Woooo! EDDIE!

It's weird. While I'm not the world's most knowledgeable Pearl Jam fan, I thought I would know a story like this one. Yesterday while digging through my favorite mp3 blogs, I ran across a post on the awe-inspiring I Am Fuel, You Are Friends about Pearl Jam working on a new album with a tour to follow.

And no, that's not the story.

There was a link in the post that led to the Rolling Stone website for an article about the same topic.

And no, that's not the story.

There was a link in THAT article that led to an AMAZING piece by Cameron Crowe from many, many moons ago - right back before the self-titled Pearl Jam album came out. It's a really good, lengthy piece on the band. It actually kinda reminds me of the line from Almost Famous...

"It's a think piece about a mid-level band struggling with their own limitations in the harsh face of stardom."

Hrmm.

Anyways... the point of all this is that in the middle of that article from 1993, I stumbled upon this revelation...

"Alive" set the tone for everything that would follow. The first song on Ten was also the first song to bring attention to the band. It was clearly Vedder's creative breakthrough, and the band's initial video celebrated a cathartic live performance of the song. In an early Los Angeles Times review, writer Chris William had even compared the song to the Who's "My Generation." Today, "Alive" is a Gen X rallying cry, but tonight, sitting in the Nightlite, Vedder reveals the true meaning of the song.

"Everybody writes about it like it's a life-affirmation thing — I'm really glad about that,' he says with a rueful laugh. "It's a great interpretation. But 'Alive' is ... it's torture. Which is why it's fucked up for me. Why I should probably learn how to sing another way. It would be easier. It's...it's too much."

Vedder continues: "The story of the song is that a mother is with a father, and the father dies. It's an intense thing because the son looks just like the father. The son grows up to be the father, the person that she lost. His father's dead, and now this confusion, his mother, his love, how does he love her, how does she love him? In fact, the mother, even though she marries somebody else, there's no one she's ever loved more than the father. You know how it is, first loves and stuff. And the guy dies. How could you ever get him back? But the son. He looks exactly like him. It's uncanny. So she wants him. The son is oblivious to it all. He doesn't know. what the fuck is going on. He's still dealing, he's still growing up. He's still dealing with love, he's still dealing with the death of his father. All he knows is 'I'm still alive' — those three words, that's totally out of burden."

Elvis' "Suspicious Minds" blasts on the jukebox as Vedder continues. "Now the second verse is 'Oh, she walks slowly into a young man's room...I can remember to this very day...the look...the look.' And I don't say anything else. And because I'm saying, 'The look, the look,' everyone thinks it goes with 'on her face.' It's not on her face. The look is between her legs. Where do you go with that? That's where you came from.

But 'I'm still alive. 'I'm the lover that's still alive. And the whole conversation about 'You're still alive, she said.' And his doubts: 'Do I deserve to be? Is that the question?' Because he's fucked up forever! So now he doesn't know how to deal with it, so what does he do, he goes out killing people — that was [the song] 'Once.' He becomes a serial killer. And 'Footsteps,' the final song of the trilogy [it was released as a U.K. B side to 'Jeremy'], that's when he gets executed. That's what happens. The Green River killer...and in San Diego, there was another prostitute killer down there. Somehow I related to that. I think that happens more than we know. It's a modern way of dealing with a bad life."

Then he smiles as he says, "I'm just glad I became a songwriter."

Wait. What?

Alive, Once, &Footsteps were a trilogy of the same story? How the fuck did I never know that before?

That revelation stunned me so much, I knew I had no choice but to make a post about it.

And yes, I brought the music.

Enjoy!


SeeqPod - Playable Search

Top Five Friday: There's Something Wrong With The Kids In My Neighborhood

I was working on something else for Top Five Friday when this popped to mind. So, the other thing may have to wait for a Top Five Sunday or some suchness. I suppose I could have held this one back until next week but some stuff just needs to be said.

First off, much props to NOFX for the title of this post - I think they'd be pleased with the words I'm about to spew forth.

A few months ago when the Missus and I were at the Kate Nash concert, we saw some things that... well, really just kinda annoyed us. But the more we discussed it in the days to follow, I noticed a trend following fans of the music industry that seemed a little more than annoying - I think it seriously threatens the musical world as we know it! [how's that for melodrama?]

With that in mind...

The Top Five Things Music Fans Do That Concern Me

5. "NO TICKET!"
One of the first things we noticed at the Kate Nash show was the amount of kids [yes, I suppose they're kids to me now - I feel old] clutching sheets of paper in their hands instead of actual tickets. What the fuck's up with that? Ticketmaster has been offering this TicketFast shit for a while now, I guess, but I've never used it. I want a god damn ticket. And if that makes me cruel to the environment, well, fuck that noise. Do you know how depressed those kids are going to be in ten years when they're going through shit while cleaning the house and not finding ticket stubs to remind them of the shows they went to in the past? I LOVE my ticket stubs! How else would I remember that I saw Reel Big Fish at the Hollywood Palladium in 1998 and then recall that we left before RBF actually took the stage? Those old faded ticket stubs are like boosts of ginkogaloba to make me remember shit. These kids with their sheets of paper will never remember anything. Fuck them.

4. Cellphones - Fucking Cellphones
Don't get me wrong. If you've got an iPhone, you rock. You may not deserve it and I may ponder what would happen if I kicked your ass behind the dumpster and stole it from you - but you rock for owning it. But when you don't rock is when you clutch your iPhone in your sweaty hand and snap pictures the entire night long with the 2 Megapixel camera. Do you really think that shot is going to turn out? And even if it does, are your friends going to swoon when you show them your blurry, pixelated shot of the flavor of the week? And what about you fuckers who decide it's a good idea to text ALL NIGHT LONG?! Hey, it's cool if you want to do it during intermission. Occasionally, I find it okay to do it too. And while it's completely disrespectful to do it during a band, if it's a shitty band [fuck you Modest Mouse!], you have my permission too. But during the band you came to see? Seriously? What could you possibly have to say that's so important at that point? "omg! they r so TOTALLY playing that that's me in the corner song!! its so 80s! lawl!" Do us all a favor and wait. And yes, I could write an entire post on those fuckers who do this in the movie theater too.

3. Mid-Show Conversations
If it's superloud and no one can hear you, go for it. But if it's during a slow song or it's a small venue, I really couldn't give a shit if Billy give you the crabs or not so don't bother to tell your friend next to you - since EVERYONE ELSE CAN HEAR IT TOO! You paid good money [maybe your parents but... well, that's another story] to see the band perform so fucking watch them perform. Apparently you like this band for some reason so show them a little respect.

2. God, I Feel Old
Kids go to shows. I get that. The music industry, for the most part, is aimed at the kids who have lots of [their parents'] disposable income to pour down a rathole on shitty music they'll be embarrassed to own at some point - New Kids Christmas album, I'm lookin' right at you. But that's okay. Your youth is the time period when you're allowed to like music you shouldn't like. It's when it's okay to have a drawerful of cassette singles like Snap, Dino, and Pebbles. But keep that shit in a drawer. Kids are going to shows at far too young of an age these days. That means that someday you'll have to openly admit that your first show was at age 9 seeing the Jonas Brothers. You want to know how that feels? Go ask the people whose first show was Hanson. See, my first show wasn't until I was 16 or 17 which means I get to tell people my first show was Stone Temple Pilots. My second show was Metallica. My third show was Live and Weezer. Fourth was Aerosmith. Sensing a trend? I've got nothing to hide in shame over. But all these kids going to shows will someday live to regret it when they have to recite a list of one hit wonders for their first shows.

And the #1 problem facing music fans today...

1. What's An Album?
The death of the album in modern music is a tragic thing. I'm as guilty of this as anyone but can anyone really recall the last full album they knew from front to back and everywhere in between? Remember the good ol' days with Ten and Nevermind where you knew every nook and cranny of that album? Remember when you even knew the really bad gimmick songs like "Bugs" that PJ would slip onto an album? Now everyone only knows songs - and worse, a lot of people don't even call them "songs" anymore. Now they're "tracks." And they probably have been tracks for a long time but dammit, that needs to change. I'm going to bite my lip until it bleeds the next time I catch myself call it a track. But back on point, the death of the album is a horrible thing. While it's great to have the option to buy songs individually, it's led to a world where no one knows an album anymore. It was bad enough when CDs came out and people would say shit like, "Oh, I really like Track 5" but it just gets worse with time. That's why I've been on this crazy kick for a while now to buy a record player, fill our shelves with vinyl, and re-live the glory days of music. So many bands are putting stuff out on vinyl again, I think it could be a renaissance of music for me personally. Just sitting with headphones on listening to an entire album - yeah, I can dig it. I wonder if they still do that radio show "The Seventh Day" where they would play a bunch of albums all the way through. God, that shit was great. We've gone from a world of b-sides and "deep cuts" to whatever is in the Top 10 on iTunes. Things need to change.

Anyways... my soapbox is worn out. Until next time...

Bridge School Benefit

Ahhh, the time of year is drawing near for the wild Bridge School Benefit rumors to start flowing.

For those of you not familiar with it, the Bridge School Benefit is an annual benefit show that Neil Young and his wife Pegi put on at the Shoreline Ampitheatre. The Bridge School is a special needs school that assists children with severe physical impairments and complex communication needs [thanks Wiki!] The shows have been going on for about 20 years now with one year being skipped for a reason I didn't bother to track down.


It's a very special show as Neil Young pulls out all the stops in bringing the best lineup to town that he can and traditionally - but not always - the bands all perform acoustic which can create some very interesting scenarios. Over the years, the show has seen bands like R.E.M., Springsteen, the Pumpkins, the Chilis, and many, many others perform.

Mrs. Blue and I went to the 2006 edition which had a lineup of Devendra Banhart, Gillian Welch, Death Cab For Cutie, Trent Reznor (yep, acoustic), Foo Fighters, Brian Wilson, Pearl Jam, the Dave Matthews Band, and of course, Neil Young himself. It was an amazingly diverse show with such memorable moments as Reznor stealing the show with acoustic versions of many NIN songs, the Foo Fighters absolutely rocking the crowd (especially on their "cover" of Nirvana's "Marigold,") Brian Wilson tearing the house down by sailing through all the Beach Boys songs no one expected him to do, and well, of course there's Pearl Jam who never disappoints. Tradition has Neil invite everyone back onstage at the end of the show for a group singalong that had Eddie and the boys join him for "Rockin' In The Free World." Even the shitty performance of DMB couldn't drag that show down.

We decided that we wanted to attend this year so I've been keeping an eye out for rumors of who would be performing this year - or if there would even be a show at all (no dates have been announced yet but I can't imagine the show not going on.)

Here's the "word on the street" so far:

Neil Young - of course. And honestly, I enjoyed his set a lot more in '06 than I thought I was. Despite the fact that it was late and freezing, the man knows how to put on a show still.

Pearl Jam - seems to be some debate on this. A band member told some people earlier in the year that they were definitely playing Bridge School this year but told some other fans a couple weeks ago that they definitely weren't. The plot thickens!

Wilco - just a rumor right now but that'd be a lot of fun as I was telling the Missus last weekend that I would like to see Wilco in concert

ZZ Top - this is one of those bands that you wouldn't expect on the bill but would make perfect sense. Apparently they're opening for the Foos on Oct 26th in SoCal so it would be possible... and I wonder if that makes the Foos rumored as well.

Other bands in California in the last couple weeks of October that might make sense:
Santana - playing Shoreline on 10/11
Randy Newman - in SF the weekend of the 10/17, has a new album
Conor Oberest - in SF the weekend of 10/24, has a new album
The Kooks - in SF on 10/25
Tina Turner - has both poss. weekends open and in California/Arizona area

So, there's a start of some more rumors for ya!

Anyways, assuming the show happens, anyone within range of car/bus/train/plane should make an effort to see it at least once because it's a fun time and a lot different than most festival-type shows you could attend.

WOOOO EDDIE!

Holy shit! I was at this show!