I know it's not 'cool' to still like these guys -and I won't launch into a long soliloquy - but I do. It's about a lot more than the music even. I think they do a lot of things 'right'.
Maybe someone else will find this interesting. From the Rumor Pit newsletter:
Rumor Pit 1) Tasseography (Reading Tea Leaves)...
How does one read tea leaves? First, drink all but a teaspoon of a cup of tea made with loose tea and then swirl the cup three times clockwise leaving tea leaves up the sides of the cup. Peer into the cup and note the shapes that appear. We're seeing a triangle, a mask, a bell, a kite and the number 10. What does it all mean? Here's our reading. There are some really cool Pearl Jam happenings being worked on for this fall. There could be some shows - maybe acoustic, maybe not, a possible CD of some sort, and it's possible the band may head back to the studio towards the end of the year to begin work on their eighth album. As far as new music from side projects goes, some releases are possible but not definite. It's amazing what tea leaves can reveal.
and then
2) Pearl Jam To Release:
??Live At Benaroya Hall October 22nd 2003?
First-Ever Full Length Acoustic Performance
Album To Be Released At Retail July 27th
Pre-Orders Available at
www.pearljam.com Beginning June 21 With Band Poster for $13
Seattle - Twelve years ago, Pearl Jam performed a rare acoustic show for MTV as part of the ??Unplugged? series. Although the performance was never officially released, it continues to be one of the band's most bootlegged shows. On July 27th, 2004, Pearl Jam fans can satiate their acoustic appetites with the band's first ever full-length, mostly acoustic live show on a double disc CD entitled ??Live at Benaroya Hall October 22, 2003? (distributed though BMG and Ten Club).
?Live at Benaroya Hall October 22, 2003? will feature the band's 2+ hour, sold-out performance on October 22, 2003 at the intimate 2,500-seat venue which marked the first live performance of Pearl Jam??s Golden Globe nominated song ??Man of the Hour? as well as acoustic covers of Bob Dylan??s ??Masters of War?, the Ramones?? ??I Believe in Miracles? and Johnny Cash??s ??25 Minutes to Go.? The full set list from the evening follows:
Disc 1
of the girl
low light
thumbing my way
thin air
fatal
nothing as it seems
man of the hour
immortality
off he goes
around the bend
i believe in miracles
sleight of hand
all or none
lukin
Disc 2
parting ways
down
can't keep
dead man
masters of war
black
crazy mary
25 minutes to go
daughter
yellow ledbetter
Pre-orders for the CD will be available at
www.pearljam.com beginning June 21 for $13USD. Only CDs ordered through the Pearl Jam Ten Club will include a special poster featuring a photo of the band taken at the Benaroya show by renowned photographer Charles Peterson. A special limited edition vinyl box set will also be available through the band's website only and will also include the poster.
The Benaroya Hall show was a benefit for YouthCare, a non profit organization providing a range of comprehensive services for Seattle's homeless and at-risk youth for the past 30 years. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the CD will also benefit YouthCare. For more information on YouthCare, please visit: youthcare.org.
??This was one of those special shows, but because it was not part of the 2003 tour bootleg series and fans were asking for it, and because of the unique nature of the performance itself?? it being the band's first full length acoustic show- it felt like a show we should give fans the chance to own,? said band manager Kelly Curtis.
Reviews from the Benaroya show were glowing:
???the concert brought especially stirring performances from Vedder and guitarist McCready, who received several ovations.?
-Gene Stout, Seattle Post Intelligencer.
??With or without juice, Pearl Jam puts on an electrifying show.?
??The encore provided some of the finest moments of the evening, from a bone-tingling version of Victoria Williams ??Crazy Mary,? ? to the plaintive and plainly beautifully ??Black.? For the latter, Vedder turned the mike toward the audience, and with some 2,500 people singing along, it was dramatic and moving.
-Tina Potterf, The Seattle Times
??Things didn't quite go as advertised: McCready and Ament plugged in for a few select numbers, and [Boom] Gaspar's organ was juiced throughout. That's not to mention the full-blown, electric delivery on the night's feel good finale, ??Yellow Ledbetter.?
??[Vedder's] solo delivery of 'Dead Man' was one of the nights highlights, promptly topped, upon the band's return, with a chilling delivery of Dylan's war protest song [Masters of War].?
-Ernest Jasmine, Morning News Tribune
