Disappointing Shows

meme · February 2008

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

sound definitely varies from show to show....

Often it even varies by your location in the arena.

RandomLurker · February 2008

Lollapalooza 2007

The weekend was a blast, the Vic show was great (very different from the usual setlist), and we had a good time with all the other fans there....

...But....

-The crowd was too big
-The sound was awful
-It was hard to get a good view
-You were surrounded by many people not into the band (talking their way thru the set)
-Also surrounded by the sweaty, drunk, and sick at the end of a 3 day bender.

Went out of my way to go, had a great weekend...... but will pass on the festival gigs from now on.

NeilJam · February 2008

The most disappointing show for me was Toronto 05. That setlist was way too heavy on the radio hits.

Lolla was a little disappointing for the same reason. I hope they realize the fans at Bonnaroo don't want a greatest hits show.

pkh43 · February 2008

Albany NY 2003

mookie9999 · February 2008

12/8/02 Key Arena. Opened with too many slow songs and never really picked up a good rhythm. IMO Black should never be played within the first few songs. Not to mention I had the worst seats ever (last row in the upper deck) which did not help. Out of my 20+ that's the only show I have to complain about.

Hinny · February 2008

Chorzow 07. I enjoyed the bus ride in and the pre-show mega cheapo Polish beer drinking more than the show itself.

Unkept · February 2008

I can't say I've ever seen a bad show in person...One of the things I lvoe about the band is they tend to leave it all on the stage, and luckily I've never seen 'em do anything less. Now I do have a particular fondness for Cincy for a number of reasons, and though I was expecting THE GREATEST SHOW IN THE HISTORY OF PEARL JAM, because they had to cancel in '03...a few things I loved about the show was that they played great, Ed was espescially personable and the fact of the matter is that...it's Cincinnati...a nice place to live, but never gonna be confused with Atlanta, New York, L.A. it's , Cincinnati...but they still threw it down...and that's why I love 'em. Sooner or later there's gonna be a snafu with a setlist, and the last half of the first set included LBC, Gone, Grean Disease, Present Tense..I like all those songs, but close together at what was supposed to be the apex of the first set, well ,...it was a bit disconcerting....

Lost my virginity in Columbus '03, and freaked myself out by how freaked out I was...

By far the my favorite show was Cleveland 06, I was in the fifth row, and the setlist was awesome, and it just felt like one of those special nights...I saw 'em in Denver with Petty in 06 and that had that magic dust vibe to it too...

But I never saw a bad show...Toledo 04 was a bit disappointing because Neil Young took over...but then again..it was so unique that it made up for it.

Mmm. Alright...I am ready for the next tour...

Housing Jim · February 2008

I regret no realising just how much of a bunch of inconsiderate, drunken idiots the crowd at Dublin 2006 were going to be until it was too late.

I've been in crowds from bands with much rougher reputations than PJ but they were nothing compared to this experience. The pressure from the crowd pushing and the unhelpfulness from the security at getting people out was astounding.

Even once we'd managed to get ourselves to safety we still seemed to be surrounded by morons. That crowd ruined what could have been a really amazing gig and had up to that point been an ace trip to Dublin.

Zoso · February 2008

melbourne 1 2003 wasn't that impressive; bad seats, weak and short setlist because of a very very unappreciative crowd. Easily the worst pearl jam show I have seen.

TroubledSoul · February 2008

Zoso wrote:

melbourne 1 2003 wasn't that impressive; bad seats, weak and short setlist because of a very very unappreciative crowd. Easily the worst pearl jam show I have seen.

theres a few of those crowds going around in australia.

the most disappointing show for me has been melbourne 1 06. was the only show on the tour to sell out its 10c contingent but the crowd was weak. from front row, ed was also heard to say "looks like another tough one" as he bent over after about the 3rd song.

after severed hand (6th song) ed goes, "if youre gonna be this quiet, i'm gonna start telling stories... good story tellin' crowd.. anyway.."

StoneyChix · February 2008

I really haven't been to any BAD PJ gigs...seen em 12 times and the only bad thing about the gigs were some of the crowds...went to see PJ play at the Myer music bowl in Melb in 1995 and a WHOLE BUNCH OF eager fans decided to pull down the fences surrounding the perimiter...since i'd waited forever to get right up front i suffered a little...but i never gave a shit because it was my 2nd pj show EVER! The 98' shows i had absloutley NO problem with all shows were way cool.

The 03' shows were even better, when I went to see PJ in 06' the shows were F**CKING GREAT!! except the first night i was in a seat and ABSLOUTLEY NO-ONE around me was into it except for me (mind you everyone around me probably worked for the radio station or happened upon free tickets!) I was dancing around like a moron..the other 2 nights were great..crowds were great and I loved it!!.

Every PJ show i have been to since my first one in 95' has been a true experience...PJ will be my #1 band forever ...Definitley NO disapointments and definitley NO regrets at any shows

Kraven · February 2008

Honestly, the Vic was a little disappointing to me, I was so psyched for that show. Don't get me wrong the set list was amazing, but it could have been the greatest concert ever.

First of all Ed's pre-opener while it had some great moments, wasn't what I would hoped it would be. I wish he played songs like Footsteps, Soon Forget or Wash. The set list was a bit short, "only" 28 songs, it was a fanclub only show, I thought it was going to be a little longer.

I wish they had played any of the following tunes: Crown of Thorns, Dirty Frank, Smile, Light Years, something they play occasionally but not enough to be like oh its that song, lets go to the bathroom.

While it was cool they played all rarities(save a couple songs), I wish they had played Black, I think it would have been a highlight of the night. Just imagine that whole crowd singing along, it would have been beautiful.

Oh and please Eddie if you're gonna do Indifference with Ben Harper, please do the "I'll swallow poison..." part, it sounds so much better when you do it.

I think I had too high of expectations, but they were warranted for such a small, intimate, fan club only show.

/end rant

Sonic Reducer, Sad, Love Reign O'er Me, In Hiding, Low Light, Hard To Imagine were definitely awesome at that show and of course who could forget Black Diamond, once in lifetime thing me thinks.

Lolla was a disappointment because if you were on Stone's side you couldn't hear Mike at all and I think they had Black and Baba on the setlist and didn't play them. (If you can't tell Black is my favorite song ever, by any band)

By far the best Pearl Jam only show I have seen is Boston II '06, that first encore is awesome, especially Black into Alive, and of course the first live performance of Parachutes. The second encore? Even better. Why Go? Smile, Indifference, RitFW, only my second time hearing YLB, still have only heard it twice, and thats between 9 shows. Ed's opening up before MMJ with Porch was awesome. That whole show was a wave, starting with a peak, crashing and beginning at the top again.

It was also my dad's first real PJ show, had to show em that what he saw in Pitt '05 wasn't a fluke, and that they could put on a show as good or better than the Stones. Also being a Red Sox fan and seeing Theo Epstein up on stage with the boys playing was pretty cool, especially after realizing that he was the weird looking dude sitting at the sound booth a couple rows in front and to the right of us.

Indian Summer · February 2008

BeerBaron wrote:

I've only ever been disappointed twice ...

Toronto 05 (worst show EVER)
Cincy 06

Yeah, I'm with ya on the Cincy 06. It really wasn't a bad show, but after canceling the previous tour date in Cincy entirely, I thought they were really gonna do it up big time. I still had a good time, and the band sounded great. But I guess I just hyped it up more in my mind, and got let down a little.

||Release_Me|| · February 2008

Some people have mentioned sound issues; in 2006 the sound at the two Lisbon shows wasn't as good as the rest of the shows i saw. It was still great and not as bad as some people have claimed, but i think the crowd was so loud that it was going to be hard to hear the band clearly anyway.

Anyways, in 2006 i was front row for Lisbon 1 and Milano, but we were right off to the side. Both shows, i could hear Mike and Stone equally clear. But in 2007, we were front row in Copenhagen and off to the side again but could barely hear Mike. It was though someone was muffling the speakers so the sound was almost non-existant. I just found it weird how it can change so dramatically from year to year.

On the other hand, the sound in London, Dusseldorf and Nijmegen last year was amazing from where i was; everybody was so clear and loud!

To the person who was wondering why Albany was so short - it was because they were given a strict curfew and there would've been a huge fine if they played any longer. Even with the short set, the show is absolutely scorching hot! The band are seriously ON in Albany '03.

YieldInHiding · February 2008

Kraven wrote:

Honestly, the Vic was a little disappointing to me, I was so psyched for that show. Don't get me wrong the set list was amazing, but it could have been the greatest concert ever.

First of all Ed's pre-opener while it had some great moments, wasn't what I would hoped it would be. I wish he played songs like Footsteps, Soon Forget or Wash. The set list was a bit short, "only" 28 songs, it was a fanclub only show, I thought it was going to be a little longer.

I wish they had played any of the following tunes: Crown of Thorns, Dirty Frank, Smile, Light Years, something they play occasionally but not enough to be like oh its that song, lets go to the bathroom.

While it was cool they played all rarities(save a couple songs), I wish they had played Black, I think it would have been a highlight of the night. Just imagine that whole crowd singing along, it would have been beautiful.

Oh and please Eddie if you're gonna do Indifference with Ben Harper, please do the "I'll swallow poison..." part, it sounds so much better when you do it.

I think I had too high of expectations, but they were warranted for such a small, intimate, fan club only show.

/end rant

Sonic Reducer, Sad, Love Reign O'er Me, In Hiding, Low Light, Hard To Imagine were definitely awesome at that show and of course who could forget Black Diamond, once in lifetime thing me thinks.

Lolla was a disappointment because if you were on Stone's side you couldn't hear Mike at all and I think they had Black and Baba on the setlist and didn't play them. (If you can't tell Black is my favorite song ever, by any band)

By far the best Pearl Jam only show I have seen is Boston II '06, that first encore is awesome, especially Black into Alive, and of course the first live performance of Parachutes. The second encore? Even better. Why Go? Smile, Indifference, RitFW, only my second time hearing YLB, still have only heard it twice, and thats between 9 shows. Ed's opening up before MMJ with Porch was awesome. That whole show was a wave, starting with a peak, crashing and beginning at the top again.

It was also my dad's first real PJ show, had to show em that what he saw in Pitt '05 wasn't a fluke, and that they could put on a show as good or better than the Stones. Also being a Red Sox fan and seeing Theo Epstein up on stage with the boys playing was pretty cool, especially after realizing that he was the weird looking dude sitting at the sound booth a couple rows in front and to the right of us.

Wow. Really?

rambo · February 2008

st.john's 2005 (night 2) was an amazing show!!!!! The only disappointing thing about it was they had to leave early and cut their set short. Deep,crown of thorns, rvm, off he goes, fuckin up, and yellow ledbetter were all on the set list and not played. Still loved the show tho, could have been so much better.

JP2026766 · February 2008

ER 1 and 2 in 06, they opened both nights with Severed Hand, Corduroy, and WWS. Only disappointment I've had in 4 shows.

on2legs · February 2008

ThrowUrArmsAroundMe wrote:

ER 1 and 2 in 06, they opened both nights with Severed Hand, Corduroy, and WWS. Only disappointment I've had in 4 shows.

Yeah... that was a total head scratcher. They were both good shows, but to open two nights in a row with the same three songs was weird. Considering that the second night was the end of the tour, I expected something special. But at the least, not to hear the same EXACT opener as the previous night. Let alone the exact same THREE opening songs. Weird.

JP2026766 · February 2008

On2Legs wrote:

Yeah... that was a total head scratcher. They were both good shows, but to open two nights in a row with the same three songs was weird. Considering that the second night was the end of the tour, I expected something special. But at the least, not to hear the same EXACT opener as the previous night. Let alone the exact same THREE opening songs. Weird.

Especially when they always change up the opener, let alone 3 songs. It's almost like he forgot they played them the night before. If you look at the tour though in the month before that, that 3 song combo did appear alot. I was expecting Release the second night after Severed Hand the first. Something like an old school start, Release Go Corduory, thats what I expected after the first night.

my2hands · February 2008

Kraven wrote:

Honestly, the Vic was a little disappointing to me, I was so psyched for that show. Don't get me wrong the set list was amazing, but it could have been the greatest concert ever.

First of all Ed's pre-opener while it had some great moments, wasn't what I would hoped it would be. I wish he played songs like Footsteps, Soon Forget or Wash. The set list was a bit short, "only" 28 songs, it was a fanclub only show, I thought it was going to be a little longer.

I wish they had played any of the following tunes: Crown of Thorns, Dirty Frank, Smile, Light Years, something they play occasionally but not enough to be like oh its that song, lets go to the bathroom.

While it was cool they played all rarities(save a couple songs), I wish they had played Black, I think it would have been a highlight of the night. Just imagine that whole crowd singing along, it would have been beautiful.

Oh and please Eddie if you're gonna do Indifference with Ben Harper, please do the "I'll swallow poison..." part, it sounds so much better when you do it.

I think I had too high of expectations, but they were warranted for such a small, intimate, fan club only show.

/end rant

put down the crack pipe... it kills your brain cells son...

Disappointing Shows

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