Hail, Hail

Pearl Jam is one of my favorite bands of all time.
(seriously, i heart Pearl Jam)

that being said, i hate most other bands
that Pearl Jam have directly inspired.
so, basically i have to repeat
this conversation all the time...
green = the baron
yellow = typical shit-rock bro

Bro, you like Pearl Jam?
Um, Yes?
Do you like Staind?
...No.
Oh, Well do you like Coldplay?
Not really, i like that song from the iPod commercial, though.
Oh, You should get a Zune.
Whatever.


Do you like the Fray?
Go fuck yourself.

(aaaaaaand scene.)
just to set the record straight
here is a list of bands that were (probably)
inspired by Pearl Jam that i can't stand...
- Griffin House (Porterhouse?)
- Papa Bro-ach
- Alter Bro-dge
- the Nickelbros
- 3 Bros Down
- Theroy of a Deadbro
- Breaking Bro-jamin

regardless, Pearl Jam represented a different time in my musical life.
sandwiched between the Paul McCartney era & the Ben Folds period,
Pearl Jam was the band that first made me care about the image of the
members of the band & not just the the sound of the music.
it was never Eddie Vedder's band,
it was the band that Eddie played
in with his best friends.

it wasn't about selling records
(even though they were the biggest rock band in America for almost a decade)
it was about the band making music they loved
& if you liked it, then you liked it.
if not, they didn't give a shit.

to be honest, i didn't get to really enjoy Pearl Jam
the way they were meant to be seen.
in the Pacific Northwest in the early 90's.
back when Vedder was a little slimmer & trimmer.
back when he was jumping off scaffolding
& throwing microphone stands into the crowd.
back before alt-rock was destroyed
by the death of analog recording.
(digital recording is fine, but it doesn't have the same heart)
back before Lifehouse was a real band.


I've only seen Pearl Jam once.
May 12th, 2005 @ the Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY
(setlist)
My Morning Jacket opened up before they got huge
but to be honest, i don't remember much of their set
besides a good live version of " Off the Record".
Eddie drank a whole bottle of wine & smoked
an full pack of American Spirits during the almost 3 hour set.
(smoking an American Spirit is like smoking a handgun)
needless to say, PJ brought the heat.
they played the song "Rats" for the first time in 8 years
and it fuckin' killed.
the whole place blew up.

i don't listen to Pearl Jam all the time anymore.
as a matter-of-fact,
i can only listen to them about 5/6 months
out of the year...

basically all the cold-ish Upstate NY months

but when i get in the mood, in the right state of mind,
i still get sucked in.
Vedder's voice is the most copied (abused?)
voice in all of music, but it still sends
chills down my spine sometimes
& McCready/Gossard are a 2-headed Classic Rock Riff Monster.

Oh, Yeah....

i almost forgot about Jeff Ament.

seriously, this dude is an accidental fashion icon.
most indie-bro i have ever seen.
i mean come on!
...look at that hat.

that is a fuckin hat, that's for damn sure.
(dude is also a revolutionary bass player)