Pearl Jam March Madness: The Final Four

You don't even have to watch tonight's game to be part of March Madness.  Take a break from the inevitable Tarheel victory and vote in our March Madness.  It's down to the Final Four!  Could this be the year that a newcomer takes the crown?  Do The Evolution is the only previous champion, and it's up against the fierce burner, Last Exit.  Whichever wins, they'll be up against two classics of Pearl Jam's introspective No Code/Yield era.

Only you can decide the outcome!  Head over to Red Mosquito and vote for your champion.

In My Tree vs. Brain of J

Last Exit vs. Do The Evolution

Pearl Jam March Madness: Elite Eight

And so, we move into the final eight songs in our Pearl Jam March Madness.  Four previous champions face off against four songs hungry for their first chance at the glory.  Which songs will be Released and which songs are destined for Immortality?  Is this the Last Exit for that sentence, which has, no doubt, been used in previous years?  Six albums have been eliminated with only Ten, Vitalogy, No Code, and Yield in the running.

Only you can decide the outcome!  Head over to Red Mosquito and vote for your champion.

Immortality vs. In My Tree

Tremor Christ vs. Brain of J

Corduroy vs. Last Exit

Release vs. Do The Evolution

Ed to Play Hot Stove, Cool Music Benefit

The Ten Club has announced that Eddie has been added to the Hot Stove, Cool Music benefit concert lineup at Boston's Paradise Rock Club on Saturday, April 29th.  Proceeds for the show go to The Foundation To Be Named Later and the Red Sox Foundation benefiting Boston youth and their families.

This will serve as Eddie’s third consecutive Hot Stove, Cool Music performance.

A limited number of concert tickets are available now:

General Admission Tickets

VIP Packages

In addition to the concert, the weekend’s activities will include a VIP reception and luncheon on Friday, April 28th: Baseball Champions for Charity Luncheon and Discussion Tickets

For more info, visit: Foundation To Be Named Later

All proceeds from the Baseball Champions for Charity weekend will benefit the Red Sox Foundation and the Foundation To Be Named Later.

25 Years of Alive

If you're like me, you've gotten three or more e-mails about this, so you may have already seen this compilation of Alive performances through the years by Pearl Jam's film archivist, Kevin Shuss.  Nonetheless, enjoy!

Vitalogy-ology Parts 4 & 5: No Code & Yield

Episode #4 of Steven Hyden's Pearl Jam podcast series is now up.

Our series on Pearl Jam continues with possibly the most fascinating record in the band's catalogue, "No Code." Released in 1996, "No Code" competed on the charts with a host of poppy alt-rock rip-offs by artists such as Alanis Morissette, Live, Bush, and Matchbox 20. In spite of being a figurehead band of 90s rock, Pearl Jam's popularity receded greatly in this period. But the band drew on the turmoil for "No Code" and produced an album that holds up decades later. Joining Steve is Derek Madden, the producer of Celebration Rock and a long-time radio veteran who's been following Pearl Jam for most of its career.

Episode #5 is also up.

Is the fifth Pearl Jam album the beginning of an era, or the end of one? Actually, it's probably a bit of both. Steve delves into one of the most underrated Pearl Jam albums, which was both the last PJ album to go platinum and the marker of a new era of stability for the band. Our guest is the poet and critic Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib.

Check out the whole series so far on Audioboom and stay tuned for more to come! 

Pearl Jam March Madness

The Sweet 16

We are down to our final 16 songs, with S/T, Backspacer, and Lightning Bolt eliminated, and Vs. and Riot Act hanging on with one song each.  Things are so tense I can't figure out how to turn off caps lock!  When will B return?

3/28-3/29

17.  Immortality vs. Cropduster
18. Hail Hail vs. In My Tree
19. Tremor Christ vs. Sleight of Hand
20. I Got Shit vs. Brain of J

3/29-3/30

21. Corduroy vs. Long Road
22. Insignificance vs. Last Exit
23. Black vs. Release
24. Do the Evolution vs. Go

Join us in the Red Mosquito March Madness Forum to vote for your favorites.

Pearl Jam March Madness

After a harrowing 22 days of preliminary matchups we have our top 32.

Past Winners:  I Got Shit, Corduroy, Immortality, Black, Tremor Christ, Insignificance, Do the Evolution, Hail Hail

Preliminary Album Winners:   Release, Go, Last Exit, In My Tree, Brain of J, Sleight of Hand, Cropduster, Parachutes, Johnny Guitar, Pendulum, Long Road

Runners Up:  Alive, Animal, Not For You, Off He Goes, No Way, Rival, You Are, Unemployable, Force of Nature, Getaway, Sad, Fatal, Strangest Tribe


 Round 1a (voting closes 3/27)

1.  Immortality vs. Getaway
2.  Cropduster vs. Parachutes
3.  Hail Hail vs. Not For You
4.  In My Tree vs. Sad
5.  Tremor Christ vs. You Are
6.  Sleight of Hand vs. Alive
7.  I Got Shit vs. Strangest Tribe
8.  Brain of J vs. Animal

 Round 1b (voting closes 3/28)

9.  Corduroy vs. Force of Nature
10. Long Road vs. Johnny Guitar
11. Insignificance vs. Fatal
12. Last Exit vs. No Way
13. Black vs. Unemployable
14. Release vs. Pendulum
15. Do the Evolution vs. Off He Goes
16. Go vs. Rival


Join us in the Red Mosquito March Madness Forum to vote for your favorites.

Mike McCready on Art Zone with Nancy Guppy

Mike McCready was featured on yesterday's episode of Art Zone with Nancy Guppy.  It goes heavily into Pearl Jam history, even the fact that ... what? ... they hated the name Mookie Blaylock!  Listen to the whole thing here.

This special episode of Art Zone features Mike McCready in conversation with host Nancy Guppy from her living room. Mike knew at an early age he wanted to be a rock star. He almost gave up that dream shortly before becoming lead guitarist of Pearl Jam, the Seattle grunge-era band which skyrocketed to international fame in the early '90s and is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2017 inductee. When he's not performing with Pearl Jam, Mike runs his record label HockeyTalkter Records; performs with his cover band Flight to Mars; and works to bring awareness to Crohn's disease, which he's lived with for decades. Also, Mike's book "Of Potato Heads and Polaroids: My Life Inside and Out of Pearl Jam" is slated for a May release.

123GO! Coming to Vail

123GO!, Mike McCready's side project with Stefan Lessard, from the Dave Matthew's Band, Brett Scallions, and Ken Schalk, both of Fuel has announced a free show on April 15th for Spring Back to Vail in Colorado.

To watch a video about the history of the band, you can go to Vimeo here.

Eddie Vedder Announces a Third Show in Amsterdam

May 27th in Amsterdam.  Here are the details from the Ten Club:

A third Amsterdam show has been added to the Eddie Vedder 2017 European Tour and is scheduled to take place on May 27th, making this added show the first of three performance dates in Amsterdam.

A Ten Club ticket drawing is being held for members active as of yesterday, March 21st, for a chance to purchase pre-sale tickets.

For your convenience, you have 24 hours to enter before names are drawn. This drawing entry period opened today, March 22nd, and closes on Thursday, March 23rd at 3pm CET / 2pm GMT / 7am PDT.

For complete pre-sale information and rules, login to your membership account on PearlJam.com and click the button below.

Vitalogy-ology Part 3: Vitalogy

Episode #3 of Steven Hyden's Pearl Jam podcast series is now up.

The third Pearl Jam record is a favorite for many Pearl Jam fans, even if it is a chaotic document of a chaotic time in the band's history. To help make sense of this willfully scattershot but frequently brilliant LP, Steve called upon Chuck Klosterman to discuss how Pearl Jam made one of the weirdest LPs of its career at the height of its fame.

Part 3: Pearl Jam's "Vitalogy." is now available on Audioboom.  Stay tuned for more to come! 

SOLAT/Breath 7" Coming to Record Store Day!

The Record Store Day website just dropped their list for April 22nd, 2017.  You're going to have a chance to pick up an exclusive, never-before-release State of Love and Trust/Breath vinyl single.  5,000 will be kicking around so your chances are good.

Backspacer fans will also enjoy a chance at Johnny "Guitar" Watson's Ain't That a Bitch or A Real Mother For You.

Vitalogy-ology Part 2: Vs.

Episode #2 of Steven Hyden's Pearl Jam podcast series is now up.

Our series on Pearl Jam continues with the band's second album, Steve's personal favorite PJ record. This was the album that truly heralded Pearl Jam's arrival as one of the biggest bands, selling nearly 1 million records in its first week. But does it hold up? Steve digs deep into Pearl Jam circa 1993 with Dave Hartley of The War On Drugs and Nightlands.

Part 2: Pearl Jam's "Vs." is now available on Audioboom.  Stay tuned for more to come! 

Vitalogy-ology, Part 1

93X in Minneapolis is hosting a seven-part podcast about Pearl Jam's history hosted by music writer, Steven Hyden.

Our seven-part series on Pearl Jam begins at the most obvious point: The band's wildly popular 1991 debut, "Ten." Is it possible that one of the biggest selling rock albums of the 90s is actually underrated? Steve delves deep into very early 90s Pearl Jam with Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone, and then chats about the iconic video for "Jeremy" with the video's director, Mark Pellington.

Part 1: Pearl Jam's "Ten" is now available on Audioboom.  Stay tuned for more to come!

Eddie Vedder Returns to Ohana Festival

The Ten Club has announced another Eddie Vedder solo show today.  Ed is going to be returning to the Ohana Festival this year, headlining on September 9th.  There IS a pre-sale for Ten Club members.

Here is some more detailed information from Pearl Jam's website:

The line-up for this expanded three-day second annual event features more than 25 acts including Fiona Apple, Glen Hansard, Haim, Jack Johnson, Pixies, Ray Lamontagne, Social Distortion, The Naked and Famous, TV On The Radio, and more.

A portion of the proceeds from OHANA will benefit the San Onofre Parks Foundation, a California non-profit that cooperatively works with the California State Parks to develop, preserve, and enhance the recreation and experience of California's unique and beautiful coastal parks.

Tickets for OHANA go on sale Friday, March 17 at 10:00 AM (PT).

For full line-up and festival information go here.