Soldier Field '95. Why the hype?

chicagocubsfan14 wrote:

I was there... actually my first PJ show. I remember that there was alot of talk that this might be the last show ever. Either way, it was a great night.. the energy was like no other show I have been to. Ed was in rare form, and I do agree his voice was shot, but it was still my best concert experience ever. There were a ton of deadheads in the parking lot before the show too.... this show was a day or two after the last GFDEAD show ever.

My first show too. Deadheads in the parking lot:).....the whole "floor / field" was nuts.....energy was incredible.....show was incredible and I don't care what the boot sounds like, you had to be there

Couple reasons:

1) The show was broadcast on the radio, which led to a pretty good and widely circulated bootleg of the show. It was one of the few we had back then that weren't audience recordings that sounded as if they took place in some guys asshole.

So it was a classic boot, back in the day, one that almost every PJ fan I knew had. So a lot of the moments of that show became classic, because it was one of the few insights to live PJ we had. "Ticketmaster sucks" "The jokes on them, 'cause it's not for them." etc etc

2) It was a long show. A lot of people were there.

As for Ed screaming ... I mean, that's how he fucking sang back then. That's why I don't understand people today who say ed is losing his voice these days. Are you kidding? He finally learned how to sing ... instead of scream.

It was my first show, too. I think all the "hype" about that show had to deal with the whole Ticketmaster thing and the canceling of the tour and then it being on again. I remember walking in my house the day it was announced that it was cancelled. I was 14 at the time......I come in the house after cutting the grass and my mom says, "Your Pearl Jam concert has been cancelled. They just announced it on WGN" (the AM talk radio station, where I would say the average audience age is mid 50s). I was like, "Those old fogies don't know what they're talking about" and I ran up to my room and put on my alternative rock station (Q101). They announced it.......I felt like my heart was ripped out!
Then, a day or two later, it's back on! If I could have done a back flip, I would have done about 30 that day. My brother and I took the train down there and arrived super early. As we walked to Soldier Field there was this buzz in the air...everyone had a "quiet excitement" about them. I think they were afraid that if somebody heard exactly how excited they were, that the show would be canceled at the last minute. I remember this bum who had a drum and it almost sounded like he was playing the very beginning to Last Exit and when he'd finish, he'd raise both hands in the air and scream, "Pearl Jam!" Anyone remember this???
Anyway, long story short.........blues legend Otis Rush, Bad Religion's roadies dressed as nuns, longest PJ set at that time, Ed's priceless rants, the fireworks from Navy Pier during the first encore, those awesome tickets with the giant beetle, Everyday People??????, and the one thing I'll never, ever forget.......that feeling you have when you just witnessed your first PJ show, in this case, EPIC show!!!!

I think at the time (and possibly still) it was one of the longest concerts they had done.

They played some new stuff (I got id, lukin, habit), some rare covers (let my love open the door and everyday people)... tons of banter, tons of energy.

The piano in Black made that a good one.

The boots sound so trebly(sp) that I thought that was almost more the reason that they sounded worse than Eds voice - althugh you could tell it was really strained.

anyway - being there and having horrible seats I still think it was a great show - they just kept playing.

sludawg13 wrote:

I remember this bum who had a drum and it almost sounded like he was playing the very beginning to Last Exit and when he'd finish, he'd raise both hands in the air and scream, "Pearl Jam!" Anyone remember this???

I STILL talk about that. The funny thing is, that guy still hangs out at Sox games and Cubs games. He plays the same tune and at the end, raises his hands and screams "Go Cubs" or "White Sox".