Friday, December 30, 2011

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2011, #1

Let me start by saying … I hate you all.  Not to get into the specifics of it, but your lowly blogger lives in North Carolina and traveling to Wisconsin for a weekend music festival wasn’t in the cards.  That being said, someone has to stay behind and disseminate all the greatness to the masses on the web, right?

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way … woah!  Clearly September 3rd and 4th, 2011 are two days that will never be forgotten by Pearl Jam fans.  Just before the first of the year, Kelly Curtis came on Pearl Jam Radio and hinted that Pearl Jam was setting up a party ("not a festival") to celebrate their 20th birthday. That party ended up being a whole lot like a festival which included old and new friends Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs, The Young Evils, Jason Lytle, David Garza, Josepth Arthur, Liam Finn, THENEWNO2, John Doe, Mudhoney, Queens of the Stone Age, and The Strokes.  In fact, it was more than a festival, it was musical celebration of Pearl Jam's friends and influences spanning the breadth of their career.

 
First, fans were greeted with a gift bag including the first official release from the “Vault,” and a single from the “upcoming” Jeff Ament LP.  Then they were ushered into their own special reserved space where you could hang out, relax, and meet other Ten Club members from around the world.  When listening to great music got to be too much, you could always stroll on over to the Pearl Jam Museum, a staggering collection of memorabilia with everything from Ed’s 4-track mixer and lyric notebooks to the Devo costumes that the band wore performing “Whip It” on Halloween night 2009.

And then the shows!  Pearl Jam performed both nights of the festival.  The first night was a rarity-laced collection of songs including gems like Push Me, Pull Me, Help Help, and the live debuts of In the Moonlight and Setting Forth.  The second night was heavier with Pearl Jam’s hits: The Fixer, Even Flow, and Elderly Woman.  Both nights were studded with guest appearances by other performers, but the coup de grĂ¢ce was a Mother Love Bone tribute on Stardog Champion and a two-night reunion of Temple of the Dog.  Chris Cornell took the stage to perform Reach Down, Hunger Strike, Call Me a Dog, and Say Hello 2 Heaven.





Exhausted fans crawling to the airport on Monday morning declared Pearl Jam Destination Weekend the greatest shows ever, rivaling the 2006 stand at the Gorge and the 2009 series at the Spectrum.  Which reminds me … where’s my boxed set?  Maybe in 2012!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2011, #2

PEARL JAM TWENTY the MOVIE


Cameron Crowe’s documentary covering the first 20+ years of Pearl Jam history was one of the crown jewels of the 2011 yearlong celebration of all things Pearl Jam.

Pearl Jam Twenty takes us from the Green River/Mother Love Bone era (with lots of vintage footage) through performances as recent as 2009.  The movie manages to capture the feeling of being a Pearl Jam fan following them through two decades of excitement and drama.


Pearl Jam also flexed their social network muscles again by using the PJ20 website to release snippets from the movie, outtakes, pieces of the soundtrack, and previews of the companion book to ramp up the excitement leading up to the September 28 release date.

The excitement continued with the late-October release of the Pearl Jam Twenty DVD and BluRay.  Superfans had an opportunity to buy a limited edition, handmade boxed set including the movie, a second, distinct movie including unedited versions of the performances used in the original movie, and a full disc of extra extras not included in the retail DVD or BluRay all wrapped in a distinctive, collectible box.

Pearl Jam Song Lyric Tournament: Quarter Finals (12/2-12-6)

Quarter Finals

Voting open 12/28-1/3


121. Under your tongue/I'm like a tab/I will give you what you're not supposed to have
vs.
I wish I was the verb 'to trust' and never let you down

122. Seek my part/ devote myself/my small self/like a book amongst the many on a shelf
vs.
They said that timing was everything/made him want to be everywhere/there’s a lot to be said for nowhere

123. If I knew where it was I would take you there/there's much more than this
vs.
I sometimes realize I can only be as good as you'll let me

124. My lips are shaken, my nails are bit off/it's been a month since I've heard myself talk
vs.
All that's sacred comes from youth/Dedications naive and true

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Unreleased Demo Debuts Today!

Sirius/XM subscribers should tune in today at 5PM Eastern Standard Time for what they're calling the Cameron Crowe Takeover.

Crowe will be on to talk about and play music that inspired him to make the documentary, Pearl Jam 20.

Included in the broadcast will be a never before heard demo from 1991, titled Chinese.

The show is scheduled to run for two hours.
http://www.siriusxm.com/pearljamradio


UPDATE! - You can hear the song here, or watch Stone's Driving Tour on your Pearl Jam Twenty DVD where Chinese plays in the background.

Shadow Reunion

I am sorry to say that I have failed you as a blogger!  Last night, Mike McCready took the stage at Tractor Tavern with his high school band, Shadow, and I did not give you advanced notice.  I hope that a YouTube video of Mike and Star Anna covering the Rolling Stones' Dead Flowers will inspire some forgiveness on your part.



MyPJ iPhone App

iPhone fans have a new Pearl Jam app available to them in the form of MyPJ.  It will let you track your shows, find the latest Pearl Jam news, and review all the tours and setlists in a very attractive format.  This weekend, it's going to be free.  Check out the link this coming Saturday, December 31st to get the app for free.



Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2011, #3

THE REISSUE OF VS. and VITALOGY
Even if you’re not the type to shell out for the eight-pound box of wonderful that is the Vs. and Vitalogy Super Deluxe Reissue Package, you had to have some kind of excitement about the remastering of these two albums.

Unlike the reissue of Ten, the band choose not to remix either of these albums because, well … they’re awesome as they are.  Though “Cready Stomp” alone was worth the price of Vs., outtakes were pretty scant with this collection; clocking it at only three tracks per album, but word from the band was that during that time period, they were releasing anything they recorded. To make up for the lack of a DVD with this box, Pearl Jam included the epic 1994 Orpheum Theatre show.




Was the box worth it?  Fans who picked up the Super Deluxe were treated to both albums and the Orpheum show on CD and vinyl, a pocket full of cool collectibles, another mock-up of Ed’s notebooks, and a sampling of Self Pollution Radio on a cassette mixed by Eddie.  If that doesn’t make you at least a little excited, than you can pick up either album by itself or invest in the significantly smaller box containing only Vs., Vitalogy, and the Orpheum show.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Tim Bierman on NPR

Seattle's KUOW and Ross Reynolds recently aired a November 2011 panel on the future of music in the digital frontier that featured, Ten Club Manager, Tim Bierman.  You can download the mp3 of the show here.


The discussion of the future of music in the digital age continues with guests Sir Mix–A–Lot, Death Cab for Cutie bassist Nick Harmer, KEXP's Aaron Starkey and Pearl Jam Ten Club's Tim Bierman, who spoke at the Seattle Interactive Conference in November at a panel moderated by KUOW's Ross Reynolds.

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2011, #4

UKULELE SONGS and WATER ON THE ROAD


Even at the end of the year, the Grammy nominated Ukulele Songs remains in steady rotation for many Pearl Jam fans.  Ed has been dropping ukulele music on us for a decade now, starting with Soon Forget on Binaural.  As tunes became more common, rumors of an album full of ukulele songs began to surface.  “Truth in advertising,” said Ed about the April release of Ukulele Songs.  In an effort to endear fans to the ukulele, Ed even released a handmade, limited-edition book with music, lyrics, pictures, and, of course, a sleeve for your CD.  



Ed also embarked on a 32-date tour, visiting some of the most beautiful venues on two continents. Glen Hansard, who duets with Ed on Sleepless Nights, opened for the US leg of the tour, often taking the stage to help with Sleepless Nights as well as Hard Sun, Society, and Long Nights. The two forged a partnership that resulted in Hansard virtually being the 7th member of Pearl Jam in East Troy.




Ukulele Songs would have been enough for any hardcore fan, but Ed also released a DVD/BluRay on the same day.  Water on the Road was a film directed by Chrisoph Green and Fugazi drummer, Brendan Canty, that artfully stitches together performances from Ed’s 2008 two-night stand in Washington DC with rare, heartfelt clips of Ed paddleboarding on the Potomac, vacationing in Hawaii, and practicing backstage.  Ed traditionally tours fewer cities and plays smaller venues and more intimate shows than when he’s with his Pearl Jam bandmates (no cameras or audio recording allowed), so many fans appreciate the opportunity to see live performances.


Monday, December 26, 2011

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2011, #5

MIKE MCCREADY, BLOGGER
In 2011, Mike started utilizing his own  Tumblr page (and Twitter feed and Facebook page to engage fans in a way that no one in the band has done before.
We saw Mike (and/or his bandmates) in the studio.  

We saw Mike at home.
We saw Mike on the road.

We saw Mike on the red carpet!



Mike has really torn down the curtain between fan and band.  He has single-handedly invigorated fans, spread news, and spawned world-wide conversations.  Mike is rivalling Nicole Vendenberg for the position of Pearl Jam publicist using free, social Internet services. Here’s hoping we hear from some other band members in 2012.

NEED A RECAP OF 10-6?

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Happy Holidays from TheSkyIScrape.com!




Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the following individuals without whom TheSkyIScrape.com would suck.
  • The Members of the Red Mosquito Forum (We fixed the registration process, so now you can become part of this outstanding group of individuals!)
  • Stip and Peter, co-contributors to this site
  • Nick and Eli, who have graciously kept the lights on
  • John, Kathy, and Jessica of TwoFeetThick.com
  • Donny of All That's Sacred (Thanks for getting our URL onto the credits page of Pearl Jam Twenty!)
  • Mario of Given to Cast
  • Victor of PJCollectors.com
  • Jed of the @PJFour
  • Matt of Gremmie.Net
  • Pearl Jam, without whom this site would be dedicated to Metallica or Bon Jovi or something silly like that!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2011, #6

BRETT ELIASON, BACK AT THE CONTROLS
Brett Eliason has returned to our list for a second year.  In 2010, we were super stoked about the announcement that he would mix the bands 2011 live compilation, Live on Ten Legs, but we didn’t realize that it was just the beginning.


The Mixeris back with a vengeance.  Not only has he mixed the first “Vault” release since 2006 in the form of the January 17, 1992 show at the Moore Theatre, but he’s also at the controls for the 2011 bootlegs, which arguably sound better than any official bootleg released by Pearl Jam to date.  If you want to hear, check out the September 11 show in Toronto for free on Google Music.



Will there be more coming from the Vault?  Well, the “Vault #1” printed on the Moore Theatre promo CDs would imply so, but then again, when Pearl Jam released the November 30, 1993 Las Vegas show five years ago, they specifically told us “Check back soon for additional shows.”  That didn’t lead to much, but Pearl Jam's bootleg operation has matured quite a bit in five years.  Here's hoping we don't have to wait until 2016!

Happy Birthday, Eddie Vedder!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Pearl Jam Replace Vandalized Guitar

We'd been tweeting about this story, but here a good story from WCAX in Vermont that deserves some front page coverage.


New Brad Album in April?



Shawn Smith went on a bit of a tweet-fest last night.
Puttin the final stamp on the new Brad record next week. I started workin on it in Nov 2010. Whew.
"@Big_MARKR: @theeshawnsmith very awesome, will it be available to buy in stores?" YES
"@benzillauk: @theeshawnsmith that's one long recording process!! Have Brad gone prog?!!" Quite the opposite.Studio time was just spread out
"@MartinBotting: @theeshawnsmith Can you reveal the title yet or is it a trade secret?" I can't reveal the title yet, couple weeks...
"@giventofly_0 @theeshawnsmith Any idea when it will see the light of day, Shawn?" Sometimes it snows in APRIL:-)
That leaves Stone free to be in the studio with Pearl Jam in March to work on Pearl Jam's tenth album due out [by my estimation] May 22nd.

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2011, #7

THE PEARL JAM TWENTY COMPANION PIECES
Coordinated with the release of Pearl Jam Twenty the movie, Pearl Jam released a book and a soundtrack with the same name. Both were created with significant input from the band and Cameron Crowe and are designed to pair perfectly with the movie. The soundtrack sets the mood, and the book will hit all the details that wouldn't fit in a two-hour movie.

The book, compiled by Jonathan Cohen with Mark Wilkerson, but technically written by Pearl Jam, is the most comprehensive collection of Pearl Jam information and artwork to date. It contains a forward by Cameron Crowe, and includes interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Chris Cornell, Dave Grohl, and yes … the band members as well.  As I’m typing this, the book is for sale on Amazon for $20.  There’s really no reason to not get yourself a copy.

The soundtrack contains an exciting collection of rare and unreleased tracks curated by Cameron Crowe.  Though all the songs but one, the gorgeous Acoustic #1, were Pearl Jam songs that had been previously released in one form or another, the collection plays very well, and demonstrates Crowe’s love of the band.

Maybe even more exciting than the album itself was the experiment in social marketing that Pearl Jam used to release the soundtrack's setlist.  The album tracks were announced by sending fans on a worldwide scavenger hunt, hiding each track name in a different local from Seattle to Thailand.  Not only were fans everywhere taking to the streets, but Twitter was lit up with 59 million tweets containing the hashtag #PJ20.


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Matt Cameron: King of Europe



Before Pearl Jam kicks off their 11 show tour of Europe this summer, Matt Cameron will be casing out the joint with his band Soundgarden during a few festivals.  Announcements have been coming one festival at a time for last couple weeks.  Are more to come?  Maybe, maybe not, but either way, Matt is fixing to have one nice, long European vacation this summer.


Impact on Pearl Jam's 10th studio album or Soundgarden's sixth?  Unknown ...


Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2011, #8

LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON


Since the author of the book commemorating Pearl Jam’s twenty years together is a booking agent for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, it really came as no surprise when Fallon tweeted that Pearl Jam would be appearing on the show September 8th and 9th.  However, with no album to promote, no one knew what songs to expect, and on the 8th, rumors of a new song and a Pink Floyd cover were rampant.  

In the wee hours of September 8th (technically the 9th) Jimmy Fallon treated us to a brand new Pearl Jam song, OlĂ©!  Shortly there after, the Ten Club offered up a download of the studio version.  Later in the show, Eddie trotted back out for a duet with Jimmy on Balls in Your Mouth, a satirical warning about swimming in the Gulf of Mexico following last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill.




Fans had barely stopped drooling when, on the September 9th show Jimmy Fallon’s house band, The Roots, took the stage to provide Mowtown-style backing vocals for the Lost Dogs rarity, All Night.



Just when we thought this rumored Pink Floyd cover was just a treat for Fallon’s live audience, Fallon announced a Pink Floyd tribute week that featured The Shins, Foo Fighters, MGMT, and ended on Friday with Pearl Jam’s first-ever full performance of Mother.




Clearly, Pearl Jam’s appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon was their most exciting 3-song set of the year.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2011, #9

SABOTAGE!





Ten Club ticket pre-sales have not been a positive highlight for Pearl Jam recently, and this December their problems came to a head.  Fan club members trying to attend Pearl Jam’s Destination Weekend in September experienced this first hand when they took off work and spend two days refreshing the Ten Club’s ticket page.  Their troubles even spawned a new (but now defunct) PJF5 website and t-shirt (F5 is the keyboard shortcut for refreshing your Internet browser).


When the Canadian pre-sale tanked the next day and fan club members who saw their dues doubled in 2011 expressed their rage toward Ten Club Manager, Tim Bierman, who issued a public mea culpa and begrudgingly handed the pre-sale over to Ticketmaster. The Ten Club promise to fans, “we will IMMEDIATELY begin building a new, state-of-the-art system to avoid ever putting you through the pain-in-the-ass-ness of yesterday.”


It looked like Pearl Jam was sticking to their promise when a European Tour was announced earlier this month utilizing experienced third-party ticket retailer, Crowd Surge, for the Ten Club pre-sale.  Unfortunately, as quickly as the sale began, it failed.  European fans were stuck helplessly refreshing their browsers to no avail.  The next day, the Ten Club announced that they and Crowd Surge had identified the problem as a saboteur who was apparently over-loading the system and causing it to crash. Due to time constraints, the only option was to release the Ten Club tickets into the general sale.


Will Pearl Jam be able to track down their malicious hacker?  It is likely that we won’t find out before 2012, but here’s hoping that with an album on the way, Ten Club ticketing comes out on top and wins us back.

Monday, December 19, 2011

PJ Song Lyric Tournament: Bracket Finals

BRACKET FINALS


Voting open 12/19-12/27


113. Under your tongue/I'm like a tab/I will give you what you're not supposed to have
vs.
I let go of a rope, thinking that's what held me back/now in time I've realized, it's now wrapped around my neck


114. It's egg rolling thick and heavy/All this past we carry
vs.
I wish I was the verb 'to trust' and never let you down


115. Seek my part/ devote myself/my small self/like a book amongst the many on a shelf
vs.
Stunned by my own reflection/It's looking back, sees me too clearly


116. They said that timing was everything/made him want to be everywhere/there’s a lot to be said for nowhere
vs.
I am lost/I am no guide/But I am by your side/I am right by your side


117. Can’t buy what I want because its free
vs.
If I knew where it was I would take you there/there's much more than this


118. I sometimes realize I can only be as good as you'll let me
vs.
Little secrets, tremors, turned to quake/The smallest oceans still get big, big waves


119. My lips are shaken, my nails are bit off/it's been a month since I've heard myself talk vs.
She knows their future's burning/but she can smile just the same


120. All that's sacred comes from youth/Dedications naive and true
vs.
All the advantage this life's got on me/Picture a cup in the middle of the sea

Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2011, #10

FAITHFUL ALE
With 2011 being declared the official year of Pearl Jam’s Twentieth Anniversary, fans expected all sorts of awesome this year.  Most of it was laid out early on in an e-mail from the Ten Club.  We weren’t really expecting a Pearl Jam-themed beer, but thanks to some advocacy by Pearl Jam’s biggest fans, Dogfish Head Brewing Company had an announcement for us.


Faithfull Ale is a Belgian-style golden ale with “Ten” additions of black currants that pays tribute to the "fruit-forward, aggressive pinot noirs and Mexican lagers" that members of Pearl Jam drink while on stage.  Reviews have been mixed, but there is no doubt that some sales are driven by collectors hoping to prop their empties up on a shelf next to their Vitalogy whiskey bottles.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Wow! That's a Lot of Stuff!!

Head over to SiriusXM by January 2nd for a chance to win one seriously outrageous Grand Prize.

One Grand Prize Winner will also get the opportunity to win a trip for two to see Pearl Jam LIVE in Europe in 2012! In addition, the Grand Prize Winner will get the chance to be a Guest DJ on SiriusXM's Pearl Jam Radio and will take home a collection of 20 Official Pearl Jam Bootlegs (digital recordings of the band's explosive concerts available only at pearljam.com), a complete set of posters from the band's 2011 Canadian tour, a signed poster from the band's PJ20 Destination Weekend at Alpine Valley, an autographed copy of the Pearl Jam Twenty book, a copy of the Pearl Jam Twenty Deluxe DVD, and a rare, glow in the dark "bootleg" version of the Pearl Jam Twenty Soundtrack vinyl LP.
Other prices include:
One First Prize Winner will receive a collection of 20 Official Pearl Jam Digital Bootlegs, plus a complete set of posters from the band’s 2011 Canadian tour (including one signed poster), and a rare, glow in the dark "bootleg" version of the Pearl Jam Twenty Soundtrack vinyl LP – in addition to the Pearl Jam Twenty book, DVD and soundtrack LP on colored vinyl.

And one Second Prize Winner will take home a collection of 20 Official Pearl Jam Digital Bootlegs and a signed poster from the band’s 2011 Canadian tour – in addition to the Pearl Jam Twenty book, DVD and soundtrack LP on colored vinyl.

A total of 20 lucky winners will receive the Pearl Jam Twenty book, the DVD of the acclaimed documentary film, and the soundtrack LP on colored vinyl.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Kelly Curtis Talks to Pearl Jam Fans About Europe

Today, Kelly Curtis logged into the PearlJam.com Forum to discuss the European pre-sale problems with fans.  Obviously, emotions ran high.  I found two take-away messages.  (1) Crowd Surge was a strongly vetted, experienced company, but the investigation into the sabotage is on-going.   (2) A second show has been set for Manchester (June 21), but the band did not have time to notify fans prior to the public sale. 


You can view the thread here, or a transcript of the questions and answers follows.





Q: what happened? what was the "sabotage"?


KC: honestly, we do not know. what we do know is that since the alpine/canadian fiasco.. we have sought out the best ticketing company that we could find. we selected a state of the art company called crowd surge. who have have successfully handled massive ticket sales for paul mccartney, rhcp, and foo fighters. they've never had problems like this ever. so, we have a completely different company, system, server, staff in completely different cities.. and we have a very similar problem.... if you have any ideas.. please send our way


Q: can the band / management do anything to help those of us who would have got tickets to shows originally, but missed out due to the public on sale sell outs?


KC: while we wish we could. we have never been able to guarantee tickets to every fan club member. we try and be clear as possible.


Q: Why was there no 10c announcement of the second Manchester show?


KC: we would never assume that we would automatically get to two shows.... sometimes we don't get there.


Q: what about, those that bought seating tickets is there any chance for an upgrade to better seats. should the 10c have arranged to leave a block empty for this if not??


KC: we cannot upgrade your seats but we are working on early entry wristband per the post on the pj.com news section


Q: Will the Band add another couple of Fan Club Only Shows? -- that would be sublime and I am sure all would be enormously grateful.


KC:  have not even had time to address this idea yet


Q: Will 10C add something to the membership as a way of saying sorry for how they have handled things this week? I.e 30 hours to response to the fans


KC: you know what...? i am very sorry. but i can't really answer the rest if i don't know or understand what exactly has happened. when and if we do... you will be the second to know.


Q: What assurances did Crowdsurge give that they could cope with the pre-sale?


KC: their track record and history is/was outstanding for comparable artist


Q: Why did it take so long for the 10C to communicate with fans about what was occurring regarding the recent European pre-sale? The fans waited for over 24 hours without hearing anything and Crowdsurge indicated that that they were also waiting for information from Pearl jam's camp.


KC: it took us that long to get the information ourselves.


Q: Can PJ get over the Ticketmaster debacle from the 90's and move on now? Pre-sales have been disastrous and I don't see why they couldn't leave it to the professionals to handle such affairs? We deserve an organization that can cope with PJ's demand given that it us who put them and keep them where they are now. Do the band know how bad the ticketing fiasco is?


KC: yes we worked with tm in canada.. it is not an option in all places in the world


Q: IS THE TICKETING ISSUE FIXED FROM HERE ON OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for the past few years buying tickets through 10c has honestly drove me up a wall ..... and im close to taking my TICKET PURCHASES else where.


KC: don't blame you.. we all feel the same way. of course we are working on the perfect system.. any ideas? send them along


Q: Why sell the tickets all at the same time?


KC: no matter how many shows we put up.. we are still getting a similar amount of traffic... and as of what we know right now.. it is not a traffic issue.. the servers were humming along fine.


Q: Could you please clarify the way 10c members will be entitled wristbands with GA tks bought through the general sale? Will single 10clubber buyers (buying 1 tkt each) be allowed a wristband?


KC: details for wristbands coming next week per ten club news post.


Q: Why won't Pearl Jam play The South?


KC: never say never


Q: Why was it not possible to hold back the 10c tickets although the public pre-sale started and, additional to that, since they 10c-pre-sale did not work out, hold back an extra amount of tickets from the public pre-sale? Would that have been so difficult? I don't understand why they had to be "thrown" into the public sale.


KC: we are dealing with a public on sale following our pre-sale in a very short window…. our fan club pre-sales are not very popular with promoters and therefore there is not a lot of help offered. one of the main reasons… is that SOME ..NOT ALL promoters would love to sell our fan club tickets at a very high price….. this is how pj has been abe to avoid widespread scalping. our goal has always been to get you .. the loyal pj fan the best of anything we have to offer at the best price possible.


Q: Can anything be done for those of us who actually had tickets in our basket, and had entered all the credit card info and were in the process of checking out when the system crashed?


KC: sorry no.


Q: Can we go back to post cards and money orders? My guess is no, but maybe this is best, the good old fashion way, kinda like playing a record!


KC: believe me… this is being talked about very seriously….


Q: Will there be any measures to "compensate" the 10c members that were caught in this nightmare and didn't score any desired tickets for this tour?


KC: working on ideas..


Q: Are the actual band members kept up-to-date with the problems that 'joe public' have went through?


KC: of course


Q: have you thought about doing pre sales the way that dave matthews band and phish do theirs?


KC: with all due respect... phish nor dmb are not big sellers outside the US... where our problems lie today.


Q: I feel sometimes we are given 1/2 truths about touring info.....like as an American I feel tempted to go to Europe but when I do I know a US tour will be announced. Could this info be given out in a more timely manner? Why in this band's 20th anniversary have they not hit their home city?


KC: we cannot announce everything at once because we don't alway know what we are doing … once we get through routing, venues, time period , personal schedules.. we move on to the next.. this band has never planned very far ahead.. thus keeping it real and fresh always.. and not one big treadmill obligation….


Q: Do you think that the growing rift in many fans' eyes between Pearl Jam / Ten Club is a problem? Isn't this a PJ management issue?


KC: everything pj is a management issue.. the good or bad...


Q: In 2006 I think it was, You announced a 5 show tour of Australia, with 10C tickets to one show in each City.  Melbourne #2 went on public sale with no announcement to the fans, or anyone 10 minutes before Melbourne #1.  Surely you must have some idea...especially with a 12 hour lag in time as was the case with Manchester.


KC: i have been cocky in the past and it has come back to bite me…..it is a different world out there and money is tight.. again.. i would never presume anything anymore..


Q: Please address why it took more than 24 hours for 10C to issue any sort of statement regarding the ticketing issue. This is a huge point.


KC: i am going to say this one more time... we did not know what was happening..we were all working for that 24hrs to find out what was wrong.. and we still don't know.. you know what we know..


Q: Was anyone in this lineup [Nickelback] a suspect of the sabotage?


KC: funny stuff


Q: is it just a case of too much traffic overwhelming the server? whether it be crowdsurge or 10c? or is it not even known if that is the problem?


KC: servers were fine.... humming along


Q: Why don't bands even larger than PJ have these fanclub ticketing problems? (Bruce, Petty, Phish, DMB)


KC: most of those are Ticketmaster fan clubs. Ticketmaster is owned by Live Nation. nothing wrong with that, but just so you know. our goal was to keep Ten Club independent. we felt there were advantages to that. do these other fan clubs you mention really never have ticketing problems?


Q: Why are you, after 20 years of doing this, still so badly organized??? You charge us 50$ a year. You should be more responsible for your deeds. Sometimes we feel like you don't care,..


KC: no way to convince you . but we all really do care.. we all love this band and our jobs.


Q: Does the band know about the numerous ticket sale fiascos that have taken place over the past years, and why was it not a concern until now? Can you and the band implement a more "open" line of communication between the 10c and the fans/forums?...it seems like there is a very strict policy of any release of infomation by moderators...when they are the closest to the fan base and can easily clear up misconceptions and falsities... How is information passed from band management to 10c management...official press release? email? phone call? snail mail letter?  Who is responsible for updating the website, and why is there no consistency in respect to when items are released and the announment of such releases?


KC: you are not wrong at all… we have been chasing this thing every year since technology became a player and the primary way people purchase tickets… info comes in at all times and places….. and we have to make sure . depending on what the subject that it is correct and that the band.. the whole band has signed off.. that can be a task in itself...


Q: Is our personal information safe? Do we need to be worried about our credit card information?


KC: we have been assured by CrowdSurge that your credit card information is secure.


Q: why would we come up with the ideas? YOU'RE THEIR MANAGER! I'm a school teacher and wouldn't ask you how to teach a good WWI lesson on trench warfare.


KC: come on… really? was not trying to make you mad.. seriously…i was looking for feedback/help…
been interesting everyone.. especially you sawyer.


Q: oh and no offence Mr Curtis... are you suggesting to us, the fans, that the 2nd night has never been discussed with you? Are you suggesting that TM sell the 2nd night out and then dictate to the band that they MUST play a 2nd night? please do not insult our intelligence... the band, the mgt and all staff would have known about a 2nd night so why could that not have been announced before TM released tickets? I know for a fact that webpages can be set to go live at certain times... i.e. a news item on PJ could have been set to go live at 8.55am UK time this morning with info about the 2nd night. You're evading the most burning questions. Whilst i'm sure everyone appreciates the fact you are here.. please don't skip the most emotive points.


KC: let me try again...i can tell I either missed the point of this question or didn't answer it clearly. this is an industry standard, not something specific to the way i do it. there are some cities where i think we might be able to play more than one show, but I don't assume that until after we put the first show up for sale, and we see what the demand is. (there are exceptions to this rule...of course...there are some cities where we know for sure there will be demand for multiple shows so we put them both up at once. but more often i am making the decision in real time.) if the first show sells out and it seems like there is demand for a second show, i will approve for another show to go on sale right after the first one sells out or looks like it is going to.
from now on, we can post on the ten club site right when we approve for another show to be added so that you guys know.





KC: thanks everyone for your time..really appreciated. i know it's late in europe.. i will continue to answer new questions…. that come along..