Friday, November 29, 2013

Pearl Jam's On-Line Store 20% Off


Pearl Jam has put everything in their store on sale for 20% off.  They've also dropped the price of some CDs (Live in NYC, BackspacerRNDM, Tres Mts, Moonlander, Brad, and Jeff Ament), and made Mad Season's Locomotive 7" single available to Ten Club members for the first time.

The "FRAK" code gets you 20% off through Monday, so don't wait too long.


November 29: Pearl Jam in Portland



Friday, November 22, 2013

Pearl Jam's LA Shows To Be Picketed By IATSE Local 33


It seems that Pearl Jam, a band that has always been an outspoken advocate for the underprivileged, is being put in the awkward position of having to ask fans to cross a picket line in order to see their shows this weekend, and for that matter, to cross the line themselves.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) will be outside the Los Angeles Sports Arena this Saturday and Sunday from 6 to 7:30pm protesting USC's decision to hire non-union works to staff Pearl Jam's two LA shows this weekend.
“Unfortunately, the crew members that should be inside making sure this concert is safe are going to be out front on the picket line,” IATSE Local 33 Business Manager Mark Madrigal said in the statement. “We’re not asking for additional wages or benefits. All we are asking is that USC honor the contract that has been in place for decades. Instead USC is ignoring our members and its obligation to its neighbors and to our communities and hire cheaper workers to make more money.”

Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz added, “These facilities are owned by the public, and we have a right to expect that our taxpayer dollars will go to support the Los Angeles economy and good jobs, not line the pockets of USC at the expense of our citizens. USC should stand up and be good corporate citizens in this matter and continue the policy that has worked for decades for all parties.”
The band hasn't issued a statement or responded to requests for comments, but surely this development won't sit well with the band who wrote Green Disease and Unemployable.  What do you think?  Should Pearl Jam take action?  Issue a statement?  Should fans feel bad for crossing the line?  Let us know on our forum.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Great Stories From Famous Fans


To celebrate this year's release of Lightning Bolt, Artists Direct collected a slew of Pearl Jam stories from actors and musicians about Pearl Jam.  Check out some of our favorites.
"I actually saw Pearl Jam when they were called Mookie Blaylock. It was at The OK Hotel in Seattle. That was before they got busted for using the name Mookie Blaylock [Laughs]. I told them they should've just dropped the "Blaylock" part and went with "Mookie". I thought that was a great name for them! I was always brutally honest with those guys about their music, band, and everything. I love them though. Stone Gossard and I were even in a band together once. The drummer quit though [Laughs]." - Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden

"It was on Ten. I've got to say that Ten is their best record to be honest—and not because of the singles. It's because of the songs in between like "Why Go" and "Porch", which is a great fucking jam. Before "Black" became a weird "non-single" single, there's "Black". "Release" is so gorgeous. That song will break me down and make me fucking cry like that. "Garden" is an amazing song. "Once" is incredible. I could basically quote the entire album. That transition of "Oceans" into "Porch" is very cool. However, I will say the best Pearl Jam song is "State of Love and Trust" from the Singles soundtrack. The way those chords play out and the way he plays those chords is so righteous. That's fucking rock 'n' roll." - Corey Taylor of Slipknot

"I'm of the generation of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. I go back to all of that music. Did you see PJ 20? I loved it. It was phenomenal. It's funny Willie Nelson just covered Pearl Jam's "Just Breathe", and it's a great cover." - Ethan Hawke, actor

The 2013 Bootlegs Box


Today is the day that Pittsburgh, the first of the 2013 North American Tour Bootlegs, became available at the Ten Club, but Pearl Jam has also tossed us a nice goodie: a boxed set of all 25 shows!  We've had this option before in 2008, 2009, and 2010, but we've been missing it lately.  Although $375 plus $11.99 domestic shipping and handling isn't a drop in the bucket, there's no doubt that many fans will pony up.

Here's a description of the item for you to drool over ... or if you're from Chicago, to infuriate you.
Includes the 2013 US Tour from Pittsburgh 10/11 to Seattle 12/6 in a swell custom box.  25 shows.
Does not include 2013 South American Tour, London, ON, or Wrigley Field Shows. 

Friday, November 15, 2013

Matt Cameron Is All In For 2014!


As Soundgarden has been announcing concerts dates over the past couple of weeks we've been trying to do the math and figure out when Pearl Jam was free to hit Europe.  Turns out, our math doesn't matter.  Matt just announced to Soundgarden fans that he is taking the year off from Soundgarden to focus on Pearl Jam in 2014.  Good for our band.  Bad for us figuring out further Pearl Jam dates.
Hello Knights of the Soundtable faithful,

I will be taking 2014 off from Soundgarden touring due to prior commitments promoting “Lightning Bolt” with my brothers in Pearl Jam and the desire to have more time at home with my family. I am trying to balance the many twists and turns of my awesome music career. This is temporary. I am still an active member of Soundgarden. Chris, Ben, Kim and I are in the process of finding the perfect substitute for the upcoming Soundgarden dates in 2014.

Thank you all for listening and the Years of Support!

Loudest of Love.
Matt Cameron

Pearl Jam 2013 Bootleg Series Debuts Today!


Make sure you tune in to SiriusXM's Pearl Jam Radio today for your first listen of this year's Pittsburgh show.  You can also purchase it beginning this coming Wednesday, the 20th.  

From the Ten Club:
So far the North America Lightning Bolt Tour has been one of Pearl Jam's best. The Ten Club is excited to bring you the official bootlegs from these legendary shows. Every Friday (beginning 11/15) you can catch the world premier of a Lightning Bolt tour show on Sirius XM's Pearl Jam Radio, channel 22. Then the following Wednesday, you can pick up the Bootleg at pearljam.com.

For the first time ever, we are offering Hi-Res FLACs recorded at 96K for higher fidelity.

November 15: Pearl Jam in Dallas



Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Evil Little Goats #11 Is Now Available


There were jokes to be made about them making more than ten episodes, but they already beat me to it.  I, for one, and super glad the podcast continues.
And some people thought this podcast would only last 10 episodes …

Okay, to be fair we did continuously say we would only create 10 episodes, but that’s beside the point. What matters is that Evil Little Goats episode 11 is here and you should give it a listen.


During episode 11 of Evil Little Goats, titled “The Glamour, the Squalor, the Pearl Jam” we pick up where we left off with local legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame DJ Marco Collins. We talk about his upcoming film “The Glamor and the Squalor” and Marco shares some wild stories about going to a holiday party at Eddie Vedder’s house, the one time he was told Dave Grohl was kicked out of Nirvana and plenty more awesomeness. Trust me when I say it’s well worth your time. So take a listen and keep your browsers peeled for the next episode of Evil Little Goats, which hopefully will be coming your way soon.

Soundgarden Confirmed for Lollapalooza Brazil


One more confirmed 2014 show for Soundgarden, Lollapalooza Brazil, April 5th and 6th.

The Automatic Pearl Jam Song Ranker


Anyone with any experience in the Pearl Jam On-Line Community knows we like to rank things.  We especially like to rank songs and albums.  While it's no problem to rank ten albums or twelve songs on an album (although we may never maintain the same order from day to day), it can be tough to rank the full 120+ song catalog that Pearl Jam has put out.

Enter the Automatic Pearl Jam Song Ranker!  Now the problem you didn't know you had has been solved.  If you can spare a little bit of time, the Pearl Jam Song Ranker takes you through Pearl Jam's catalog song-by-song in an NCAA-style bracket match-up to help you determine which Pearl Jam songs are your favorite.  You probably know a few, but pitting each song against each other song will probably reveal some surprises to even the most hardcore fan.

The Ranker even includes an Album-By-Album format and a "Rank By Position on Each Album" format that you didn't even know you needed.  Got a little bit of time?  Take it for a spin.  Let us know how it comes out!

For me?  I may have never ranked Yellow Ledbetter in my personal Top Ten, but hello there!  There it is!

1. Yellow Ledbetter (Lost Dogs, 2003)
2. Drifting (Lost Dogs, 2003)
3. Around The Bend (No Code, 1996)
4. Immortality (Vitalogy, 1994)
5. Release (Ten, 1991)
6. Off He Goes (No Code, 1996)
7. All Those Yesterdays (Yield, 1998)
8. Porch (Ten, 1991)
9. Oceans (Ten, 1991)
10. Daughter (Vs., 1993)

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Lightning Bolt Sevens Boxed Set!!

... oh, wait.  Nevermind, it sold out in under five hours.


Given the possibility of website sabotage, we'll go ahead and tell you that the Ten Club has announced a very limited vinyl collectible available to fan club members only.
If you're a vinyl collector, this is a must have! Six 7" vinyl records (all 12 LB tracks) placed in a little box and covered in spectacular Lightning Bolt art. Includes a twenty page booklet.
Of course, we're hoping that more will be available later. Other interesting items from today's newsletter.

  • Fans can bid on signed Christmas singles to honor the recently deceased surfer, Buttons Kaluhiokalani, and help his family with expenses.
  • Bootlegs of the current tour will be available at a rate of one per week starting this Wednesday, November 20th.  You can catch the shows on SiriusXM's Pearl Jam Radio each preceding Friday.
  • Another merch pop-up shop is coming to Seattle.  It'll be at the Showbox Market on Saturday, December 7th 12-5pm.  You can get up early by bringing a gift to donate to charity.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Ed's New Music "So Good" You'll Never Get To Hear It?



Earlier this year, we reported that Eddie was penning new music for the soundtrack of Out of the Furnace, a movie directed by Scott Cooper that debuts today at the AFI Fest.  Full disclosure, we may have fallen prey to an IMDB editing hoax, but nonetheless, Ed DID write original music for Out of the Furnace.  Eddie so enjoyed the movie that he re-recorded Pearl Jam's song, Release, for the movie and then went so far as to record some more original songs that Scott Cooper originally used in the movie.  According to Scott Cooper, they are incredible.  So incredible, that he took them back out and replaced them with score.  

What?  Why?  Here it is in his words via HitFlix:
It's never Cooper's intention, he says, for anything to ever pull the audience out of the world on the screen. He wants no fingerprints, his or otherwise, on the film. He doesn't like anything too affected present, and whether it's a performance or a music cue or just something that doesn't seem like it fits into the world, he's always looking to strip away and find an essence. So as much as it pained him, the original material couldn't find a comfortable home in the film and it was decided, mutually, that score would be a better fit.

"It was a very difficult decision to make because any time someone goes to those depths to write something that's that beautiful and that personal and that meaningful to him, and to me, you want it to fit into the movie," Cooper says. "Eddie has such a rich voice, but what makes it difficult is his voice is much like Bruce's. It's unmistakably Eddie Vedder. The second you hear that voice you know, 'Jesus Christ, that's Eddie Vedder.' And even if I was using it as a needle drop in the film, if Christian were driving down the road and he turned on the radio and here's this Eddie Vedder song, again, it was just so powerful. I know it sounds odd but it was so powerful that it took me out of the narrative."

Ultimately, both Vedder and Cooper felt the songs were best left as unearthed relics of the creative experience rather than seeing any sort of commercial release alongside the film. "They're very personal songs to Ed and to me," Cooper says. "I forged a close relationship with him through the movie and it's probably better kept between us. Sad to say, for Eddie Vedder fans, as we all are."
Why would Ed's songs be better left as "unearthed relics?"  You'll be hard pressed to find a Pearl Jam fan that can explain that.  Is it wrong to hope those songs leak one day?  Well, I'm off to confession.



Friday, November 8, 2013

The Politics of Ed

Last month, in the lead up to Lightning Bolt's release, Pearl Jam released videos of them being interviewed by some of their friends.  If you were a particularly dedicated fan, you probably listened to all three or so hours worth of interviews which were released by a variety of different sources.

At least, that's what most of us thought.  As it turns out, the larger media has caught wind of a question in Eddie's interview with surfer, Mark Richards, released via The Brisbane Times.



“The fact that we’re living in a country where 90 percent of the people want further gun laws — to maybe somehow put a dent in some of this insanity that’s happening — and yet there’s no further legislation taking place, it’s very frustrating and upsetting.
I get so angry that I almost wish bad things upon these people, but I don’t have to because it seems like they happen anyways. It seems like every week I’m reading about a 4-year-old either shooting their sister, their dad, their dog, their brother or themselves, because there’s fucking guns laying around. But I guess it’s ‘fun.’”
Rather quickly, Ed drew flack from Eric Bolling of Fox News who conveniently snipped that quote short, mischaracterized it as a statement about gun-owners (not inactive legislators), and declared himself "done with Pearl Jam."  Then, last week, shortly after a brief statement about gun control in Connecticut, Eddie drew flack from Adan Slazar of Inforwars.com for ignoring the possible increased death toll due to schools being gun-free zones and the death toll caused by drone bombing in the Middle East (the latter, a slight strawman if you ask me).

This brings up several interesting questions for Pearl Jam fans.  Is anyone really surprised by the liberal political views of Eddie Vedder or, for that matter, any member of Pearl Jam?  Should Pearl Jam just create their art and leave their politics out of it?  Did Ed go too far in mentioning that he "almost" wishes something bad would happen to opponents of gun control?  

The first two are easy.  With a catalog that includes at least one overtly political, social, and/or environmental song per album and two albums dedicated almost entirely to political issues, a list of oft-played cover tunes including some of the greatest political statements in music, and with a leftist political statement at nearly every Pearl Jam show since MTV's Unplugged, no.  No one has any reason to be shocked that Ed is a gun-control advocate.  As for keeping his politics to himself, Ed answered that himself in the book Pearl Jam Vs. Ames Bros., "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest."  




Now, as for the last question, did Ed go too far?  Answering that feels like it goes beyond this humble blogger's mission, but I will point out that he "almost wishes, but doesn't."  Can anyone honestly claim to have never wished ill will on a single person?  My wife once wished the pain of childbirth on me.  That didn't make Fox News.  Have your say.  There is already a spirited debate underway in our Forum.  We look forward to hearing from you.  

And in the meantime, remember what Ed said himself, later in that same interview, "In the old days we had civic heroes.  We had Ralph Nader.  We had Gloria Steinem. [...]  Why are they asking a rock musician who didn't even graduate high school to help lead the charge and take care of a complex issue.  That's a bad sign."

REQUIRED LISTENING
Glorified G, Vs.
Insignificance, Binaural
Masters of War, Asheville 10-6-2004
American in Me, Live at Easy Street
World Wide Suicide, Pearl Jam
Getaway, Lightning Bolt

Soundgarden Coming to Germany with Black Sabbath


Soungarden has just announced three dates in Germany this summer with Black Sabbath.  Tickets go on sale Monday.
June 8 – Berlin, Germany – Wuhlheide
June 13 – Munich, Germany – Koenigsplatz
June 25 – Stuttgart, Germany – Schleyerhall

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Soundgarden Confirmed for Lollapalooza Chile and Argentina


Soundgarden confirmed via Facebook that they are on the roster for Lollapalooza in Chile and Argentina.  With Stone bragging about European dates for Pearl Jam in 2014 and Australia's Big Day Out in January, it's looking like Matt Cameron's going to have another big year.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Lightning Bolt, The Extended Cut


We've all seen Danny Clinch's short film, Lightning Bolt with interviews by Judd Apatow, Carrie Brownstein, Steve Gleason, and Mark Richards, but last week Palladia aired a longer, 22 minute cut of the film with longer musical performances.  Presumably, this is the same cut that fans who went to PJ20 screenings were treated to.  If you've already treated yourself to the original press kit and all of the extended interviews, there's nothing new for you here, but if you couldn't be bothered to sit through 3 hours of YouTube videos, this might be just your speed.


Friday, November 1, 2013

An Evening with Pearl Jam in Charlotte


"An Evening with Pearl Jam" may not be entirely accurate, at least, not when describing the way that I experience Pearl Jam.  I've never been one of the fans that follows Pearl Jam from town to town to experience the variation in setlists.  When asked how I can be this blogging super-fan and have only seen them live seven times, I often cite kids and money, but to be completely honest, the thought of traveling long distances to see Pearl Jam then waking up the next morning with tinnitus and a hangover only to rush to the car or plane and head to the next town has never got me very excited.  I'd like to think that this frees me up to spend my rare chances to see the band fully immersed in the band and the city they're visiting for a full day, but to be honest, I met very few people who didn't go whole-hog into this show, regardless of whether it was #1 or #12.

So, what do you get for your commitment?  Turns out, quite a bit.



The band was clearly in a great mood.  Maybe they were lifted by the news that Lightning Bolt just finished its second week at the top of the charts or that they were one festival away from heading home for a break or maybe they're just stoked that Jeff didn't leave the band to play bass for Arcade Fire.  Regardless, I was close enough to see faces, and they were beaming.  

The main set was an exciting mix of surprises.  Low Light, Present Tense, Setting Forth, and Immortality may not be the rarest of the rare, but their surely on some bucket lists, and they sounded great!  When they finally stopped to talk, Ed apologized for having taken a decade to return to North Carolina and admitted that he was bitter over Charlotte's ability to reclaim an NBA team after the loss of the Hornets while Seattle still suffers.

Quickly, they got over it, because not only did they treat us to what will surely come to be known as one of the greatest versions of Lightning Bolt this tour, they also fired up the first-ever live performance of Getaway.  I'm not sure how hearing this song live compares to playing it on the stereo at home while my kids and I jump around the room it a fit of "dancing," but it was probably close.  And then, at the end of the main set, things really felt like they were blowing up.  



I'm no stranger to a long jam session at the Pearl Jam show, but as they delved into their early catalog to end the main set with Rearviewmirror, then at end the first encore with Porch, Mike McCready was deep into the trance that often takes him over when he is really shredding.  The band was up and down the stage playing, jumping, laughing, and thrashing about as hard as I can imagine these guys are able.  As it turns out, that was really just a set up for the final encore which included covers of The Real Me (The Who) and All Along the Watchtower (Dylan) and a version of Alive that led Ed into the crowd and saw Mike trekking all around the general admission section.  By the end, those around me were so dazed, you could tell we were all pondering rushing the stage and demanding the band come back out for Yellow Ledbetter (it didn't happen).  If the band is anything like me, they'll need that break between legs to recover from this show.



AFTERWORD
If you read my last review, you may know that the fans around me have a major impact on my enjoyment of the show.  I don't doubt that's true for everyone.  Music Midtown (2012) made me very apprehensive about buying general admission tickets, but the fans I met in the pit were fantastic.  Everyone was fun to talk to and super polite.  One guy even asked my permission before pushing past me to get close to the stage.  If I had been willing to leave the arena during the show, I would have bought a few of you some beers.

I also want to praise the decision to open up merch tents outside the venue (and publishing when and where it will be open).  I know at the Wrigley show this led to much sweating and gnashing of teeth, but in Charlotte the line was survivable and buying a poster at 1 o'clock meant I could enjoy a show without desperately trying to protect my one, expensive memento from spilled beer and shoving fans.  

Thanks, guys.  I'll see you guys when you get back to North Carolina.  Let's try to keep the gap under 5 years this time.

Nineteen New Merch Items Hit the Ten Club


With a slight break between legs of the tour, the Ten Club has apparently had time to drop a bunch of great new stuff into their store.  Most are collaborations with artists, local merchants, or charities like Lifetime Collective, Crashious Roadside Room (by the way, have you seen this awesome Gorge hoodie?), and the Buffalo Field Campaign.  There are shirts, hoodies (most of which are Lightning Bolt themed), a scarf, a onesie, and the long-awaited Falla Sheep.  You can check out the whole new collection here.

November 1: Pearl Jam in New Orleans