Posts Tagged ‘Pearl Jam’
Pearl Jam are going on hiatus. . .PSYCH!
So I know a few people who were feeling pretty bummed when word broke today that Pearl Jam seemed headed for an indefinite hiatus after closing out their recent tour in Portugal.
The hubbub started because during the show, Eddie Vedder read the following statement in Portugese from a piece of paper: “Thank you for coming to our last show. Not our last ever, but our last in a long time.”
Major media outlets then ran with the “news.”
The only problem? As PJ’s publicist Nicole Vandenberg noted, “He says that at the end of all tours, because the tour has ended. The remark may have gotten a little lost in translation.”
So there you have it. Straight from the horse’s mouth. Kind of.
-Sam
If you’ve got web skillz, you might want to start lining up your resume, because I’m thinking there might be an opening soon over at Monkeywrench Records’ website.
MW Records, you see, is the label that Pearl Jam created after they broke free from their major label contract. It’s the label they released their last album, Backspacer, on. Until today, the site had just been a logo with no other content. But today, according to Antiquiet, somebody by the name of Pete posted a new PJ song called “Better Days” on the label’s website with the following note: “Gary, Kelly wanted you to hear this please give it a listen.” Pearl Jam is managed by Kelly Curtis.
Well, as you can imagine, not long after the leak, the site went under lock and key, and it now requires a password to access. So yeah, this definitely wasn’t planned. And Pete might want to get familiar with the unemployment line.
You can stream “Better Days” at Antiquiet. It sounds to me a lot like Eddie Vedder’s solo work on Into The Wild, but some PJ fans are claiming it’s a B-side from 2003’s Riot Act. Of course, there’s also the slim chance it’s a song from an upcoming album. Fingers crossed.
-Sam
Pearl Jam has just released it’s own radio station via it’s website. It’ll be a constant stream of live, rare and studio tracks. And if you’re digging the tune, hit the buy button and it is yours. The band has been together for over two decades pushing out mass amounts of music, so this station will keep you rocking all day long. Ok, that was just lame to say. Regardless, head on over to Pearl Jam’s site to check out the station.
The band will also make pro-mixed recordings from its current tour available starting in mid-May as part of its 2010 Bootleg Programme. That means MP3, FLAC and CD formats, starting at $9.99 for the former. FLAC? I just went from six to midnight (thank you, Jonah Hill, for that epic quote from Forgetting Sarah Marshall (cannot believe I just said epic)).
Conan goes out on top
Conan O’Brien has always been the epitome of cool to me.
I haven’t missed one of his shows (Late Night and The Tonight Show) in about five years. The day just doesn’t feel complete without Conan capping it off.
You see, Conan had a way of differentiating himself from some of the other pap that litters late night. He appealed directly to young people who didn’t want to put up with Leno’s dullness or Letterman’s sneering disdain. He made intelligent comedy aimed at the outsider in all of us. His clownish absurdism was never mean-spirited and he was always the first to turn a joke on himself in order to make others feel more comfortable. He was the smartest guy in the room – one who used silliness as the medium for his sharp wit. And granted, a lot of people just didn’t get Conan. His humor definitely wasn’t lowest common denominator stuff like Leno’s. Instead, he realized that some people just want to see a Masturbating Bear regardless of how little sense it makes because, dammit, that’s hilarious.
And, of course, Conan has always been a worshiper at the shrine of music. A guitar player himself, you could always tell how excited he was to hear some of the bands that came on his shows to play. And his shows, particularly Late Night, were usually on the cutting edge as far as new music was concerned. He once told the New York Times:
“Music and comedy are so linked,” O’Brien said earlier, as he walked up and down the halls of his offices, playing one of his many guitars. “The rhythm of comedy is connected to the rhythm of music. They’re both about creating tension and knowing when to let it go. I’m always surprised when somebody funny is not musical.”
He was able to get his friends, The White Stripes, to be his musical guest on his last episode of Late Night. And he got Pearl Jam to play the world premiere of “Got Some” on his first episode of The Tonight Show. But that was all topped last Friday, as he said goodbye to The Tonight Show and television (at least until September) with a sincere, poignant collaboration on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” – that classic ode to breaking free from a doomed relationship.
Backed up by the terrific Max Weinberg band and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, Ben Harper, and Beck on guitar, Will Ferrell took the vocal duties and invited Conan to strap on his axe and join the band as they made a sweet sendoff. Strumming away, it was easy to see a long-shouldered burden just disappear, at least for a moment.
The song asks, “If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?” Well, one thing Conan doesn’t have to worry about is his fans forgetting about him. We’ll be waiting right here until he comes back.
Now if you haven’t already seen this rocking rendition of “Free Bird,” check it out: