Did you know that you can be MySpace friends with Pearl Jam? Also Facebook, in case that's more your style.
I was privileged, nay, honored to see Pearl Jam in concert here in Va Beach on June 17. This was my first ever Pearl Jam viewing, and indeed I have not exactly followed them very much. The extent of my pre-concert hype was wondering whether they were going to perform "Last Kiss", the only Pearl Jam song that I can actually identify as theirs when I hear it.
Sad, I know.
But this has all changed! Well, not the part about my Pearl Jam knowledge. But while I remain sadly ignorant in the ways of their discography and repertoire, a new love has been born in my heart for the raw beauty of their talent.
And by that I mean that Eddie Vedder is my new Rock Star Crush.
My SIL, Becca, really knows what she's talking about when it comes to Rock Star Crushes. In her graciousness she has agreed to share Eddie with me - better than catfighting SILs, I have to say. She has also agreed (I think) to let me live, even though I was at the Pearl Jam concert a full three nights before she would see them in New Jersey. Funny story about that, actually:
So I got $5 lawn tickets (Yes, $5!) for the concert the day it was slated to take place. My dear friend Laurie called me up and said hey, wanna go see Pearl Jam? And I said, hecks yeah. And Joel said ooooh man Becca is gonna be so jealous! (We speak the King's English here in my circle of friends, y'all.)
And halfway through the first song I texted Becca something to the effect of, "You were so right, Eddie is amazing and I will fight you for him! XOXO".
Her response? "What are you talking about?"
Guess she missed the whole FIVE DOLLAR PEARL JAM TICKETS memo.
But once she arrived safely on the same page, she was thrilled for me and didn't act very hostile, which was surprising. But this was very much helped by the fact that she was planning to see them a few nights later with her hubby. Otherwise I believe she might have found a way to detonate my cell phone in my hand as I texted her.
Not that she is vindictive. Quite the opposite in fact, but when Rock Star Crushes are involved, crazier things have been known to happen.
Another humorous angle to the evening was that Laurie and I decided to take beach chairs and a blanket for our hot date on the lawn. We checked the Amphitheater website to ensure that these would be allowed, and sure enough they regularly permit low beach chairs and blankets to enter with lawn attendees.
We bee-bop right on up to the gate with our ticket (only to find that it wasn't actually a REAL ticket, we had to go to the box office and trade it in for a REAL ticket). And at least eight different employees, in separate incidents, tackled us to the ground and wrestled our chairs and blanket from us.
Apparently these are considered contraband when Pearl Jam is in town, yo.
One kind lady (Lindsay, I think?) took us under her wing and led us to the place where you check your contraband for the duration of the show. As we followed her, another eleventeen overzealous employees made for our lawn chairs, but she thankfully warded them off with a wave of her walkie and assured them that she was our Official Confiscator, not to worry.
In the end, it was a good thing Laurie and I thought to bring jackets for later in the evening. They served as perfectly individual-sized seat cushions. And it only smarted a little to see several people around us sitting on bedsheets that they apparently smuggled in beneath fat suits. And the beer washed easily out of my hoodie - not sure about Laurie's poor Harley Davidson jacket. (An unfortunate wild-concert-goer incident caused a large quantity of beer to splash upon us, wetting Laurie's hair and our jackets and small portions of my clothing. Gross.)(The wild concert-goer was not me.)
A fun time was had by all, and Eddie Vedder was Really Something. The man can Sing. He quickly entered Rock Star Crush territory in spite of his plaid lumberjack shirt. Becca, I am so glad that I have seen the light (or maybe that was his flowing mane?), and I appreciate your unselfish heart in sharing him with me.
No offense, Joel. You're still my Ultimate Normal Guy Crush. Love you!
A La Carte (April 18)
7 hours ago
5 comments:
Does Becca know that she agreed to share her Rock Star Crush of all Rock Star Crushes with you?
"she was thrilled for me and didn't act very hostile." I'm glad for your sake that that was the impression you got.
We checked our venue's "What You Can/Can't Bring" list online, too, and were prepared to bring chairs in, only thinking better of it at the last minute. We did overhear a security guy turning away a family with blankets behind us and blaming it on Pearl Jam. Did you hear a reason why Pearl Jam doesn't allow blankets/chairs? We didn't.
It's weird to hear about Pearl Jam getting new fans...
I started listening to PJ when I was a Junior in HS - 1991-92. When TEN came out, I don't think I listened to anything else for at least a year. Arguably one of the best albums ever produced.
Sadly, like many bands, its all downhill from there. There were good albums after Ten, but nothing really got close. "No Code" was the last one I bought, and I have not been a fan of much of anything they have put out since 1998 or so.
Some of the best 'lesser known' PJ songs you should make it your interest to listen to: Nothingman, Footsteps, Indifference, There He Goes.
And if you don't have a copy of Ten - you should at least borrow one, just so you can know from whence they came. I doubt what you saw on stage was anything like it since they are old men like me now...
We assumed they didn't allow blankets because they wanted to cram as many people onto the lawn as possible - no surplus blanket space not being occupied by bottoms. But we never heard an official reason, either. Maybe they just like to pee in people's cornflakes?
i, of course, would have to disagree with Mr. Gentry. I feel that while TEN was an awesome album, Pearl Jam still has a lot to offer as they head into their 40's. They still rock, I think one needs to take the time to listen to their new music. I suggest getting a copy of 'Lost Dogs'.
Lookin' out for ya Liz! Don't be swayed by the general public :-)
good point about the blankets...really looking forward to seeing you guys...less than a month away!
Becca, the general public would like to inform you that "Lost Dogs" is chock full of OLD songs and OLD B-sides, and OLD covers.
Thanks for playing. :-)
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