About this european tour, your opinion

ajbajb Posts: 13
edited July 2010 in Given To Fly (live)
Hi people from pearljam.com I write this message from europe, and after seeing those last setlists , the price of the tickets if you go to a festival just to see pearl jam, and you just see 1 hour and a half of hits, including the stop of the encores.... I have only one question:

Is it better see them every year or every two years with those shity concerts or maybe it is better see them every four five years but with twenty beautiful concerts, just like in 2006 for example???

In my opinion I prefer 2006 tour, but I hope it is very attractive to attend the european summer festivals, lot of people, probably easy money, not so many responsability talking about the development of a tour... and so on.

I am jealous for example of the last tour in Australia... i prefer wait more but have 100% pearl jam instead of those last concerts.
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Comments

  • veddertownveddertown Scotland Posts: 5,260
    There ain't any shitty shows! The people who attended the shorter festival sets still said the band and energy was great as usual. The shows in Berlin, Dublin and Belfast were awesome and London was quite lengthy for a festival. What would you rather, PJ came to Europe 4 years out of 5 playing 30+ shows in total or another 6 year wait like the first half of the decade? I don't have to think long for my answer. :D
    Like a book among the many on a shelf...

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  • DegiDegi Posts: 1,007
    veddertown wrote:
    There ain't any shitty shows! The people who attended the shorter festival sets still said the band and energy was great as usual. The shows in Berlin, Dublin and Belfast were awesome and London was quite lengthy for a festival. What would you rather, PJ came to Europe 4 years out of 5 playing 30+ shows in total or another 6 year wait like the first half of the decade? I don't have to think long for my answer. :D
    i am trying to tell myself, that its not too bad that i couldnt go to werchter last night or arras the night before and lets not even start about italy, because the setlists arent special, but who am i kidding? its PJ...

    i havent been to belfast and london, but i think veddertown forgot to mention NIJMEGEN, it was a great setlist and the crowd was pretty cool!! not the usual length of a PJ show, but damn have you had a look at that setlist yet? seriously, you should!
    couldnt agree more with you veddertown, the answer is pretty obvious ;)
  • ajbajb Posts: 13
    Ufff, both of you have very good reasons, and we are talking about pearl jam, the best group live ever,but honestly, and of course is my point of view, I prefer to wait five or six years.

    in the festivals everything seems very previsible. Lots of fun and great energy, of course, great music, of course as well, but i feel that the festivals are "mass media" concerts.

    And of course we will buy / download three or four concerts of this tour, but, for example myself, I will never buy for example, the full tour box, in case they do it. Do you know what I mean?

    I do not know if I explained properly my point of view, anyway it is only an opinion and I wanted to know your thoughts about this idea.

    Thanks for posting your feelings about this!
    www.elcantaitor.com
    rock and fusion music
  • Rossum20Rossum20 Posts: 910
    I think PJ did this for 2 reasons....one being that they didn't have to do much with organization...they just hopped onto these festival gigs that were already lined up. They also have been pushing for new fans since Avocado came out and they probably figure they can put on a show for people who have never seen them before and they can win them over. I did Nijemgen and Berlin...and festivals (no matter how great the band is playing) do not have the same excitement/vibe as their own show...and when you fail to reach 20 songs, it is a bit of a bummer.

    The band has every right to play these festivals but I wish they would make their tours mostly based on their own shows rather than festivals....maybe 5 festivals and 10 PJ only shows would be a fair ratio ;)
  • ajbajb Posts: 13
    Rossum20 wrote:
    The band has every right to play these festivals but I wish they would make their tours mostly based on their own shows rather than festivals....maybe 5 festivals and 10 PJ only shows would be a fair ratio ;)

    that would be perfect :D
    www.elcantaitor.com
    rock and fusion music
  • DegiDegi Posts: 1,007
    ajb wrote:
    And of course we will buy / download three or four concerts of this tour, but, for example myself, I will never buy for example, the full tour box, in case they do it. Do you know what I mean?

    i know what you mean, the arras and werchter setlists (dont remember gydania) seem kinda alike (forgive me if they dont, was in the world cup mode on saturday and it was pretty late last night...) festival setlists... not a huge difference between them (if you havent been there)...

    haha i should add the fact, that i have never seen any other band then PJ live (lets not count gomez and ben or the bands that played in nijmegen) because my parents never allowed me and i am only 19 LOL
  • EraserheadEraserhead Stoke-on-Trent Posts: 2,949
    A Pearl Jam show is better than no show at all, but with the majority of the European shows being festivals, gives you the feeling we're being cheated. The tour kicked off with 2 indoor shows in fairly decent sized venues. Why not continue the trend? Look at the average US leg, and they do one or two festival dates, with the rest of the shows in arenas.

    Festivals have issues over cost of ticket and setlist times. I know festivals have curfews, but I'd be gutted to spend considerbly more for a festival date over an arena date to get 1.5 hrs from the headlining band. Look at all the indoor shows - 2hr minimum sets, with the 2 encores. Lots of the recent Euro dates have had only the 1 encore.

    Read the thread on the Hyde Park show. Maybe it was the weather, maybe too many people had been drinking, but there's a lot of people raising issue with the crowd's behaviour in general. I'm not saying an indoor show is knob-head free, but on a like-for-like basis, they're generally more well behaved.

    Ed was also concerned about the situation upfront in London, regarding the crushing. I don't want to sound over-dramatic, but no-one wants a repeat of Denmark.

    Every country has the venues to hold 20,000+ people these days, there's no excuse for not doing it!

    I love the band, I've seen play across the globe, but I'll chose an arena show over a festival any day of the week.

    Hail, hail!
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  • I don't agree that Euro fans are being cheated at all. The fact that they even went to Europe at all says they love all you wonderful people over there. The band members are going to be damn busy with other projects and family and personal lives and this 2010 tour is a send off to wet the whistles of there fans abroad as well as at home. The festivals in my opinion were the best means to squeeze as many euro shows as they could pull off. The fact that they are headliners of some of the biggest and expansive festival venues in the world says a lot for why there shows are so short. You folks are just experiencing what they did when they started out and what made them so damn popular in there early career. Just my two cents and I am glad you folks got to see them and wish you all well at the shows and in your travels. Be safe my friends. :D
  • MirellaMirella Posts: 242
    The problem is you can't predict how good they will be. Looking back now, I liked the previous tours more than this last one, but they can still be great. Belfast for instance ranks high in the overall list of perfect Pearl Jam concerts :).
    Personally, I will take it easy a next time so I will be able to enjoy the shows I go to most, instead of hurrying from one place to the next. Fans are getting older too ;).
    Oh, and Laura: live shows are great. There are tons of good bands besides Pearl Jam.

    groetjes,
    Mirella :)
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  • KinseyKinsey Posts: 197
    As a person who has waited 6 years between PJ shows because they didn't play Ireland for that long, I would say that intentionally missing a show in your area is a bad idea - a short gig is better than no gig.

    However, I fully agree that, as far as bootlegs go, these festival setlists will not be anywhere near the top of most peoples' 'must buy' lists, except for the completists. There really is no comparison between the setlists at Dublin, Belfast and Berlin, and those at the festivals. I also don't buy into the argument that hitting so many festivals is the best way for Pearl Jam to fit in as many gigs as possible in Europe. If they plan to be here for a month (or whatever), then they could plan to play a month of their own shows. It would require more organisation on their part, but that surely isn't a problem for a band of PJ's status. If it's a plan to garner new fans, fair enough, but PJ are also big enough to be able to dictate the terms they play on: ie, demand a 2.5 hr slot.

    Making comparisons with their situation when they started out is also problematic. They are now big enough to book their own shows and play full sets to sell-out or near sell out crowds of 10,000+, which mightn't have been the case in the early days.

    For my part, I'm glad to have seen them in Dublin and Belfast, where we got incredible, usual length shows. I have to admit I would have been disappointed to see a show of less than two hours length (or 20 or less songs), given the size of the band's back catalogue and their proven ability to play for 2.5 - 3 hours.
    When we found the things we loved,
    They were crushed and dying in the dirt.
    We tried to pick up the pieces,
    And get away without getting hurt,
    But they caught us at the state line,
    And burned our cars in one last fight,
    And left us running burned and blind,
    Chasing something in the night.
  • Kinsey wrote:
    As a person who has waited 6 years between PJ shows because they didn't play Ireland for that long, I would say that intentionally missing a show in your area is a bad idea - a short gig is better than no gig.

    However, I fully agree that, as far as bootlegs go, these festival setlists will not be anywhere near the top of most peoples' 'must buy' lists, except for the completists. There really is no comparison between the setlists at Dublin, Belfast and Berlin, and those at the festivals. I also don't buy into the argument that hitting so many festivals is the best way for Pearl Jam to fit in as many gigs as possible in Europe. If they plan to be here for a month (or whatever), then they could plan to play a month of their own shows. It would require more organisation on their part, but that surely isn't a problem for a band of PJ's status. If it's a plan to garner new fans, fair enough, but PJ are also big enough to be able to dictate the terms they play on: ie, demand a 2.5 hr slot.

    Making comparisons with their situation when they started out is also problematic. They are now big enough to book their own shows and play full sets to sell-out or near sell out crowds of 10,000+, which mightn't have been the case in the early days.

    For my part, I'm glad to have seen them in Dublin and Belfast, where we got incredible, usual length shows. I have to admit I would have been disappointed to see a show of less than two hours length (or 20 or less songs), given the size of the band's back catalogue and their proven ability to play for 2.5 - 3 hours.

    Did you ever stop to think that it's not problematic at all but more suitable for them to do a Euro tour quickly and with as little hassle as possible for the short tour so they can make the fans some what happy and go with other plans in accordance? That's what I was directing my perceptions of it all at. I am not trying to invalidate any complaints here but what I find problematic is that anyone would complain about the band having a short set list or some what redundant set list when you in fact get to go to a concert with them head lining at all. 8-) TO each there own I say. Can't please all the people al the time but most the people most of the time. At least you wonderful fans in Euro got to see them regardless of how short it was and I hope all of you enjoyed it a little bit. I do understand though.
  • PlanktonPlankton Posts: 692
    I would have felt a little robbed if I'd just done one show this tour and it was one of the short ones. Yes every PJ show is great, but even that experience would be soured by having a noticably short set, it would not feel like other PJ shows.

    And from my experience, even Hard Rock Calling didn't compare to Dublin, Belfast or Berlin despite being as long - I presonally don't like the atmosphere as much.

    So in short, I'd prefer them to do their own shows all the time - maybe that would mean less shows per tour in Europe but I doubt it would mean less Euro tours altogether.
  • DegiDegi Posts: 1,007
    Mirella wrote:
    Oh, and Laura: live shows are great. There are tons of good bands besides Pearl Jam.

    groetjes,
    Mirella :)

    WAIT, you mean there are other band then Pearl Jam?!???!!?!?!?! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
    honestly though, there are no big venues in my area and i dont really like the crowd that goes to the regional stuff (of which we dont have a lot btw) so instead of driving for hours and spending a lot of money for a ticket to see some random band, i better safe my money and wait for PJ to come back here next year :D
  • KinseyKinsey Posts: 197
    I'm just not sure I buy into the idea that it's less hassle to do a load of festival shows than it is to book their own. All festival promoters still have to be negotiated with, gear still has to be transported, etc. And, like I said, they could have negotiated a longer set-time. Most other big bands do just that when playing festivals.

    As I said, of course it's much better to see them than not. I'm just happy I got full shows, not festival shows.
    When we found the things we loved,
    They were crushed and dying in the dirt.
    We tried to pick up the pieces,
    And get away without getting hurt,
    But they caught us at the state line,
    And burned our cars in one last fight,
    And left us running burned and blind,
    Chasing something in the night.
  • Kinsey wrote:
    I'm just not sure I buy into the idea that it's less hassle to do a load of festival shows than it is to book their own. All festival promoters still have to be negotiated with, gear still has to be transported, etc. And, like I said, they could have negotiated a longer set-time. Most other big bands do just that when playing festivals.

    As I said, of course it's much better to see them than not. I'm just happy I got full shows, not festival shows.

    Buy it or not but to me it's obvious that based on how the Euro shows are going that that is what they are doing. Sucks but at least they are trying to meet there fans half way while putting a rush order on the Euro tour without major venue establishments of there own being done in a more pronounced manner. Let's face it, they are not making anything near what they would if they book the venues in there traditional form.
  • chimechime Posts: 7,839
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainmen ... 459494.stm

    Festivals pay a heck of a lot ... and they will have less overheads than they would have putting on their own shows.

    I would prefer to see them play their own shows but have enjoyed the couple of times I've seen them at festivals and would take that over nothing.

    Plus if I go to see them at a festival I know the cost of the ticket is the cost to see X number of bands and take that into account ... and hopefully I'll like some of the other bands ;)
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  • Pry ToPry To Posts: 285
    I'm not a fan of festivals in general. The sightlines are awful, the sound is bad, there's nowhere to sit, long lines for everything. And whether it's PJ or someone else, you're generally going to get a hits-heavy, short set. I can't even remember the last festival I saw (although seeing PJ at the second Lollapalooza was pretty awesome). I'm surprised the band still does festivals, given what happened in Denmark. The setlists and times on this latest jaunt have left me pretty cold, but it is a festival, so I wouldn't expect much more.

    With all of that said, I'm jealous of London and Berlin for getting two tour stops in less than a year. :D
    Los Angeles - Sep 11, 1992
    Memphis - Aug 15, 2000
    Chicago - May 16, 2006
    Chicago - Aug 23-24, 2009
    Columbus - May 6, 2010
    Noblesville - May 7, 2010
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    Amsterdam - June 26-27, 2012
    Berlin - July 4-5, 2012
  • pdalowskypdalowsky Doncaster,UK Posts: 15,100
    Pj are great for an hour or three

    but the question being asked really here is would you prefer them to tour regularly on festivals or less regularly on their own in arenas on longer tours.

    I'd always prefer the proper PJ tour, because the sets are more varied, and most importantly longer, the curfews dont appear so strict and the crowds are generally better.

    everyone has their view though, and now we are used to seeing these guys almost every year since 2006 it would be hard now having to wait 6 years....
  • chime wrote:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment_and_arts/10459494.stm

    Festivals pay a heck of a lot ... and they will have less overheads than they would have putting on their own shows.

    I would prefer to see them play their own shows but have enjoyed the couple of times I've seen them at festivals and would take that over nothing.

    Plus if I go to see them at a festival I know the cost of the ticket is the cost to see X number of bands and take that into account ... and hopefully I'll like some of the other bands ;)

    That's what I was driving at. Seems Festivals pay more actually so they benefit while trying to give Europe a bit of show to.
  • pattydiazpattydiaz Posts: 1
    when you live in a country where they don't usually go, and can't afford go on tour with them, you appreciate so much every single opportunity you have to see them.
    I'm from Chile and they only went there once, in 2005 . Nowadays I live in Europe, and I have been able to see them in 2006, 2007, and this friday in Bilbao, Spain. I'll travel 6 hours by car to arrive there, 6 months pregnant, but I wouldn't miss it for anything. I can't deny that I'd like to have a long set list, but if you ask me to have the oportunity to see them every year or every two years, I will always choose that instead of see them today and not again until an indeterminate time..
  • tremorstremors Posts: 8,051
    I think this European tour and indeed all the 2010 shows are coming in an exceptional context - ie the tenth anniversary of Roskilde and a need to come back to Europe, with a strong amount of reflection to be done. Those of us who were around on this board ten years ago know just how catastrophic and devastating the loss of 9 fellow fans lives were - completely out of the blue. Those that didn't die were nevertheless affected terribly also. I was terribly affected, and I was in London, with no more plans to see any shows, and just to get on with my life.....

    Those who weren't here pre-Binaural; please consider what it would be like to wake up and hear that some of your fellow board members and close friends here were critically ill or worse. It was fucking awful.

    As Ed said at Berlin a matter of nights ago, it is something which they have thought about every day of their lives ever since, and I know that they have struggled hard to do the right thing by the families and friends of those fans we lost. This is a band that takes their responsibilities to their fans extremely seriously, and it could (heaven help us) happen again very easily, and the band would do what they needed to again, and they would step up to the plate. Would we?

    I guess what I'm saying is I'm sure the band are currently thinking a lot of the 9 and more families who were so terribly hit by this utter tragedy, with whom they have stayed in close contact. The parents, the siblings, the friends; funerals and aftermaths which we know next to nothing about.

    I'm not trying to put a dampener and be a killjoy here, and no doubt many of my words are wrong or seen as inappropriate..... :(

    However, for me it is getting kind of galling that in this context where we are blessed to have a gold plated bunch of supremely decent human beings in the band we follow- that people are complaining about what appear to be relatively trivial matters.

    Personally I have never heard a PJ show where the band don't TRY 100%, even if it doesn't quite come off on rare occasions. This is an exceptional band, an exceptional live act, and truly committed principled people who more than out-shadow any other band out there. Any other band would have crumpled in 2000. Ours didn't.

    When responding to me, please think twice or three times before you fire off some abuse at me , because I am likely to crack too. It's been a difficult ten years, but here we are! Let's just cool down a bit and contemplate the fact that real people and real circumstances are involved at every turn, where we know nothing about the grief they have had to face down every day to get here in 2010.

    Here's one thing I know - Mike, Ed, Stone, Jeff, Matt - they are fucking brave men.
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  • zootownzootown Posts: 666
    I agree that PJ only shows are preferred to festival gigs for all of us on the board, but....I have to admit I would be upset if I saw some of these Euro shows, even the non-festival shows when compared with the short run of US shows they just did! I am NOT trying to start some sort of US-Euro pissing match, but the shows in the US this Spring were exceptional, not just good shows like Euro fans are getting, but exceptional!
    I hold the pain, release me!
  • hopethatuchokehopethatuchoke Posts: 2,927
    I don't think the tens of thousands of non-ten club members at these festival shows are interested in hearing Bee Girl or Push Me, Pull Me. Unfortunately at some point, they have to cater exclusively to the masses where as in the smaller arena shows over here in the states, they can mix the hits in with the rare stuff.
  • redrockredrock Posts: 18,341
    Eraserhead wrote:

    Festivals have issues over cost of ticket and setlist times. I know festivals have curfews, but I'd be gutted to spend considerbly more for a festival date over an arena date to get 1.5 hrs from the headlining band. Look at all the indoor shows - 2hr minimum sets, with the 2 encores.

    Festival one day tickets are actually pretty damn good value, considering there are other bands, it's a whole day event, etc. HRC was £45 for the day, Werchter 75 (or so) Euros. Think Werchter also had bands such as AIC, TCV, Black Keys, etc. So really, cost of ticket is no really an issue for a festival. Curfews.... festivals have them, arenas have them, small club venues have them. Nothing new.

    Again, it's choice. If you are travelling and don't like festivals, stick to the arena shows. There were a few this tour. We all know more or less what to expect from the different types of venues.
  • rebornFixerrebornFixer Posts: 4,901
    I am not nuts about the "safe" setlists they seem to play at festivals these days ... I may sound like an old fogey when I use expressions like this, but back in 2000, festival shows were just shows, they played whatever they felt like, seemingly. Now, its the same basic selection at all these European venues, with the same Joe Strummer cover and one new song (which is admittedly awesome). I dunno ... Would it kill Ed to add two or three more obscure songs to each of these sets? I've lost interest in setlist watching, although I'm sure the shows sound good. I don't even care about the length ... Its short, fine. But do the lists need to be so stock all of a sudden?
  • Pry ToPry To Posts: 285
    Interesting thoughts, all. Stock setlists is a perfect way of putting it. If PJ went out every night and did a greatest hits type of show, I think the vast majority of their fanbase would stop going, or just go to one show per tour. One of the main reasons I love this band (and spend so much money trying to see their live shows) is that they don't do standard, greatest hits setlists like most bands of their stature. Not sure what's up with this Euro tour, but the difference between the U.S. shows and these shows is pretty dramatic.
    Los Angeles - Sep 11, 1992
    Memphis - Aug 15, 2000
    Chicago - May 16, 2006
    Chicago - Aug 23-24, 2009
    Columbus - May 6, 2010
    Noblesville - May 7, 2010
    Manchester - June 20-21, 2012
    Amsterdam - June 26-27, 2012
    Berlin - July 4-5, 2012
  • Sappy113Sappy113 Posts: 178
    Honestly, if the guys come back to Europe every year, they can mix in festival shows all they like. I don't dig them myself for several reasons, but it's the main reason why most bands hit these shores during the summer months and I get that.

    As long as they still do some headliner shows of their own, I don't mind at all travelling to see them and catching only the one show a tour. I've seen them in Roskilde, Copenhagen, London and Berlin so far and the two shows where I had to travel have been great, great experiences. I have a 3 year old daughter, so I don't really have the opportunity to travel around for several weeks to catch multiple shows and I'd rather see them every year anyway :)
  • redrockredrock Posts: 18,341
    Agree with you Sappy!
  • SoonForgotten2SoonForgotten2 Posts: 2,245
    I agree that this tour has been a let down. The stock setlists for the festivals I cannot understand at all. They don't need to play allll their hits every night. If they feel brave enough to play a new song at theseshows, why not a few deeper cuts? They know they've built their fanbase on their diverse setlists. They know they raise expectations by playing those crazy US shows. They know the people who are their best customers go to multiple shows. It's just crappy to me.

    In addition, they had 3 of their own gigs this tour. The first 2 were back to back and were at the very start. I was not very impressed by the Dublin gig and the band seemed quiet jet lagged, especially Jeff, who was totally lacking his usual energy. Belfast was loads better by comparison, but still had a load of repeats from Dublin... why? I won't even comment on London other than to say I was more entertained by The Hives.

    The fact is that Pearl Jam sells a lot of tickets on the expectation of diverse sets, surprises and long shows. To me they have not met their own set standard this tour.
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  • Sappy113Sappy113 Posts: 178
    I agree that this tour has been a let down. The stock setlists for the festivals I cannot understand at all. They don't need to play allll their hits every night. If they feel brave enough to play a new song at theseshows, why not a few deeper cuts? They know they've built their fanbase on their diverse setlists. They know they raise expectations by playing those crazy US shows. They know the people who are their best customers go to multiple shows. It's just crappy to me.

    In addition, they had 3 of their own gigs this tour. The first 2 were back to back and were at the very start. I was not very impressed by the Dublin gig and the band seemed quiet jet lagged, especially Jeff, who was totally lacking his usual energy. Belfast was loads better by comparison, but still had a load of repeats from Dublin... why? I won't even comment on London other than to say I was more entertained by The Hives.

    The fact is that Pearl Jam sells a lot of tickets on the expectation of diverse sets, surprises and long shows. To me they have not met their own set standard this tour.

    I do wish they would've done more of their own shows this tour. But I can't really fault them for toning down the festival setlists. They have a shorter timeframe to play and most likely there'll be quite a few folks at the show who don't have the same passion for Pearl Jam as we do in here. It'd be counterproductive for the band the lose those folks on experimental setlists. We would love it, obviously, but it's not certain the larger festival audience would respond to it very well. I THINK that's the thinking behind those setlists we've seen so far, because I do agree that if this were done in their own headlining shows for a longer stretch of time, it'd be a bit of a disappointment. But I don't see that at all.

    I do love the diverse set-lists though, but still I'd have to say the biggest selling point for me is the raw emotion, passion and energy that's shared between the band and us fans at the shows. The Connection. I love that. And as far as I've seen, they've maintained that this EU tour, even with the shorter sets.
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