Bushleaguer @ Nassau 2003

MAS · October 2011

I was there, Vedder got pissed at the crowd, and slammed the mic stand down. He should've expected that reaction given where he was....

rival. · October 2011

9 pages of this?

can't we just leave it at the booing was because it is a shit song and took away a slot for a better one?

NewJPage · October 2011

The Currents Will Shift wrote:

I just watched two different videos of the performance, and not once did Eddie "stomp" on the Bush mask. You wanna show me where that happens?

I hope there was no selective editing in any videos you saw. I'm not sure what you are actually watching, but I was just to the right of Ed in the 100's in fan club seats and it was pretty damn clear he stomped on the mask. I also think that that was the moment that sent some fans into more of a frenzy. It also pissed me off the most because you could feel that things had changed in the crowd already and that just pushed it further.

I hope they did not edit that shot out of the PJ20 video because that wouldn't be a true representation of what happened. I would think that they probably just don't have the video of that angle. I haven't seen it yet so I can't say what was shown.

I will say one thing I have been a PJ fan since the beginning, I would have felt the same way if it was an Obama mask, even though I don't love the guy either. It was just a stupid thing to do. Some of you seem to think that it was some kind of "fun" moment. As others have said, put it in the context of that moment. Just after Iraq started....alot of service man also from long island.... Bush had high approval ratings at that time, even in New York. Many towns on the island lost a significant amount of fireman, police man, people. It just was seen as a punch in the mouth to a wounded area. Period. The fact that some of you from Long Island who could not understand the why of the moment, that is hard to believe. It stuck out for PJ because it surprised them and was the most visceral negative reaction they had from their own fans.

Either way I have moved on from that, but I was a part of that moment and as I said earlier it was the most uncomfortable I had ever felt at a concert, because it felt dangerous.

just watched it in "the kids are twenty." he does not step on it. after he kisses the mask while it is still on the mic stand, he takes it off and throws it off to the side by his amp. then starts talking to the crowd. you can see it clearly.

as someone else mentioned, you can see him standing on it in the garden dvd.

all i know is I was pumped whenever i saw them play it!

slightofjeff · October 2011

Smellyman wrote:

slightofjeff wrote:

I would imagine the vitriol was directed less at the song -- I'm sure most in the crowd didn't even know what it was about -- and more at the vaudeville act playing out in front of them.

You stomp the head of a sitting president, in a time of war, you leave little to the imagination.

from O'reilly's mouth to the PJ board.

except when it's Obama....

I'm not saying it's right or wrong. But America -- particularly that part of America -- was still very raw at the time. The reaction the band got for that performance should not have been surprising. I think that was an instance of Ed mis-estimating the room.

slightofjeff · October 2011

I'm not even going to say it was "a stupid thing to do." If stomping a Bush mask is what you feel you have to do to make a point, by all means do it.

I'm just saying nobody should have been surprised at the crowd's reaction, given the time and place and prevailing emotion of the day.

slightofjeff · October 2011

rival. wrote:

9 pages of this?

can't we just leave it at the booing was because it is a shit song and took away a slot for a better one?

I actually liked it when I saw it performed live in San Fran in '06. The chorus has a nice little crunch to it.

Better Dan · October 2011

Like Jeff's said...Ed was sending a message in an antagonistic way. He knew what he was doing and where he was doing it.

slightofjeff · October 2011

Better Dan wrote:

Like Jeff's said...Ed was sending a message in an antagonistic way. He knew what he was doing and where he was doing it.

Then why did he seem so taken aback by the negative reaction?

boyo79 · October 2011

High Fidelity 2000 wrote:

Stomping on the mask is less offensive than 99% of what Bush did during his 8 years.

october22 · October 2011

Cob wrote:

I am still VERY confused as to what happened @ this show and again I wasn't there and I don't live in the New York area. Were people booing because they were/are Bush backers and/or Republicans and they didn't agree with a song being played that wasn't agreeing with their political affiliation?

Or were people booing because they somehow thought that the song was negative about what happened on 9/11??? As I said, I am VERY confused because the song is a dig @ George Bush Jr. (I don't call him W as he was Jr. in Texas FOREVER) and to me doesn't have a thing to do with what happened on that terrible day.

Would the same people if they were (Republicans) be booing today if say a band (or say Toby Keith) came out and played a song that was a dig @ Obama and the singer brought out a mask of Obama or would they be cheering?? As I have stated many times, I know people booed and some people left the show, but I am asking an honest question as to WHY they did this?

Maybe I can shed some light; people not from the area generally lump New York City in with every other part of the state, politically speaking, and this is not the most accurate way to think of New York in general. Simply put, Long Island is full of dicks.

I am not trying to be snarky. This is a basic fact and I think even Long Islanders here would agree. It is a part of town that for the most part is full of arrogant, short-sighted, frat-like pricks. They are largely conservative republicans (in the Bush sense, not the Ron Paul sense) and can be summed up as simple and boorish. You don't even have to visit for proof. It you are ever in Manhattan, stop by the good old Long Island Railroad and have a look. The only plus is that the women are a bit like Essex girls (for my English brothers and sisters out there).

In Long Island's defense though, for all of the above, Staten Island still wears the crown.

october22 · October 2011

AND, more to the point, it had nothing to do with 9/11. Those assholes have no more right to 9/11 than the rest of us. It has to do with the politics of the island, not 9/11 sympathy. Long Island largely prides itself on blue collar conservatism of the worst kind. I know how what I'm writing reads, but I grew up here (not in LI but in the area). I have to stress that I am speaking of the culture at large, of course not EVERY person from LI is like that but the culture is.

And most people forget that Bush was still (and still is in many places) very popular at that time.

I'm tired of reading "the area was raw at the time" bullshit. I had friends that had just been sent to Iraq and we were pissed that they were going! We knew it was wrong from the start! There is no excuse for ignorance. Do not make it an emotional issue. It is a matter of being informed or not being informed. At the end of the day, Pearl Jam and Eddie were on the right side of history. Shame on everyone who boo'ed that night.

And don't give me that "respect the president" bullshit either. One of the things I cherish most about being an American is my absolute respect for the Office but my total willingness to spit on the man who commits injustice while holding it.

october22 · October 2011

neilybabes86 wrote:

Shame because the band was on fire before the song

As a new yorker who lost people on 9/11.....it was just horrible timing to play the song

As a New Yorker who lost people on 9/11 you should have stood and cheered. The song has NOTHING to do with 9/11. It has to do with the president. Why are you confusing the two? I am totally willing to respect your opinion, but I need help understanding it.

october22 · October 2011

PS: Sorry. I know I seem way harsh but I am a little drunk and this issue has always been a sore spot for me.

dasvidana · October 2011

october22 wrote:

There is no excuse for ignorance. Do not make it an emotional issue. It is a matter of being informed or not being informed. At the end of the day, Pearl Jam and Eddie were on the right side of history. Shame on everyone who boo'ed that night.

And don't give me that "respect the president" bullshit either. One of the things I cherish most about being an American is my absolute respect for the Office but my total willingness to spit on the man who commits injustice while holding it.

Agreed. The whole 9-11 thing was coopted by Bush (aka Karl Rove) so that the American people would think twice before criticizing their policies. PJ was right to sing that song, and even though there were people booing, hopefully some of them went home, relistened to the lyrics, and chose to educate themselves on the criminality of that administration.

Byrnzie · October 2011

october22 wrote:

AND, more to the point, it had nothing to do with 9/11. Those assholes have no more right to 9/11 than the rest of us. It has to do with the politics of the island, not 9/11 sympathy. Long Island largely prides itself on blue collar conservatism of the worst kind. I know how what I'm writing reads, but I grew up here (not in LI but in the area). I have to stress that I am speaking of the culture at large, of course not EVERY person from LI is like that but the culture is.

And most people forget that Bush was still (and still is in many places) very popular at that time.

I'm tired of reading "the area was raw at the time" bullshit. I had friends that had just been sent to Iraq and we were pissed that they were going! We knew it was wrong from the start! There is no excuse for ignorance. Do not make it an emotional issue. It is a matter of being informed or not being informed. At the end of the day, Pearl Jam and Eddie were on the right side of history. Shame on everyone who boo'ed that night.

And don't give me that "respect the president" bullshit either. One of the things I cherish most about being an American is my absolute respect for the Office but my total willingness to spit on the man who commits injustice while holding it.

High Fidelity 2000 · October 2011

Page 8 is going to win the prize for best page of this thread!!! Fuck yeah!

boyo79 · October 2011

Byrnzie wrote:

october22 wrote:

AND, more to the point, it had nothing to do with 9/11. Those assholes have no more right to 9/11 than the rest of us. It has to do with the politics of the island, not 9/11 sympathy. Long Island largely prides itself on blue collar conservatism of the worst kind. I know how what I'm writing reads, but I grew up here (not in LI but in the area). I have to stress that I am speaking of the culture at large, of course not EVERY person from LI is like that but the culture is.

And most people forget that Bush was still (and still is in many places) very popular at that time.

I'm tired of reading "the area was raw at the time" bullshit. I had friends that had just been sent to Iraq and we were pissed that they were going! We knew it was wrong from the start! There is no excuse for ignorance. Do not make it an emotional issue. It is a matter of being informed or not being informed. At the end of the day, Pearl Jam and Eddie were on the right side of history. Shame on everyone who boo'ed that night.

And don't give me that "respect the president" bullshit either. One of the things I cherish most about being an American is my absolute respect for the Office but my total willingness to spit on the man who commits injustice while holding it.

+1.. Especially the last paragraph. George W was ALWAYS going to invade Iraq when he got the keys to the White House. I remember saying to friends and family when he 'won' the 2000 election "how long will it be before he invades Iraq and finishes the job his Dad started?". All he needed was a reason to go in there and unfortunately 9/11 provided that. The whole WMD thing was a joke but he was so intent on attacking Iraq. Its crazy that 10 years on American & UK troops are still in Afghanistan and Iraq.

neilybabes86 · October 2011

october22 wrote:

neilybabes86 wrote:

Shame because the band was on fire before the song

As a new yorker who lost people on 9/11.....it was just horrible timing to play the song

As a New Yorker who lost people on 9/11 you should have stood and cheered. The song has NOTHING to do with 9/11. It has to do with the president. Why are you confusing the two? I am totally willing to respect your opinion, but I need help understanding it.

me personally..i didn't boo or cheer...i was just shocked at the crowd reaction ...pretty much standing their dumbfounded. In hindsight i'am not shocked the booing happened
i was a bush guy but i wasn't upset at that . i just wished they wouldn't have played the song because they had to know it might get a bad reaction. i understand it has nothing to do w/ 9/11 directly but when you have a ny crowd with raw emotions about what happened in 01.. Ed should have left the politics out . (bush mask =politics=war=terrorism ) we didn't need to hear that so soon after imo
plus ...and this is regardless because bush was horrible..but he was down there giving the speech the day after the attack ..the whole rah rah rah with the workers..(obviously any president would have done the same thing ,but it was bush at the time

i'm just trying to say people didn't need to see that song that night .. we needed the great pearl jam show that was happening up to that point ...instead it turned into the bush night and put a damper on the awesome show
(plus we missed the rest of the setlist )

i hope we never have another night where pearl jam gets booed off the stage (anywhere in the world)

neilybabes86 · October 2011

neilybabes86 wrote:

october22 wrote:

neilybabes86 wrote:

Shame because the band was on fire before the song

As a new yorker who lost people on 9/11.....it was just horrible timing to play the song

As a New Yorker who lost people on 9/11 you should have stood and cheered. The song has NOTHING to do with 9/11. It has to do with the president. Why are you confusing the two? I am totally willing to respect your opinion, but I need help understanding it.

me personally..i didn't boo or cheer...i was just shocked at the crowd reaction ...pretty much standing their dumbfounded. In hindsight i'am not shocked the booing happened
i was a bush guy but i wasn't upset at that . i just wished they wouldn't have played the song because they had to know it might get a bad reaction. i understand it has nothing to do w/ 9/11 directly but when you have a ny crowd with raw emotions about what happened in 01.. Ed should have left the politics out . (bush mask =politics=war=terrorism ) we didn't need to hear that so soon after imo
plus ...and this is regardless because bush was horrible..but he was down there giving the speech the day after the attack ..the whole rah rah rah with the workers..(obviously any president would have done the same thing ,but it was bush at the time

i'm just trying to say people didn't need to see that song that night .. we needed the great pearl jam show that was happening up to that point ...instead it turned into the bush night and put a damper on the awesome show
(plus we missed the rest of the setlist )

i hope we never have another night where pearl jam gets booed off the stage (anywhere in the world)

i know you see it differently which you have every right to

dasvidana · October 2011

neilybabes86 wrote:

me personally..i didn't boo or cheer...i was just shocked at the crowd reaction ...pretty much standing their dumbfounded. In hindsight i'am not shocked the booing happened
i was a bush guy but i wasn't upset at that . i just wished they wouldn't have played the song because they had to know it might get a bad reaction. i understand it has nothing to do w/ 9/11 directly but when you have a ny crowd with raw emotions about what happened in 01.. Ed should have left the politics out . (bush mask =politics=war=terrorism ) we didn't need to hear that so soon after imo
plus ...and this is regardless because bush was horrible..but he was down there giving the speech the day after the attack ..the whole rah rah rah with the workers..(obviously any president would have done the same thing ,but it was bush at the time

i'm just trying to say people didn't need to see that song that night .. we needed the great pearl jam show that was happening up to that point ...instead it turned into the bush night and put a damper on the awesome show
(plus we missed the rest of the setlist )

i hope we never have another night where pearl jam gets booed off the stage (anywhere in the world)

i know you see it differently which you have every right to

[/quote]

I understand that emotions were still raw at the time, but I am surprised that those with the rawest emotions didn't get up and sing the song with Ed. The only think worse than the experience of 9-11 was the way Bush manipulated the American public because of it. The man is a criminal and I would expect those who saw the terror up close to agree.

Bushleaguer @ Nassau 2003

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