Pearl Jam Mailed It In On Monday Night

PhishinPearls · May 2016

SEACIDE said:

PhishinPearls said:
I'm going to preface this by saying MSG2 was my first show in six years. Not because I love the band any less, but sometimes life gets in the way, and lots of things happen - before you know it, it's been six years. But I've also seen my fair share of shows - some spectacular shows (Borgata 2 in 05, my first show, followed by the Philly 05 show, the final two shows at the Spectrum) and some mediocre ones (Camden and Mansfield in 08).

Knowing what this band can do, having seen them many times on back to back nights, having seen them really dig into their catalogue, etc., I can honestly say last night's show was a huge disappointment.

I don't come to see Pearl Jam to hear their greatest hits, and I can safely say the majority of us don't come to hear a greatest hits album either, but that's what we basically got. 7 songs off of Ten, 7 covers, 4 from LB, 3 from Vs. and 3 from Vitalogy. 75% of the show was either their newest album, not their stuff, or written before 1995. I know that's how this band actually got popular, but the reason they developed a devout following was because of albums like No Code, Yield, Binaural, and Riot Act.

Yes, it was great to see All or None, great to see Present Tense, great to see Breath. But a few songs in a first encore a show does not make. And frankly, the encore wasn't spectacular even with those songs.

Think of shows like 10/3/05 in Philly - a first set that had Wash, Brain of J, Faithfull, Sad, Alone, and Green Disease in the first 10 songs alone.

It's MSG. It's the second night in the same city, and they chose to play it safe and play their hits, which is their right. But let's not fool ourselves and say what a great show this was. It wasn't, and it wasn't even close. I recognize the guys are getting long in the tooth, I recognize it's the fourth show in five nights, but they can be so much better than what they gave us last night. This isn't sour grapes, it's just an honest assessment.
shitty post imo ... good god the sense of entitlement we have ... maybe the band needs a quick trump lecture ... #makePJgreatagain .... EYES ROLLING!!!!!!

Sorry you feel that way. I think it's a healthy criticism of a band that's made is mark playing diverse sets every night, and played a very standard show at the world's most famous arena.

PhishinPearls · May 2016

Smellyman said:

PhishinPearls said:
Surprising how close-minded some of you are to healthy criticism and an honest discussion of the songs the band plays at shows.
surprising how you don't seem to understand the difference between healthy criticism and an asinine statement like 'mailing it in' is.

And again, like I said - that setlist is mailed in - not the effort of how they actually played the songs.

rustneversleeps · May 2016

PhishinPearls said:

SEACIDE said:

PhishinPearls said:
I'm going to preface this by saying MSG2 was my first show in six years. Not because I love the band any less, but sometimes life gets in the way, and lots of things happen - before you know it, it's been six years. But I've also seen my fair share of shows - some spectacular shows (Borgata 2 in 05, my first show, followed by the Philly 05 show, the final two shows at the Spectrum) and some mediocre ones (Camden and Mansfield in 08).

Knowing what this band can do, having seen them many times on back to back nights, having seen them really dig into their catalogue, etc., I can honestly say last night's show was a huge disappointment.

I don't come to see Pearl Jam to hear their greatest hits, and I can safely say the majority of us don't come to hear a greatest hits album either, but that's what we basically got. 7 songs off of Ten, 7 covers, 4 from LB, 3 from Vs. and 3 from Vitalogy. 75% of the show was either their newest album, not their stuff, or written before 1995. I know that's how this band actually got popular, but the reason they developed a devout following was because of albums like No Code, Yield, Binaural, and Riot Act.

Yes, it was great to see All or None, great to see Present Tense, great to see Breath. But a few songs in a first encore a show does not make. And frankly, the encore wasn't spectacular even with those songs.

Think of shows like 10/3/05 in Philly - a first set that had Wash, Brain of J, Faithfull, Sad, Alone, and Green Disease in the first 10 songs alone.

It's MSG. It's the second night in the same city, and they chose to play it safe and play their hits, which is their right. But let's not fool ourselves and say what a great show this was. It wasn't, and it wasn't even close. I recognize the guys are getting long in the tooth, I recognize it's the fourth show in five nights, but they can be so much better than what they gave us last night. This isn't sour grapes, it's just an honest assessment.
shitty post imo ... good god the sense of entitlement we have ... maybe the band needs a quick trump lecture ... #makePJgreatagain .... EYES ROLLING!!!!!!
Sorry you feel that way. I think it's a healthy criticism of a band that's made is mark playing diverse sets every night, and played a very standard show at the world's most famous arena.

you always have PHISH

PhishinPearls · May 2016

you always have PHISH

Correct. Not sure what one has to do with the other, but okay.

ikiT · May 2016

The Live at the Garden DVD seems like the show you wanted.

KP_McMinn · May 2016

mcgruff10 said:

KP_McMinn said:
It surprises me that phrases such as, "empirically incorrect" and "no way in hell" that PJ may be just as, if not more popular now, than they were in the 90's?? Again, if you look back, and really think about it, they were only really SUPER popular for a short time (3-4 years). 96 no code, a lot of fans became uninterested and went another direction (not me) that is a fact (check record sales). Moreover, they just sold out PHILLY 2 nights, MSG 2 nights, Wrigley and Fenway 2 nights each, in like 4 minutes, correct? You cannot sit there with a straight face and say that PJ is not just as, if not more popular now, then the mid to late 90's.
Further to your point of, "kids in their 20's aren't going to see PJ". Where did you find that statistic? Was that just an observation from the shows you just went to? From the 3 shows i just saw, there were plenty of the younger generation.
Yes from the 3 shows that I went to I really didn't see many young kids in their 20's. Sure you had the occasional 7-14 year old with their parents but the vast majority of the people sitting in my sections and in the hallways (correct usage of word?) at all three shows were probably 35 years of age and up.
And like I said, you cannot compare the popularity of pj in the mid 90's to now. They were literally on the front of time magazine! Ten sold more than 10 million and vs. sold almost a million in a week! There is no way pj can even come close to that now.

PhishinPearls said:

Surprising how close-minded some of you are to healthy criticism and an honest discussion of the songs the band plays at shows.

Its all good man, i happen to agree with your main point. Seems like they jsut let their foot off the gas a lil

PhishinPearls said:

you always have PHISH

Correct. Not sure what one has to do with the other, but okay.

I loved your post, and all the subsequent discussions that followed...I def understand what you are saying, no doubt. Its fine to feel that way, i happen to agree with most of what you said actually, in terms of qty of repeats and "hits" and what-not...They def played it safe, but there was a few GEMS in there, and anytime you can get a few GEMS, it only adds to the night....

SputNick · May 2016

PhishinPearls said:

Smellyman said:

PhishinPearls said:
Surprising how close-minded some of you are to healthy criticism and an honest discussion of the songs the band plays at shows.
surprising how you don't seem to understand the difference between healthy criticism and an asinine statement like 'mailing it in' is.
And again, like I said - that setlist is mailed in - not the effort of how they actually played the songs.

Agree!
- Yes SETLIST was mailed in and always in comparison to the setlist of the night before in the same venue. Setlists from Canada are also in support to the argument.
- Band effort, delivery of songs and energy was NOT mailed in.

By the way during encore breaks in MSG1 this year, I felt people were not cheering much for the band to go out on stage again. I remember from other shows (Brooklyn '13, even MSG2) it was much better. I mean, we know they do 2 encores but we should not take it for granted. Does anyone have the same impression? It could be also that I was sitting very high up...

PhishinPearls · May 2016

SputNick said:

PhishinPearls said:

Smellyman said:

PhishinPearls said:
Surprising how close-minded some of you are to healthy criticism and an honest discussion of the songs the band plays at shows.
surprising how you don't seem to understand the difference between healthy criticism and an asinine statement like 'mailing it in' is.
And again, like I said - that setlist is mailed in - not the effort of how they actually played the songs.
Agree!
- Yes SETLIST was mailed in and always in comparison to the setlist of the night before in the same venue. Setlists from Canada are also in support to the argument.
- Band effort, delivery of songs and energy was NOT mailed in.

This is all I'm saying.

pjhawks · May 2016

PhishinPearls said:

Smellyman said:

PhishinPearls said:
Surprising how close-minded some of you are to healthy criticism and an honest discussion of the songs the band plays at shows.
surprising how you don't seem to understand the difference between healthy criticism and an asinine statement like 'mailing it in' is.
And again, like I said - that setlist is mailed in - not the effort of how they actually played the songs.

except the percentages of unique songs in this MSG run varies very little from previous MSG runs. the facts don't support the argument you and others are making. at most you are talking 1 or 2 extra songs repeated but with more total overall songs played. no discernible differences today than previous MSG runs.

whofeelslikeadrank · May 2016

pjhawks said:

PhishinPearls said:

Smellyman said:

PhishinPearls said:
Surprising how close-minded some of you are to healthy criticism and an honest discussion of the songs the band plays at shows.
surprising how you don't seem to understand the difference between healthy criticism and an asinine statement like 'mailing it in' is.
And again, like I said - that setlist is mailed in - not the effort of how they actually played the songs.
except the percentages of unique songs in this MSG run varies very little from previous MSG runs. the facts don't support the argument you and others are making. at most you are talking 1 or 2 extra songs repeated but with more total overall songs played. no discernible differences today than previous MSG runs.

preaching to the oblivious

PhishinPearls · May 2016

pjhawks said:

PhishinPearls said:

Smellyman said:

PhishinPearls said:
Surprising how close-minded some of you are to healthy criticism and an honest discussion of the songs the band plays at shows.
surprising how you don't seem to understand the difference between healthy criticism and an asinine statement like 'mailing it in' is.
And again, like I said - that setlist is mailed in - not the effort of how they actually played the songs.
except the percentages of unique songs in this MSG run varies very little from previous MSG runs. the facts don't support the argument you and others are making. at most you are talking 1 or 2 extra songs repeated but with more total overall songs played. no discernible differences today than previous MSG runs.

I'm also walking this back to the shows in Philly. And when you do that, there's really nothing unique about the show whatsoever. Don't get me wrong, a typical PJ show is a great concert. But I hold them to a higher standard than other bands.

HesCalledDyer · May 2016

They're already at a higher standard than other bands.

PhishinPearls · May 2016

HesCalledDyer said:
They're already at a higher standard than other bands.

Right, and within that, they fell far below their own standard with that setlist.

whofeelslikeadrank · May 2016

opinion. nothing more. even if the numbers tell the real truth. sucks you didn't like the show. maybe skip them next time around.

SVRDhand13 · May 2016

Tiki said:

SVRDhand13 said:

mcgruff10 said:

The more I read this thread, the more I can't wait for the MSG boots
Me too. The "official" Sting vid is pretty good.

https://youtu.be/8ZwCAF4xyJQ
Sick video. Imagine they releases an entire show!?

scornlander · May 2016

SputNick said:
By the way during encore breaks in MSG1 this year, I felt people were not cheering much for the band to go out on stage again. I remember from other shows (Brooklyn '13, even MSG2) it was much better. I mean, we know they do 2 encores but we should not take it for granted. Does anyone have the same impression? It could be also that I was sitting very high up...

I agree. Maybe it was because I was deaf from the first set but it did seem pretty quiet. I think the two encores is basically taken for granted nowadays so people view it as a chance to check their phones.

PhishinPearls · May 2016

whofeelslikeadrank said:
opinion. nothing more. even if the numbers tell the real truth. sucks you didn't like the show. maybe skip them next time around.

No need to skip. I love this band and I've seen some great shows. Just because they have one off night doesn't mean I'll stop going. But we can give an honest assessment which is what I'm doing.

PJ212 · May 2016

When will this thread finally die?

PhishinPearls · May 2016

PJ212 said:
When will this thread finally die?

Well you commenting on it certainly won't help your cause.

HesCalledDyer · May 2016

PhishinPearls said:

HesCalledDyer said:
They're already at a higher standard than other bands.
Right, and within that, they fell far below their own standard with that setlist.

Whose standard did they fall below? Certainly not their own. I don't think you know what the member's of the band standards are.

Pearl Jam Mailed It In On Monday Night

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