While all the performers were good, Pearl Jam, as usual, stole the show. Heck, they even outperformed their idols The Who on that night.

Pearl Jam once again proves that their the best around with their rendition of “The Real Me”, from The Who’s 1973 masterpiece Quadrophenia. My boys absolutely tear this song up. I can’t stop listening to it!

As you watch this, check out the smooth bass skills by one Jeff Ament, he really stole this performance from the other guys.

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The Pearl Jam frontman toured the west coast back in April, and he just wrapped up a east coast run with Pearl Jam. He’ll head back on the road from August 1 to August 22.

This should make fans very happy as they can expect to see Vedder performing stripped down versions of Pearl Jam tracks, some covers and his solo work from the Into the Wild soundtrack. I think lucky fans will have a blast at these shows.

Liam Finn will be rejoining Vedder as the opening act. Tickets will go on sale to the public on July 11, but Ten Club members will have first dibs beginning on July 7.

Here are the tour dates for Vedder’s second leg of his solo tour:

Aug-01 & 02 – Opera House, Boston, MA
Aug-04 & 05 – United Palace Theatere, New York, NY
Aug-07 – NJ Performing Arts, Newark, NJ
Aug-09 & 10 – Salle Wilfrid Place, Montreal, QC
Aug-12 & 13 – Massey Hall, Toronto, ON
Aug-16 & 17 – Warner Theatre, Washington, DC
Aug-19 – Riverside Theatre, Milwaukee, WI
Aug-21 & 22 – Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL

I wonder why he skipped the Philly area? Looks like I have to plan another mini trip.

Here’s a live version of Eddie’s take on The Beatles classic “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”.

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To top things off this bearded dude, whose name is Zach Newman, actually got to sit down and interview one Mike McCready before the band’s show in Mansfield on June 28. Very cool.

Anyways, the 25 minute interview is really laid back as Zack and Mike talk about Brendan O’ Brien, Neil Young, touring and more. Check it out, it’s pretty neat.

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So, E (from Evolvor) and I took the train into NYC on Tuesday afternoon. We checked into the hotel and quickly noticed a lot of Pearl Jam fans. We threw our bags in the room and walked for a bit. We ended up stopping at the Hard Rock (I know it’s a chain, but I love looking at the cool stuff they have) for a drink. It was awesome seeing the original doors from Abbey Road Studios, as well as, a bass from one Jeff Ament and the guitar that Kurt Cobain smashed in the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video.

Anyways, we got to MSG and foolishly tried to buy a poster, which had been sold out for bit. I was little disappointed, but it was time for the show. We had seats in the back of the venue, but they weren’t awful and we could see everything on stage. The crowd was amped, very amped. The arena then exploded in applause when the guys hit the stage at 8:45 and opened up with “Hard to Imagine”.

The band delivered an electric main set which included the usual suspects of “Corduroy”, “Even Flow”, “Given to Fly”, some personal favorites of mine like “Faithfull” and “Present Tense”, and tracks resurrected for this tour, like “Who You Are” and “All Night”, which now both included back up vocals from some members of the crew. The band then abruptly ended the main set with “Do The Evolution” and hurried off the stage.

The first encore kicked off with their fantastic cover of “Love Reign O’er Me”, followed by “W.MA.” (which also now includes backing vocals) ad then sped up with “Leash” and “Spin the Black Circle”. Eddie then slowed things down a bit with Boom during “Wasted Reprise” and then band wrapped it up with “Porch”.

The second encore began with the now overplayed “No More” and Eddie delivering a speech somewhere on the lines about not letting politicians taking this country to war. While I agree, most of the crowd drunkfully cheered and agreed but most likely forgot about that the next day at work. OK, back to music. The rest of the encore was pretty predictable, which included, “Crazy Mary”, “Comatose, “I Believe in Miracles” and “Alive”. The best part of the encore was when C.J. Ramone joined the guys for their version of the Ramones tune “I Believe in Miracles.

The best part of the evening was the band coming out for a third encore! They jammed out to the classic “All Along the Watchtower” and concluded the night with “Indifference” at just before 11:30. Very cool.

The show was almost beyond great, but the band didn’t make do on it’s promise to “experiment”, like Eddie told the crowd earlier in the show. The crowd was great, the band was on fire and it was in a classic joint, but if only they dropped a bomb on us, like “No Way”, then it would have been a classic.

Here’s the set list for June 24:
Hard To Imagine, Save You, Why Go, All Night, Corduroy, Faithfull, Small Town, Down, Unemployable, Given To Fly, Who You Are , Whipping, 1/2 Full, Even Flow, Present Tense, Daughter, Do The Evolution
Encore 1: Love Reign O’er Me, W.M.A,, Leash, Spin The Black Circle, Wasted Reprise, Porch
Encore 2: No More, Crazy Mary, Comatose, I Believe In Miracles, Alive
Encore 3: All Along The Watchtower, Indifference

“All Night” from June 24.

Now on to June 25.

I walked a lot, from Madison Square Garden to Central Park and then some, so I was little beat for this show, but I marched on. E had a business meeting in the late afternoon, so I walked around MSG for a bit and noticed a line outside a little after 4. It was the poster line. The staff at MSG then threw out wristbands to the hundreds of people in line, which only gave us a chance of hope for a getting the wristband that secured a poster. Anyways, I picked up my tickets from Ten Club and then jumped back in line. They let small groups in around 5:30 to start buying the posters. By the time it was my chance to get in, the staff just let everyone in and mob of people rushed to the two stands selling posters. It silly and scary. People pushing and shoving their fellow fan for a piece of paper. And, yes, I was denied a poster. Someone could have very easily gotten hurt. This should have been much more organized, but that would require the MSG staff to do some actual work. But, I did meet some real cool fans, so it wasn’t all bad.

OK, enough about the poster debacle.

We went in early to finally check out Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, were played a fast, loud and short set. They were actually pretty good. Our seats this night were in the 100 level and were next to McCready, which was awesome. The crowd was just as amped as night before, maybe even a bit more.

The guys came out at 8:45 and opened up with “Release”. The delivered another electric show, which included the typical songs ,which I won’t repeat, and some very nice choices like “Garden”, “I’m Open”, “Rats”, “Cropduster” and “Marker in the Sand”, which McCready messed up on during the opening of the song, so the they had to restart it. “Go” was a very nice pick to end the main set with. I must say that the band was very enthusiastic, I’ve never seen Mike jump around so much, and they loved every minute of playing at MSG.

The first encore was very cool. I was extremely happy to hear them play “Inside Job”. They then went into “W.M.A.”. “Lukin”, “I Believe in Miracles” (with C.J. Ramone again), Better Man and the always rocking Rearviewmirror.

After such a great first encore I was hungry for more. Then Eddie blew it. He came out and played “No More”, again. I like the song and agree with everything it stands for, but it gets old real fast. The band then came back out and they then turned around and faced the crowd behind the stage for “Last Kiss”. The guys the turned up the heat with “Why Go” and then introduced another guest…Ace Frehley! They jammed out the the KISS tune “Black Diamond”, which had Mike and Matt Cameron on vocals. Man, that was great. After such a cool moment, the guys said goodnight to New York with “Alive” and “Yellow Ledbetter”, which meant time for me to catch a train back to Jersey.

Set list for June 25:
Release, World Wide Suicide, Severed Hand, Corduroy, All Night, Cropduster, Garden, Marker, I’m Open, Wishlist, State Of Love And Trust, Even Flow, Who You Are, Rats, Given To Fly, Do The Evolution, Go
Encore 1: Inside Job, W.M.A. , Lukin, I Believe in Miracles (w/ C.J. Ramone), Better Man/save It For Later, Rearviewmirror
Encore 2: No More, Last Kiss , Why Go, Black Diamond (w/Matt Cameron & Mike McCready lead vocals with guest guitar player Ace Frehley), Alive, Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner

“Lukin/”Believe in Miracles” from June 25.

All in all, two great shows from America’s great rock ‘n’ roll band, but maybe not worth all the hype, but still a great time. If you’re going to the Hartford of Mansfield shows, have a blast. I wish could be there too, but Pearl Jam already bankrupt me.

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“All Night” has been getting a lot play recently, mainly because it’s a cool tune, and the fact that the band have been playing at some shows on their current tour. The song just received it’s live debut this past Saturday at Bonnaroo. Man, it would be awesome if they played when I see them.

Anyways, this gem of a song was an outtake from the band’s 1996 release No Code. “All Night” finally saw daylight when it appeared on the band’s 2-disc rarities compilation Lost Dogs in 2003.

Have a listen to the song and tell me that it’s not great.

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The first option will be digital downloads from the band’s website immediately following a show. Fans can buy a MP3 version for $9.99 or a FLAC version for $14.99.

The second option will be made to order CD’s. Fans can buy a physical copy of a show for $16.99, which will be manufactured by demand and on recycled paper.

The final option is a corporate collaboration between Pearl Jam and Verizon. Fans, or customers of Verizon, can buy live tracks immediately following the shows. There’s also a chance for some folks to win Pearl Jam tickets from Verizon. You can find out all about the Pearl Jam/Verison marriage right here.

Pearl Jam’s bootleg series began during the band’s 2000 world tour, but went digital from 2005 on. As of now, Pearl Jam’s bootlegs have sold over 3.5 million copies. Not too shabby.

The band will kick off their 12 date east coast tour tonight (June 11) in West Palm Beach, FL.

That’s why I love this band, they’re always finding new ways to please their fans. Although, I’m not too happy about the team up with Verizon, but it’s cool, just as long as fans get the music. Oh yeah, I’m also pleased about them brining back the physical copies of the bootlegs.

Here’s “Go” from Leeds in 2006, just to get people ready for a great month of June!

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Image details: Lollapalooza 2007 – Show – Day 3 served by picapp.com

Now the band would probably never actually say that they were the greatest American band, but I think deep down inside they know it’s true. So, I am now going to give you the five reasons that make Pearl Jam the greatest American rock band, besides the actual music, which doesn’t need to be defended.

Also, please actually read the reasons before throwing out bands like Aerosmith or Guns ‘n’ Roses, cause they had their chances and blew it!

5. The Ten Club. Pearl Jam’s fan club may not give fans breaking news about the band, but they treat them good. For a low price of $20 a year, fans can join the Ten Club and have access to presales for concert tickets and will also receive the annual Christmas single. The seats that fans get are also some of the best in the venue. Compared to other bands, like STP who are currently charging $45 for a membership, Pearl Jam keeps the price for a fan club membership reasonable for fans, it even remained $10 up until a few years back.

4. Activism. Pearl Jam, like pretty much every other band, is very active in social and political causes. However, unlike Bono, the band doesn’t take every opportunity to preach to a crowd and then go home to their mansions. The band during tours will have a portion of ticket sales to go to local causes. They are trying to help out the environment, but aren’t pulling a Radiohead. The band does it because they actually care. That’s why they didn’t jump on board for all the good PR gimmicks that were Live 8 and Live Earth. Heck, they even fought Ticketmaster back in the day, at the expense of some cash and fans.

3. They’re still here. Considering the turbulent times that Pearl Jam came from, it’s rather shocking that they’re still recording albums and touring. All members came out of the 90’s alive. They never broke up. And, minus a couple of drummers, the original line up is still in tact.

2. Their live performances. Pearl Jam doesn’t need to thrill the crowd with extensive light shows or stage props, the guys provide enough excitement for the crowd on their own. In the band’s early days Eddie would dazzle fans by climbing pretty much every part of a venue. Today, the band puts on emotional and lengthy show with some awesome jamming. They’ll play for well over 2 hours, even after the houselights come up. You can except the see over 30 songs played at one show, which will include hits, fan favorites and covers, with setlists that change every night. Besides the band sounding amazingly good live, there’s also the fact that since 2000 they have recorded every show and released the performances. Fans now have a chance to always remember the shows they attended, or can be over compulsive and just own everything that the band has released. Oh yeah, there’s also the posters.

1. Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder and their drummers Dave Krusen, Dave Abbruzzese, Jack Irons and Matt Cameron. This is a real obvious reason. The members of Pearl Jam are some of the best out there. Jeff is workhouse of a bass player. Stone lays some smooth guitar licks. Sir Mike McCready is just nasty. Eddie is one of the best lyricist ever, as well as, unique vocalist. And, they’ve managed to snag some great drummers. But, Matt Cameron is one of the best at his game. Besides all being individually talented, as a band, they work together so well that they are indeed the greatest American rock band ever.

Check out this sick, sick, sick version of “Even Flow”.

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The studio version is still great after all these years, but what’s really catchy about “Daughter” are the live versions. This is where the band likes to jam out during the end of the song by fusing some other song into it, which is known as the “Daughter tag”.

This began during the band’s Saturday Night Live Performance on April 16, 1994 when they paid tribute to Kurt Cobain (who had died just over a week before the performance). At the end of “Daughter” they jammed out to Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)”, since Cobain’s suicide note referenced the line “it’s better to burn out then fade away”.

Over the years the band have incorporated everything from their own songs, like “W.M.A.”, to common covers of the band, like “I Won’t Back Down” (Tom Petty), “Rockin in the Free World” (Neil Young) and “I Believe in Miracles” (The Ramones), to lesser known tracks, like “I Hope I Never” (Split Enz), “Jersey Girl” (Tom Waits) and “Noise of Carpet” (Sterolab).

The band also likes to throw in some Beatles tunes during the “Daughter tag”, with “Rain”, “Come Together”, “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” and “Across The Universe”. They even have some fun with Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” and Madonna’s “Ray of Light”.

Anyways, there are many other songs that Pearl Jam have tagged during “Daughter”. But many of the “tags” are one shot deals, except for Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2″ and Dead Moon’s “It’s Ok”, which get pop up more often. You can check out a full list, as well as all covers the band has done, at Pearl Jam Vault.

For now, enjoy a couple of my favorite “Daughter tags”.

“Daughter/It’s Ok” from Jones Beach on August 24, 2000, which is probably the best tag the band has ever done.

“Daughter/You’ve Got To Hide Your Away/You Know My Name (Look Up The Number” from Benaroya Hall on October 22, 2003.

“Daughter/Another Brick in the Wall” from Lollapalooza 2007 where the band got censored by web cast sponsor AT&T for some comments about George Bush.

The famous SNL performance from April 16, 1994.

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The event will be for VH1’s Rock Honors, which will take place on July 12 at the Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus in L.A. This will be the third year for Rock Honors, but will be the first to focus on only one band.

Pearl Jam, the Foos and Lips will each perform before The Who close out the show. More performers, presenters, etc. are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets for this once in a lifetime show go on sale June 6 for members of the Who’s fan club, known as the Wholigans, and then a public on sale date set for June 8. If you can’t make it to the show, don’t fear, it will be broadcast on July 17 at 9 p.m. on the all the Vh1 channels.

This is very, very, very cool. I had a feeling that Pearl Jam would be involved, but kind of thrown off by the Lips and the Foos. But, who cares? This is going to be an awesome show. I’m jealous of anyone that can make it there.

For now, enjoy some Pearl Jam related Wholigans.

Pearl Jam – “Baba O’ Riley”

Eddie doing “The Kids Are Alright”

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The album debuted at number on the Billboard 200 charts and then fell into almost obscurity. It was also the bands first album with drummer Jack Irons. However, it was, and remains, a hard album for fans to digest. The band is everywhere musically on the album. Ranging from standard straight ahead rockers like “Hail, Hail” to more worldly efforts like “Who You Are” to even a spoken track “I’m Open”.

No Code is so different then the band’s three previous releases that it pretty much divided Pearl Jam’s fan base. There were some that believe it’s a great album and have full heartily supported the band from then on. While others may have given up on the band and insist that Pearl Jam haven’t done a great album since.

Personally, No Code is a true gem from Pearl Jam. It contains some of their most emotional songs, which proves that they were a better band than Ten, Vs., or Vitalogy let us believe. No Code showed us that they were a thought provoking band that awakened their listeners spiritually and emotionally.

The first six tracks,”Sometimes”, “Hail, Hail”, “Who You Are”, “In My Tree”, “Smile” and “Off He Goes”, have little in common except for the fact that their probably the strongest opening six tracks on any Pearl Jam album. Their wonderful songs that I can’t get tired of. The album also gave us the highly inspirational track “Present Tense” and the beautiful lullaby “Around The Bend”.

If you’ve forgotten about the album, or never listened to it, then give it try. It’s underrated, but unforgettable. And after all, it almost broke the band up, so give them some love for such an effort.

“Present Tense” (Live)

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