I'll do what I want but irresponsibly

From last year's Austin City Limits concert/taping, but they replayed it a few weeks ago. Not only are these guys great musicians, they're bad-ass performers too. Watching this fires me up...



Saw PJ and Band of Horses at the ridiculously named Jiffy Lube Live (formerly Nissan Pavilion) last month with the LOML. Chalk up another fantastic concert by Pearl Jam.

Pearl Jam on ACL this Saturday

It's been a pretty damn good season of Austin City Limits so far - Ben Harper and Relentless7, DMB, Okkervil River and St. Vincent just to name a few. The fun continues this Saturday with Pearl Jam. And if you happened to miss any of the other episodes (or want to check them out again), you can stream them on the ACL website.

All this and a Pearl Jam concert to boot?

So imagine being at a PJ concert and Chris Cornell is on hand to belt out his parts of "Hunger Strike." THEN later in the evening, Jerry Cantrell hops onstage to bang out the guitar solo on "Alive." Only in LA (that's what they say, isn't it?).

No, I wasn't there, but goddamn if I wish I was. Thanks to Jude for passing this on. While the videos leave much to be desired, it's more about the story - and what an f-ing story it will be for those at the Gibson Amphitheater that night!

Pearl Jam short

Thanks to Product Shop NYC for the heads-up...

Pearl Jam to close the Spectrum down

Well musically, that is. Lot of memories from this place when I was growing up, but I think we'd all agree (at least those who know that the Spectrum isn't just a range of colors) that it's time to say goodbye to this lovable shit hole. It's not as bad as the Vet was in it's final years, but it's not too far off.

Pearl Jam is scheduled for Oct 28th and 30th as part of a short (warmup, I'd assume) tour in support of their upcoming album, Backspacer (Sept 20th). Tickets go on sale tomorrow bitches.

Pearl Jam - "Backspacer"

PJ performed a new song from their upcoming album (TBD) on Conan's first night hosting The Tonight Show.

And some more new music

• Pearl Jam, "The Golden State" and "Santa Cruz," 2008 Christmas Single (just mailed out to PJ Ten Club members), I am Fuel
• Green Day, 21 Century Breakdown stream (May 15th) here, here and here.

Hooray Friday!

- And the Best of 2008 lists keep coming... Metro D (part 1 & 2), NME, SPIN, Rolling Stone (albums, singles), A.V. Club, Drowned In Sound. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. If you're craving more, more, more, Largehearted Boy's list keeps growing by he day.

- The Shins cover "Strange Powers" and Aquarium Drunkard thinks it's better than the original by the Magnetic Fields. Have a listen for yourself.

- Double-shot from AD... this one from Pavement's stop in Minneapolis on their 1992 Slanted & Enchanted tour.

- Some "reissue" packages really piss me off, mainly because it's obvious that bands or labels are just looking to cash in on the greenbacks. That doesn't seem the case though with Pearl Jam's reissue of Ten in March. While prices haven't been set yet (which may change my mind), they are definitely giving fans options... four to be exact. Seems like some pretty sweet extras if you ask me. Let's keep our fingers crossed that they keep the prices reasonable.

Pearl Jam - Verizon Center (6/22/08)

I needed this. My last few concerts experiences have been… well, average. Good music, boring crowd (the Raconteurs); Okay sound, hot as hell (DCFC); Never made it (Radiohead). So I was itching to get back on track and see a barn-burner of a show. Cue Pearl Jam. When you’re looking for a 25-30 song, 3 hour concert – these guys are as close as it comes to a sure thing.

A few cool notes:
- During “All Along the Watchtower”, Eddie brought a kid (early teens maybe?) up on stage and handed him his guitar so the kid could play with the band. Are you f-ing kidding me?? Talk about inspiration for this lucky little shit. Don’t be surprised if in 10-15 years you read an article about a kid who played with PJ at his first concert and it motivated him to become the next Hendrix or something. More details and a picture at I am fuel.
- Also at I am fuel is a link to a PJ tour blog that a guy just out of college is doing for Spin. So let me get this straight – this guy's first "real" job is touring the country on someone else’s dime, going to PJ concerts for free, probably getting paid a salary as well and all he has to do is blog about it? I must have missed the job postings like that when I graduated college. Jealousy is a bitch.

SETLIST: Hard To Imagine, Severed Hand, Hail Hail, Do The Evolution, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Evacuation, Corduroy, I'm Open, I Am Mine, I Got Id, Daughter, Light Years, Even Flow, Green Disease, You Are, U, Who You Are, Why Go

ENCORE 1: Comatose, Sad, Given To Fly, Come Back, Grievance, Black, Rearviewmirror
ENCORE 2: No More (Eddie solo), Last Kiss, Crazy Mary, Alive, All Along The Watchtower, Yellow Ledbetter

Hooray Friday!

- Interesting Beck interview from the late-90s on An Aquarium Drunkard. I go back and forth on Beck's music, but I've come to the conclusion that I really need to be in the mood to listen to his stuff. If I'm not, he annoys the shit out of me.

- Trent Reznor... some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth is clearly douche-esque. But he actually put out a sensible, well thought-out and most importantly, understandable post on his website about the music industry today. Thanks to Metro D for the K.

- Belle and Sebastian covered Dinosaur Jr.'s "Freak Scene" and You Ain't No Picaso provides the link as well as a video of their Van Halen "Jump" cover.

- I am fuel continues her Pearl Jam obsession with demos from Eddie Vedder's Into the Wild soundtrack.

- A double-shot from I am fuel. The Black Crowes new album Warpaint is out March 4th - their first single, "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution" is out now.

- The first round of confirmations for this year's Coachella are out now and Ultra 8201 is on the case.

- Daytrotter has a 4-song live set from Rogue Wave with an unreleased track. Good stuff!

Hooray Friday!!

- Man, these Radiohead guys really know how to use the internet. If you happen to be around a computer at midnight on New Year's, check out Current TV. From their website:

Radiohead will join us to play an exclusive live US TV performance of their new
album "In Rainbows" on Current TV, all commercial free. The pre-recorded
performance will include all of the tracks from "In Rainbows" plus some "other
bits" as Thom says.

If you have already made plans, don't fret - Current will archive the show for future watchings on their site. Thanks to P-fork, who also posted the teaser videos. If I had only 1% of their creativity...

- Looking for some new music to sink your ears into? NPR's Second Stage has the best unknown artists of 2007. Metro D approved Yeasayer is on the list... other than that, I've heard of Le Loup, but only because they're from DC.

- More best of 2007 lists (when will it end)... NPRs Bob Boilen, Tom Moon, Will Hermes, Robin Hilton, and Meredith Ochs. Also Let's Sexy Fighting.

- Pearl Jam Christmas Single anyone? Check out I am fuel for the stream.

- Dig, Lazarus, Dig is the latest effort (out in March/April) from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Check out the teaser on Brooklyn Vegan.