TEN 91' - VS. 93'
Moved to Seattle, starting to drink coffee to fit in.
VS. 93' - VITALOGY 94'
Learned that it can be cold and drafty in Seattle especially on the day that Vitalogy came out.
VITALOGY 94' - NO CODE 96'
Learned there are sunny days in Seattle especially on the day that No Code came out. First PJ show, and the sound was not good. Rooting for PJ against Ticketmaster.
NO CODE 96' - YIELD 98'
Tried different jobs, became part of the dot.com boom.
YIELD 98' - BINAURAL 00'
Rode the wave of dot.com boom, excited about technology
BINAURAL 00' - RIOT ACT 02'
Drowned in the dot.com bust and tried pastry school
RIOT ACT 02' - PEARL JAM 06'
Moved from Seattle to Maryland, found joy with people again after 10 years of thinking a summer sunset was good enough. Finally saw Pearl Jam shows (#9, #12, #13) that were better than Bruce Springsteen shows.
PEARL JAM 06' - TODAY
Life is good. 2 nieces and 1 nephew have seen PJ thanks to me
There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
TEN 91' - VS. 93'
five years old, moved to the town where my dad was born, beginning school, my mom got pretty ill
found friends for life
VS. 93' - VITALOGY 94'
happy times, played a lot outside
VITALOGY 94' - NO CODE 96'
came to my second school
NO CODE 96' - YIELD 98'
met my best friend
YIELD 98' - BINAURAL 00'
got into alternative/ rock music (offspring!)
BINAURAL 00' - RIOT ACT 02'
got into pj by hearing light years on radio, bought all albums
RIOT ACT 02' - PEARL JAM 06'
riot act is the first album i bougt on the day it was released
finished school in summer 05
visited my aunt in vancouver with my parents and twin sister (two days after we had booked the flights, pearl jam announced their canada tour, so my twin sister and me saw our first show )
moved out of my parents house with my twin sister
started university
PEARL JAM 06' - TODAY
my twin sister and me saw pj in berlin 2006 and düsseldorf 2007
and i met the love of my life
"now i've got room to spread my wings and my messages of love...yeah love was my drug but that's not what i died of"
"I don't wanna think, I wanna feel"
"Go then, there are other worlds than these!" - Jake Chambers
09/02/2005 Vancouver
09/23/2006 Berlin
06/21/2007 Düsseldorf
Ten 91-93
Left home, got married, had first child. Phew...thats a biggie
Vs 93-94
Still married, too busy being a Mum to pay much attention to PJ.
Vitalogy 94-96
Moved house, had another baby. Started to get into grunge music a bit more.
Heard Bugs and thought 'What the FUCK is this?
No Code 96-98
Still married, still two kids....
Yield 98-00
Met Sian-of-the-Dead....the start of a beautiful friendship Little did I know....;)
Binaural 00-02
Had third child. Moved house... Watched PJ on TV and thought 'Holy Fuck!'. It was like seeing the light for the first time. I'd liked their music for a while, but suddenly it made sense in a new way and my obsession began.
Riot Act 02-06
Had fourth child. Got tix to reading and couldn't go, so gave them away with tears in my eyes. Watched it on TV and sobbed into my beer
Pearl Jam 06- Today
Started uni. Finished marriage and started divorce. Went to my first PJ meet up and met Audiodave. Went to my 2nd and met Heineken Helen, Emmi, Chime, J1012 and others. Met harmless_little_f*** and fell in love . Started to remember who I used to be. Still figuring things out, but I'm safe in the knowledge that PJ and the friends I've made through them will help me get wherever it is that I'm going.
TEN 91' - VS. 93'
I was fifteen when Ten came out, and I was a freshman in high school in Fairbanks, Alaska. I wasn’t really familiar with the band’s music, but I had heard the name and thought they sounded cool, so I bought it and fell in love right from the opening chords of “Once.”
VS. 93' - VITALOGY 94'
I was a freshman at the University of Washington when Vitalogy came out. The first time I had ever left my home state (and really, the area around my hometown) was when I moved away to college in Seattle.
VITALOGY 94' - NO CODE 96'
I was halfway through college and trying to get into medical school. I think I broke up with my boyfriend after listening to “Off He Goes” on repeat about a million times and realized there were better things in life than being tied down to someone who was going nowhere.
NO CODE 96' - YIELD 98'
I was halfway through my first year of med school at UW when Yield came out. It was the most perfect album for that time in my life, and I think that’s why it’s probably my favorite.
YIELD 98' - BINAURAL 00'
Halfway through medical school. I moved in with my best friend. Studied my ass off.
BINAURAL 00' - RIOT ACT 02'
I had graduated from med school and was in my first year of residency. Not much time to do anything but work.
RIOT ACT 02' - PEARL JAM 06'
Finished my residency and got an oncology fellowship. I went to a party to meet a guy that my best friend told me I’d like because he looked like Eddie Vedder. He was Vedder-esque enough for me to hang out with him all night, ask him out to breakfast, and fall in total like with him enough to kiss him that very first night.
PEARL JAM 06' - TODAY Got engaged on 7/23/06 at the second Gorge show! We started planning our wedding, but decided to put it on hold for a while to save money to buy a house, which we did in February of 2008. We have no plans to have kids together, but we have adopted two dogs, our dalmatian Wyatt and our lab Lukin. We’re getting married on December 19, 2008. I take my oncology boards in May ’09. Life is gooood.
This is a great topic which reminds us all that we have so much in common with regards to our individual struggles and triumphs.
Born 1984.
TEN 91' - VS. 93'
Still very young to get into Pearl Jam or any other rock music, I was into the crap on video hits shows. I vaguely remember seeing Alive & Smells Like Teen Spirit on TV. Trouble at home, tension and abuse.
VS. 93' - VITALOGY 94'
Still young, still into crap music.
Still in primary school.
Remember Green Day being popular.
Remember my sister and her friends working on a school project when the newsreader said Kurt Cobain was found dead, they were all like OMG jaw dropped in shock, I didn't really know much about him so I wasn't phased.
Trouble at home, tension and abuse.
VITALOGY 94' - NO CODE 96'
In my final years of primary school.
I remember seeing copies of No Code in music stores and thinking this is a very unique album cover.
End of primary school, sad times as my friends were all going to different high schools.
Trouble at home, tension and abuse.
NO CODE 96' - YIELD 98'
Scary times entering high school, new challenges, new friends to be made.
1999 was the year I was properly introduced to Pearl Jam when I heard Last Kiss on the radio and was blown away! I taped it and kept playing it.
Trouble at home, tension and abuse.
YIELD 98' - BINAURAL 00'
High School sucked, I was one of the very few into rock music, everyone else was into crap dance music and gangster rap. My school sucked, all the kids were idiots.
Got drunk for the first time, loved it.
Started discovering so much great rock music thanks to the internet.
Trouble at home, tension and abuse.
BINAURAL 00' - RIOT ACT 02'
Final years of High School, not sure what the hell to do after high school.
Trying to enter into courses. Got my first job, part time at a fast food place.
Trouble at home, tension and abuse.
RIOT ACT 02' - PEARL JAM 06'
In my course still studying, had my first bad bouts of anxiety, panic attacks & depression. My first panic attack was in class, I was trying to hide it, ended up going home. Shit times.
Trouble at home, tension and abuse.
PEARL JAM 06' - TODAY
Pearl Jam my shining light in these tough times we live in today.
Still battling with my demons, me and my friends have stopped doing things we used to do, don't see them as much, they have all moved on got girlfriends and yeah we are all grown up. Bit depressed as things have/are changing and I am in my first full time career job after graduating from university so I am under pressure to perform and still single which sucks.
Living at home fighting with parents a lot, looking forward to moving out but seems impossible with this financial crisis.
Arrrrrr. Thank god for good music I listen to, such as Pearl Jam.
Sorry that was probably boring...''But I'm glad we talked"...
Not boring. Things will get better. Early 20s are a bitch. Nothing is really new to you anymore so life gets a little bland. Keep on truckn, before long you will have more money and can see more shows and buy more toys. I dont care what anyone says, concerts and toys are the secret to happiness.
Not boring. Things will get better. Early 20s are a bitch. Nothing is really new to you anymore so life gets a little bland. Keep on truckn, before long you will have more money and can see more shows and buy more toys. I dont care what anyone says, concerts and toys are the secret to happiness.
CD's that I buy like every week are my happiness, but my parents think I am wasting my money.
Thank you for your kind words
Adelaide 17/11/2009, Melbourne 20/11/2009, Sydney 22/11/2009, Melbourne (Big Day Out Festival) 24/01/2014
Word, this was a turning point in my life. Grew up broke so I never had money for CDs. Napster was a fucking God send!
Thank god for the internet and file sharing programs, introduced me to so much good music that changed my tastes and life forever, for the good of course.
Thank you!
I have since purchased legit copies of all the music I love :P
Adelaide 17/11/2009, Melbourne 20/11/2009, Sydney 22/11/2009, Melbourne (Big Day Out Festival) 24/01/2014
Thank god for the internet and file sharing programs, introduced me to so much good music that changed my tastes and life forever, for the good of course.
Thank you!
I have since purchased legit copies of all the music I love :P
Exactly, I never would have heard a lot of bands I love today without it. Plus I always used it to just mostly find B-sides and live performances. I still bought the CD's from artists that I liked.
I was born in '87 so in '91 I was 4 years old. My dads parents took care of me and my sister while our parents were out enjoying their lives partying and traveling. Mommy and daddy weren't there to take care of us - I remember thinking whether I should call my grandma mommy or grandma... sad. Dad ended up in some financial difficulties and started drinking heavily, he also misused pain and anxiety meds. My mom left him and moved half way across the country, later married another man - she also had/has problems with alcohol - but she denies it.
6 years old - I love to play with barbies with my sister. We are pretty happy, although our biological parents aren't there to take care of us. My dad sobers up a bit and falls in love with a woman much younger than himself. He has three kids with her, my three half-brothers who I love dearly. My dad ends up having some sort of a mental breakdown and starts drinking again - his new wife leaves him. Life is pretty confusing for us kids too.
VS. 93' - VITALOGY 94'
In '94 I start school, I like it and I have some friends. Occasionally I get picked on because everyone knows my dad is a drunk - I feel really bad about that, and I feel sorry for my dad. I love summer vacations in amusement parks with my grandma and my sister, I also remember trips to our summer cabin with grandpa.
VITALOGY 94' - NO CODE 96'
School, school, school - my grandparents are really demanding. I love to watch the childrens show "carebears" from tv. Dad is still drinking, also been to jail and in a mental institution. Seen my mom few times during the past years.
NO CODE 96' - YIELD 98'
Things seem to be brighter in my life for a while. Dad cleans up his act for a while and tries to re-connect with his kids a bit - spends more time with us.. but it doesnt take long...and off he goes again into his own journey of escaping this world. Grandma thinks its better if dad stops seeing us for some time.
'98, I'm 11, other girls in school don't like me - I'm depressed and shy. I'm usually extremely good in school and I love studying, but I stop caring - I remember having so much anger in me for the whole world. I'm 11 and thinking stuff like why did I have to born into this world, into this life... why am I me. I start skipping classes... afraid of my grandparents' reaction.
YIELD 98' - BINAURAL 00'
Almost through elementary school and on my way to jr. high. I refuse to go back to school after being away from there for a while (skipping classes..etc). I just don't want to face the people there anymore, I hate everyone - I hate the world, my life. I runaway from my grandparents and go to my mom who lives across the country, and who is alcoholic... I remember thinking that it would be easier for me to get a fresh start - but when there, I feel that my mother doesnt want me and I return back to my grandparents.
Grandparents aren't too happy, neither the social workers. I feel really ashamed, really angry - I wish I would die.... (12 years old). I'm refusing going back to school, I threaten to kill myself.... and voilá = 8 weeks in childrens psych ward. Not a bad thing though. it propably saved me, but I think people overreacted to my sayings.. I was a pretty intelligent and manipulative as a kid.
I finish elementary school in some other school.
BINAURAL 00' - RIOT ACT 02'
Jr. high goes really well, i get excellent grades - I have new friends and all is well in my world. Well except for the alcoholic biol. parents... stress and insomnia - caused by me getting my first computer.
I'm really into computers. I love movies. I love music. I'm really good in english. I love learning.
I listen to to Yellow ledbetter for the first time and I am in love...
RIOT ACT 02' - PEARL JAM 06'
Crazy in love with Pearl Jam, every song is like a lesson about life - something to be learned, a new way to see things. No one understands my musical taste.
High School - - - I was so afraid of it, but I survived it. Music helped me through some really tough times, mainly PJ. I had some severe existential / religious crisis halfway through HS -- Yield, Binaural and Riot act brought me some enlightment, and I survived that too. Will not categorize myself into any religions nowadays, I enjoy freedom, free thinking etc. I am myself and I know my mind, I own my mind. I AM MINE
Life after HS has been pretty insane, deciding what do do with my life.. I've had some really depressing days, months... I still do, sometimes. I am now studying to be a nurse - and it feels good. It feels right. But the human mind changes all the time... so the future's always in a bit of a blur. Hopefully I will have many happy days ahead of me in this lonely planet.
Life is a mystery... every day there's something new or old that i realize... pretty weird shit.
I've never been more in love with PJ than I am right now. Saw PJ live for the first time last summer (4 times in a row), my first show was MSG 1... I will never forget it - they started with hard to imagine...i had a great view of the whole stage and audience from 118A and it really was hard to imagine being there - I loved every second. I was wearing my peace- t shirt , and so was Eddie... that was cool. 10th row in Hartford was LOVELY... the show was CRAZY ! Every show I went to was special - I will never forget..... and I just can't wait for next year, I hope to see PJ again.
-Anni
ps. it was nice chattin' with ya.
Won't let the light escape from me.
Won't let the darkness swallow me.
TEN 91' - VS. 93'
I was 3-5. Parents on their way to divorce. Ugh, the horse world. It was just my mom and me most of the time. A lot of my memories from this time are music-related. Uncle Neil was the only thing I ever wanted to hear at the age of 2. My first concert at 4 was CSNY...I don't remember much other than realizing how special music was. 'Helpless' was my favourite song...partly because the line "Big birds flying across the sky" made me assume (naturally) that it was a song about THE Big Bird.
My mom bought Ten at some point in '91, and I honestly don't have any memories of it...but she said I used to bounce around a lot in the car and sing 'Alive' at the top of my lungs.
VS. 93' - VITALOGY 94'
We moved from Connecticut to a little townhouse in Toronto and my dad stayed there. Started school. Not much to say, not the happiest years of my life. But Pearl Jam helped me so much from Vs. on out. My mom moved her record player to my bedroom to help me sleep at night and Vs., as loud as it can be, was on heavy rotation. 'Small Town' and 'Indifference' I loved. I was not allowed to sing 'Leash' anywhere but in the car when it was only my mom and I and nobody else was there to tell her she was a bad parent.
VITALOGY 94' - NO CODE 96'
The years of 'Bugs', which, from a child's perspective, is a brilliant song! In early '96, my mom went to New York to visit old friends and saw RENT on Broadway with the original cast. She brought her eight-year-old back the soundtrack. Big mistake with the language, but I quickly had a new obsession over a play I could not possibly understand. I loved every bit of the storyline that I did understand, the music, the characters, all of it.
NO CODE 96' - YIELD 98'
My mom left the horse world and moved on to the family business with my grandfather, my uncle and my aunt. We moved a little farther north to Newmarket. Was the odd one out in my entire grade because they all listened to the Spice Girls and such and I was raving about songs like 'Off He Goes', which sounded, to them like "parents' music", which of course, was a good thing in my opinion.
Saw RENT in Toronto, and even today, I see it as a life-altering moment. The power of that musical is NOT to be judged by the film.
YIELD 98' - BINAURAL 00'
'Yield' was released and I was rapidly approaching obsession. Since its release, 'Given to Fly' has been my song. We found out that we had a real connection with the adoption of Matt into the band. Through work, my mom had met his sister and they had become friends of sort. My mom went to see them without me more times than I would have liked that tour.
Had to hear an awful lot of shit from my ultra-Republican grandmother in Connecticut about how horrible Clinton was and how Bush Jr was going to save the nation. As always, I listened to my mom's side of things. She said things were going to get real bad real fast.
BINAURAL 00' - RIOT ACT 02'
Honestly didn't know what to think of 'Binaural' at the time. I do remember that my mom and I had tickets for the Toronto show and there was a family emergency so we couldn't go. I was devastated and being young, I cared waaaay more that we missed what was going to be my first PJ show. On top of all that, my mom and my uncle went out to SEATTLE for the end of the tour...without me. They stayed with Matt's sister in Portland and got backstage. Hung out with Matt and Jeff for a while before the show. Didn't get to meet Ed. Of course, hearing all this afterward, I was angrier than I'd ever been and felt betrayed.
Once September 2001 hit though, there was a lot more to worry about. I will never forget the horrors of 9/11 as long as I live. We were in school and the principal came on the PA system to tell us. We didn't even understand how serious it was. The boys made it a joke. The teachers were absolutely freaked. I remember going home after school sick to my stomach, running to call my father. He never goes into the city, had never been in the Twin Towers, yet sitting at school all day had convinced me otherwise. He calmed me down over the phone and then told me some of his friends, people that I knew, had been killed.
RIOT ACT 02' - PEARL JAM 06'
The busiest years thus far. Started high school in fall '02, finished in summer '06, so you can say these were the bookend years. I looooooved 'Riot Act', felt it said everything I wanted to say and more and it was a very cathartic release after 9/11. I officially become more obsessed than my mother before I was done high school. My mom met her future husband and physically dragged him to Buffalo for PJ. They got stuck at the border and missed the beginning of the show. There were some high school kids in their mom's minivan who killed their car battery blasting PJ and waiting to get across the border for hours on end, so my mom being the good PJ samaritan, offered to drive them across for the show and then back after.
I FINALLY got to my first show when my uncle surprised me the night of the Toronto show with an extra ticket. One of the best nights of my life. I remember the fireworks as it came to an end. They perfectly summed up how I felt.
I met a guy in high school who was a PJ fan, the first fan my age I had ever met, and he is a guitar genius. He taught me some basics and encouraged me to take real lessons. My teacher happened to be a PJ fan, which sealed the deal. I can play pretty well now, if I do say so myself.
The CANADIAN tour rolled around in September of grade 12. Went to see 3 shows in a week under the condition that I HAD to go to school every day that week. Nearly killed me, but oh was it fun. The 9/11 show in Kitchener was eerie but respectful, while loaded with meaning in 'Long Road' and 'Gimme some Truth'. I was crying buckets before 'Long Road' was over.
My uncle flew Matt's sister in for the Toronto show and we all had dinner at his house the night before the show. She told lots of stories about her dorky little brother. She brought dinner leftovers back for the boys and then went and hung out with Bono. We got VIP passes for that show and while it wasn't the most spectacular setlist, it was soooo special for me. The only two I got to meet were Matt and Boom (who does talk) and I got to talk to Matt for quite a while actually. It was surreal, just sitting down and talking to him in the 'family room' at the ACC. He signed one of the signs pointing to where the room was and gave me a couple picks from Ed and Stone (none of which I asked him for). The only thing that would have made that night even better would be to have had the chance to meet Ed, but it was a day I'll never forget.
PEARL JAM 06' - TODAY
Avocado hit and of course, I loved it at first listen. It became my favourite album within a month. Now, it's not quite that spectacular, but it's still up there for me, regardless what others think of it. May of '06, that same school year, I saw both Toronto shows back-to-back, sealing everyone's high school memories of me as the Pearl Jam freak who saw them 5 times in a year.
My mom bought a farm in Alliston and we have horses now for PLEASURE for the first time in my life. No more showing. No more traveling. No more marriages falling apart over it. It's kind of nice. I never learned to ride because I equated horses with the divorce and still do in a way. I do have a little pet pony named Jett, whose official name is Given to Fly. He's never been broken, his mane drags to the ground, he's wild and thinks he's the biggest horse in the barn. The name suits him.
Moved away to Ottawa for university, way to much to say about that so I won't say anything. 'Into the Wild' came out in September of last year (which you all know of course) and it was the soundtrack of my school year. Went to see more concerts in a year than I ever have before, other than maybe the year of 5 PJ shows + others.
When PJ passed over Toronto this past summer tour, I conveniently arranged to go visit my dad for a week. A friend from university and I made it a trip and did all the touristy New York stuff, then took the train out to Hartford. We got our tickets early and we made it in for the beginning. We didn't get killed by the police. Which was our goal of course. Best show of my life. Until August.
Fifth fucking row and centre for Ed at Massey the first night, the closest I've ever been and will ever be. Last row of the gallery second night, funny how that works. My mom was supposed to come to the second show but something very serious came up that she could NOT get out of. When 'Helpless' was played that night, I couldn't control myself. I was shaking and crying and I felt like the past 20 years of my life had finally come full circle. If my mom had been there with me, I think I might have even gotten more emotional.
And now I'm back at school avoiding a Shakespeare essay.
2003: Toronto
2005: Kitchener/Hamilton/Toronto
2006: Toronto 1 & 2
2008: Hartford/EV Toronto 1 & 2
2009: Toronto/Philadelphia 3 & 4
2010: Buffalo
2011: Montreal/Toronto 1 & 2/Hamilton
2013: London/Buffalo/Vancouver/Seattle 2016: Toronto 1 & 2 2022: Hamilton/Toronto 2023: EV Seattle 1&2
Comments
Moved to Seattle, starting to drink coffee to fit in.
VS. 93' - VITALOGY 94'
Learned that it can be cold and drafty in Seattle especially on the day that Vitalogy came out.
VITALOGY 94' - NO CODE 96'
Learned there are sunny days in Seattle especially on the day that No Code came out. First PJ show, and the sound was not good. Rooting for PJ against Ticketmaster.
NO CODE 96' - YIELD 98'
Tried different jobs, became part of the dot.com boom.
YIELD 98' - BINAURAL 00'
Rode the wave of dot.com boom, excited about technology
BINAURAL 00' - RIOT ACT 02'
Drowned in the dot.com bust and tried pastry school
RIOT ACT 02' - PEARL JAM 06'
Moved from Seattle to Maryland, found joy with people again after 10 years of thinking a summer sunset was good enough. Finally saw Pearl Jam shows (#9, #12, #13) that were better than Bruce Springsteen shows.
PEARL JAM 06' - TODAY
Life is good. 2 nieces and 1 nephew have seen PJ thanks to me
The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
five years old, moved to the town where my dad was born, beginning school, my mom got pretty ill
found friends for life
VS. 93' - VITALOGY 94'
happy times, played a lot outside
VITALOGY 94' - NO CODE 96'
came to my second school
NO CODE 96' - YIELD 98'
met my best friend
YIELD 98' - BINAURAL 00'
got into alternative/ rock music (offspring!)
BINAURAL 00' - RIOT ACT 02'
got into pj by hearing light years on radio, bought all albums
RIOT ACT 02' - PEARL JAM 06'
riot act is the first album i bougt on the day it was released
finished school in summer 05
visited my aunt in vancouver with my parents and twin sister (two days after we had booked the flights, pearl jam announced their canada tour, so my twin sister and me saw our first show
moved out of my parents house with my twin sister
started university
PEARL JAM 06' - TODAY
my twin sister and me saw pj in berlin 2006 and düsseldorf 2007
and i met the love of my life
"I don't wanna think, I wanna feel"
"Go then, there are other worlds than these!" - Jake Chambers
09/02/2005 Vancouver
09/23/2006 Berlin
06/21/2007 Düsseldorf
Left home, got married, had first child. Phew...thats a biggie
Vs 93-94
Still married, too busy being a Mum to pay much attention to PJ.
Vitalogy 94-96
Moved house, had another baby. Started to get into grunge music a bit more.
Heard Bugs and thought 'What the FUCK is this?
No Code 96-98
Still married, still two kids....
Yield 98-00
Met Sian-of-the-Dead....the start of a beautiful friendship
Binaural 00-02
Had third child. Moved house... Watched PJ on TV and thought 'Holy Fuck!'. It was like seeing the light for the first time. I'd liked their music for a while, but suddenly it made sense in a new way and my obsession began.
Riot Act 02-06
Had fourth child. Got tix to reading and couldn't go, so gave them away with tears in my eyes. Watched it on TV and sobbed into my beer
Pearl Jam 06- Today
Started uni. Finished marriage and started divorce. Went to my first PJ meet up and met Audiodave. Went to my 2nd and met Heineken Helen, Emmi, Chime, J1012 and others. Met harmless_little_f*** and fell in love
Wembley 18/06/07
If there was a reason, it was you.
O2 Arena 18/09/09
I was fifteen when Ten came out, and I was a freshman in high school in Fairbanks, Alaska. I wasn’t really familiar with the band’s music, but I had heard the name and thought they sounded cool, so I bought it and fell in love right from the opening chords of “Once.”
VS. 93' - VITALOGY 94'
I was a freshman at the University of Washington when Vitalogy came out. The first time I had ever left my home state (and really, the area around my hometown) was when I moved away to college in Seattle.
VITALOGY 94' - NO CODE 96'
I was halfway through college and trying to get into medical school. I think I broke up with my boyfriend after listening to “Off He Goes” on repeat about a million times and realized there were better things in life than being tied down to someone who was going nowhere.
NO CODE 96' - YIELD 98'
I was halfway through my first year of med school at UW when Yield came out. It was the most perfect album for that time in my life, and I think that’s why it’s probably my favorite.
YIELD 98' - BINAURAL 00'
Halfway through medical school. I moved in with my best friend. Studied my ass off.
BINAURAL 00' - RIOT ACT 02'
I had graduated from med school and was in my first year of residency. Not much time to do anything but work.
RIOT ACT 02' - PEARL JAM 06'
Finished my residency and got an oncology fellowship. I went to a party to meet a guy that my best friend told me I’d like because he looked like Eddie Vedder. He was Vedder-esque enough for me to hang out with him all night, ask him out to breakfast, and fall in total like with him enough to kiss him that very first night.
PEARL JAM 06' - TODAY Got engaged on 7/23/06 at the second Gorge show! We started planning our wedding, but decided to put it on hold for a while to save money to buy a house, which we did in February of 2008. We have no plans to have kids together, but we have adopted two dogs, our dalmatian Wyatt and our lab Lukin. We’re getting married on December 19, 2008. I take my oncology boards in May ’09. Life is gooood.
Not boring. Things will get better. Early 20s are a bitch. Nothing is really new to you anymore so life gets a little bland. Keep on truckn, before long you will have more money and can see more shows and buy more toys. I dont care what anyone says, concerts and toys are the secret to happiness.
Word, this was a turning point in my life. Grew up broke so I never had money for CDs. Napster was a fucking God send!
CD's that I buy like every week are my happiness, but my parents think I am wasting my money.
Thank you for your kind words
Thank god for the internet and file sharing programs, introduced me to so much good music that changed my tastes and life forever, for the good of course.
Thank you!
I have since purchased legit copies of all the music I love :P
I was born in '87 so in '91 I was 4 years old. My dads parents took care of me and my sister while our parents were out enjoying their lives partying and traveling. Mommy and daddy weren't there to take care of us - I remember thinking whether I should call my grandma mommy or grandma... sad. Dad ended up in some financial difficulties and started drinking heavily, he also misused pain and anxiety meds. My mom left him and moved half way across the country, later married another man - she also had/has problems with alcohol - but she denies it.
6 years old - I love to play with barbies with my sister. We are pretty happy, although our biological parents aren't there to take care of us. My dad sobers up a bit and falls in love with a woman much younger than himself. He has three kids with her, my three half-brothers who I love dearly. My dad ends up having some sort of a mental breakdown and starts drinking again - his new wife leaves him. Life is pretty confusing for us kids too.
VS. 93' - VITALOGY 94'
In '94 I start school, I like it and I have some friends. Occasionally I get picked on because everyone knows my dad is a drunk - I feel really bad about that, and I feel sorry for my dad. I love summer vacations in amusement parks with my grandma and my sister, I also remember trips to our summer cabin with grandpa.
VITALOGY 94' - NO CODE 96'
School, school, school - my grandparents are really demanding. I love to watch the childrens show "carebears" from tv. Dad is still drinking, also been to jail and in a mental institution. Seen my mom few times during the past years.
NO CODE 96' - YIELD 98'
Things seem to be brighter in my life for a while. Dad cleans up his act for a while and tries to re-connect with his kids a bit - spends more time with us.. but it doesnt take long...and off he goes again into his own journey of escaping this world. Grandma thinks its better if dad stops seeing us for some time.
'98, I'm 11, other girls in school don't like me - I'm depressed and shy. I'm usually extremely good in school and I love studying, but I stop caring - I remember having so much anger in me for the whole world. I'm 11 and thinking stuff like why did I have to born into this world, into this life... why am I me. I start skipping classes... afraid of my grandparents' reaction.
YIELD 98' - BINAURAL 00'
Almost through elementary school and on my way to jr. high. I refuse to go back to school after being away from there for a while (skipping classes..etc). I just don't want to face the people there anymore, I hate everyone - I hate the world, my life. I runaway from my grandparents and go to my mom who lives across the country, and who is alcoholic... I remember thinking that it would be easier for me to get a fresh start - but when there, I feel that my mother doesnt want me and I return back to my grandparents.
Grandparents aren't too happy, neither the social workers. I feel really ashamed, really angry - I wish I would die.... (12 years old). I'm refusing going back to school, I threaten to kill myself.... and voilá = 8 weeks in childrens psych ward. Not a bad thing though. it propably saved me, but I think people overreacted to my sayings.. I was a pretty intelligent and manipulative as a kid.
I finish elementary school in some other school.
BINAURAL 00' - RIOT ACT 02'
Jr. high goes really well, i get excellent grades - I have new friends and all is well in my world. Well except for the alcoholic biol. parents... stress and insomnia - caused by me getting my first computer.
I'm really into computers. I love movies. I love music. I'm really good in english. I love learning.
I listen to to Yellow ledbetter for the first time and I am in love...
RIOT ACT 02' - PEARL JAM 06'
Crazy in love with Pearl Jam, every song is like a lesson about life - something to be learned, a new way to see things. No one understands my musical taste.
High School - - - I was so afraid of it, but I survived it. Music helped me through some really tough times, mainly PJ. I had some severe existential / religious crisis halfway through HS -- Yield, Binaural and Riot act brought me some enlightment, and I survived that too. Will not categorize myself into any religions nowadays, I enjoy freedom, free thinking etc. I am myself and I know my mind, I own my mind. I AM MINE
Life after HS has been pretty insane, deciding what do do with my life.. I've had some really depressing days, months... I still do, sometimes. I am now studying to be a nurse - and it feels good. It feels right. But the human mind changes all the time... so the future's always in a bit of a blur. Hopefully I will have many happy days ahead of me in this lonely planet.
Life is a mystery... every day there's something new or old that i realize... pretty weird shit.
I've never been more in love with PJ than I am right now. Saw PJ live for the first time last summer (4 times in a row), my first show was MSG 1... I will never forget it - they started with hard to imagine...i had a great view of the whole stage and audience from 118A and it really was hard to imagine being there - I loved every second. I was wearing my peace- t shirt , and so was Eddie... that was cool.
-Anni
ps. it was nice chattin' with ya.
Won't let the darkness swallow me.
I was 3-5. Parents on their way to divorce. Ugh, the horse world. It was just my mom and me most of the time. A lot of my memories from this time are music-related. Uncle Neil was the only thing I ever wanted to hear at the age of 2. My first concert at 4 was CSNY...I don't remember much other than realizing how special music was. 'Helpless' was my favourite song...partly because the line "Big birds flying across the sky" made me assume (naturally) that it was a song about THE Big Bird.
My mom bought Ten at some point in '91, and I honestly don't have any memories of it...but she said I used to bounce around a lot in the car and sing 'Alive' at the top of my lungs.
VS. 93' - VITALOGY 94'
We moved from Connecticut to a little townhouse in Toronto and my dad stayed there. Started school. Not much to say, not the happiest years of my life. But Pearl Jam helped me so much from Vs. on out. My mom moved her record player to my bedroom to help me sleep at night and Vs., as loud as it can be, was on heavy rotation. 'Small Town' and 'Indifference' I loved. I was not allowed to sing 'Leash' anywhere but in the car when it was only my mom and I and nobody else was there to tell her she was a bad parent.
VITALOGY 94' - NO CODE 96'
The years of 'Bugs', which, from a child's perspective, is a brilliant song!
NO CODE 96' - YIELD 98'
My mom left the horse world and moved on to the family business with my grandfather, my uncle and my aunt. We moved a little farther north to Newmarket. Was the odd one out in my entire grade because they all listened to the Spice Girls and such and I was raving about songs like 'Off He Goes', which sounded, to them like "parents' music", which of course, was a good thing in my opinion.
Saw RENT in Toronto, and even today, I see it as a life-altering moment. The power of that musical is NOT to be judged by the film.
YIELD 98' - BINAURAL 00'
'Yield' was released and I was rapidly approaching obsession. Since its release, 'Given to Fly' has been my song. We found out that we had a real connection with the adoption of Matt into the band. Through work, my mom had met his sister and they had become friends of sort. My mom went to see them without me more times than I would have liked that tour.
Had to hear an awful lot of shit from my ultra-Republican grandmother in Connecticut about how horrible Clinton was and how Bush Jr was going to save the nation. As always, I listened to my mom's side of things. She said things were going to get real bad real fast.
BINAURAL 00' - RIOT ACT 02'
Honestly didn't know what to think of 'Binaural' at the time. I do remember that my mom and I had tickets for the Toronto show and there was a family emergency so we couldn't go. I was devastated and being young, I cared waaaay more that we missed what was going to be my first PJ show. On top of all that, my mom and my uncle went out to SEATTLE for the end of the tour...without me. They stayed with Matt's sister in Portland and got backstage. Hung out with Matt and Jeff for a while before the show. Didn't get to meet Ed. Of course, hearing all this afterward, I was angrier than I'd ever been and felt betrayed.
Once September 2001 hit though, there was a lot more to worry about. I will never forget the horrors of 9/11 as long as I live. We were in school and the principal came on the PA system to tell us. We didn't even understand how serious it was. The boys made it a joke. The teachers were absolutely freaked. I remember going home after school sick to my stomach, running to call my father. He never goes into the city, had never been in the Twin Towers, yet sitting at school all day had convinced me otherwise. He calmed me down over the phone and then told me some of his friends, people that I knew, had been killed.
RIOT ACT 02' - PEARL JAM 06'
The busiest years thus far. Started high school in fall '02, finished in summer '06, so you can say these were the bookend years. I looooooved 'Riot Act', felt it said everything I wanted to say and more and it was a very cathartic release after 9/11. I officially become more obsessed than my mother before I was done high school. My mom met her future husband and physically dragged him to Buffalo for PJ. They got stuck at the border and missed the beginning of the show. There were some high school kids in their mom's minivan who killed their car battery blasting PJ and waiting to get across the border for hours on end, so my mom being the good PJ samaritan, offered to drive them across for the show and then back after.
I FINALLY got to my first show when my uncle surprised me the night of the Toronto show with an extra ticket. One of the best nights of my life. I remember the fireworks as it came to an end. They perfectly summed up how I felt.
I met a guy in high school who was a PJ fan, the first fan my age I had ever met, and he is a guitar genius. He taught me some basics and encouraged me to take real lessons. My teacher happened to be a PJ fan, which sealed the deal. I can play pretty well now, if I do say so myself.
The CANADIAN tour rolled around in September of grade 12. Went to see 3 shows in a week under the condition that I HAD to go to school every day that week. Nearly killed me, but oh was it fun. The 9/11 show in Kitchener was eerie but respectful, while loaded with meaning in 'Long Road' and 'Gimme some Truth'. I was crying buckets before 'Long Road' was over.
My uncle flew Matt's sister in for the Toronto show and we all had dinner at his house the night before the show. She told lots of stories about her dorky little brother. She brought dinner leftovers back for the boys and then went and hung out with Bono. We got VIP passes for that show and while it wasn't the most spectacular setlist, it was soooo special for me. The only two I got to meet were Matt and Boom (who does talk) and I got to talk to Matt for quite a while actually. It was surreal, just sitting down and talking to him in the 'family room' at the ACC. He signed one of the signs pointing to where the room was and gave me a couple picks from Ed and Stone (none of which I asked him for). The only thing that would have made that night even better would be to have had the chance to meet Ed, but it was a day I'll never forget.
PEARL JAM 06' - TODAY
Avocado hit and of course, I loved it at first listen. It became my favourite album within a month. Now, it's not quite that spectacular, but it's still up there for me, regardless what others think of it. May of '06, that same school year, I saw both Toronto shows back-to-back, sealing everyone's high school memories of me as the Pearl Jam freak who saw them 5 times in a year.
My mom bought a farm in Alliston and we have horses now for PLEASURE for the first time in my life. No more showing. No more traveling. No more marriages falling apart over it. It's kind of nice. I never learned to ride because I equated horses with the divorce and still do in a way. I do have a little pet pony named Jett, whose official name is Given to Fly. He's never been broken, his mane drags to the ground, he's wild and thinks he's the biggest horse in the barn. The name suits him.
Moved away to Ottawa for university, way to much to say about that so I won't say anything. 'Into the Wild' came out in September of last year (which you all know of course) and it was the soundtrack of my school year. Went to see more concerts in a year than I ever have before, other than maybe the year of 5 PJ shows + others.
When PJ passed over Toronto this past summer tour, I conveniently arranged to go visit my dad for a week. A friend from university and I made it a trip and did all the touristy New York stuff, then took the train out to Hartford. We got our tickets early and we made it in for the beginning. We didn't get killed by the police. Which was our goal of course. Best show of my life. Until August.
Fifth fucking row and centre for Ed at Massey the first night, the closest I've ever been and will ever be. Last row of the gallery second night, funny how that works.
And now I'm back at school avoiding a Shakespeare essay.
2005: Kitchener/Hamilton/Toronto
2006: Toronto 1 & 2
2008: Hartford/EV Toronto 1 & 2
2009: Toronto/Philadelphia 3 & 4
2010: Buffalo
2011: Montreal/Toronto 1 & 2/Hamilton
2013: London/Buffalo/Vancouver/Seattle
2016: Toronto 1 & 2
2022: Hamilton/Toronto
2023: EV Seattle 1&2
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