Live On 4 Legs: Pearl Jam Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 127: Hampton, VA - 4/18/16 Apr 28, 2021

Show notes

We're back to a more recent era in this episode as we look back at a show from the 2016 tour five years ago (yes, it's been five years) from Hampton, Virginia. While a great show with many moments to take out from it, this show may be remembered most for it happening on the day when the band had to cancel their Raleigh, NC show due to the state's LGBTQ discriminatory HB2 law. We'll go into full detail about the band's decision to cancel the show as well as John's original plans for that week and how he almost tried for Hampton. However, thinking that the Raleigh and subsequent Columbia shows would be enough, there is a certain song that John missed on this night that we'll discuss at length. This show has a very unique setlist with some throwbacks to past Virginia shows. For those who remember the Virginia Beach show from 2000, it was their first show since the Roskilde tragedy. Two major moments that came out of this show were the It's OK tag off of Daughter and opening with Long Road. Both moments were called back to in this show, including a version of Long Road in the middle of the set that is almost unprecedented. We'd also hear songs that are less common in the modern day era of Pearl Jam including Brain Of J, Habit, Sad, Breath and Inside Job. We've reached our 2021 goal less than five months into the year! But as always we are welcoming new members to our Patreon. Subscribe here to get additional content: http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Episode 126: San Francisco, CA - 10/28/93 Apr 21, 2021

Show notes

Can't get enough of these 90's shows, can we?!? In this episode we invite Clint Brownlee, author of the new 33 1/3rd book on Vs. onto the podcast! He'll talk about his research for the book in an extremely important era for Pearl Jam that almost tore them apart as they became the biggest band in the world. We'll also talk about the story of his first show which was the kick off to this album tour in 1993 in San Francisco. There is no perfect formula for handling fame when you're popularity is skyrocketing to peaks reached by a select few in the industry. Some bands live a lavish life on the road carelessly spending money, diving into drugs and alcohol, and bringing new women backstage after every single show night in night out. Pearl Jam reacted to their fame with the concern that they weren't prepared to reach that level of fame so fast. While Ed is donning covers of Time and Rolling Stone magazine quickly becoming one of the most recognizable faces in America, he increasingly made attempts to shy away from the spotlight. When you look at the timing of this show, two days after the release of Vs., you may be shocked to know that no one was celebrating the record breaking sales of the new album. Instead, the show and the music was used as an escape from that. Ed would address the crowd multiple times in attempt to describe how he was feeling, you got a sense of what was really happening with the band behind the scenes during this show. We'll talk about that, some interesting soundcheck moments, a recurring improv and many references to The Who! We are TWO Patrons away from our goal! Help us reach 100, donate to the show! http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Episode 125: Cincinnati, OH - 10/1/2014 Apr 14, 2021

Show notes

After a 90's heavy month in March, this week we dip back into a more recent era to talk about the 2014 US leg opener in Cincinnati. Our Patron David Ritter will join us to talk about his emotional experience from this night! The band was in a good mood mixing up the setlist with songs representing every album and stories you could fill a memoir with. This night had classic tales including one featuring a club they played back in 1992 in Cincy called Bogarts, and a crazy story where Keith Richards pull a knife on them. The performances were on point at this show too, most notably a version of Love Boat Captain with an extended jam intro and a Jumpin' Jack Flash near the end. We'll also talk about the tragedy in Cincinnati where 11 people were killed at a Who show and the nice dedication that the band made for them during this show. Remember above where I mentioned Bogarts? Well, we found the bootleg for this show and we're going to cover it this week! It'll be featured as a Patreon exclusive. Join up here to listen to this and other exclusive content - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Episode 124: Piss Bottle Men at Moore Theatre - 2/6/95 Apr 07, 2021

Show notes

This episode is a part two of a two-part series focusing on the Moore Theatre shows in 1995 where the band performed under the pseudonym Piss Bottle Men. If you like to listen to things linearly, the first part of this series is available through our Patreon which you can sign up to for as low as $1 per month here: http://patreon.com/liveon4legs This episode is another addition in our year long Hometown Series dedicated to telling the stories of their best Seattle shows in their 30-year anniversary. These two shows were special fan club shows meant as a warm up before heading off to a big tour in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. With Vitalogy selling over 4 million copies in the prior months late in 1994 and early 1995, these shows were the first time that the hometown fans got familiar with new drummer Jack Irons and seen some of these newer Vitalogy songs fleshed out in the way they were played on the record. This was also in the middle of the Mirror Ball recording sessions, so a certain Uncle was in town available to make a visit to his favorite nephews. However, earlier in the night the band decided to present a preview of the new collaborative record as they played Act Of Love mid-set. When Neil makes his appearance to join them, we get a little bit of a reprise to close the night. This may remind you of another instance where this happened - the Polo Fields show where Neil filled in for Ed who had food poisoning. The band would play two versions of RITFW that night.

Episode 123: The Metro - Chicago, IL - 3/28/92 Mar 31, 2021

Show notes

March of 1992 was somewhat of a breakthrough for Pearl Jam. After returning from a successful tour overseas featuring memorable shows in Germany and Amsterdam, they found themselves in a major spotlight getting the call to perform on MTV's Unplugged. Although it wouldn't premiere for 2 months, the band's rise was imminent and their popularity in America had grew exponentially from the time they left. This show at The Cabaret Metro in Chicago, as documented in the Let's Play Two documentary, was important for so many reasons. Not only was it a hometown show for both Ed and The Smashing Pumpkins who acted as the opening act, it was a platform where they had to prove that they belonged up on that stage headlining these clubs shows and even bigger shows to come. The guys from U2 were there that night to scout them to be an opening act for what would be the Italian run of the Zooropa tour. Everything seemed to be falling into place at the time. This performance is classic 1992. You have some improvs, including Rockin' In The Free World played on the spot due to a drum issue, great performances of Ten songs and an encore where they shared the stage with the Pumpkins saluting them in their hometown. Like what you're listening to? Help support the show! We're 10 patrons away from reaching our goal! http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Pearl Jam Fan Profile - Elie Honig Mar 30, 2021

Show notes

This episode is a special Pearl Jam Fan Profile featuring former New Jersey assistant Attorney General and CNN legal analyst Elie Honig! Elie joins us to talk about where his fandom all started and what it was like to be at his first show at Constitution Hall in 1995. We'll get to learn many great stories about his fandom and he'll ask us a few questions as well such as if Pearl Jam are the most athletic band and what our takes are on Hunger Strike and Release.

Episode 122: St. Petersburg, FL - 3/29/94 Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

We're back into our run of early 90's episodes as we tackle a great show and memorable bootleg in this episode. St. Petersburg happened on the well documented 1994 tour that the band was on the top of their game for. This is a Patreon requested episode and joining us for this one is Horizon Leg Patron Gabe Spece. Coming off a night in Miami where 24,000 fans attempted to cram into a venue that could only fit 8,000, the local Florida newspapers made attempts to sabotage the band by stating that they incited the "riots" that led to some incidents happening during the show. Unlike what we saw in our Ann Arbor episode that happened just nine days prior, the band didn't want to let yet another issue (to go along with bomb threats, ticket distribution challenges, backstage break-ins) to hamper their show for a new live crowd that seemingly couldn't care less what happened to them the night before. The result of that was a very relaxed show with tons of positive energy. Almost a rarity for that tour year. This show has gone down in lore as being one of the better fan recorded bootlegs of that year which helps take in all of the fantastic moments that happened here. Highlights from this one that we're gonna dig into are opening the set with Rearviewmirror, a fantastic Daughter with both Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2 tag and W.M.A. which essentially led to a full version played, great improvs off Black and Alive and a rare 3rd encore closer of Throw Your Arms Around Me. But possibly the most important thing to come out of this episode is a bit of a debate that ramps up during Porch. This Porch has always been known for having a Dirty Frank tag, but we dig a little deeper and question if that's the case here or not. Check it out, you'll know what we mean! Our guest today joined us due to his contribution through Patreon. And guess what? You have the chance to join us for an episode too! Contribute here: http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Episode 121: Honolulu, HI - 12/2/06 Mar 17, 2021

Show notes

Hawaii has always had an important place within the history of Pearl Jam. From Ed's love of surfing to discovering and connecting with B3 organist Boom Gaspar, a lot of important moments have developed from the islands and in this episode we'll talk about a 2006 show that acted as the end of an era for one of their most important touring years. To join us on this one is former Live On 4 Legs host Matt Helbig to talk about a few of his go-to songs. This episode is gonna be all about the love for Boom who got a warm hometown welcome on this night. We'll talk about his introduction to the band and how he didn't even know who Ed was before meeting him, but fast forward into the future and Boom has been a sixth-man staple of the live act. We'll get to hear some of the classic Boom songs in this show such as Love Boat Captain, Wasted Reprise and Crazy Mary. We'll also chat about how good of a mood the band was in on this night being able to finish out a monstrous touring year on such a positive note. We get performances closely representing some Hawaiian and beach themes such as Oceans, Big Wave, Ed ukulele song You're True and a cover of Hawaii 78. Like what you're hearing? contribute to our podcast over on Patreon! http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Episode 120: Seattle, WA - 12/7/93 Mar 10, 2021

Show notes

This episode is the third installment of our monthly Hometown Series where we celebrate Pearl Jam's 30-year history by paying homage to the place where it all started, Seattle, Washington. In this show we cover the first of a three night stint that ended the 1993 Vs. tour at the Seattle Center Arena. The hype around Pearl Jam was massive and as they continued to push new material and tour extensively, the demand proceeded to grow. This was just over a month after finding out that Vs. had sold over $1 million copies in its first week. That's something that would be a crowning achievement for most bands, but this was a growing concern within their circle that things were moving way too fast. The band was expecting a more gradual rise to fame, but instead Eddie is finding himself on the cover of Time Magazine. While there is a sense of comfort from being in their home city, most people recognize this set of shows from the night 2 affair that was recently released as a part of the Vault series. While they cracked jokes about their rise to fame, 1993 shows are some of the most raw sounding and unruly in their catalog. As they rip through standout tracks like Go, Why Go and Porch, they also have to deal with a crowd that has a disregard for safety at times of this show. We'll talk about it all along with how playing songs such as Alive, Black, Blood and Porch before getting into their encore was something that almost never happened from that point afterward. Do you like the show and want to contribute to keep us going? Donate here for perks and more! http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Episode 119: Melbourne, AU - 3/5/98 Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

It's time to hop back aboard the Yield tour as this episode brings us to a popular recording from 1998. Recently Ed claimed that Australia may be the first country to get the Gigaton tour, so that's where we end up today. The third night in Melbourne is one that has gone down in the books as an all-time classic, yet perhaps still undervalued. Broadcast at the time on JJJ radio in Australia as well as being one of the very early internet livestreams, this show was really one of the last of its kind to do such a thing. The performances are what makes this show special and we highlight just about every single one of them. From hearing the raw power of Ed's growl on Brain of J, to the soaring sounds of Mike's guitar during In My Tree, Jack Irons doing damage on the kit in an otherworldly version of Immortality, This show has so many moments you want to go back to again and again. We'll talk about all of the above as well as a very early version of Porch blues with the slower intro that has been popularized in the modern era. We'll also talk about the CD called Give Way that was supposed to be released alongside Single Video Theory. What happened to it? Why was it never issued? Do copies of it still exist? We answer all of that! http://patreon.com/liveon4legs - contribute to the show!

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