yet, but when my dad retired, it was a big deal to the people who were with him the majority of the time.
Then you add that they were friends before coworkers, and their experience as coworkers is vastly different from ours which would naturally create a tighter bond (I would assume), it is quite different.
Not that I expect them to be hanging out every weekend. But I would fully expect them to be in each others lives, unlike my workers that left over the summer too.

Maybe if they all lived close to one another and/or weren't travelling a lot, but all of PJ are busy with their own stuff and usually nowhere near one another when they aren't touring or working on new music. 

I have friends on the other side of the country I grew up with that I text on a semi-regular basis. I knew them less time than they knew Matt. When I said be in their lives, I mean keeping in touch. Wishing them well on special occasions, maybe even going to their kid's weddings or some other major life event. I would think they are more than just "coworkers" to each other. 

Ryan

100 Pacer said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

he also says he gave plenty of notice

The other band members were aware of Matt’s intentions in 2024.

Hey, there you are.  They have been paging you in the Eddie Vedder rumour thread.

Shaindli1

100 Pacer said:

Spiritual_Chaos said:

he also says he gave plenty of notice

The other band members were aware of Matt’s intentions in 2024.

Thank you for that detail. 

igotid88

https://youtu.be/KCR_npO6uzU?si=3LWLmzPdfVR8-r9Q

GP179117

Evacuation is a fantastic song!  

Gern Blansten

GP179117 said:

Evacuation is a fantastic song!  

Agreed... Great song 

ekwipt

A wise man (Dan Mangan) once wrote “But watch out for the paraphrase…
Cause they will crown you and they will take your legs”

I take any magazine articles with not a grain, but a heaping tablespoon of salt. It’s very common for quotes to be taken out of context or rearranged to stir things up. My opinion of Matt or any musician I respect would never change based on an article. 

RiotZact

Have people not seen the clip of the end of the last Pittsburgh show? They all make it a point to give him a bear hug and everyone is smiling ear to ear. 

Spiritual_Chaos

ekwipt said:

A wise man (Dan Mangan) once wrote “But watch out for the paraphrase…
Cause they will crown you and they will take your legs”

I take any magazine articles with not a grain, but a heaping tablespoon of salt. It’s very common for quotes to be taken out of context or rearranged to stir things up. My opinion of Matt or any musician I respect would never change based on an article. 

In interviews, the subject often get to read his quotes and sign off on them.