Randy Sobel's Personal Meeting Room
Episode 108: San Jose, Costa Rica - 11/20/11
We're coming down to the wire in our year long Around The World Series. As last week we wrapped up South America, today's episode we'll focus on the one and only time the band took a trip down to Central America as Ed and Boom were able to catch some waves down in Costa Rica.\n\nIf your expectations for this show are as high as any show in Argentina, Brazil or Chile, do yourself a favor and lower them immediately. You cannot go into this show thinking that the crowd is going to be red hot for everything. They had their moments where they came through and sounded pretty good on the boot, but this should not be lumped into the same category as shows from those other nations. \n\nWith that being said, this show coming towards the end of the 2011 run which was still promoting an album that many people deemed unspectacular doesn't raise a lot of eyeballs. Some nice moments such as a Vs. opener combo of Go into Animal, a great Daughter/Why Go transition that was completely dictated by the crowd and a nice little surprise Oceans in the encore are enough to raise eyebrows, but some strange setlist decisions and way too much from Ten doesn't set this show enough apart from others. We'll dissect what worked and what didn't and we'll also mention a mini riot that occurred near the beginning of the show.\n\nPatreon: http://patreon.com/liveon4legsnDiscord: https://discord.gg/jbpughvC
Episode 122: St. Petersburg, FL - 3/29/94
We're back into our run of early 90's episodes as we tackle a great show and memorable bootleg in this episode. St. Petersburg happened on the well documented 1994 tour that the band was on the top of their game for. This is a Patreon requested episode and joining us for this one is Horizon Leg Patron Gabe Spece.\n\nComing off a night in Miami where 24,000 fans attempted to cram into a venue that could only fit 8,000, the local Florida newspapers made attempts to sabotage the band by stating that they incited the "riots" that led to some incidents happening during the show. Unlike what we saw in our Ann Arbor episode that happened just nine days prior, the band didn't want to let yet another issue (to go along with bomb threats, ticket distribution challenges, backstage break-ins) to hamper their show for a new live crowd that seemingly couldn't care less what happened to them the night before. The result of that was a very relaxed show with tons of positive energy. Almost a rarity for that tour year.\n\nThis show has gone down in lore as being one of the better fan recorded bootlegs of that year which helps take in all of the fantastic moments that happened here. Highlights from this one that we're gonna dig into are opening the set with Rearviewmirror, a fantastic Daughter with both Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2 tag and W.M.A. which essentially led to a full version played, great improvs off Black and Alive and a rare 3rd encore closer of Throw Your Arms Around Me. But possibly the most important thing to come out of this episode is a bit of a debate that ramps up during Porch. This Porch has always been known for having a Dirty Frank tag, but we dig a little deeper and question if that's the case here or not. Check it out, you'll know what we mean!\n\nOur guest today joined us due to his contribution through Patreon. And guess what? You have the chance to join us for an episode too! Contribute here: http://patreon.com/liveon4legs
Episode 140: Alpine Valley Lollapalooza - 8/29/92
This week we’re headed back to summer 1992 for a Lollapalooza afternoon set at Alpine Valley. This week we have 2 patrons joining us to break it all down, Patrick Boegel and Dani King. Dani was there and gives us the inside story, and, for the second week in a row, we have an EPIC post-show story that you’ll want to stick around for! We’ll talk about some classic Ten songs that were hitting their peak, an early tease of a fan-favorite Lost Dog, why the studio recording of Baba O’Riley is still in the vault, and one of the craziest Porch climbs Ed’s ever done!\n\nDonate to the show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs
Episode 138: Pittsburgh, PA - 10/11/13
Fresh off of covering a tour leg closer last week, this week we have a tour leg opener from the first show of the Lightning Bolt tour, Pittsburgh 2013. This week, John is joined by OG pod co-host Matt to cover lots of Lightning Bolt debuts, some curious setlist choices, a loud and exuberant crowd, one very excited Pittsburgh Pirate, and one song that hasn’t resurfaced since this show. Will they disagree on everything? Or will they find some common ground? This episode was requested by our patron Chris Davis, the “Pearl Jam Dude,” and we talk to him about his experience at the show, his first. Check back later this week for our Horizon Profile episode on him as well available on Patreon.\n\nJoin our Patreon: http://patreon.com/liveon4legs
Episode 103: Nassau Coliseum - 4/30/03
Warning: This episode contains sensitive topics of a political nature including the landscape of the world after the 9/11 tragedy. The energy in this episode is more angry and fired up than usual, which is saying a lot. If this seems unsettling to you, please avoid this episode. But please vote on November, 3rd.\n\nSo it's come to this. You knew we couldn't have a month featuring Pearl Jam's most political moments without talking about this polarizing show. Nassau Coliseum will forever go down in infamy due to the perceived controversial actions that Ed displayed on stage, but even moreso due to the horrid fan reactions that followed.\n\nAnyone who has seen PJ20 remembers this story: Ed comes out on stage dressed up in his sparkling silver jacket donning facial wear representing then current President George W. Bush. They performed the track called Bu$hleaguer off their touring album Riot Act that so eloquently called out the President's actions. Ed riled up the crowd by mocking the maligned leader. He put a cigarette in the mask's mouth and poured a bottle of wine into it. He also displayed affection with the plastic piece of paraphernalia. Whether it was done to incite a riot or not (it was) the crowd retaliated by throwing quarters, garbage, t-shirts or whatever they could find onto the stage that had the band fearing for their lives.\n\nThis was only 17 years ago and our average listener is probably in their 40s, so it's a high probability that you remember the time period, one that this current administration makes look like a favorable memory. While the country struggled to cope after the events from 9/11, the situation was escalated in suburban townships in Nassau and Suffolk County Long Island. Everyone knew someone who was affected. Maybe your neighbor was FDNY, its possible your cousin was a first responder, or even worse, you had a friend or family member in one of those buildings or on a plane. Any way you slice it, the area was in such close proximity t
Episode 127: Hampton, VA - 4/18/16
We're back to a more recent era in this episode as we look back at a show from the 2016 tour five years ago (yes, it's been five years) from Hampton, Virginia. While a great show with many moments to take out from it, this show may be remembered most for it happening on the day when the band had to cancel their Raleigh, NC show due to the state's LGBTQ discriminatory HB2 law. \n\nWe'll go into full detail about the band's decision to cancel the show as well as John's original plans for that week and how he almost tried for Hampton. However, thinking that the Raleigh and subsequent Columbia shows would be enough, there is a certain song that John missed on this night that we'll discuss at length.\n\nThis show has a very unique setlist with some throwbacks to past Virginia shows. For those who remember the Virginia Beach show from 2000, it was their first show since the Roskilde tragedy. Two major moments that came out of this show were the It's OK tag off of Daughter and opening with Long Road. Both moments were called back to in this show, including a version of Long Road in the middle of the set that is almost unprecedented. We'd also hear songs that are less common in the modern day era of Pearl Jam including Brain Of J, Habit, Sad, Breath and Inside Job. \n\nWe've reached our 2021 goal less than five months into the year! But as always we are welcoming new members to our Patreon. Subscribe here to get additional content: http://patreon.com/liveon4legs
PJ30: Off Ramp Stories w/ Rick & Chris Friel
Last week we celebrated a very important milestone in the history of Pearl Jam - their 30th anniversary! In this episode, we look back to the early 90s time period in Seattle before and around the date of Pearl Jam's Off Ramp show. It's our pleasure to welcome Rick and Chris Friel, Mike McCready's former Shadow bandmates, to talk about being there at their first ever show and relive some of the rich rock n roll history.\n\nHere's a little teaser from everything you get out of this jam packed conversation:\n- Information of a previously unknown show from early in the band's tenure with mention of a song that we didn't know was written at the time\n- Being in Seattle at that time period and getting to see the scene developing around them\n- Hearing Release at the Off Ramp and instantly being blown away\n- Chris's experience recording Black, Times of Trouble and The King for the Gossman Tapes\n- Chris Cornell's audition for Shadow\n- How proud they are of Mike and how they consider him as a part of their family\n\nA lot to unpack! Enjoy!\n\nSupport the show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs
Episode 124: Piss Bottle Men at Moore Theatre - 2/6/95
This episode is a part two of a two-part series focusing on the Moore Theatre shows in 1995 where the band performed under the pseudonym Piss Bottle Men. If you like to listen to things linearly, the first part of this series is available through our Patreon which you can sign up to for as low as $1 per month here: http://patreon.com/liveon4legsnnThis episode is another addition in our year long Hometown Series dedicated to telling the stories of their best Seattle shows in their 30-year anniversary. These two shows were special fan club shows meant as a warm up before heading off to a big tour in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. With Vitalogy selling over 4 million copies in the prior months late in 1994 and early 1995, these shows were the first time that the hometown fans got familiar with new drummer Jack Irons and seen some of these newer Vitalogy songs fleshed out in the way they were played on the record. \n\nThis was also in the middle of the Mirror Ball recording sessions, so a certain Uncle was in town available to make a visit to his favorite nephews. However, earlier in the night the band decided to present a preview of the new collaborative record as they played Act Of Love mid-set. When Neil makes his appearance to join them, we get a little bit of a reprise to close the night. This may remind you of another instance where this happened - the Polo Fields show where Neil filled in for Ed who had food poisoning. The band would play two versions of RITFW that night.
Episode 125: Cincinnati, OH - 10/1/2014
After a 90's heavy month in March, this week we dip back into a more recent era to talk about the 2014 US leg opener in Cincinnati. Our Patron David Ritter will join us to talk about his emotional experience from this night!\n\nThe band was in a good mood mixing up the setlist with songs representing every album and stories you could fill a memoir with. This night had classic tales including one featuring a club they played back in 1992 in Cincy called Bogarts, and a crazy story where Keith Richards pull a knife on them. \n\nThe performances were on point at this show too, most notably a version of Love Boat Captain with an extended jam intro and a Jumpin' Jack Flash near the end. We'll also talk about the tragedy in Cincinnati where 11 people were killed at a Who show and the nice dedication that the band made for them during this show.\n\nRemember above where I mentioned Bogarts? Well, we found the bootleg for this show and we're going to cover it this week! It'll be featured as a Patreon exclusive. Join up here to listen to this and other exclusive content - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs
Mike Reflects on His Father’s Passing During Bonnaroo 2008 Release Performance
