Episode 163: Noblesville, IN - 8/17/1998

This episode begins our coverage celebrating the 30th anniversary of Pearl Jam's Vs. tour in 1994. With this tour falling smack dab in the middle of the band's prime, there are a plethora of storylines inside and outside of the shows that make this year a memorable one. Vitalogy songs were getting played in the set prior to the album's release, legendary shows took place in cities such as Boston and Atlanta, dealing with Ticketmaster, bomb threats, backstage break-ins, and Dave Abbruzzese exit from the band. This episode features a Rock For Choice show that took place in Pensacola, Florida a year after the death of Dr. David Gunn, a doctor who performed safe abortions on women who were unable to birth a child. The band has actively supported a women's right to choose going back to their formation. You may remember moments such as Ed wearing a t-shirt with a coat hanger on it during their 1992 performance on Saturday Night Live, and most famously at MTV Unplugged where Ed wrote pro-choice on his arm with a marker. The point of the episode is to discuss some of the band's history of activism, but also within the nature of our world at this current moment, it was extremely difficult to provide an episode on abortion rights without addressing what's going on. That means you will get to hear our heartfelt opinions on the subject at hand. If this is something that you are uncomfortable listening to at this point in time, please take note of that before checking out the podcast. The entire night had references (some subtle, others not so much) to the cause that they were fighting to defend, none more relevant than opening with a cover of Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down. The performances are the height of the era with the band absolutely locked in, and Ed tearing into the vocals on songs such as Dissident, Glorified G, Blood, Alive, Porch and many more. We also get to hear a speech from David Gunn Jr. as well as instances where Ed will attack the subject head on. Visit The Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact The Show - liveon4legspodcast@gmail.com Donate To The Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

13 Mars 20241h 28min

For this episode, we're going back to Pearl Jam's first ever appearance at Fenway Park back in 2016. It's appropriate timing because they'll be playing two shows there to close out the tour in September. While it has all of the baseball references and former Red Sox player appearances, the overarching focal point of this episode will focus on the personal experience that Randy had during this show. Have you ever had a concert blunder that you wish you could take back? Did you ever miss a chunk of the set due to arriving late or other negligence? That's what we're going to talk about here as this show was the one and only time that Randy was not in his seat for the opening song. He'll take you through the whole story and hopefully absolve his demons by the end of the show. ***Please note that our audio for this episode is not up to snuff due to connectivity issues during the recording. It's listenable, but expect some glitches throughout*** Playing in one of MLB's legendary cathedrals, Ed would mention on multiple occasions at this show that playing Fenway was a dream come true. It was a night dedicated to celebrating the big moment, and there were plenty of special guests and special performances to back that up. We get our fair share of rarities at this show, including one of the ultra rare deep cuts in their catalog, Strangest Tribe. Back to back with Into The Wild song Society may consist of the rarest opening to an encore of all-time. We also get two massive covers that hadn't been seen at Pearl Jam shows going back a decade. Bob Dylan protest song, Masters Of War was a massive highlight that hadn't been played in 200 shows prior to this, and I've Got A Feeling brought you back to the early 90s and was played for the first time since 2004. Add in that former Red Sox pitcher, Bronson Arroyo, joined in to play Black and former first baseman Kevin Youkilis brought out a uke, it was jam packed with unforgettable moments. Our Gear Guru segments on this episode will have Javier talking about a delay effect coming from Mike on Masters Of War, and a little bit of Ed talk on guitar during Porch. Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - liveon4legspodcast@gmail.com Donate to the show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

6 Mars 20241h 48min

This episode is jam packed with stories and breakdown from the first night of Pearl Jam's two show stint at the Barclays Center in Brookyln from 2013. We invite a very special guest onto the pod, the former COO of Barclays and the Brooklyn Nets, Fred Mangione. Fred gives us an angle that we haven't discussed a lot from the professional landscape - the business side of booking concerts. As a diehard fan of the band himself, Fred will talk about when the Barclays Center opened, there was stiff competition to pull acts away from Madison Square Garden, the biggest destination for entertainment acts in New York City. He'll talk about how they managed to get Pearl Jam to pivot from their usual location to land them on the Lightning Bolt tour. We'll also get to hear the story about how they were originally set to play in Brooklyn for 2016, as well as the details of how the band's attendance record was broken thanks to The Boss. Continuing with this month's theme of focusing on shows that the hosts attended, Randy will talk about his stories from this night... or lack thereof. Riding solo at this show, we'll start a conversation about how memories can tend to fade over time without having anyone to share them with. Going to shows alone is great, you get to dictate when you get in the building, you don't care if you embarrass yourself if you sing a little louder and you can focus on your own fun. That's all great in the present, but when looking back over a decade later, those memories tend to fade a little bit because you never created a bond with a friend going through the same experiences that you did. Now, it's probably impossible to forget everything. We'll spend some time talking about songs like Crown Of Thorns and Oceans where the memories have been kept fresh over the years. There are no Gear Guru segments this week. Why you ask? Because the whole entire show is a Gear Guru segment! Javier joins Randy to help break down this show, and he'll go in depth on songs like Release, Infallible and Yellow Moon. Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - liveon4legspodcast@gmail.com Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

28 Feb 20242h 10min

We take a trip to what is now eight years in the past (extremely hard to fathom!) to cover Pearl Jam's show in Columbia, South Carolina. There are two major themes heading into this show. Firstly, this show was originally intended to take place a day after a show in Raleigh, North Carolina, which was canceled in protest of the state's HB2 law. The other big storyline heading into the show was the untimely death of rock 'n' roll legend, Prince, that was announced earlier in the day. With heavy hearts, the band set forth to pay tribute to a man who had given so much of his life to music, as Ed would call him, the most amazing guitar player he'd ever seen. This is another show where we get to talk about John's adventures and stories, so we'll dig deep into the two top stories that dominated conversation on this night. It was a set with a shared balance of the deep cuts like Oceans, Light Years, Marker In The Sand, Sleight Of Hand and All Those Yesterdays mixed in with massive showstopping performances of Lightning Bolt, Immortality, I Got Id, Rearviewmirror, Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns and more. But one of the more peculiar things about this set is an OTOTO (one time, one time only) performance of the Into The Wild track, Rise. Done as a birthday dedicated to his mom Karen, this song has not been seen at a Pearl Jam show since. We'll dig deeper into a few songs during our Gear Guru segments where Javier will break down Lightning Bolt rarity, Infallible, and for the first time ever give a full breakdown of Crown Of Thorns. Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - liveon4legspodcast@gmail.com Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

21 Feb 20241h 40min

We've had a very busy week! Album announcement? Check! Debut single announcement? Check! Tour announcement? Oh you better believe it, check! So of course there was a lot to react to during this time period, which we did with two episodes focusing on all of the great stuff that lies ahead. While the normal weekly episode may have been pushed back a day, there was no way that we weren't going to get to Atlanta 2012 this week. This one is personal in many ways for John. It was his first show in 14 years, but he would tell you that more importantly, this is the last time to date that Pearl Jam has visited Atlanta. Twelve years have gone by without returning to the city the featured one of the greatest Pearl Jam shows of all time in 1994. It seems a little befuddling, right? While much of this episode focuses on stories of being there and experiencing them for the first time in over a decade, there is a lot of questions to be asked as to why the band has ignored the ATL, and perhaps a plea or two to try and convince them to go back in the near future. We have some solid performances of Better Man, Porch and Corduroy in this show, and Javier's segments this week will focus on Why Go as well as an interesting effect added to a cover of The Clash song Know Your Rights. It's tour time people, get excited. It's the best! Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - liveon4legspodcast@gmail.com Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

15 Feb 20241h 40min

It's been a great week! After basking in Pearl Jam's brand new single for Dark Matter on Monday, on Tuesday we were treated to a full blown 2024 touring schedule! 34 dates are spread throughout the course of seven months. Some shows in very familiar stomping grounds, others in spots where the band will be stepping into for the first time in over a decade. We break down each date and location, give a little context to some of the history of them playing there, and we'll go over which shows we believe may end up being barnburners! Hope to see you on the road! Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - liveon4legspodcast@gmail.com Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

14 Feb 202458min

Less than 12 hours before the unveiling of the first brand new Pearl Jam song in four years, we have all of the instant reactions for you right here! Dark Matter is the first single off the 12th studio album sharing the same title, and we'll go in depth to look into some of the song's production, lyrical content, the buzz around the song and we'll focus on each individual member's role. We'll also share clips from our listening party held last night! New Pearl Jam! Nothing better than that! Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - liveon4legspodcast@gmail.com Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

13 Feb 202440min

As we await details on Pearl Jam's forthcoming twelfth studio album, the month of February will be dedicated to covering shows that Randy and John have attended in the past. First up, we're gonna dig into the Nashville show from the Gigaton tour that they both were in attendance for. The weekend was a huge party as Pearl Jam was center stage on Broadway, but the run including Louisville and St. Louis was the first time they played three shows in a row since 2006. Feeling big energy from a crowd who was game all night and playing in an arena with impeccable acoustics, the band constructed a set jam packed full of show stoppers and great stories to live up to the hype of playing in Music City. Randy and John have differing angles when it comes to their personal experiences on this night. For Randy, it was his fourth show out of six during that run with heavy hitting shows such as Toronto, MSG, Camden and St. Louis surrounding this night. He'll talk about how some of the memories from this night tended to fade until relistening and rewatching the events that took place. For John, this was his first show since 2016, so after a six-year hiatus he was ready to jump back in and be a part of the atmosphere again. They, and everyone else who attended this show, were treated to a setlist that featured massive moments such as Nothingman as an opener for only the second time, an incredible back-to-back featuring Black and Present Tense, Rats thanks to that night's tour poster, a mind blowing Immortality, a heavy hearted River Cross and many more moments that make this show stand out. The Gear Guru segments for this show will focus on the aforementioned version of Immortality, and we'll even get a little demo from Javier! And he'll also discuss the 1958 Flying V that came from the Gibson Vault that Mike used on both Alive and Ledbetter. Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - liveon4legspodcast@gmail.com Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

7 Feb 20241h 48min