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Late to the party

cdp1223cdp1223 Posts: 1,131
edited May 2009 in The Porch
Alternate title: Saw Things Clearer or How I Learned to Stop Complaining and Love Pearl Jam.

Apologies in advance for the long post and sarcastic tone....I'm kind of a surly judgemental snob by nature. :D

Three years ago yesterday, I found myself driving to pick up a friend in Delaware and then onwards to Camden, NJ. Why? Because the friend had offered my (now) husband and I free tickets to see PJ. Husband was ecstatic and very thankful to friend. Me? I spent the weeks leading up to the event alternating between denying it was happening or making snide "Is this 1994?" jokes. I mean, I liked the singles as much as anyone from my generation, but I had lost my cassette of Ten years earlier and didn't know anyone actually still LISTENED to Pearl Jam, much less that they were still touring!

So we get to the ampitheatre. It's a beautiful night, which is great. However, after the drive, the traffic, and the crowd, I was in no mood. The final straw was the fact that we were not allowed to bring in blankets and were forced to muck around in the goose shit that was all over the lawn. But whatever, I thought, I'll suffer through. I mean, they were free tix and my friends are happy. Don't be a Debbie Downer.

This was all well and good until they actually starting playing and I found myself at the epicenter of a terrible hippie dance circle. Patchouli stink everywhere! (ok, ok, a little sarcasm there, but seriously...dudes were stanky)

After a few songs from the new album, which I had listened to for about a week prior to the show, I was thinking "Ok, they are actually pretty decent. They sound like the album. I can survive this..."

And then we get to Porch. A 10 minute version of Porch, to be exact. And it dawned on me. I looked around me--gyrating hippies everywhere. I turned to my husband "Holy fuck. They're a fucking JAM BAND!! NOW I get it!" (confession: I have always been a major HATER of Phish and have dismissed many great live bands as jam bands because of enduring Phish loving roommates in college)

I glowered through a few more songs and then the played Come Back. I don't know why, but for some reason, this song just broke my foul mood and made me take notice. By the time they got to State of Love and Trust a few songs later, I was realizing that I might actually have ENJOYED (gasp!) some of this performance. And then....the show was over.

When I got back home, and for the year following the show, I would hear a song from the concert on the radio and it was like hearing it for the first time. I realized VERY slowly that it had actually been a fantastic show and that they were one of the best live acts I'd ever seen. Cut to three years later when I find the tables turned. I am a member of their fan club, stalk their forums constantly, follow them on Twitter(!) and am desperate to get tix to sold out shows. My husband just sits back and laughs.

If only I had known earlier and was able to appreciate the only show I have actually seen!
Anybody else had this type of transformative experience with a band after seeing them live?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • peacegirlpeacegirl Posts: 841
    can't say that I've had that experience because I have LOVED pearl jam since I was 14 (will be 29 in July)
    but I didn't join the 10C until 2007 and didn't see them live until 2008
  • Stephen FlowStephen Flow Posts: 3,327
    Cool little write-up... it's really not hard to convert someone to a fan... just bring them to a live concert and simply show them! It will usually do the trick.

    One thing, PJ ain't no Jam band ;)
  • Ryan_WFCRyan_WFC Posts: 1,350
    Thanks for sharing. I had a similar experience in seeing Green Day live for the first time last week.
    "They said ... timing was everything
    made him ... want to be everywhere
    there's a ... lot to be said for nowhere."
  • loadedgunloadedgun Indiana Posts: 1,390
    Better late than never. I always try to explain to people that aren't fans that a PJ concert is much more than your typical concert. It's like a religious experience you'll never forget, and after your first show you will be converted. Welcome to the club.
    Midwest. Indy/Lafayette.
  • megatronmegatron Posts: 3,420
    didnt happen at a concert. but i did convert about 3 years ago mainly due to live on 2 legs.
    1st show was last year and am further hooked

    i enjoyed your story though. i hope it happens to my buddy whos goin to his first pj show at ACL with me
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559
    their music won't appeal to everyone of course but there is no denying they are a great live act and that ultimately is where they are meant to be heard ... on a stage with thousands of people ...
  • benjsbenjs Toronto, ON Posts: 9,223
    Cool story! I liked Pearl Jam, but I was only a VERY casual PJ fan (owned Rearviewmirror) until my first show. That show got me so pumped about the band... I remember refreshing the Basecamp site waiting to download the show.
    '05 - TO, '06 - TO 1, '08 - NYC 1 & 2, '09 - TO, Chi 1 & 2, '10 - Buffalo, NYC 1 & 2, '11 - TO 1 & 2, Hamilton, '13 - Buffalo, Brooklyn 1 & 2, '15 - Global Citizen, '16 - TO 1 & 2, Chi 2

    EV
    Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
  • hitmanhitman Posts: 469
    great story and i'm really glad you came around... i still love them and have since '92. i realize they aren't for everybody... which is one of the things i love about them. they are somehow mainstream and on the fringe at the same time. and they're still going at it 20 years later!
  • slightofjeffslightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    That's an awesome story. I love hearing conversion stories.
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,430
    I read these stories and thank God I got in when I did. I haven't been around since the beginning, but I've put in a solid 10 years, and I've been lucky enough to catch 6 shows and I'll tell ya every time I've seen them it's renewed my love of their music. I caught them for the first time in Indy/2000, 3x in 03, 1x in 04, and hit the last Boston show last year. The layoff between the VFC show and Boston 2 put a bit of a damper on my fandom, though they were ALWAYS right at the top, and I was really getting into alotta new bands. In the last couple of years I've kinda settled down and came back to my musical roots and PJ is pretty well front and center along with Zep, Floyd, Beatles, etcetcetcetcetc.

    Can't wait for the Chicago shows. I've never seen them back to back nights. I get goosebumps just thinkin about it.
  • PearlJamPatriotPearlJamPatriot Posts: 2,426
    cdp1223 wrote:
    Alternate title: Saw Things Clearer or How I Learned to Stop Complaining and Love Pearl Jam.

    Apologies in advance for the long post and sarcastic tone....I'm kind of a surly judgemental snob by nature. :D

    Three years ago yesterday, I found myself driving to pick up a friend in Delaware and then onwards to Camden, NJ. Why? Because the friend had offered my (now) husband and I free tickets to see PJ. Husband was ecstatic and very thankful to friend. Me? I spent the weeks leading up to the event alternating between denying it was happening or making snide "Is this 1994?" jokes. I mean, I liked the singles as much as anyone from my generation, but I had lost my cassette of Ten years earlier and didn't know anyone actually still LISTENED to Pearl Jam, much less that they were still touring!

    So we get to the ampitheatre. It's a beautiful night, which is great. However, after the drive, the traffic, and the crowd, I was in no mood. The final straw was the fact that we were not allowed to bring in blankets and were forced to muck around in the goose shit that was all over the lawn. But whatever, I thought, I'll suffer through. I mean, they were free tix and my friends are happy. Don't be a Debbie Downer.

    This was all well and good until they actually starting playing and I found myself at the epicenter of a terrible hippie dance circle. Patchouli stink everywhere! (ok, ok, a little sarcasm there, but seriously...dudes were stanky)

    After a few songs from the new album, which I had listened to for about a week prior to the show, I was thinking "Ok, they are actually pretty decent. They sound like the album. I can survive this..."

    And then we get to Porch. A 10 minute version of Porch, to be exact. And it dawned on me. I looked around me--gyrating hippies everywhere. I turned to my husband "Holy fuck. They're a fucking JAM BAND!! NOW I get it!" (confession: I have always been a major HATER of Phish and have dismissed many great live bands as jam bands because of enduring Phish loving roommates in college)

    I glowered through a few more songs and then the played Come Back. I don't know why, but for some reason, this song just broke my foul mood and made me take notice. By the time they got to State of Love and Trust a few songs later, I was realizing that I might actually have ENJOYED (gasp!) some of this performance. And then....the show was over.

    When I got back home, and for the year following the show, I would hear a song from the concert on the radio and it was like hearing it for the first time. I realized VERY slowly that it had actually been a fantastic show and that they were one of the best live acts I'd ever seen. Cut to three years later when I find the tables turned. I am a member of their fan club, stalk their forums constantly, follow them on Twitter(!) and am desperate to get tix to sold out shows. My husband just sits back and laughs.

    If only I had known earlier and was able to appreciate the only show I have actually seen!
    Anybody else had this type of transformative experience with a band after seeing them live?
    Glad you finally saw the light. Thanks for sharing.
    Pearl Jam Shows: 1998 - 9/11 New York, NY (MSG night 2); 9/13 Hartford, CT || 2000 - 8/24 Wantagh, NY (Jones Beach 2); 8/27 Saratoga Springs; 8/29 Mansfield, MA (night 1); 8/30 Mansfield, MA (night 2) || 2003 - 4/29 Albany, NY; 5/3 State College, PA; 7/2 Mansfield (night 1); 7/6 Camden, NJ (night 2); 7/8 New York, NY (MSG night 1) || 2004 - 9/28 Boston, MA (night 1); 9/29 Boston, MA (night 2) || 2005 - 10/3 Philadelphia, PA || 2006 - 5/12 Albany, NY; 5/13 Hartford, CT; 5/24 Boston, MA (night 1); 5/25 Boston, MA (night 2); 5/27 Camden, NJ (night 1); 5/28 Camden, NJ (night 2)|| 2008 - 6/19 Camden, NJ (night 1); 6/24 New York, NY (MSG night 1); 6/25 New York, NY (MSG night 2); 6/27 Hartford, CT; 6/28 Mansfield, MA (night 1); 6/30 Mansfield, MA (night 2); 7/1 New York, NY (Beacon Theater)|| 2009 - 9/21 Seattle, WA (night 1); 9/22 Seattle, WA (night 2); 10/27 Philadelphia, PA (Spectrum night 1); 10/28 Philadelphia, PA (Spectrum night 2); 10/30 Philadelphia, PA (Spectrum night 3); 10/31 Philadelphia, PA (Spectrum night 4)|| 2010 - 5/15 Hartford, CT; 5/17 Boston, MA; 5/20 New York, NY (MSG night 1); 5/21 New York, NY (MSG night 2)|| 2011 - 9/3 East Troy, WI (PJ20); 9/4 East Troy, WI (PJ20) || 2012 - 9/2 Philadelphia, PA, 9/30 Missoula, MT || 2013 - 7/19 Chicago, IL (Wrigley Field), 10/12 Buffalo, NY, 10/15 Worcester, MA (night 1), 10/16 Worcester, MA (night 2), 10/18 Brooklyn, NY (night 1), 10/19 Brooklyn, NY (night 2), 10/25 Hartford, CT || 2014 - 10/22 Denver, CO || 2015 -  9/26 New York, NY (Global Citizen Festival) || 2016 - 5/1 New York, NY (night 1), 5/2 New York, NY (night 2), 8/5 Boston, MA (Fenway Park night 1), 8/7 Boston, MA (Fenway Park night 2) || 2018 - 9/2 Boston, MA (Fenway Park night 1) || 2020 - 3/30 New York, NY
    Eddie Vedder solo: 2008 - Boston night 1 & 2 || 2009 - Albany, NY night 1 & 2 || 2011 - Hartford, CT, Boston, MA

  • CJMST3KCJMST3K Posts: 9,722
    RACE THAT CANT BE WON wrote:
    congrats on 1000 posts. :)
    ADD 5,200 to the post count you see, thank you. :)
    *NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
    *MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
    *Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
    *Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
    *Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
    *VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
    *EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
    *Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
  • springsteenfanspringsteenfan Posts: 383
    I love Pearl Jam and I don't stink like petchuli. I smell like the American Eagle body spray my girlfriend got me. It smells good. Also, I don't do the hippie dance, I sort of bounce on the balls of my feet and point. :lol:
  • cdp1223cdp1223 Posts: 1,131
    springsteenfan wrote:
    I love Pearl Jam and I don't stink like petchuli. I smell like the American Eagle body spray my girlfriend got me. It smells good. Also, I don't do the hippie dance, I sort of bounce on the balls of my feet and point. :lol:

    Haha, well okay then American Eagle, you can stay. ;)
  • CJMST3KCJMST3K Posts: 9,722
    springsteenfan wrote:
    I sort of bounce on the balls of my feet

    um... you were born on the earth, right? i think feet-balls would hurt to bounce on.

    :lol:
    ADD 5,200 to the post count you see, thank you. :)
    *NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
    *MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
    *Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
    *Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
    *Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
    *VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
    *EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
    *Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
  • springsteenfanspringsteenfan Posts: 383
    CJMST3K wrote:
    springsteenfan wrote:
    I sort of bounce on the balls of my feet

    um... you were born on the earth, right? i think feet-balls would hurt to bounce on.

    :lol:

    I'm not getting any air and I'm usually drunk. it's more of a bob than a bounce! :lol:
  • Yield98Yield98 Posts: 151
    There is nothing like PJ in concert. Every person that I have brought to a concert always wants dibs on my 2nd fan club ticket. I actually have to keep track of "who's turn it is" to go next. I have the Rolling Stone article from 2006 framed on my wall and I always go back and read the part about "true believer shows"!!

    Much love for PJ and see you in Chicago in August!!
    Peace, Love, Pearl Jam

    Alpine 98,00,03 TFC 99, Chicago 00,03,09(2X),23(2X) St. Louis 03, Champagne 03, St. Paul 03,06(2X),14,23(2X), Noblesville 03, Toledo 04, Grand Rapids 04,06, Thunder Bay 05, Cleveland 06, Lolla 07, Roo 08, PJ20 X2, Wrigley 13 & 16, Portland/Spokane/Seattle 13, Milwaukee 14, Fenway 18(2X),24(2X), Quebec City 22, Ottawa 22, MSG 24, Philly 24(2X), Auckland 24, Gold Coast 24
  • greggv19greggv19 Posts: 37
    If you had known then, what you know now...
  • decides2dreamdecides2dream Posts: 14,977
    well i came 'late to the party'.....simply b/c back in 1991, i simply was not paying attention to new music. i was pretty much still wrapped up in my alt music of the 80s, with heavy doses of classic rock....and sure, graduating college, engaged, getting ready to marry, etc, etc.....life. i didn't listen to too much radio anymore back then b/c it was really starting to turn to shit, and again, i was just so focused on the goings on within my own life at the time, that i kept myself to my tried and true music i loved. here and there i sporadically heard a tune or two on the radio...but again....just not really paying much attention. fast forward a decade, married 9 years, in our home, settled, finished grad school, in my career, and my husband is in another band....and someone wants to do a few pj covers. a bit more exposure to em while hubby practices.....hmmmm. some 'life issues'....get to turning more and more to different music.....see a few pj CDs...break em out.....listen....LISTEN, and....transformed. that's it, i am hooked, i'm a fan......join the 10c within a year, first shows in 2003....the rest is history. :D



    btw - i mention this b/c so many are so totally surprised by it :P - first time i ever laid eyes on ed ved or mike mccready - to my knowledge, anyway - was the 'tribute to hereos' show after 09.11, when they played 'long road' with neil young. i was mesmerized. was quite fitting that my first show, uniondale 2003...opened with that very same tune. :) and yes, i DID see the film singles and loved it......and my husband briefly pointed out ed, stone and jeff....not by name, just by oh yea...those guys are in pearl jam.....and i was like, oh...uhuhhhh. hahahaha. what can i say? the 90s i was simply OUT of the new music scene, checked out for along while...and yes, i didn't have cable/MTV. :lol:
    Stay with me...
    Let's just breathe...


    I am myself like you somehow


  • josevolutionjosevolution Posts: 30,508
    well like they say better late than never, i'm glad i got to the party at the begining 8-) ...
    jesus greets me looks just like me ....
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