PLAYBACK ST. LOUIS
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Pearl Jam x 23 Or Why I Gave a Month of My Life to the Band By Tim Doyle “Aren’t They All the Same?” It’s the question I got asked every time I told someone I was taking four weeks off work to travel and see Pearl Jam shows. “Won’t you get bored, going to so many shows? Aren’t they all the same?” The easy answer to those questions is “no.” Every Pearl Jam show is different. This is a band that has played more than 600 shows and has never played the same set twice. They have more than 100 songs on seven studio albums, as well as dozens more b-sides and covers. How does someone plan for a trip of that length? Doesn’t it get expensive? What makes each show so special? Why, why, why? These questions take a little more time to explain.
The Plan The idea was simple, really. I had to go to as many Pearl Jam shows as possible, with the majority of my shows during my slow season at work, June and July. When tour dates were released on January 23, I browsed through the schedule to see what shows I could attend. St. Louis and Champaign were easy choices; I could see both shows and not miss any work. Nashville and Atlanta made for a nice weekend trip, as did Vegas and Phoenix. Six shows down, no sweat; now for the fun part. I was allotted three weeks of vacation time at work. I could buy another week of vacation, giving me four weeks to work with. After chatting with my friends, we decided to do every show from Chicago on out. The fan club ticketing system was easy: send a money order and an index card with the necessary details to the Ten Club, and you were guaranteed one of the best seats in the house. A handful of index cards, and hundreds of dollars later, I was on my way. More shows were added, so more tickets had to be purchased. I found myself using all four weeks of my vacation. I would be on the road from June 18 until July 14. I had to miss one show for a bachelor party on July 5, so the grand total came to 18 shows in 27 days, with every place except Chicago being new to me.
The Budget A four-week road trip is bound to get expensive, but there are ways to conserve funds. Budgeting in advance really helped me out. All but a couple tickets were already paid for, so there was no reason to worry about that. As far as a place to sleep was concerned, we had planned to mostly stay at homes of friends or
family along the way. There were some nights where we would have to drive directly from one venue to the next, and even a few where we might have to stay in a hotel. Three of us crammed into a Honda Civic. For a couple nights, however problematic it may have been, we managed to fit four. The car got good mileage and was reliable. Three people splitting gas meant saving even more money. Food and drinks were a different matter. Once on the road, most of us fell into what we liked to call the “tour diet.” You become accustomed to eating one meal per day. Occasionally, you have time for two, but you could really save a bit of money, and the body could still get by, with only one meal. Coffee and other beverages for latenight driving only add to the expense. The key expense was water. The rule of thumb at shows—even more so during the summer months in outdoor venues—was, “Hydrate or die.” Water is the one thing that most people forget to budget for. Cups of water can cost anywhere from $3.00 to $5.00. Concertgoers aren’t allowed to bring outside drinks or containers of any sort into venues, so these places can get away with charging that much for a cup.
“Sliding Out of Reverse…” I left with my brother for Chicago shortly after work on June 17, cash and ticket confirmation letters in hand and a few changes of clothes in the trunk. The next five days would take us to Chicago, East Troy, Wisconsin, and Indianapolis. The Cincinnati show was canceled due to a threat of flooding near the venue. After Indy, he drove my car back home, and I rode with various friends for the remainder of the tour. What would make these shows special? It’s any number of things: the right opening or closing song, a good block of faster songs, a new song, hearing a song live for the first time, or hearing a song that hasn’t been played in a few years, if ever. What also make shows special are the friends you are there with, your interactions with them, and the time that the band is having. If the band is having a good time, you can be guaranteed it will be reflected in the music.
A Band With a Plan The rumor had been spreading for a few days. Ed Vedder had mentioned to someone that Pearl Jam was going to play all three shows in Boston (July 2, 3, and 11) without repeating a single song. “Surely this wasn’t going to happen,” we
all thought. Seven songs into the main set on July 2, Vedder confirmed it for us all, saying, “We’re gonna let you know what we’re attempting to do tonight. There’s kind of a plan, a method. Since we’re playing three shows in your neighborhood, and we’ve worked up about 70 songs for this tour, we thought we would play three nights without repeating a song, and get to every song. However, we thought we were playing about 70 songs. We are actually…I think we’re playing about 105.” So there we had it. It was an unprecedented move. Three shows, 105 songs, no repeats. The first show had 26 songs, and the second show had 24, leaving 50-plus songs to be played on July 11. We wondered aloud over the next couple days about how they could manage to play 50 songs in one show. The answer came on the 8th: Pearl Jam would play an extra hour before the opening band, Sleater-Kinney, was to go onstage. It would be a “slower” set, and would help the band get in all of the songs before the curfew. The show on July 11 was the show to be at. The show was guaranteed to be at least three hours long, and would feature an extra semiacoustic set. People made sudden arrangements to be at this show. Case-in-point: two friends of mine flew in from Seattle at the last minute, just to make it to the show, knowing all along that they had to be there. What ended up making the show on July 11 special? The band played 12 songs, mostly acoustic, before Sleater-Kinney took the stage. One of those songs, “All Those Yesterdays,” was completely new to the tour, and hadn’t been played live since 1998 in Seattle. The remainder of the show contained 33 additional songs, bringing the grand total for the three shows to 95 songs. A few songs short, one song repeated (“Yellow Ledbetter”), friends in town from all over the globe, and not a single one of them would dare complain. That’s what made that show special.
The End of the Road The third Boston show is exemplary of what made every single one of Pearl Jam shows of this tour special. Good times, good songs, good friends, and nary a single complaint to be heard. Four weeks of fun, more than $1,500 spent, and more than 4,000 miles driven make up the most fun time of my life. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
The Grail of many a fan—Tim’s Pearl Jam set list from Montreal.
