Pearl Jam 5/3/22

After over a two year delay (show was originally scheduled for 4/13/20) the day had finally arrived for me to see Pearl Jam for only the second time ever, which still blows my mind with as many shows I go to plus the fact that I grew up in Washington state, but to be fair there was this weird unspoken childish thing back in the day that if you liked Nirvana you could not also like Pearl Jam. My second Pearl Jam sighting was pale in comparison to my buddy PM who held onto our tickets that he purchased through the Ten Club to see Pearl Jam for the 51st time! 


We arrived just in time to grab a couple beverages and make our way to the seats before Ed came out and treated the early attendees to a solo acoustic performance of Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me In Your Heart” before introducing Josh Klinghoffer as the opening act then disappearing. Klinghoffer played some dissonant type stuff and had an unexpected higher pitched singing voice that absolutely nailed “Take My Breath Away” from the Top Gun soundtrack. He also introduced me to the baritone guitar, which is downright embarrassing for someone who also plays guitar (though not even 1% of how good this guy plays).  


Our seats were good because we were near the soundboard but not as good as I would have expected the Ten Club to dole out to a longtime member. They were definitely better than the last time I saw Pearl Jam at this exact same venue since this time I was actually in front of the band instead of sitting behind them like last time. In fact the stark stage setup was identical to that other time in 2006 with only minimal lights, two screens to show action from the stage and people sitting behind the stage (they also turned around and played one song to the people back there just like last time). This is a band that does not need anything but the power of song and I am fairly certain the electricity from the crowd would have been enough to power the electronics in the building. Many of the band members have a San Diego connection which made this opening night of the tour that much more special not only for the crowd but surely the band themselves as well. Ed took time to point out his mother, his guitar teacher and Bill Walton in the crowd, which now makes for two shows I have been to with Bill Walton!


The once new album Gigaton was now two years old but 2/3 of it was so seamlessly integrated into their set that it felt like an old friend, especially “Superblood Wolfmoon” that would not be out of place on one of the first albums. “Porch” was the last song played before the encore break and what Mike McCready did during that song was nothing short of obscene in the best of ways. He is so much of a BEAST that even after they came back from the break Ed said, “He looks a little sunburned but that was just his face next to the amp that was shooting out flames.” Classic. Just like the bottle of wine Ed downed during the show and playing “Alive” as the closer, which felt like it had a little more meaning after these last couple years.


SETLIST: Oceans, Retrograde, Never Destination, Corduroy, Dance of the Clairvoyants, Amongst the Waves, Even Flow, Who Ever Said, Quick Escape, Long Road, Given to Fly, Superblood Wolfmoon, Daughter, Seven O’Clock, Jeremy, Porch, Lightning Bolt, Better Man, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, River Cross, Footsteps, Once, Alive

Coronavirus Concert Casualties

Concert Plans

Gatherings of 250 people became officially banned in San Diego as of March 13th, 2020. Nationwide lockdown followed shortly after. The list of concerts below are the ones I intended to attend that have been impacted (so far):

  • 3/13/20 Local H @ Belly Up – RESCHEDULED to 10/10/20 – Local H was set to open for Soul Asylum in support of their album Lifers that was about to drop on 4/10/20 Local-H-Lifers

UPDATE 4/24: Local H decided to let fans on their Facebook page vote on an entire album from their catalog for them to play live from their “bunker” in Chicago. The album that received the most votes was Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles? and they livestreamed their performance on both Facebook and YouTube. I would have paid good money to see this live so this was quite a treat as the first livestream concert I ever watched. The picture quality was better on Facebook but the sound was better on YouTube.HHH

  • 3/28/20 Rage Against the Machine @ Pan American Center, Las Cruces, NM – POSTPONED – Before Rage announced a full tour there were originally only five shows scheduled: El Paso, TX, Las Cruces, NM, Phoenix, AZ and as the headliner for both weekends of Coachella. I had no interest in going to Coachella due to the expense and “scene” that I am very much not a part of so Phoenix was the logical choice due knowing people that live there and distance but New Mexico was on a Saturday. That was enough reason for a group of us to decide that a trip was in order. Rage

UPDATE 5/1: The rescheduled tour dates have arrived and it looks like I will not be seeing Rage Against the Machine until May 2021!

  • 4/4/20 Loudermilk @ The Uptown Theatre, Richland, WA – POSTPONED – This was to be the first time I had been “home” in over nine years and with The Ladybird Unition set to open it was going to be like I was 17 years old all over again.Loudermilk Postponed
  • 4/13/20 Pearl Jam @ Viejas Arena (SDSU) – POSTPONED – Pearl Jam was one of the first bands that decided to halt their tour. This was to be only my second time seeing Pearl Jam and ironically at the same place that I saw them the first time. This tour was slated in support of the new album Gigaton released on 3/27/20.
  • 4/24/20 The Darkness @ Observatory – POSTPONED – The Darkness was set to tour for their newest effort Easter Is Cancelled, which turned out to be a prophetic title.Easter Is Cancelled

UPDATE 5/15: CANCELLED – Well Poop2

  • 5/8/20 The Rolling Stones @SDCCU Stadium – POSTPONED – This was to be the second time I had the pleasure of seeing the Stones. As a bonus this was going to be the opening night of the tour within walking distance of my place on a Friday…
  • 5/22/20 System of a Down, Korn, Faith No More and Helmet @ Banc of California Stadium – POSTPONED – This was a one-off concert in L.A. that had such high demand that a second show was added.

SOAD

UPDATE 5/22: RESCHEDULED – This event will now happen on the same date in 2021 as if this year never happened at all.SKFH

  • 6/10 Styx @ San Diego County Fair – CANCELLED – This was set to be my second time seeing Styx but the show and better yet the entire county fair for 2020 was cancelled.SDFair
  • 7/12 The Black Keys @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – CANCELLED – This was to be my third time seeing these Ohio natives. Good thing I was able to see the beginning of the “Let’s Rock” tour back in November.Screen Shot 2020-05-19 at 6.41.20 PM
  • 7/19 Incubus and 311 @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – CANCELLED – Two bands that I like on the same bill is always a treat. I guess this would instead fall under the category of trick.Screen Shot 2020-05-21 at 9.04.27 PM
  • 7/23 Motley Crue @ Petco Park – ??? – On May 1st Motley Crue released a statement saying “Our goal is to have an official update to everyone by June 1 outlining exactly how we will proceed.” All signs are pointing towards an inevitable postponement/cancellation.

UPDATE 6/1: POSTPONED – Shocking!Motley

  • 7/24 Weezer/Green Day @ Petco Park – POSTPONED – What was to be a rare concert on a Friday night is no more…until 2021

     

  • 7/30 Ministry @ House of Blues San Diego – RESCHEDULED – There is a website called bandsintown.com that I am on the email list for and this was how I learned that the Ministry show got rescheduled to April 29, 2021. Hopefully Uncle Al is still around.Ministry Postponed
  • 8/1 Primus and Wolfmother @ Open Air Theatre – POSTPONED – This was going to be a unique show with Primus undertaking the task of replicating Rush’s 1977 classic album A Farewell To Kings. I was also looking forward to seeing the entire Wolfmother performance after the last one got cut short.Screen Shot 2020-05-21 at 8.43.25 PM
  • 8/8 Guns N’ Roses @ Sofi Stadium – POSTPONED – This was going to be my second time seeing GNR and first time visiting the new gazillion dollar monolith stadium in L.A. where the Rams and Chargers will play.Screen Shot 2020-05-21 at 8.56.33 PM
  • 9/1 Disturbed @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – POSTPONED – This tour was to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the debut album The Sickness, which now seems like an even more apt title.Screen Shot 2020-05-21 at 9.11.54 PM
  • 10/9-10/11 Aftershock Festival @ Discovery Park, Sacramento – CANCELLED – See you in 2021!

Aftershock Cancelled

  • 11/1 Aaron Lewis and Sully Erna @ Del Mar Fairgrounds – CANCELLED – Just when I thought I was going to get some sort of live music even this got cancelled… 

Pearl Jam 7/7/06

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Pearl Jam was touring for their eponymous album aka The Avocado Album that was released in May of this year. Growing up in Washington State I cannot believe that this was my first time seeing Pearl Jam…and it almost didn’t happen. I again for whatever reason did not have a ticket so I decided to scour Craigslist at the last minute. I came across a peculiar ad titled “Free Pearl Jam Ticket.” First I thought it was total bullshit but decided to click anyway. It said something to the effect of “My buddy bailed on me so I have an extra ticket. Just buy me a couple beers and the ticket is yours. First come, first served.” The ad had been posted about 40 minutes before my eyes laid upon it so I thought even if it was legit someone else would have already beat me to the punch but I called the number just to make sure. Guy (sorry I’m bad with names) answered the phone and I said “I know you’ve probably already gotten a million calls for the Pearl Jam ticket…” He said, “Actually you’re the first.” I shot the shit with guy for a couple minutes and we decided upon a meeting place. I was still super skeptical right up to the minute I met him but much to my pleasant surprise the guy met me exactly where and when he said he would. The only thing about the ticket was that it was in the section behind the stage but beggars can’t be choosers. We were looking at the back of the band a lot of the time but to their credit the band paid us a fair amount of attention. This was my first experience of seeing Eddie downing red wine throughout the show which was pretty entertaining. The band was every bit as great as I expected them to be, drawing from all their albums fairly evenly. Pearl Jam fans are a different breed and thankfully so because I was able to locate a YouTube video of “Yellow Ledbetter” from this show and a soundboard quality audio of the entire show. Enjoy!

Full Show Audio HERE

SETLIST: Oceans, Severed Hand, Corduroy, Brain of J, World Wide Suicide, Love Boat Captain, Gone, Even Flow, Unemployable, Wasted Reprise, Better Man, Satan’s Bed, Not for You, You Are, Inside Job, Life Wasted, Rearviewmirror, Long Road, Come Back, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Crazy Mary (Victoria Williams), Crown of Thorns (Mother Love Bone), Alive, Last Kiss (Wayne Cochran) Comatose, Leash, Big Wave, Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young), Yellow Ledbetter