Matt leaving the band

pmcgrath5

Agreed. He said what everyone was hoping for I thought if we did have to lose him. No major health issues. Band has known for a while so at this point they clearly plan on staying together and moving forward.  

iwasatpj20

RiotZact said:

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. 

After seeing that at the show, I felt that Matt was leaving the band.  Being a touring drummer takes its toll on the body and Matt was feeling his body on the shows played.

Spiritual_Chaos

So will Eddie belt out Black Diamond the next time then?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM9vCiB5Hkc

Eraserhead

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 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. 

^^^

This!  Last time I saw the Melvins they just made the 90 minute mark, and it felt like such a short gig!

JimFletcherPearlJam

Yeah, I agree about many other bands' concerts being too short these days. I mean, I love STP and Bush, but their current shows are only 80 minutes, and they play the same setlist each night. Although I still love seeing those bands, they typically leave me feeling shorted, as in wanting another 45 minutes of music. Long live Pearl Jam! 🥑

Lerxst1992

JimFletcherPearlJam said:

Yeah, I agree about many other bands' concerts being too short these days. I mean, I love STP and Bush, but their current shows are only 80 minutes, and they play the same setlist each night. Although I still love seeing those bands, they typically leave me feeling shorted, as in wanting another 45 minutes of music. Long live Pearl Jam! 🥑

How well acclimated are we to friends and family who are 62 years old? It's easy to look at someone and say yeah I can relate to that, but until it's us experience it we are all just guessing.

Plus he probably has a lot of enhanced wear and tear given what he does for a living and how long he's been doing it for.

Regarding constantly on tour, if he wants to work on a side project and Pearl Jam needs to tour at least once a year, including preparation and wind down time, and the fact that he probably wants to spend time relaxing given where he is in his career...it doesn't leave much time for other projects

KJ228171

pjl44 said:

demetrios said:

https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/soundgarden-final-album-after-rock-hall-induction-1236067155/

It's a bummer, but when you've had the kind of career Matt (or any of Pearl Jam) has had, you're well within your rights to call your own shots like this.

I find it interesting that he categorizes Pearl Jam's touring as "constantly." Certainly doesn't feel like that as a fan and relative to other bands I follow. But hey if this opens the door to more touring (or at least not a serious downshifting) it potentially works out for everyone.

Yeah that stuck out to me as well. I’ve felt that they now a band that tours and now a touring band these days but also I’m not the one banging away on the kit. The US Dark Matter legs were pretty compact so there is less recovery time. 

VINNY GOOMBA

When Matt first joined the band, after the 98 touring and closer to either the recording or release of Binaural, I distinctly remember him using the quote "I'm permanently filling in."

As time went on, I'm not sure that he always felt that way.  He very much seemed like a happily contributing member of the band.  I loved his music, and the way he pushed a live show.  He was awesome.  He is awesome.

"Constantly Touring" - we all would love to see PJ tour more, but I think this quote is telling.  While a lot of us fans would disagree with this description, it's simply how he felt about their touring and schedule.  It was laborious for him.  I'm sure he loved it and had fun, and loved playing with everyone, but you also can't blame him for wanting to step away and pursue other things that felt less physically demanding.  Like others have already said, he certainly has earned it.

He gave plenty of notice.  He also joined the band and bailed them out on almost zero notice in 98.  He's a true friend to all of these guys.  Their last show was on May 18th.  It's only been 4 months, so while it feels like years to us ravenous fans, the fact that he hasn't talked to all of the band members in the last 4 months is plenty reasonable.  Someone mentioned it earlier in this thread about print and paraphrasing, and that it's going to always read more sharply to make it juicier for readers.  There's plenty of that going on here.  My first reading of it admittedly made me raise an eyebrow too, so good job on the author I bet Matt jumps on stage for a song with them here or there in Seattle or wherever he lives whenever they tour around him again.  The good news there is that it doesn't have to be the token RITFW for the guest appearance.  It can be literally any song in their catalog to date, and that's pretty awesome.

Dark Matter is so good.  Great actually.  Their best in 25 years.  I've said this to some close PJ friends who aren't on this forum, but I think the drumming on Dark Matter is the best drumming on any PJ album, and that's saying a lot.  I think we all have a little bit of let down wondering what their next album would have sounded like coming off of the energy of Dark Matter.  Matt definitely went out strong on that album and this tour.  Cheers to him.  Cheers to all of these guys.

I can't wait to hear who is next with them, and what they create together.  Long live PJ!
   

pjhawks

KJ228171 said:

pjl44 said:

demetrios said:

https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/soundgarden-final-album-after-rock-hall-induction-1236067155/

It's a bummer, but when you've had the kind of career Matt (or any of Pearl Jam) has had, you're well within your rights to call your own shots like this.

I find it interesting that he categorizes Pearl Jam's touring as "constantly." Certainly doesn't feel like that as a fan and relative to other bands I follow. But hey if this opens the door to more touring (or at least not a serious downshifting) it potentially works out for everyone.

Yeah that stuck out to me as well. I’ve felt that they now a band that tours and now a touring band these days but also I’m not the one banging away on the kit. The US Dark Matter legs were pretty compact so there is less recovery time. 

The difference is a lot of bands go on long tours than take a year or two off. PJ has had shows the last 5 years since COVID. They do smaller amount of shows but don't take years off anymore.  It's a yearly commitment.

bootlegger10

Nothing in those quotes made me think there wouldn't be anything but an amicable split.  27 years is a long time.  I'm sure he gave the band plenty of notice and this wasn't the first time they had discussions about their future.  It was pretty clear there was a discussion at some point to shorten shows.  I wouldn't be shocked at all that Matt would have told the band several years ago that his long term plan wasn't to remain in Pearl Jam and he'd likely leave in the next 5 years or so.  

I also would not be surprised at all if the band retired today that Ed and Stone would go a few months without talking/texting, or Mike and Jeff wouldn't text for 6 months.  I don't say that because I don't think they like each other, but they have families, their own lives, live in different cities, etc.... It's just natural that way.  Someone earlier said that when people retire at their company, they may never talk to them again or may check in every 6 months or so.  Just part of it.  

josevolution

bootlegger10 said:

Nothing in those quotes made me think there wouldn't be anything but an amicable split.  27 years is a long time.  I'm sure he gave the band plenty of notice and this wasn't the first time they had discussions about their future.  It was pretty clear there was a discussion at some point to shorten shows.  I wouldn't be shocked at all that Matt would have told the band several years ago that his long term plan wasn't to remain in Pearl Jam and he'd likely leave in the next 5 years or so.  

I also would not be surprised at all if the band retired today that Ed and Stone would go a few months without talking/texting, or Mike and Jeff wouldn't text for 6 months.  I don't say that because I don't think they like each other, but they have families, their own lives, live in different cities, etc.... It's just natural that way.  Someone earlier said that when people retire at their company, they may never talk to them again or may check in every 6 months or so.  Just part of it.  

I believe 100pacer posted that the rest of the band was well aware of his intentions to walk away a year ago 

pdalowsky

josevolution said:

bootlegger10 said:

Nothing in those quotes made me think there wouldn't be anything but an amicable split.  27 years is a long time.  I'm sure he gave the band plenty of notice and this wasn't the first time they had discussions about their future.  It was pretty clear there was a discussion at some point to shorten shows.  I wouldn't be shocked at all that Matt would have told the band several years ago that his long term plan wasn't to remain in Pearl Jam and he'd likely leave in the next 5 years or so.  

I also would not be surprised at all if the band retired today that Ed and Stone would go a few months without talking/texting, or Mike and Jeff wouldn't text for 6 months.  I don't say that because I don't think they like each other, but they have families, their own lives, live in different cities, etc.... It's just natural that way.  Someone earlier said that when people retire at their company, they may never talk to them again or may check in every 6 months or so.  Just part of it.  

I believe 100pacer posted that the rest of the band was well aware of his intentions to walk away a year ago 

indeed - Pacer said certainly that it was in 2024

HughFreakingDillon

props to the band for keeping that under wraps for that long. imagine if everyone here knew it was matt's farewell tour. would have been bonkers. 

mace1229

VINNY GOOMBA said:

When Matt first joined the band, after the 98 touring and closer to either the recording or release of Binaural, I distinctly remember him using the quote "I'm permanently filling in."

As time went on, I'm not sure that he always felt that way.  He very much seemed like a happily contributing member of the band.  I loved his music, and the way he pushed a live show.  He was awesome.  He is awesome.

"Constantly Touring" - we all would love to see PJ tour more, but I think this quote is telling.  While a lot of us fans would disagree with this description, it's simply how he felt about their touring and schedule.  It was laborious for him.  I'm sure he loved it and had fun, and loved playing with everyone, but you also can't blame him for wanting to step away and pursue other things that felt less physically demanding.  Like others have already said, he certainly has earned it.

He gave plenty of notice.  He also joined the band and bailed them out on almost zero notice in 98.  He's a true friend to all of these guys.  Their last show was on May 18th.  It's only been 4 months, so while it feels like years to us ravenous fans, the fact that he hasn't talked to all of the band members in the last 4 months is plenty reasonable.  Someone mentioned it earlier in this thread about print and paraphrasing, and that it's going to always read more sharply to make it juicier for readers.  There's plenty of that going on here.  My first reading of it admittedly made me raise an eyebrow too, so good job on the author I bet Matt jumps on stage for a song with them here or there in Seattle or wherever he lives whenever they tour around him again.  The good news there is that it doesn't have to be the token RITFW for the guest appearance.  It can be literally any song in their catalog to date, and that's pretty awesome.

Dark Matter is so good.  Great actually.  Their best in 25 years.  I've said this to some close PJ friends who aren't on this forum, but I think the drumming on Dark Matter is the best drumming on any PJ album, and that's saying a lot.  I think we all have a little bit of let down wondering what their next album would have sounded like coming off of the energy of Dark Matter.  Matt definitely went out strong on that album and this tour.  Cheers to him.  Cheers to all of these guys.

I can't wait to hear who is next with them, and what they create together.  Long live PJ!
   

I'm pretty sure I remember when they announced the 98 tour and Matt joining, he said he wasn't joining the band, but was just filling in for the tour. It wasn't until they were working on Binaural that he officially joined.