Lets discuss "The Casual Fan"

SPEEDY MCCREADY · May 2016

First off, had I been at that show last evening in Toronto, I would have been doing somersaults, being able to hear Binaural live. I LOVE that album!
But how did the casual fan enjoy that show last night? And should we really care? I am guessing the casual fan was kind of lost after the first 10-15 songs. Right? I am going to take a guess and say most casual fans are not BIG fans of the album Binaural. Im guessing that 60% of the people in that building had to think that maybe they just wasted $100, after hearing the first 15 or so songs. Now I understand the next 20 songs had plenty of hits, and the casual fan got most of his favorites, along with some sing-a-longs. But I have a feeling plenty of people who were at that show woke up this morning scratching their heads. What do you think?

Another question. Do you think the band will continue with the "Surprise Albumside" at future shows? How do you think that will go over? How will the casual fan react to Backspacer or Riot Act? How will Avocado go over live, to the casual fan? And again should we care that maybe 60% of the people attending the show, may leave very unhappy?

Also I realize the BAND is having a GREAT TIME playing these albums. And maybe that is all that matters. Personally I think its pretty damned cool they played 10, VS, and Binaural on this tour. But if the trend continues, how will the next few albums go over live?

CantKeepmedown · May 2016

Casual fan was fired up with Go opening (maybe they've heard of DTE and MYM, or at least seen the videos), But either way fired up.

Casual fan was then pretty lost for the next 13 songs. A good hour or so of not really knowing what was going on, and for sure wondering, "how much money did I spend on this ticket?

Casual fan was then whipped right back into shape with Corduroy, Once, and RVM. 3 songs they've surely heard a bunch of times and could really get in to.

Casual fan then got 2 really cool covers, and Betterman and Porch. A great encore for casual fan.

And then a 7 song second encore where casual fan has probably heard of most of the songs.

The thing with casual fan (or those who haven't done any research on PJ shows) is that they were not expecting a 3hr, 33 song set. That's just not the norm for most arena rock shows. They probably thought the night was done after encore 1.

So, all in all, I think casual fan had a great night. Yeah, there was an hour or so in the middle where he lost, wondering what was happening. But the band they knew and loved ended up delivering for them. They got to hear a bunch of hits, sing real loud, and enjoy some nice cover songs.

branscop · May 2016

Local DJ in NY discussed Binaural being played...
said he could understand the band doing Ten, VS, No Code or Yield.... but not Binaural....He called Binaural a "snoozer" for fans....
Blasphemy!!!!!!

lolobugg · May 2016

casual fan should treat the shows like casual sex.... sometimes good, sometimes bad.
or so I have heard.
but then again I fall into the hardcore fan category. the hipster that would've been disappointed with MSG shows.

Wma31394 · May 2016

I would think that the answer is simple to the casual fan and the hard core fans...That portion of the show would NOT be considered EPIC since those songs/albums are simply not as good as the albums you mentioned that have been played. Would the hard core fan think it is cool? Sure. The casual fan would probably be like wtf are these songs?? I don't think any fans should leave unhappy since the rest of the 20 songs should be solid..

Me personally..any album prior to riot act would have been exciting to be apart off..but by no means necessary or do I crave it..if I hear riot act, avocado, backspacer, or LB at wrigley I would be surprised.

Ray J. T. · May 2016

CantKeepmedown said:
Casual fan was fired up with Go opening (maybe they've heard of DTE and MYM, or at least seen the videos), But either way fired up.

Casual fan was then pretty lost for the next 13 songs. A good hour or so of not really knowing what was going on, and for sure wondering, "how much money did I spend on this ticket?

Casual fan was then whipped right back into shape with Corduroy, Once, and RVM. 3 songs they've surely heard a bunch of times and could really get in to.

Casual fan then got 2 really cool covers, and Betterman and Porch. A great encore for casual fan.

And then a 7 song second encore where casual fan has probably heard of most of the songs.

The thing with casual fan (or those who haven't done any research on PJ shows) is that they were not expecting a 3hr, 33 song set. That's just not the norm for most arena rock shows. They probably thought the night was done after encore 1.

So, all in all, I think casual fan had a great night. Yeah, there was an hour or so in the middle where he lost, wondering what was happening. But the band they knew and loved ended up delivering for them. They got to hear a bunch of hits, sing real loud, and enjoy some nice cover songs.

I think this about sums it up to a tee. But now if I am not mistaken, I did read earlier on the forums, that all of their albums have gone multi platinum in Canada. However, we are talking about a handful of songs that the casual fan were lost while being played. I will say this much, the casual fan is the worse part about not scoring 10c tickets to the show you are attending, for all reasons already mentioned by speedy. The lack of enthusiasm, the texting, the complaining "why aren't they playing the whole Ten album or Vs. Hopefully we will see the day the do a few 10c exclusive shows or tour, all the more reason to do one. (Hopefully in really intimate locations)

RP112579 · May 2016

The casual fans had the longest piss break, ever.

Attaway77 · May 2016

You have to keep in mind, this is PJ live.. Ed knows how to work the crowd and draw you in just hypnotize you while watching him sing and do what he does up there. Then you have Mike, pretty obvious what that mad man does up there. Sometimes at shows there's a couple songs I could do with out but I'm still drawn in just by watching them perform live..

WhatYouTaughtMe · May 2016

I don't think the casual fan necessarily dislikes Binaural, they probably just haven't heard it. Problem solved last night!

Edited to add, I love that the band is playing these albums. I just wish they would rehearse it a little bit more first. Some of the songs were pretty sloppy.

ambst95 · May 2016

Of the albums that have yet to be played in completion, I think most casual fans would be excited about Vitalogy but confused at the same time. The other albums would likely go over poorly with the casual fan. Well not poorly, but as well as last night's show.

I hope that they back off of the complete album shows once they get through them each once. I was at the Ten show in Philly and loved it at the time, but I'd hate to get a repeat of an album show if I travel to see the band and see them outside of my hometown in a year or two. I love the unpredictability of shows with this band and it's getting to the point where these album shows are starting to be expected instead of being a special present we get every once in a blue moon.

MayDay10 · May 2016

I had a casual with me. He was a bit lost... but I explained to him that this was a really big treat and that a few of the songs are extremely rare... while a few others have been put on the backburner like insignificance and grievance. He dug it. Good tunes... then he liked it getting back to familiar territory... looooved comfortably numb

PP193448 · May 2016

lolobugg said:
casual fan should treat the shows like casual sex.... sometimes good, sometimes bad.
or so I have heard.
but then again I fall into the hardcore fan category. the hipster that would've been disappointed with MSG shows.

So if the casual fan is like casual sex...
And you're a hardcore fan, then we should assume you're into...

IgotshitID · May 2016

I was also wondering how most people there reacted too this. Did people sit or look disinterested? Anyone there notice anything or was there not much difference in reaction. I would have been shitting my pants! Lucky fucks

dankind · May 2016

lolobugg · May 2016

PP193448 said:

lolobugg said:
casual fan should treat the shows like casual sex.... sometimes good, sometimes bad.
or so I have heard.
but then again I fall into the hardcore fan category. the hipster that would've been disappointed with MSG shows.
So if the casual fan is like casual sex...
And you're a hardcore fan, then we should assume you're into...

Pat, you know exactly what I was thinking....

hardcore but I don't like Phish.... so maybe not a hipster after all

GB200251 · May 2016

IgotshitID said:
I was also wondering how most people there reacted too this. Did people sit or look disinterested? Anyone there notice anything or was there not much difference in reaction. I would have been shitting my pants! Lucky fucks

There was some definite disinterest in my section. I didn't score ten club tickets and ended up with ticketmaster tickets in a 300 section.

I would say about half of my row cleared out at around the Thin Air>Insignificance point, probably wondering wtf was happening and why they hadn't played something they recognized yet. Surprisingly a lot of these people who left never came back. At least not that I saw. The rest were sitting for a good portion of it, until they played Corduroy.

In my opinion, the reaction of people around you at a show definitely impacts your enjoyment (think of being in a section where everyone is up standing and fired up vs. being around a section of sitters).

That being said, Binaural is my favourite album and I was in heaven throughout the show. I said this in the Toronto show thread, but to show the amount of confidence and balls to just say "fuck it, we're playing through Binaural tonight" says a lot about this band and represents pretty much everything I love about them. And their ability to just say "fuck it, we're doing it our way" is probably the main reason they have had such longevity to begin with.

I love this move for more than just the fact that I got to experience my favourite album played front to back.

rummy · May 2016

MayDay10 said:
I had a casual with me. He was a bit lost... but I explained to him that this was a really big treat and that a few of the songs are extremely rare... while a few others have been put on the backburner like insignificance and grievance. He dug it. Good tunes... then he liked it getting back to familiar territory... looooved comfortably numb

I was in the same boat. I enjoyed it but could tell he didn't really.

Ray J. T. · May 2016

GB200251 said:

IgotshitID said:
I was also wondering how most people there reacted too this. Did people sit or look disinterested? Anyone there notice anything or was there not much difference in reaction. I would have been shitting my pants! Lucky fucks
There was some definite disinterest in my section. I didn't score ten club tickets and ended up with ticketmaster tickets in a 300 section.

I would say about half of my row cleared out at around the Thin Air>Insignificance point, probably wondering wtf was happening and why they hadn't played something they recognized yet. Surprisingly a lot of these people who left never came back. At least not that I saw. The rest were sitting for a good portion of it, until they played Corduroy.

In my opinion, the reaction of people around you at a show definitely impacts your enjoyment (think of being in a section where everyone is up standing and fired up vs. being around a section of sitters).

That being said, Binaural is my favourite album and I was in heaven throughout the show. I said this in the Toronto show thread, but to show the amount of confidence and balls to just say "fuck it, we're playing through Binaural tonight" says a lot about this band and represents pretty much everything I love about them. And their ability to do just say "fuck it, we're doing it our way" is probably the main reason they have had such longevity to begin with.

Bravo. I think this is primarily why most of the die hard fans stick through. Why we travel to see them every chance we get. (weather they come to our hometowns or not)

embrace · May 2016

Emerging from the shadows of lurkdom here, but have we determined the makeup of casual fan vs other types- super fan, epic fan, tour time fan? (I think we had to categorize ourselves at some point for 10c w/in the last year or so) .
Completely agree with Attaway77 and that PJ is always worth the ticket price. Thats why I feel comfortable taking people who haven't heard of them or listened since HS. Because of the feel of Binaural you arent going to see a lot of people getting into it, but sure as shit anyone present is feeling it...and if they wake up scratching their heads they should get to the bottom of it for themselves

I was doing somersaults from home last night. There's something about seeing live an album- its the way you are exposed to the music in the first place- play through, repeat- that order becomes ingrained....

SputNick · May 2016

There are ~11 "hits" repeated in each show in this tour. This is about 1/3 of the show dedicated to the "casual fan". Binaural, Riot Act and Avocado are (or were until Canada) largely ommited from this year's setlists. Also we've got many entirely "casual fan" shows this year with the highlight being the now famous "Mailed In" show or MSG2.
So to answer the question I think we should not care about the casual fan's feelings for last night.
After all they got to hear some hits.

Toronto 1 was a celebration for hardcore fans or even casual fans that like Binaural (what is the definition of a casual fan actually?). It's good that hardcore fans get legendary setlists from time to time. I really wish I was there last night.

Regarding Full Album Shows:
They still haven't played Vitalogy, Riot Act, Backspacer and LB (full Avocado happened 9/19/06 in Torino). I am not sure I would like to be there when they play full Backspacer or Full LB, although I would love Riot Act and would be ok with Vitalogy.
Maybe instead of playing whole albums it would be better if they have a better mix of ALL albums in every show.

josevolution · May 2016

Fuck that I pay good $ I want them to play what I wanna hear when I wanna hear it plus I better get a tambourine or harmonica anything less will be a crap show ....

Ray J. T. · May 2016

josevolution said:
Fuck that I pay good $ I want them to play what I wanna hear when I wanna hear it plus I better get a tambourine or harmonica anything less will be a crap show ....

So you are saying a 10c live request show tour only?

PJfanwillneverleave1 · May 2016

I think the casual fan was probably impressed on how superbly tight PJ is when playing live.
You just don't see that anymore - they sound incredible (as we know)
However I just don't get Gods Dice, to me that is the song where the casual fan would start to lose attention. They should've played Last Kiss instead, it is way better and appeals more to the masses and keeps them engaged.
Gods Dice I find myself wishing they would sing it faster and get it over with.

josevolution · May 2016

RT287183 said:

josevolution said:
Fuck that I pay good $ I want them to play what I wanna hear when I wanna hear it plus I better get a tambourine or harmonica anything less will be a crap show ....
So you are saying a 10c live request show tour only?

Hehe he he just messing with Speedys thread , I could care less what they play anymore ...

my2hands · May 2016

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

But how did the casual fan enjoy that show last night? And should we really care?

no, we shouldn't

i sure dont

PJfanwillneverleave1 · May 2016

Here is an interesting read and it mentions a casual fan. The three-hour 25th anniversary concert worked for hardcore and casual fans alike
https://nowtoronto.com/music/concert-reviews/five-things-you-missed-at-pearl-jam/

my2hands · May 2016

nothing wrong with introducing people to new music... especially when it is great music

HughFreakingDillon · May 2016

to put it in perspective, I went to an Eric Clapton show years ago with my dad, (my Dad has always been a fan, but likes the hits, I am more casual) and he played very few, if any, recognizable hits. it was a fucking snoozefest for both of us. So I get why the casual fan would have been bored. But I would have been shitting myself.

buck502000 · May 2016

Solution = ten club members only show

StevieG · May 2016

I absolutely loved hearing Binaural live. Would also love No Code, Yield, Riot Act and Avocado.

I'd gladly take a pass on the others. As a side note, I would rather eat broken glass than have Backspacer played at a show.

SputNick · May 2016

buck502000 said:
Solution = ten club members only show

with single 10c tickets.

Lets discuss "The Casual Fan"

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