Thinking back, I remember the Atlanta '94 broadcast being a major catalyst for me . . . I remember thinking how dangerous the band seemed. I find that funny now that I'm more familiar with the band members. But back then what did I know, I was young!
I got hooked on Pearl Jam in fall 1992, and like many fans during that era I taped the Atlanta ’94 show off the radio. (I missed Sonic Reducer and Indifference at the end because I didn't have a second tape. How long could they possibly play? I was 15 years old and had no idea.) I remember having no idea what Ed was talking about when he addressed the crowd. Black Francis? Look it up in your history book? The bastard who married my momma?
I listened to that Atlanta ’94 tape endlessly, and it's still my go-to show to this day when I want to hear "peak" Pearl Jam as I remember them. (We all want to connect with something bigger than ourselves, right?) The performances of all Vs. songs are epic, as is State OLAT and Sonic Reducer.
/nostalgia
08.06.2000 • Greensboro
06.26.2006 • St. Paul
11.30.2012 • Fort Lauderdale [EV]
10.29.2013 • Charlottesville
Sometime in the second half of 1991 I ran into an ex boyfriend, and he used to get lots of bootlegs from the states. This is in the days Australia had to wait so long for usa released music and movies. Anyway he said keep an eye out for a band called Pearl Jam...you will love them. From then on I kept checking in our local record shops, then one day I saw TEN, I picked it up and looked at it, but didn't know if I should buy it $30 was a lot of money for a teenager to waste if you didn’t like the CD. I kept turning the CD over and the short titles of black, garden and porch made me curious so my impulsive side won out and I brought the CD, I ran all the way home so I could listen to it...I played it again and again I loved the CD and I couldn't get enough of it, I don't think I have listened to any other cd as many times as I did Ten.
I like reading about people getting into the band after their wave of super-popularity in the '90's. ... From then on it was Pearl Jam, first and foremost, and everything else second-tier. And that still hasn't wavered to this day.
I was a little behind the times since I was born in 1987 and was a little young when the band was blowing up. .... My family thinks I'm crazy so I'm glad that there are a few other "special" people out there in the world who understand the power of Pearl Jam! )
Boom! And there it is... haha. Awesome story & welcome to the support group, ya friggin addict!
I heard 'em first when I was 14 in '91. Either hunger strike or Alive on MTV. I didn't relate too much to MTV music, though I watched it constantly. I was into classic rock.. already a burgeoning Dead Head! I was a little shocked at how down to earth they seemed and what pure rock it was. I mean, a real live performance for a video? (Alive) How cool is that? I instantly related to them more than the other cool bands I'd recently seen pop up on TV... but then... I saw unplugged. Laying on the floor in my mom's room in front of a tiny television while the family watched sports or something in the other room. My mind was blown. I was a fan. I was a teenage hippie who collected mad amounts of music. Into the "jam band" scene big time. I kept up with PJ and had a couple key bootlegs like Atlanta '94, but never had a chance to see them. Fast forward to 2000. Just out of college and moving west to the Seattle area. When I finally saw a show I couldn't believe how magical it was. What an amazing crowd. At the time though, my musical interests were pulling me far away from heavy rock music. I kept up with PJ, but didn't really get the spark again until Avocado. That spark has just kept on building, and I've seen 'em 6 times in five years. I wish that number was 60.
In 1993, heavily into Fresh Prince, Snoop, and LL Cool J. I popped my sisters cassette tape of Ten into my walkman. It was cued up to Jeremy. Haven't purchased a rap album since. Thanks guys
Alpine Valley 1998, Alpine Valley 2003, Milwaukee 2006, PJ20 9/3 & 9/4, Missoula 2012, Chicago - Wrigley Field 2013, Buffalo 2013, St Paul 2014, Fenway Park 2016 1 & 2, Wrigley 2016 2, Seattle 2018 1, Missoula 2018, Wrigley 2018 1, Berlin 2020, St Paul 2023 1 & 2, Austin 2023 1 & 2
I was 21 & remember watching Soul Asylum on MTV Unplugged. At the time, I was huge into them. My 18 year old sister came in at the end and said "if you want to see a real band, stick around for the next episode of Unplugged starting in a few minutes". I've been a die hard ever since. And it's my sister that usually goes with me to the shows.
I was in the first few years of secondary school when I first heard PJ, about 92, I cant remember the exact circumstances. I either listened to Ten or Nevermind on my cassette player when I went to sleep. My mum would have to unwrap the headphones from around my neck every night.My brother had V's and throughout my teens I bought Vitalogy, Yield and Binaural. I only watched them live for the first time at Hyde Park in 2010, twice in Manchester in 2012 and will be going to both UK shows this summer. Can't wait not long now.
Hyde Park 25/06/10 MEN Arena 20-21/06/12 Leeds 08/07/14 Milton Keynes 11/07/14 Mexico City 28/11/15 EV London 6-7/6/17
At my best friends house. Her brother had a big Ten poster in his room and I kept sneaking into his room to look at it. Staring at the hands. Eventually I asked my friend who are those guys? She said "Pearl Jam" and I said "wtf kind of name is that!?"
Next morning she dragged me out of bed at stupid o'clock to watch Rage like she always did on Sunday morning, and I saw the Alive video for the first time. All of a sudden I didn't care about their name, I just knew I liked them. The seed was sown, but it really started to flourish when I watched the MTV unplugged special in 1992. I was 12, and I was fascinated by Eddie Vedder. His voice.He was so so vulnerable. And pretty. And that funny thing he did with his eyes (and still does). I thought Black was the saddest song I'd ever heard, and tried so hard not to cry in front of my friends brothers haha
The start of an incredible journey that keeps re-inventing itself as I get older, and one I never want to end.
I remember hearing Immortality on the radio and thinking of Pink Floyd. Mind you, I was still a teen then and Pink Floyd had just put on a big show near me with lots of hype a few summers prior. I thought Immortality was a great song and the "trapdoor in the sun" line really got to me, but thought nothing else of it.
Then...comes the summer of 99. I was back at camp and there was a guy who was a big DMB fan. He made us turn it on his stereo even before he got out of bed. This guy was an encyclopedia of DMB. He'd be like "yellow CD, track 3" or "blue CD, track 4." So basically, it was nothing but DMB for five weeks.
Then, I got home and what was on the radio that summer? LO2L version of Elderly Woman and Last Kiss. Later that fall, I went out and got LO2L. A few years later, 2000-2002, I bought Ten and a bunch of the bootlegs from the 2000 tour. After that, it was one after another after another.
I could have got my 10C membership in late 2001, but ended up getting it Jan 2003...just as the Riot Act tour rumors were starting up.
Presidential Advice from President-Elect Mike McCready: "Are you getting something out of this all encompassing trip?"
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hedonist
standing on the edge of forever Posts: 24,524
At my best friends house. Her brother had a big Ten poster in his room and I kept sneaking into his room to look at it. Staring at the hands. Eventually I asked my friend who are those guys? She said "Pearl Jam" and I said "wtf kind of name is that!?"
Next morning she dragged me out of bed at stupid o'clock to watch Rage like she always did on Sunday morning, and I saw the Alive video for the first time. All of a sudden I didn't care about their name, I just knew I liked them. The seed was sown, but it really started to flourish when I watched the MTV unplugged special in 1992. I was 12, and I was fascinated by Eddie Vedder. His voice.He was so so vulnerable. And pretty. And that funny thing he did with his eyes (and still does). I thought Black was the saddest song I'd ever heard, and tried so hard not to cry in front of my friends brothers haha
The start of an incredible journey that keeps re-inventing itself as I get older, and one I never want to end.
Alive on 120 minutes. If my memory serves me correct, it was after Liquid Television.
The Even Flow video completely sealed the deal for me when EV falls from the balcony into the crowd. It blew my mind and I was like "Holy Fucking Shit....that guy is badass!"
Pearl Jam - ST. PETERSBURG, FL 3-29-94 / WEST PALM BEACH, FL 9-22-98 / TAMPA, FL 8-12-00 / CHARLOTTE, NC 10/30/13 / ST. LOUIS, MO 10-03-2014 / TAMPA, FL 4-11-16 / JACKSONVILLE, FL 4-13-16
Eddie Vedder - JACKSONVILLE, FL 11/24/12 / JACKSONVILLE, FL 11/25/12 / ORLANDO, FL 11-28-12
It took me two go's! Being a Beatles/Cream/Zeppelin/Sabbath lover, my niece lent me Vs. Vitalogy in '95 but I never took to them, even though I liked Alive, Even Flow, Better Man etc that were all over the radio here.
Fast forward to 2000 - by which time I had discovered Soundgarden, AIC, Silverchair, I heard 'Of the Girl' several times, but as is their habit, the radio didn't back announce the artist name. I asked my niece, who of course told me, so bought Binaural and loved it. A week later their back catalogue was on special at half price, bought it and the (now) addiction began.
It really took off, however, when I discovered bootlegs and by the time I joined here and saw them for the first time in 2006, my conversion was complete. So much so, that PJ have flown past the other mentioned bands as my all time favourite.
Have got to know fans world wide now, and am gonna take my first overseas trip to the US in September/October, so it would be incredible if the upcoming US dates coincide with mine.
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KP_McMinn
West Philadelphia born and raised Posts: 748
I was 14, and was yanking my chain to a Meatloaf video. You know, the one video for "I would do anything for love". Well, right about the time that hot ass chick with the huge titties started singing, i was about to let loose a tiny batch of goo, i accidentally hit the "last" button on my remote and switched to Mtv. (I used to flip back and forth between the Vh1 and Mtv to see at which particular time the respective channels had the dirtier video playing. Mtv was playing a lot of slutty rap video's at the time ie. Salt n' Pepa, Wrex n' effx' rump shaker, ). Anyhow, as i was about to go, and instead of hearing the beautiful voice of the Meatloaf love interest, I heard a near perfect voice singing the likes of, "my jaw left hurtin, oh it dropped wide open..." it was single handily the best after school special ever. pun intended.
I'm going to show my age here but I wasn't even born yet when Ten came out. I was born in Dec of that year. That being said, my aunt was/is a HUGE fan so I grew up listening to them. They've been a part of my life literally since I was born!
I was 14, and was yanking my chain to a Meatloaf video. You know, the one video for "I would do anything for love". Well, right about the time that hot ass chick with the huge titties started singing, i was about to let loose a tiny batch of goo, i accidentally hit the "last" button on my remote and switched to Mtv. (I used to flip back and forth between the Vh1 and Mtv to see at which particular time the respective channels had the dirtier video playing. Mtv was playing a lot of slutty rap video's at the time ie. Salt n' Pepa, Wrex n' effx' rump shaker, ). Anyhow, as i was about to go, and instead of hearing the beautiful voice of the Meatloaf love interest, I heard a near perfect voice singing the likes of, "my jaw left hurtin, oh it dropped wide open..." it was single handily the best after school special ever. pun intended.
) )
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
During the late 80's and early 90's listened to alot of glam and hair metal, yes and I'm not ashamed !, native tongue by poison is a pretty good album, really! , not worried about the credibility thing, where kurt cobain seemed to think anything abit polished was somehow inferior to there's , it's about having a good time, right ? So there I was pretending to be Richie Sambora, when I heard porch my pearl jam and that was it everything changed. We didn't have the money to have satellite tv , so radio was the source of new music, particularly John peel and the radio one rock show. I missed the first album ten and got into it many years later. So vs was the first album I bought and from then have followed the band. It opened my mind to an underground of bands and inspired me to write my own music.
During a wintry drive down to the shore to find our summer apartment with my future roomies. Candy played, rewound, played again as I drifted off to sleep; Black. She lived in Pittsburgh at the time so I guess that is where she found it.
In a rock-jazz bar in a popular tourist destination in Turkey, at the sea. The song was Jeremy, but I didn't know of course the band or the song name, at that time. I was thinking, WTF, this is so different than everything I heard.
Just like Zod, I don't remember the exact moment that I got introduced to PJ music. I remember watching MTV Unplugged and Animal performance with my mouth open.
I remember one afternoon, literally falling off my bed while listening to the Ten cassette, with the beauty of music. It happened twice, with Black and Garden.
It was university years, it was good weather and I had both Ten and Vs. cassettes in the cheap car, driving to classes.
My DJ friend in the university radio would tell me; they'd have meetings and the supervisor would ask: "Who played PJ today?". Of course then he'd have to ask:"OK, anyone who didn't play PJ today?".
I also have a story of re-finding PJ music again like Sallyroo but it's for another thread.
What's your part, who you are?
2012: Arras, Berlin 1-2
2013: Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires
2014: Milano, Trieste, Vienna, Berlin
2016: NY MSG 1
i bought Vs based on Rolling Stone magazines 4.5 star review. i was still a big Guns n Roses fan at the time. I didn't think anyone could be better than them. Man was I wrong and glad to be so.
Comments
I listened to that Atlanta ’94 tape endlessly, and it's still my go-to show to this day when I want to hear "peak" Pearl Jam as I remember them. (We all want to connect with something bigger than ourselves, right?) The performances of all Vs. songs are epic, as is State OLAT and Sonic Reducer.
/nostalgia
06.26.2006 • St. Paul
11.30.2012 • Fort Lauderdale [EV]
10.29.2013 • Charlottesville
Sometime in the second half of 1991 I ran into an ex boyfriend, and he used to get lots of bootlegs from the states. This is in the days Australia had to wait so long for usa released music and movies. Anyway he said keep an eye out for a band called Pearl Jam...you will love them.
From then on I kept checking in our local record shops, then one day I saw TEN, I picked it up and looked at it, but didn't know if I should buy it $30 was a lot of money for a teenager to waste if you didn’t like the CD. I kept turning the CD over and the short titles of black, garden and porch made me curious so my impulsive side won out and I brought the CD, I ran all the way home so I could listen to it...I played it again and again I loved the CD and I couldn't get enough of it, I don't think I have listened to any other cd as many times as I did Ten.
2010 WATCH IT GO TO FIRE!!
2010 WATCH IT GO TO FIRE!!
MEN Arena 20-21/06/12
Leeds 08/07/14
Milton Keynes 11/07/14
Mexico City 28/11/15
EV London 6-7/6/17
Next morning she dragged me out of bed at stupid o'clock to watch Rage like she always did on Sunday morning, and I saw the Alive video for the first time. All of a sudden I didn't care about their name, I just knew I liked them. The seed was sown, but it really started to flourish when I watched the MTV unplugged special in 1992. I was 12, and I was fascinated by Eddie Vedder. His voice.He was so so vulnerable. And pretty. And that funny thing he did with his eyes (and still does). I thought Black was the saddest song I'd ever heard, and tried so hard not to cry in front of my friends brothers haha
The start of an incredible journey that keeps re-inventing itself as I get older, and one I never want to end.
Then...comes the summer of 99. I was back at camp and there was a guy who was a big DMB fan. He made us turn it on his stereo even before he got out of bed. This guy was an encyclopedia of DMB. He'd be like "yellow CD, track 3" or "blue CD, track 4." So basically, it was nothing but DMB for five weeks.
Then, I got home and what was on the radio that summer? LO2L version of Elderly Woman and Last Kiss. Later that fall, I went out and got LO2L. A few years later, 2000-2002, I bought Ten and a bunch of the bootlegs from the 2000 tour. After that, it was one after another after another.
I could have got my 10C membership in late 2001, but ended up getting it Jan 2003...just as the Riot Act tour rumors were starting up.
Sweet first post, too.
Cheers to this neverending path.
The Even Flow video completely sealed the deal for me when EV falls from the balcony into the crowd. It blew my mind and I was like "Holy Fucking Shit....that guy is badass!"
Eddie Vedder - JACKSONVILLE, FL 11/24/12 / JACKSONVILLE, FL 11/25/12 / ORLANDO, FL 11-28-12
Fast forward to 2000 - by which time I had discovered Soundgarden, AIC, Silverchair, I heard
'Of the Girl' several times, but as is their habit, the radio didn't back announce the artist name. I asked my niece, who of course told me, so bought Binaural and loved it. A week later their back catalogue was on special at half price, bought it and the (now) addiction began.
It really took off, however, when I discovered bootlegs and by the time I joined here and saw them for the first time in 2006, my conversion was complete. So much so, that PJ have flown past the other mentioned bands as my all time favourite.
Have got to know fans world wide now, and am gonna take my first overseas trip to the US in September/October, so it would be incredible if the upcoming US dates coincide with mine.
EV Solo: 7/11/11 11/12/12 11/13/12
Was aware of them before but when i saw them on MTV Unplugged i was blown away by their performance.
O2 Arena - Aug 18, 2009
Hyde Park - Jun 25, 2010
Manchester - #1 & #2, 2012
EV: London #1 & #2 2012
Leeds - July 8, 2014
Milton Keynes - July 11, 2014
EV: London - #1 & #2, 2017
O2 Arena - June 18, 2018
O2 Arena - June 19, 2018
O2 Arena - July 17, 2018
Hyde Park - July 10, 2020
Hyde Park - #1 & #2, 2021 (hopefully!)
Just like Zod, I don't remember the exact moment that I got introduced to PJ music. I remember watching MTV Unplugged and Animal performance with my mouth open.
I remember one afternoon, literally falling off my bed while listening to the Ten cassette, with the beauty of music. It happened twice, with Black and Garden.
It was university years, it was good weather and I had both Ten and Vs. cassettes in the cheap car, driving to classes.
My DJ friend in the university radio would tell me; they'd have meetings and the supervisor would ask: "Who played PJ today?". Of course then he'd have to ask:"OK, anyone who didn't play PJ today?".
I also have a story of re-finding PJ music again like Sallyroo but it's for another thread.
2012: Arras, Berlin 1-2
2013: Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires
2014: Milano, Trieste, Vienna, Berlin
2016: NY MSG 1
Evenflow was playing, never heard anything like it before.
2016: Lexington and Wrigley 1