SF2, SF3 Observations

smalltownfate wrote:

Why are being such a hater?

It should be obvious.

I sort of understand your points... but, you have to be able to see the flip side, too. It is a rock concert and the house rules supercede your specific health situation or personal requests. Meaning, the floor of a General Admission show... not so good with pregnancy. The balcony was a much better choice. And the balcony towards the back would have been a better choice since you wanted a seated view... since you didn't get there in time to snag a railling seat along the lower balcony. Most people towards the back have a tendency to want to kick back. I'm pretty sure the people in front of you didn't know your wife was pregnant.
And personally, I don't question the handicapped. I know what it's like to have a busted ankle and get stuck with a pair of crutches jammed in my armpits for a couple of months. If the one guy wants to cheat the system... whatever... he's not shooting for my spot along the barricade in front of Mike, so it's cool by me. Even so... I think I would be harsh to rag on someone that is actually confined to a fucking wheelchair for life because they get a cool slot in the balcony. I don't know their situation, ain't my business to know.
Anyway, it sounds like you had a pretty good time and I glad to hear that... although you really hated Sonic Youth (personally, I thought they were pretty good... but, then again, I'm not much of a dancer).
Me? I had a great time.

acutejam wrote:

I had plugs in fer Sonic Youth on the Floor, took them out last song to listen, interesting, not somethign I'll rush out to buy. That said Watchtower would not have been nearly as great without Renaldo -- while all of you where watchin the guitar smashing/surfin incident, i was intently listening to that feedback finale, and it was most excellent.

There are moments where it's not clear who's goin to take the lead throughout the song, and lee probably wasn't loud enough while he was leading, but listen closely to that tune and you can hear his style shining through.

You're not kidding, I think he played the 2nd solo & it killed. I liked his singing too, reminded me of Neil Young. It seemed like the band was trying to play in a looser, faster, less bluesy, SY style the whole time, and the feedback jam + guitar smashing at the end was part of that.

SY haters should maybe check out Kenny G, that might be more their speed...

Thorns2010 wrote:

What you people aren't realizing is in the balcony when the people in the handicap section are standing, people who are standing behind them CAN NOT SEE.

I was in the 1st row of the 'back' section of the balcony Sunday night and this is true. Even if I was standing up, I couldn't see over people who were standing in the handicapped section. Luckily we had a guy in our row who took it upon himself to clear people out of there every time somebody who wandered by decided to stop and stand!

I stood on the floor and couldn't see -- I'm six feet tall. But so are my friends and I was drunk so they crowded in front of me. So I continually stumbled and bumped and rocked into them. Not to mention yelling and screaming in their ears (esp after Mary and Tower) and sobbing on their shoulders (esp during Light Years and Man of the Hour).

We're still friends! I think.... actually their not answering my e-mails. Hmmm.

That said - I HAD to have an avocado shirt, just cherished it the whole way home. Wiped the tears away... Then my wife picked it up and said, "Jeez, cheapest shirt you've ever bought." My god, the thing is paper thin and they're makin $1.1 m per show?!?!?!

My RUSH vapor trails baseball jersey is some SERIOUS major league merchandise. PJ HAS 15 MORE YEARS TO GET THIS QUALITY IMPROVED!

After plunkin down all the dough for the show, I had $80 in my wallet for the serious shirt - c'mon Pearl Jam, TAKE MY MONEY!

smalltownfate wrote:

On Tuesday we sat behind a handicapped section. It seemed some in the section were capable of sitting in regular seats. I don't know how they determine eligibility for those seats but by looking at the guy in front of me all it takes is a pair of crutches and a cheap neoprene knee sleeve.

for better or for worse this was an ALL GA show and even handicap seats were up for grabs. They tried to deter able bodied people from sitting in them by not putting chairs in most and asked able bodied people to move if handicap people needed the space but they were definitely all up for grabs for the whole night. My friend and I sat in one on top of the balcony all 3 nights and it was like our private box section. had to steal some chairs from security guards to sit down until the show started, shared the box with someone with crutches one night and his friends, all able bodied the other 2 nights making space for a wheel chair person that apparently only stopped in for like 4 minutes on night 3 before leaving.

smalltownfate wrote:

Both were great for different reasons. I would rate them a tie .... SY was painful to listen to and when you are standing it is even more painful. It was much of the reason why we moved to the balcony for Tuesday ... Did I say SY sucked? ... On Tuesday we sat behind a handicapped section. It seemed some in the section were capable of sitting in regular seats. Did I mention SY sucked. Just a bunch of noise. I put in earplugs just for them on Tuesday. Using a drumstick on a guitar, you have to be kidding? No wonder I have never heard them on the radio.

It's hard to give you any credibility. First, I come from an older generation that is highly thankful for bands like Sonic Youth, without whom doors would have never opened, and inspiration never born, for bands like Pearl Jam and their Seattle bretheren. Second, if you are judging musical quality by what's "on the radio", I wouldn't admit that publicly ... at least not if you want people to give any credence to what you say. Third, as someone with 2 kids and whose wife has pretty much retired as a concert-goer, what on earth is your pregnant wife doing at a show? Hey, if she wants to I guess that's cool, but do you really expect a venue full of music fans to adjust their concert-going experience to accomodate this decision? Fourth, I have no problem for those who prefer to sit down at a show. Yet I have a big problem if you expect others to do the same at your behest. If you want to plop on your ass, go for it, but reasonably expect that you will forego to visual experience to soak in only the audio. But others needn't be required similarly limit their experience to please the inamimate ones.

Haven't yet heard SF2 yet, but SF3 is superb. But had I read your comments earlier, I probably wouldve refrained from buying both on the assumption that nothing you said could possibly be accurate. Are you one of those who thinks PJ "disappeared" for a decade and is currently engaged in a "comeback" of sorts?

pjnutt wrote:

I had surgery to replace a torn ACL/MCL in my knee and didn't ask for any special treatment when I attended the show 3 days later. Never sat down while PJ was playing, only during encore breaks. I've never had so much fun being in so much pain before in my life. Let people do what they want to do, sit/stand/sing/laugh/cry, it's Pearl Jam and this band means many different things to so many different people.

I should clarify - I don't have a problem with people who need the handicapped section using it, or if they stand or their companions stand or whatever. I chose to sit in the row behind them and so if I can't see, that's my problem for sitting there. My problem was that the handicapped section wasn't filled up, so goofballs who wandered by were just stopping there because it seemed like a great place to stand with an uninterrupted view, and they would pile up 6 people deep - then I actually watched more than one person in a wheelchair roll up, find no spot because of the goons standing there, and have to roll away to try and find another spot. It was especially bad during Ed's pre-set.