Wait, didn't you go to this show, Pete?

The crowd was really good tonight, taking the lyrics for songs where that doesn't usually happen.

nope

Oh.

Bummer, man.

Yep. My brother and sister were there. My sister and I are going tomorrow.

If you could encapsulate the PJ live experience into a single song - Corduroy would be it.


On the upside you should get Pendulum and My Father's Son tomorrow

I was there tonight... Good, but not great show.

Generally, the sound/acoustics were disappointing for a small venue that was supposed to be a favorite boston area alternative for many acts. Ed used Worcester and Boston interchangeably btw.

It was tough to make out stone for a lot of songs, Jeff, too. Stone's guitar cut out in elderly woman, ed had to pick it up for a couple of measures before tfe band kicked in. Mike was very prevalent the entire night, both in the mix and with the song selections. He owned the night. NAIS, red mosquito, crazy Mary, corduroy, LTRP, save you, etc

The crescendo of release was one of the best I can remember, the crowd was into it.

Long Road was unexpected and when they showed the close up of the Boston Strong patch on Ed's jacket, the energy got ramped up and the song worked great.

Lightning Bolt worked the best of all the new tunes. By far. And it will only get better live, I think. Infallible worked, comes off a little plodding, but when the vocal moves up in the last chorus, it goes somewhere great. Swallowed whole played worse than I thought it would, LTRP will get stale fast, I think. It was a little better than i thought it wotld be, but Mike already is playing the solo blind behind his head. Sirens was a dud, in my opinion. MYM was a mess, just so fucking fast.

Hail Hail kicked ass. So did Red Mosquito. No Code

Corduroy rocked the roof off

The best moment of the first set was the start of Leash. Unexpected and fit great there. Ed did a little intro into it, something about cops I think.

Man of the Hour was stellar. On the screen, they zoomed in on an attractive young woman in the pit, singing along with every word with emotion, seeing her enjoyment and connection to the song made it better for me.

Fatal was nice to hear, but I don't think it plays well live. Just too stunted or something. Nothing really behind it to take it anywhere.

Crazy Mary and Sonic Reducers were standouts.


Other than what's above, the whole show was just kind of ho-hum, I think. Average set list quality, but just the facts of 32 songs and just over 3 hours is enough to make it memorable.

I thought the building sounded great. My only problem was the concession lines, it took at least a half hour to get a beer in there, they only had half the stands open, it was ridiculous. It was easier to get a sip of eddies wine than it was buying a beer.

Yup. The superlatives tossed around on synergy are unfounded, they just lost it over Fatal.



I agree about LB. It blended in perfectly, like it's been in the setlists for years. Swallowed Whole felt awkward and unrehearsed. Like they didn't really know the song. Infallible was interesting, I think it could turn into a NAIS like crowd pleaser, but it fell a bit flat last night. It could have been poor mixing from the sound booth as most people here seem to like the album version.

Sirens was frustrating as I have grown to like it, as much as one can like post-Binaural PJ, but it felt rushed and like they were just playing it because it was the recent single and they've got albums to sell.



It's not killer live, but there is something fragile and beautiful about the studio version... the way Ed struggles with the vocals a bit and darkness of the chorus that makes me love it and I'm glad I got to hear it.

Release -> Long Road

Load = Blown

my 20th show. I don't know about all that tech crap that made this a good, not great show. I don't know what could possibly considered "ho hum" about anything I saw last night. The crowd was amazing. The set list was amazing. The energy was amazing and Ed was having a blast.

Have I seen Evan Flow 13 times? sure. Do I LOVE Nothing As It Seems? Not really. Is Indifference my favorite closer? Nope.

But I was at a PEARL JAM show last night. So far I've only been able to do that 20 days out of the 13,428 I've been alive. To take one second of seeing my favorite band live for granted is unimaginable.

If you have complaints about 4 missed notes, or a song that isn't your favorite, or if you are able to use disappointing in your description maybe you have seen them enough, and should let someone that really appreciates the experience buy those tickets.

LTRP is meh live, it's a meh song; SW fell flat live; LB was def the best new song live.

Show was awesome though. I rolled my eyes for Even Flow and Betterman; wish they'd chosen Black over Crazy Mary, SOH, and Smile over Last Kiss. One of the top 3 shows for me though, for sure.

umm, there's nothing 'average' about the set list.

i hope everyone else who was there had fun, looks awesome on paper

also, doesn corduroy still have the new bridge?

Nope. Same old corduroy

Looked like a pretty great setlist to me. Really glad to hear LB came off as well as it did - since its going to be a staple in the live shows.

I disagree with anyone who says this was anything but a great show. The band seemed really into it. Had a great mix of songs - and while I tend to agree that some older songs are played too much, it's the last thing that goes through my mind while at the show. Small Town, Corduroy, Betterman, etc... Those really are great pj live songs.

I also agree with those who say LB is the best live new song. MYM is something they do well live too, but LB could be the best live song they have from the last 3-4 albums.

Good v. Great is tough with PJ as most PJ shows are great relative to what other mainstream acts can do on stage. Going to a PJ show is like getting a blowjob. Even the average ones are still pretty fucking great.

I thought the show was a blast; we had seats up on the side about halfway back, but with the size of the arena, it still felt like we were on top of everything. "Release" has opened nearly half the shows I've been too, but it's still such a cathartic experience that it will never, ever get old. I had never heard "Long Road" live before, but I've been hoping for it for years, and thought I would have to wait until Hartford to get another shot; I was glad I was wrong! Putting it second on the setlist made it feel a little less "epic" than I imagined (but this is probably just something I made up in my head), but I enjoyed every note of it.

I feel like some of the new songs are still struggling to find their place in the set; however, both LB and MYM probably belong right at the beginning where they showed up last night. Good response to LB, considering no one knew the lyrics, and even though MYM plays very fast, it got everyone's blood pumping. Even though I don't think "Sirens" fits best early in the set (and certainly not after LB-MYM-HH), I have to say that I was partially won over by it last night. Out of the album's production value and out of the sanitized-live music video, I could really feel something genuinely painful bursting through, and it touched me. I...I don't think I like "Swallowed Whole" very much, and it was the only new song that I felt took the air out of the room. "Infallible" I did like quite a bit, and the RM-->Whipping-->Corduroy-->Infallible run was one of the best of the night; I am positive the band felt it was an important moment, too, as neither Whipping or Corduroy appeared on the setlist, and Eddie was running around the stage basically saying to everyone else, 'Let's play this! Let's play this!' As someone already mentioned, "Leash" was an excellent main set surprise, although I think it was shortened a bit? Great energy.

I'm not the biggest fan of seated first encores, since after they're done it takes a while to get back up to full speed. My section was still a bit stunned and couldn't really get into STBC. "Man of the Hour" is always a welcomed addition, and I was happy to hear "Fatal" for the first time. "Yellow Moon" is a grower...and I hate "Just Breathe," but it of course brought the house down. The band had a blast with "Porch."

Besides "Last Kiss," the second encore was killer. Crowd loved "Crazy Mary" and "Alive," but didn't seem to get into "Sonic Reducer" at first (probably had something to do with all of the people filing out at that point...wtf, people???). I've never heard "Indifference" live before, but I can now attest to what everyone has always said: that song with the lights up is intense! Great closer.

So, yeah, all in all, a great time. I've never paid this much for a PJ show before (I had to pay someone face + $25 for gas, since he drove up from Hartford to just pick up his 10C tickets to give to us), but I think it was definitely worth every penny. I'm not going tonight, but I think this will be tough to top! I'll see everyone in Hartford!

Some notes about the venue for those going tonight:

-As someone mentioned above, lines for concessions got ridiculous right before the show started and continued to be extra-long throughout the show. Lines for restrooms were about the same; choose your pee breaks carefully! I tried during "Got Some" and the lines were just way too long; was able to get in during "Unthought Known," though (also, there was some guy in the men's room walking down the line hissing at everybody like a cat...did anyone else see that?).

-There were plenty of posters outside the venue if you're looking to snag one; I got mine around 6:00PM and had plenty of time to walk it back to my car before the show started (hey, how about the people in the pit waving their poster tubes in the air as a way to cheer? Brought the lulz). If the 10C ticket window is in the same place, then the outside merch tent is down the sidewalk away from the Pizzeria Uno's, before you get to the main entrance.

-Getting out of the $20 parking garage was actually not too bad; I expected worse. Sat motionless in my car for 15 minutes to start, but as soon as we began to roll, I was out in 10 minutes, to the highway in 5.

-People in my section were dicks to the ushers. Come on, people! While you're here having fun, they're working. Give them a break and get off of the stairs.