Latest / Booked On Rock with Eric Senich / Pearl Jam's Live legacy: 35 years of Legendary Music & Revolutionary Concerts [Episode 332]

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Pearl Jam's Live legacy: 35 years of Legendary Music & Revolutionary Concerts [Episode 332] · Booked On Rock with Eric Senich

0:00
Speaker 1: Celebrating thirty five years of legendary music and revolutionary shows
0:04
Speaker 1: by the one and only Pearl Jam with author Selena Fragassi.
0:08
Speaker 1: Next on Booked on Rock, We're totally booked rock and roll.
0:14
Speaker 2: I mean I'll leave you. You're reading. Little Hands says
0:16
Speaker 2: it's time.
0:16
Speaker 1: To rock and roll. Rock band rout I totally booked.
0:25
Speaker 1: Welcome back to book Don Rock, the podcast for those
0:27
Speaker 1: about to read and rock com Eric Senach. Selena Fragassi
0:31
Speaker 1: is Beck on the podcast. This is her second appearance.
0:35
Speaker 1: Last time was for her excellent book on Elenis Morrissett.
0:38
Speaker 1: Today she is here to talk about her brand new book,
0:41
Speaker 1: Pearl Jam Live Thirty five years of legendary music and
0:44
Speaker 1: revolutionary shows. Welcome back, Selena, good to see you again.
0:47
Speaker 2: Thank you, thanks for having me again.
0:49
Speaker 1: Much talked about and written about Pearl Jam studio work,
0:52
Speaker 1: but it's great to see a book paying tribute to
0:55
Speaker 1: this band's history as a live band. It does get
0:57
Speaker 1: into the studio work as well in this book, but
0:59
Speaker 1: it's just great because this is one of the greatest
1:00
Speaker 1: live bands of all time. Great the out of what
1:04
Speaker 1: fans will get inside this book and what were the
1:06
Speaker 1: resources you had to put it together because this is
1:09
Speaker 1: a complete overview.
1:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's you know, I was trying to think of
1:13
Speaker 2: a new way to talk about Pearl Jam, because, like
1:15
Speaker 2: you said, there's been so many books and the great
1:18
Speaker 2: PJ twenty documentary and so many different ways you can
1:21
Speaker 2: kind of approach Pearl Jam. But to me, their legacy
1:24
Speaker 2: is really a live band and the community that they've
1:25
Speaker 2: formed around that live experience. I think they're kind of
1:29
Speaker 2: like the Grateful Dead of this era, where people caravan
1:31
Speaker 2: and meet new friends, and they're just a very special
1:33
Speaker 2: place to build community. In terms of resources, there have
1:39
Speaker 2: been so many great resources. I have to really shout
1:42
Speaker 2: out the fact that fans have been incredible archivers of
1:45
Speaker 2: this band. So everyone from the Pearl Jam concert chronicles
1:49
Speaker 2: to Live and four Legs to Pearl Jam's own website
1:51
Speaker 2: has so much copious info about each individual. To date,
1:55
Speaker 2: there's more than eleven hundred. I actually typed out each
1:58
Speaker 2: one for this book because I want them all in there,
2:02
Speaker 2: but also personally, I wanted to understand the magnitude of
2:04
Speaker 2: how voluminous their life career has been.
2:07
Speaker 1: Take us back October twenty second, nineteen ninety This is
2:09
Speaker 1: the very first show by Pearl Jam. They won't call
2:12
Speaker 1: Pearl Jam yet, They're called Mookie Blaylock. This is an
2:15
Speaker 1: infamous hole in the wall club in Seattle called the
2:18
Speaker 1: off Ram Cafe. Tell us about this show because this
2:22
Speaker 1: is not long after Mother Lovebone had suddenly ended.
2:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, just a few months prior in March nineteen ninety,
2:28
Speaker 2: and he would sadly passed away. Stone and Jeff were
2:31
Speaker 2: left to kind of consider their future for a time.
2:34
Speaker 2: They didn't really want to pursue music in an official
2:38
Speaker 2: capacity until they met Eddie Vetter. And really it was
2:42
Speaker 2: a demo tape that got into the hands of Eddie
2:44
Speaker 2: Vedder that Stone's instrumentals were on it. At he created
2:48
Speaker 2: music and lyrics, He wrote his own version of Really
2:51
Speaker 2: Who's Tommy and his own rock opera.
2:53
Speaker 1: It was.
2:55
Speaker 2: Crazy, you fe lack of a better word, but you
2:58
Speaker 2: know it. It really struck a chord and had an impact
2:59
Speaker 2: on band. And so the craziest thing is that Eddie
3:02
Speaker 2: Vedder came to Seattle permanently October eighth, fourteen days later
3:06
Speaker 2: they had their first show and a lot of material written,
3:09
Speaker 2: which just seems impossible to me to have material in
3:12
Speaker 2: chemistry and be ready to have a show, and the
3:14
Speaker 2: amount of pressure on everyone, particularly Eddie Vedder at this
3:18
Speaker 2: very first date, knowing the Seattle community was there to
3:21
Speaker 2: see kind of like, who's this guy taking the place
3:24
Speaker 2: of Andy Wood. It was, to quote Chris Cornell, one
3:28
Speaker 2: of the best debuts he's ever seen. And in that
3:32
Speaker 2: room that night, pearl jam was made.
3:34
Speaker 1: Yeah he came from San Diego, he sure did. Yeah,
3:36
Speaker 1: the mother lovedborn photographer was talking about it. People weren't welcoming. Yeah,
3:41
Speaker 1: they weren't welcoming Eddie Vedder with open arms. They did
3:45
Speaker 1: not want to accept him. But he won people over
3:48
Speaker 1: pretty quickly.
3:49
Speaker 2: I would say, so. Yeah. I think like he had
3:50
Speaker 2: a lot to prove that and I think he made
3:52
Speaker 2: a lot of non believers sort of give him a chance.
3:55
Speaker 2: Lance is very vocal about the fact that he wanted
3:57
Speaker 2: to walk out when he saw this new guy on stage.
3:59
Speaker 2: And I think you have to understand the magnanimous of
4:03
Speaker 2: Andy Wood. People loved him. He was a showman. He
4:06
Speaker 2: was the heart and soul of the Seattle seen him
4:08
Speaker 2: and he passed. My God, you cannot replace the man
4:10
Speaker 2: and Stone and Jefferly didn't want to. That's why they
4:12
Speaker 2: began a new project and took someone really outside of
4:14
Speaker 2: Seattle to make this project gel And so there were
4:17
Speaker 2: a lot of people who had their doubts, who wanted
4:19
Speaker 2: to see Eddie prove himself. But I think he sure
4:22
Speaker 2: did that first night.
4:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, there was a pretty pivotal moment when Eddie Vetter
4:25
Speaker 1: finds his on stage powers, magic or his influence over
4:30
Speaker 1: the audience. You called in the book the Night Eddie
4:32
Speaker 1: Came Alive January tenth, nineteen ninety one. Tell us about
4:35
Speaker 1: this one in Canada of Victoria, BC, Canada.
4:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Pearl Jam had only had several shows under
4:41
Speaker 2: their bell at this point. It was only a few
4:43
Speaker 2: months after their first show, and they were opening for
4:45
Speaker 2: Alison Chains whose Facelift EP was out, so they were
4:48
Speaker 2: the support act. They only played a few songs, but
4:51
Speaker 2: Eddie was noticing the crowd was really rowdy and not
4:53
Speaker 2: paying attention, and I think he was motivated to get
4:55
Speaker 2: them to pay attention, and so he did the unthinkable
4:57
Speaker 2: and just started his very crazy tars and piatrix.
5:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, they were more interested in getting drunk, yes they
5:04
Speaker 1: say the book, than the watching the show. But yeah,
5:07
Speaker 1: he turned there, He turned them around. Before I get
5:10
Speaker 1: to the next question, I just want to set it
5:11
Speaker 1: up with some great pieces of history from the book here.
5:14
Speaker 1: The band signed with Epic on February twenty second of
5:17
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety one, and soon after changed the name to
5:20
Speaker 1: Pearl Jam. They played their final show as Mookie Blaylock
5:23
Speaker 1: on March second, nineteen ninety one, at Seattle's Okay Hotel.
5:27
Speaker 1: By March tenth, they appeared on the Seattle rock station
5:30
Speaker 1: KISW to announce the new name, and by May seventeenth,
5:35
Speaker 1: once again at the Off Ramp, they officially performed as
5:39
Speaker 1: Pearl Jam. They recorded the now classic album ten and
5:43
Speaker 1: hit the road in July of ninety one ahead of
5:46
Speaker 1: its late August release, And there's a show on July
5:49
Speaker 1: twenty first at First Ab in Minneapolis. I believe where
5:51
Speaker 1: you say it was quote the birth as we know
5:53
Speaker 1: it of Pearl Jam. The venerable tour gods who have
5:55
Speaker 1: gone on to transfixed crowds, sell out shows, and become
5:59
Speaker 1: the leaders of a master class and how to perform
6:02
Speaker 1: live and employees shared the story of that night from
6:05
Speaker 1: the book. Eddie was playing to a real small crowd,
6:09
Speaker 1: but he's performing as if his life depends on it, right.
6:12
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that was Eddie. I think he didn't matter
6:15
Speaker 2: what scenario you put him into, whether it was huge
6:18
Speaker 2: bilaming crowds of Lava Paluza or these really tiny shows,
6:20
Speaker 2: even when he was a support act for Alison Chains
6:22
Speaker 2: or they were a support act for Alison Chains. They
6:24
Speaker 2: wanted to give it, They're all And I think really
6:26
Speaker 2: a game changer was when Nirvana's Nevermind came out and
6:29
Speaker 2: Pearl Jim had some dates with Nirvana and Red Hat
6:34
Speaker 2: Chili Peppers, and they saw this band blow up and
6:36
Speaker 2: how great they were on stage, and rather than take
6:39
Speaker 2: it as we want to be better than them, they're like,
6:40
Speaker 2: we got to elevate ourselves to be at this level.
6:43
Speaker 2: So they were always thinking about how do we make
6:45
Speaker 2: the best show we can and make an impression on
6:48
Speaker 2: these fans, And they just to this day they give
6:50
Speaker 2: their all on every single show they put forth.
6:52
Speaker 1: They sure do. You discussed the quote unquote dizzying drummer situation.
6:56
Speaker 1: Five drummers in thirty five years, but they all had
6:58
Speaker 1: an important role to I like Dave Preus in the beginning.
7:01
Speaker 1: I loved his style. Dave ad rezis another outstanding drummer,
7:05
Speaker 1: and just recently another drummer changed. Right, Matt Cameron is
7:08
Speaker 1: no longer in the band. So who are the other guys?
7:11
Speaker 1: Those are three I mentioned Jack Irons, Jack Irons.
7:15
Speaker 2: And Dave Dave Jack and who am I blinking on
7:20
Speaker 2: right now?
7:20
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, there's a fifth.
7:22
Speaker 2: Yes, I'm blinking. I'm blinking.
7:23
Speaker 1: Well while you think of it. Do you have a
7:26
Speaker 1: personal favorite? Because I loved I love Dave Cruson. In fact,
7:29
Speaker 1: he got it. He was in a band with the
7:31
Speaker 1: guys from Blind Melon by Theory, which I was happy
7:35
Speaker 1: to see. But do you have a favorite because they're
7:37
Speaker 1: different styles.
7:38
Speaker 2: They're all very different styles and I appreciate all of
7:41
Speaker 2: them in their own way. Sorry, Matt Chamberlain. There, God,
7:45
Speaker 2: there's another double name. There's the Dave's the Matts. There
7:48
Speaker 2: we got mat changing.
7:48
Speaker 1: If I gave you enough time, you'd get it.
7:50
Speaker 2: He was very very short, short lived for a very
7:52
Speaker 2: very short period of time. But not that he wasn't insignificant.
7:55
Speaker 2: But I mean, I Matt Cameron. I have to say
7:58
Speaker 2: Matt Cameron. I think Matt Cameron and took on a
8:01
Speaker 2: heroic feat of literally playing in two huge bands at
8:04
Speaker 2: the same time for a spell, learning all these Pearl
8:07
Speaker 2: Jam songs and getting right into the mix of their
8:10
Speaker 2: crazy changing setless every night. And I just feel like
8:14
Speaker 2: Matt has there's a reason why he was in the
8:16
Speaker 2: band as their drummer the longest. I think he was
8:18
Speaker 2: really a guiding force and a calming force for the band,
8:23
Speaker 2: and I'm so sad he left. He made the announcement
8:26
Speaker 2: after this book went to production, so it's not in
8:29
Speaker 2: the book, but I kind of like that it's not
8:30
Speaker 2: because this book really celebrates all the contributions Matt made
8:33
Speaker 2: to Pearl Jam.
8:33
Speaker 1: There seemed to be nothing personal with his situation, and
8:37
Speaker 1: I think there's only really one situation I think was Aberziz,
8:40
Speaker 1: who maybe they just felt like he was starting to
8:42
Speaker 1: live that rock and roll lifestyle a little too much.
8:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, And the rumor is like that Dave really was
8:47
Speaker 2: asked after the whole ticketmaster fraucus because Day did not
8:50
Speaker 2: understand why they were doing that, why they were backpedaling
8:52
Speaker 2: and not doing videos or singles, And so I think
8:55
Speaker 2: like his personal ethos was like, let's shoot for the
8:57
Speaker 2: stars and keep this rolling, whereas the other band and
9:00
Speaker 2: where other band members wanted to back puddle a little.
9:02
Speaker 1: Oh that's interesting. I didn't know. I've just read a
9:05
Speaker 1: book on Coachella and I didn't realize pearl Jam plays
9:08
Speaker 1: a pretty big role in that. In the early days,
9:11
Speaker 1: there was a venue they didn't want to play. I
9:13
Speaker 1: can't remember the specifics, but it had to do with
9:16
Speaker 1: Pearl Jam not wanting to play at a venue that
9:18
Speaker 1: was run by a ticketmaster.
9:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, pearl Jam was I don't believe pearl Jam played Coachella,
9:24
Speaker 2: but they did, of course play all of ninety two
9:26
Speaker 2: for La La Pluza, the second year at the festival,
9:28
Speaker 2: and that's really what changed the game for Pearl Jam
9:30
Speaker 2: was being on that lineup and all the the younger
9:33
Speaker 2: fans that came out. It was, you know, an anomaly
9:36
Speaker 2: that festival. But yeah, pearl Jam was very staunch and
9:40
Speaker 2: how they felt about Ticketmaster and kaw tawing to working
9:42
Speaker 2: with them until it kind of became they realized you
9:46
Speaker 2: kind of had to, sadly because of the you know,
9:48
Speaker 2: lack of a better word, monopoly in place.
9:51
Speaker 1: But yeah, that became a big story. MTV covered it,
9:54
Speaker 1: remember it well. They tore the red Hot chili peppers,
9:57
Speaker 1: which gave Pearl Jam heavy exposure, driving radio to pay
10:00
Speaker 1: attention more and more to them, and then we have
10:03
Speaker 1: Nirvana's Nevermind hitting number one by January of ninety two.
10:06
Speaker 1: Projam was part of a sea change and they were,
10:09
Speaker 1: as you were, ready to ride that wave and also
10:11
Speaker 1: start to use it for a greater purpose. Expin on
10:14
Speaker 1: that how Projam used that popularity to influence changes in
10:18
Speaker 1: causes that they cared about and they still do.
10:21
Speaker 2: Yeah. Projam is a very amazing group of very passionate
10:24
Speaker 2: people who believe in a lot of very important causes,
10:27
Speaker 2: whether it's women's rights, voting rights, homelessness, the environment, and
10:31
Speaker 2: they have stood behind that. They have the Vitology Foundation,
10:34
Speaker 2: which Todata has raised millions of dollars to give to
10:37
Speaker 2: these causes through their ticket sales. And in the beginning,
10:40
Speaker 2: as they were growing up and not even a household name,
10:43
Speaker 2: yet they really put their voices. They use their platform
10:45
Speaker 2: to elevate those causes, and so they played shows like
10:49
Speaker 2: Rock for Choice and Rock the Vote. They did the
10:52
Speaker 2: Drop in the Park show for voting to get people
10:54
Speaker 2: registered to vote. They played a show too for the
10:58
Speaker 2: Apache Nation in Arizona to try to save their land,
11:01
Speaker 2: and they even in twenty seventeen. I believe it was
11:04
Speaker 2: they had the home shows in Seattle where they raised
11:06
Speaker 2: a ton of money for the homeless community. They've just
11:08
Speaker 2: been for me. My whole theory and thesis behind this
11:11
Speaker 2: book is that Pearl Jam as a band for the people,
11:13
Speaker 2: and I think they've shown that over a long period
11:15
Speaker 2: of time, but it really started with taking those causes
11:18
Speaker 2: on for their fans and the greater community of humans.
11:21
Speaker 1: In one part of the book, you write about how
11:24
Speaker 1: there was a show Pro Jam played on New Year's
11:25
Speaker 1: Eve of nineteen ninety one at the Kyle Palace in
11:28
Speaker 1: Daily City, California, and you write, quote a reporter with
11:31
Speaker 1: Rolling Stone was in the crowd that night and said
11:33
Speaker 1: the show even eclipsed that of hometown heroes Grateful Dead,
11:37
Speaker 1: who are playing their long running annual NYE Bash down
11:41
Speaker 1: the road. Now that's interesting to me. I'm a big
11:43
Speaker 1: Dead fan, and I always looked at Pearl Jam as
11:47
Speaker 1: as very similar because they built a fan based much
11:50
Speaker 1: in the way the Grateful Dead did, changing up the
11:53
Speaker 1: set list, allowing for fans to record shows. And you
11:56
Speaker 1: mentioned Eddie thanking the Dead. This is when they used
12:01
Speaker 1: the stage at Soldier Field in July of ninety five.
12:05
Speaker 1: Have any of the guys in the band talked at
12:07
Speaker 1: length about Grateful Dead? Are they fans of the band?
12:10
Speaker 2: I did not find out of my research that any
12:13
Speaker 2: were like super big fans of them. I think there
12:15
Speaker 2: was a respect for them, and I think they very
12:16
Speaker 2: much modeled a lot of what they did after the
12:18
Speaker 2: community that Grateful Dad had built. And I think the
12:22
Speaker 2: fans also played into that because, like I said, the
12:24
Speaker 2: caravan to all these different shows, there's an international presence.
12:28
Speaker 2: They've made their own community of friends as well through
12:31
Speaker 2: being together at these shows, So that communal aspect is
12:34
Speaker 2: very much taking off from Grateful Dead.
12:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, because their shows, their audiences got bigger and bigger
12:41
Speaker 1: at a point when radio was not playing as much
12:45
Speaker 1: of their singles, when they were taking a little more
12:47
Speaker 1: risks with the music and they weren't as mainstream, and
12:49
Speaker 1: yet here they were. The audiences got bigger and bigger.
12:52
Speaker 1: Playing Madison Square Garden like two nights, three nights, It's
12:55
Speaker 1: just cool. I love it. Eddie Vedder's risk taking on stage,
13:01
Speaker 1: those were becoming a concern for his bandmates, the roadies
13:05
Speaker 1: and the venues, you know, for insurance reasons. There were
13:07
Speaker 1: some moments where people were worried he'd fall to his death.
13:11
Speaker 1: Especially in the early days. There were like put up
13:14
Speaker 1: and tear down fast stage sets, right.
13:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh yeah, And it's crazy, like you look at
13:19
Speaker 2: something like the most notorious maybe it was that Pink
13:21
Speaker 2: Pop in the Netherlands, when he's like on those rafters
13:24
Speaker 2: and he's on the crane for the camera, It's like,
13:26
Speaker 2: what was this man thinking? But I think it was
13:28
Speaker 2: just adrenaline at the time. But I can't imagine all
13:32
Speaker 2: the people his bandmates being like, please don't die right now,
13:36
Speaker 2: and you know Lallapalooza when they Yeah, they had like
13:38
Speaker 2: tear up, tear down structures in some of these parks
13:41
Speaker 2: and it was a huge concern of how they knew
13:43
Speaker 2: he was going to do this. But hopefully, you know,
13:45
Speaker 2: fingers crossed he survives.
13:47
Speaker 1: There was a theft in Sweden, a callous theft in
13:50
Speaker 1: Sweden that you talk about in the book, and this
13:53
Speaker 1: is in June of nineteen ninety two. This was a
13:56
Speaker 1: shift changing moment. What happened and how did that affect Eddie?
14:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, his like the lyrics were still, his info was still,
14:03
Speaker 2: and I think at this point it was just Eddie
14:05
Speaker 2: Vetter was too much in the forefront, and he became
14:08
Speaker 2: the poster child for this band in a celebrity in
14:10
Speaker 2: so many ways, and he had stalkers, and I think
14:13
Speaker 2: it was you know that when he started saying enough
14:15
Speaker 2: is enough and was back peddling. He didn't want to
14:17
Speaker 2: do any of these things that would raise his exposure
14:20
Speaker 2: or have these labels put on him. That he wasn't
14:23
Speaker 2: asking for this voice of a generation all the pressure
14:26
Speaker 2: that came with it. And so that's when you saw
14:28
Speaker 2: Eddie kind of back pedal and he was writing in
14:30
Speaker 2: his own vans and doing the radio tour when he
14:33
Speaker 2: was on en route with Pearl Jam. He wanted to
14:36
Speaker 2: get back to the sort of punk roots that he
14:38
Speaker 2: grew up in. He didn't he it was a real
14:39
Speaker 2: about face to the celebrity paparazzi nature of what happened.
14:45
Speaker 1: That's around the time he wore a mask as well.
14:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, no helmet. He had an army helmet from all time. Yeah,
14:51
Speaker 2: he wore an army helmet. And I think that was
14:52
Speaker 2: literally like maybe a tongue in cheek joke, but who knows.
14:56
Speaker 2: I mean, I think honestly he was very concerned about
14:58
Speaker 2: his life, you know, the thing things could happen. I mean,
15:01
Speaker 2: he had stalkers.
15:04
Speaker 1: Hey guys, we'll get back to the show, but first
15:06
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15:37
Speaker 1: five years of legendary music and revolutionary shows. Let's get
15:41
Speaker 1: into the ticketmasters story a little bit more. This was
15:44
Speaker 1: brewing for a few years, dating back to ninety two,
15:48
Speaker 1: but it was during the Vitology tour around March of
15:50
Speaker 1: ninety four when it reached ahead. What was their issue
15:53
Speaker 1: and how did that all play out?
15:55
Speaker 2: Ultimately, Yeah, there were things that were happening where they
15:57
Speaker 2: were trying to do like free shows drop in the
16:00
Speaker 2: Park where it was really just a platform to get
16:02
Speaker 2: people to register to vote, and they it was a complimentary,
16:06
Speaker 2: you know ticket, a comp ticket, and Ticketmaster was adding
16:08
Speaker 2: fees onto this for a free show, and that really
16:10
Speaker 2: pissed off Pearl Jam because they didn't want there to
16:12
Speaker 2: be you know, these tacked on things and in corporate natures.
16:16
Speaker 2: Ticketmaster was printing like AT and T and stuff on
16:18
Speaker 2: the tickets that's very antithetical to who Pearl Jam is,
16:21
Speaker 2: and so they didn't want to do this anymore, and
16:24
Speaker 2: they didn't They weren't agreeing with the fees that Ticketmaster
16:27
Speaker 2: was tacking on that we all know of today, which
16:30
Speaker 2: can be fifty percent of more of your just your
16:32
Speaker 2: ticket price. Knowing how fans they were young and they
16:36
Speaker 2: remembered how it was to want to go see shows
16:38
Speaker 2: and not have a lot of money, they really were
16:40
Speaker 2: trying to stand up for their fan base because they
16:42
Speaker 2: didn't want there to be a roadblock for people to
16:44
Speaker 2: come see their live shows. This is a band who
16:46
Speaker 2: literally formed in order to play live, so it was
16:49
Speaker 2: very important to them to cultivate that community that could
16:52
Speaker 2: still come out and see them.
16:53
Speaker 1: Was a long term effect that that had. You think beneficial, Yeah,
16:57
Speaker 1: I think they make an impact.
17:00
Speaker 2: Sadly no, because as you can see, Taylor Swift had
17:04
Speaker 2: to try to do the same thing thirty years later,
17:06
Speaker 2: and we're still dealing with, you know, for lack of
17:09
Speaker 2: a better word, a monopoly. There's not a lot of
17:11
Speaker 2: options in the ticketing space for bands. Many bands have
17:14
Speaker 2: spoken out, like the Cure talks about the fees that
17:16
Speaker 2: they try to knock down. You know, we have this
17:19
Speaker 2: whole thing now with the UH where they're sorry I'm
17:24
Speaker 2: blinking on the word, but they're.
17:27
Speaker 1: Charger.
17:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, not the surcharge. But when they have like the
17:30
Speaker 2: the markets where they know there's going to be a
17:32
Speaker 2: higher demand, they raise the pride. They hijacket those markets. Right,
17:35
Speaker 2: They're doing like a lot of practices that really are
17:38
Speaker 2: sketchy and that have not changed. I give pro Drum
17:41
Speaker 2: a lot of credit for trying to change the structure,
17:43
Speaker 2: but it was a David and Goliath fight and I think,
17:45
Speaker 2: you know, they went to Congress to try to speak
17:47
Speaker 2: about this. But frankly, I'm shocked that they survived all
17:51
Speaker 2: of that because for a band that was still kind
17:53
Speaker 2: of in their infancy to take on a corporation and
17:56
Speaker 2: to bucket and try to do their own planning of
17:59
Speaker 2: a tour could have been the kiss of death.
18:01
Speaker 1: Huge risk. April eighth, nineteen ninety four, Pearl Jam played
18:04
Speaker 1: at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia, and that was
18:07
Speaker 1: the day that Kurt Cobain died. The press had fans
18:10
Speaker 1: wondering if Eddie and Kirk got along. Were they enemies.
18:15
Speaker 1: I don't think they ever were. There was a mutual
18:17
Speaker 1: respect there, but the media it's kind of played that up.
18:20
Speaker 2: They weren't enemies, and in fact, there's some lovely footage
18:23
Speaker 2: that was seen for the first time in the Pearl
18:25
Speaker 2: Jam twenty documentary of them being at the MTV Awards
18:28
Speaker 2: where they're embracing backstage. I think things were really taken
18:33
Speaker 2: out of context and the media created this drama, and
18:37
Speaker 2: I think if there was any kind of discord, it's
18:40
Speaker 2: the fact that, you know, Nirvana was so punk rock
18:42
Speaker 2: and their ethos and they were like, we don't want
18:45
Speaker 2: to be mainstream. They hated any idea of that, and
18:48
Speaker 2: Pearl Jam, no fault of their own, kind of got
18:50
Speaker 2: thrown into it, and so there was that kind of
18:52
Speaker 2: ruffling of ideologies. But I think they both had the
18:56
Speaker 2: same idea. They didn't they didn't want to be the
18:59
Speaker 2: face or their voice of a generation like that was
19:01
Speaker 2: tagged on them, but they just got thrown into it.
19:03
Speaker 2: But no, I think that they were friendly.
19:05
Speaker 1: What did he say that night at that show about Kurt?
19:09
Speaker 2: It was heartfelt and if I remember, it's to the
19:11
Speaker 2: effect of, like, we wouldn't be here without Kurt, like
19:13
Speaker 2: he was. He had such an impact. You know, Pearl
19:16
Speaker 2: Jam wrestled with the idea of should they go on
19:18
Speaker 2: that night? In fact, they were at the White House
19:21
Speaker 2: because that show was in Fairfax. They were very close
19:24
Speaker 2: to the White House. Bill Clinton had them come in
19:26
Speaker 2: and he wanted to know, there's a great photo of
19:28
Speaker 2: Bill Clinton at the band. He wanted to know, you know,
19:31
Speaker 2: should I be going and making a national address on
19:33
Speaker 2: TV to kind of quell a lot of the feelings
19:36
Speaker 2: that this young generation kind of had about losing Kurt,
19:39
Speaker 2: and Pearl Jam persuaded him from doing so.
19:41
Speaker 1: Actually, according to the book, Pearl Jam has covered Neil
19:43
Speaker 1: Young's Rocket in the Free World nearly three hundred and
19:46
Speaker 1: fifty times, talk about his influence on the band and
19:49
Speaker 1: why they regard him as a mentor. They lovingly referred
19:52
Speaker 1: to him as Uncle Neil.
19:54
Speaker 2: They sure do. In fact, you know, the law is
19:56
Speaker 2: that their their name, the Jam part of their name
19:58
Speaker 2: comes from really seeing Neil Young at a date that
20:01
Speaker 2: they signed their contract with Epic. They went to go
20:03
Speaker 2: see Neil at a New York show and that became
20:06
Speaker 2: part of their name. He was Uncle Neil to them.
20:08
Speaker 2: And I think Neil Young came in at very pivotal
20:10
Speaker 2: moments when Pearl Jam needed a mentor, a northern, a
20:14
Speaker 2: north star like they called him. And I think, you know,
20:18
Speaker 2: if you talk about nonconformity, Neil Young had done that
20:21
Speaker 2: for years and he was the voice of reason for
20:24
Speaker 2: them and kept them motivated to keep on the path
20:26
Speaker 2: that they were on. When Eddie Vetter was sick at
20:30
Speaker 2: that one day, I believe in San Francisco, and Neil
20:32
Speaker 2: had to kind of come in and cover for them.
20:33
Speaker 2: He like quote unquote rescued them at several points throughout
20:36
Speaker 2: the course of their career, and he also showed them
20:39
Speaker 2: the ways that you can experiment with your music while
20:41
Speaker 2: still keeping your persona intact. Yeah, he's been a real
20:47
Speaker 2: guiding force for Pearl Jam this entire time.
20:50
Speaker 1: Very important moment in Pearl Jam Live History takes place
20:52
Speaker 1: on September thirteenth of nineteen ninety five. We talked about
20:56
Speaker 1: their similarity to The Grateful Dead allowing fans to record.
21:00
Speaker 1: This is when the band announced taping of shows is permitted.
21:03
Speaker 1: How important of a moment is that in terms of
21:05
Speaker 1: the band's live legacy.
21:07
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, so important because you think about today.
21:09
Speaker 2: If you go to shows where you want to everyone
21:11
Speaker 2: has their phones out. They want to capture the moment,
21:13
Speaker 2: they want to feel it, they want to remember how
21:15
Speaker 2: it felt being there. And Pearl Jim allowing people to
21:18
Speaker 2: do bootlegs was unheard of. I mean, you had people
21:19
Speaker 2: like Bob Dylan trying to you know, and other bands
21:22
Speaker 2: who were like Adam in Ley against it when CBS
21:26
Speaker 2: Records try to put out the live recordings of Bob
21:28
Speaker 2: and he was trying to go after them. So you know,
21:30
Speaker 2: Pearl Jim really changed the guard with allowing it at
21:32
Speaker 2: their shows and only allowing it, but they're like, you
21:34
Speaker 2: want to give you better qualities. They ended up recording
21:36
Speaker 2: them themselves, and I think you know, for one, it
21:38
Speaker 2: was an olive branch to fans, but for two, it's
21:41
Speaker 2: created this incredible archive. They have like hundreds of bootlegs
21:45
Speaker 2: at this point, so you can tap back into a
21:46
Speaker 2: show you went to, one you've heard about and feel
21:49
Speaker 2: like you were there.
21:50
Speaker 1: Going back again now to another topic that I just
21:53
Speaker 1: I briefly mentioned, but as we get into the second
21:57
Speaker 1: half of the nineties, radio is not embracing them as much.
22:02
Speaker 1: The band is taking some chances. Nineteen ninety six is
22:05
Speaker 1: no code confuse the fans a little bit, but the
22:08
Speaker 1: band was testing their fans' loyalty and they proved that
22:14
Speaker 1: they were going to follow the band no matter what
22:16
Speaker 1: they were going to try to do, right. That was
22:18
Speaker 1: a huge I think that was a pivotal moment as well.
22:20
Speaker 1: That's when they realized we've got fans that are going
22:22
Speaker 1: to be with us here.
22:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it came in a really interesting time because
22:25
Speaker 2: it was right after the whole ticket Master to backle
22:28
Speaker 2: So they have been kind of testing fans willingness to
22:31
Speaker 2: stick with them this entire few year span. But yeah,
22:34
Speaker 2: pri Jams Again, it's remarkable to me that they have
22:38
Speaker 2: stayed as relevant and active for these entire thirty five
22:41
Speaker 2: years because there were big dips in their career that
22:43
Speaker 2: could have really just killed the band or killed off
22:46
Speaker 2: their fan base because they would have migrated to something else.
22:49
Speaker 2: So I think it's a testament to their character and
22:52
Speaker 2: I think by the fact that they stayed true to
22:53
Speaker 2: themselves and authentic, it made them want to continue the
22:56
Speaker 2: band as well.
22:57
Speaker 1: Great albums too, It's just that they weren't They weren't
22:59
Speaker 1: like they weren't that they didn't have the songs that
23:01
Speaker 1: were radio friendly. But thinking of what's the one with Lovebo.
23:06
Speaker 2: Captain, Yeah, right, act.
23:10
Speaker 1: Yes, right at I think it was right at all.
23:13
Speaker 1: Great stuff.
23:14
Speaker 2: I mean, I mean such different normal boarding, yeah.
23:17
Speaker 1: The other one. Yeah. Let's get to the fans so more,
23:21
Speaker 1: what is the ten Club? When did it form and
23:24
Speaker 1: what is the status of it today?
23:27
Speaker 2: Kind Of from the beginning, it took over for a
23:28
Speaker 2: Mother Love Bone fan club, and it morphed into the
23:30
Speaker 2: ten Club once they had you know, time come out,
23:33
Speaker 2: and right away they were issuing really special collectible items,
23:37
Speaker 2: whether it was an unreleased single for Christmas or it was,
23:41
Speaker 2: you know, anything that they would send fans that they
23:42
Speaker 2: could collect, and they were adding to this idea of
23:45
Speaker 2: having like these physical products in an era where we
23:49
Speaker 2: don't have those anymore. And Pearl Jump stopped the physical
23:52
Speaker 2: releases at one point, but they still deliver. That club
23:55
Speaker 2: is very active today when fan clubs aren't really around anymore.
23:58
Speaker 2: I think Metallica has one, but it's not a model
24:01
Speaker 2: that truly exists, in large part because you know, social
24:04
Speaker 2: media has taken over that community aspect in many ways.
24:07
Speaker 2: But Ticketmaster was the front lines for fans. It was
24:10
Speaker 2: where you could and still can, get first access to tickets.
24:14
Speaker 2: It's where you get updates from the band that they're
24:16
Speaker 2: not sharing elsewhere. It's a real exclusive community and there's
24:19
Speaker 2: a specialness to it, and I think by them establishing
24:22
Speaker 2: that and carrying it on for thirty five years, it's
24:25
Speaker 2: really edified that fan base.
24:27
Speaker 1: So Mempik shows in the two thousands, and there's one
24:29
Speaker 1: noted in the book July eleventh, two thousand and three
24:31
Speaker 1: in Boston. This is at the Tweeter Center known as
24:34
Speaker 1: the forty five Song Boston Marathon. It's a record breaker, right, yeah,
24:39
Speaker 1: in terms of number of songs, second and.
24:42
Speaker 2: Long set, but longest or sorry as most songs. Yeah.
24:46
Speaker 1: Now, the one that's the longest in length is Philadelphia
24:48
Speaker 1: October nine. Is that three and a half hours?
24:52
Speaker 2: I thought it was Soldier Field, but I could be
24:53
Speaker 2: wrong on that.
24:54
Speaker 1: Wow, I think it was.
24:55
Speaker 2: A lot one too.
24:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, they essentially change the set list pretty drastically each night.
25:02
Speaker 1: I mean they switch out quite a few. There are
25:05
Speaker 1: songs that they'll always include, I think, but.
25:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're always going to include some from ten. Of
25:09
Speaker 2: course that's their like benchmark album. But they do. They
25:13
Speaker 2: change it every night, and it's not even like close
25:15
Speaker 2: to the night before, but it's a few different. It's
25:17
Speaker 2: like a drastically different set list. I've seen them many
25:21
Speaker 2: times on multiple nights here in Chicago or when I
25:24
Speaker 2: was at PJ twenty and it's really interesting to me
25:27
Speaker 2: how they curate that. And they know, like a lot
25:30
Speaker 2: of fans do end up coming from multiple nights, and
25:32
Speaker 2: so they want to make it very unique every single time.
25:35
Speaker 1: I love that. I love that. Easier it's an art
25:38
Speaker 1: easier said than done, because you have to they have
25:41
Speaker 1: to be prepared to know every single song in the catalog.
25:45
Speaker 1: You know, you got to note back and forth. Were
25:47
Speaker 1: you at the Wrigley Field show in twenty thirteen when
25:50
Speaker 1: they played until two am? I sure was, Oh you
25:53
Speaker 1: were there?
25:53
Speaker 2: There was?
25:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, tell us about this? Why did it go until
25:57
Speaker 1: two am. It was a delay.
25:59
Speaker 2: There was a rain to li fittingly enough at Wrigley
26:02
Speaker 2: Fields where they got seven songs in and then they
26:05
Speaker 2: had to tell people go into the concourse. We have
26:07
Speaker 2: to evacuate, you know, because it was an open field
26:10
Speaker 2: and a rooftop there, and so we all had to
26:12
Speaker 2: go into the concourse. But they promised they would be back,
26:14
Speaker 2: and so we were all in the concourse. I thought
26:16
Speaker 2: I was going to die that night. It was, you know,
26:17
Speaker 2: Wrigley Field there, it's an older ballpark, so there wasn't
26:20
Speaker 2: like a lot of room to move where I was at.
26:23
Speaker 2: They were running out of water. I was freaking out,
26:26
Speaker 2: like should I leave? I was having a panic attack.
26:28
Speaker 2: A but I'll be honest, but I'm like, I'm gonna
26:30
Speaker 2: stay because I know this band isn't there none of
26:33
Speaker 2: their words, and they are going to come back, And
26:35
Speaker 2: sure enough they did. I actually chatted with the team
26:38
Speaker 2: at Wrigley Field this year because they celebrated twenty years
26:41
Speaker 2: of concerts, and we talked a bit about how the
26:43
Speaker 2: band was able to do that. Because Wrigley is in
26:45
Speaker 2: a neighborhood, there's a very very strict curfew but they
26:48
Speaker 2: were able to get the city to waive that without
26:52
Speaker 2: having any penalties, and it was one of the most
26:54
Speaker 2: mythological shows I've ever seen there.
26:56
Speaker 1: Do you remember how much of the audience stuck around which.
27:00
Speaker 2: Part of it? Yeah? I would say like ninety percent
27:03
Speaker 2: was still there.
27:04
Speaker 1: The loyal Pearl Jam fans. Oh yeah, And we'll finish
27:07
Speaker 1: with this. So many great Pearl Jam moments from those
27:09
Speaker 1: who saw Perojam live in the book, which is really cool.
27:11
Speaker 1: Let's finish with your personal Pearl Jam moment. Maybe you
27:14
Speaker 1: just told me what it is the Wrigley Show in
27:16
Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, But is there a show that stands out
27:18
Speaker 1: for you as the best?
27:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's actually not the Wrigley Show, as much as
27:22
Speaker 2: that was incredible, it was PJ twenty, the twentieth anniversary
27:26
Speaker 2: weekend in Alpine Valley. And the reason behind that is
27:30
Speaker 2: because I talk a bit about this in the book,
27:32
Speaker 2: But I as a teen growing up was an alt
27:35
Speaker 2: rock radio. I gleaned a Pearl Jam pretty early, and
27:38
Speaker 2: I love the first three albums, Ten Versus and Vitology,
27:42
Speaker 2: but I dropped off a bit with no code in
27:44
Speaker 2: thereafter because I think at my that time, my year,
27:47
Speaker 2: wasn't mature enough to understand same thing. Yeah, I mean
27:50
Speaker 2: it was like they had such a formula for these
27:53
Speaker 2: great rock bangers and I just wasn't getting it, and
27:56
Speaker 2: so they kind of dropped off for me until I
27:58
Speaker 2: got this assignment to cover Peach and it brought me
28:02
Speaker 2: right back in. It was one of the most emotional
28:04
Speaker 2: communal shows I've ever been to in my life, seeing
28:07
Speaker 2: people from all over the world congregate, having Chris Cornell
28:10
Speaker 2: come out doing Mother Lovebone Temple the Dog. That show
28:14
Speaker 2: to this day sits in my top five list for sure.
28:16
Speaker 1: There You Go. Yield is another great album. Yeah I
28:20
Speaker 1: love Yield. Yeah Yeah. Pearl GM Live thirty five years
28:23
Speaker 1: of legendary music and revolutionary shows out now. Find it
28:27
Speaker 1: wherever books are sold, look for at your nearest independent bookstore.
28:30
Speaker 1: You can find your nearest independent bookstore at bookdown rock
28:33
Speaker 1: dot com and Selena. Where can people find you online?
28:37
Speaker 2: I'm everywhere. I'm on Facebook, an x, and Instagram. My
28:40
Speaker 2: handle is just my name and I would love to
28:42
Speaker 2: hear from people. I've been running a few contests on
28:44
Speaker 2: my socials as well.
28:45
Speaker 1: So I saw it, I saw it, Yes, Yes, I
28:47
Speaker 1: follow you. I think on Instagram and maybe Nex too.
28:49
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, cool all right, Selena Figaci, thank you again
28:52
Speaker 1: for coming on and look forward to having you back
28:55
Speaker 1: on again in the future.
28:56
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. That's it. It's
29:06
Speaker 2: in the box.
29:07
Speaker 1: H