Show Notes
After three successful albums and becoming a world wide phenomenon, Pearl Jam entered 1996 ready to put out a new album and shift the dynamics of their song writing in a direction that perhaps the world wasn't ready for. To the wayside went some of the aggression and raw power that dominated Vitalogy opting for a more self reflective approach for No Code. The live shows were still without Ticketmaster, but continued to evolve, and this became the first year where we got to see marathon performances reaching nearly three hours and over 30 songs featured on the set. The 1996 representative for our Chronology Series is a show from Buffalo, New York that had everything you'd want from this era - flawless performances and an energized crowd.
We invite our good friend, Steve Bennett, back to the podcast this week to talk about this show being his first of nearly 100 that he's attended. And the stories here are can't miss. From failing to get tickets through an 800 number to dealing with brokers through the newspaper as a fifteen year old, it is the classic story of how far a high school student was willing to go in order to experience this band. And for it to be life changing once stepping inside the arena makes all the difference. This show marks the first non-VIP event in the building that's housed the Sabres for 30 years, and Pearl Jam would go on to play there three more times in following tours.
Steve's stories will dominate the conversation, but we'll also dig into the next step that this band took to develop a more mature sound in their music. We'll spend some time talking about how Present Tense marked massive changes for the band's mentality, and how even a song like Better Man was greatly improved upon since the following tour in 1995.
Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com
Contact the Show - [email protected]
Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs
More from Live On 4 Legs: Pearl Jam Podcast
To celebrate an album birthday, this week we are going back to 1993 on the Vs. tour to talk about a show in Dallas that happened at the prime of their popularity. This show takes place a month after the release of Vs., which was a massive hit selling a then record 950,378 copies in its first week. While everyone wanted a piece of this band, they chose to keep things simple while going on tour to promote the album. Instead of selling out massive basketball arenas, they stuck to smaller venues including many on college campuses so that they could keep prices affordable for their young fanbase.
After Jack Irons' abrupt exit from Pearl Jam in early 1998, the band was left to scramble for a replacement to help support them on a 47 show tour for North America. With Soundgarden having split up a year prior, old friend Matt Cameron was available as a temporary replacement until a new member could be found. As we know, Cameron transitioned from temporary to permanent within a few months remaining in that position for 27 years. The show that we're covering in this episode is his 11th full performance with the band in St. Louis near the beginning of that long tour.
2026 has been a good year for Pearl Jam milestone anniversaries. It marks the 20th anniversary of Avocado's release, 35 years since Ten, and for this episode's purposes, 30 long illustrious years for the No Code record. Back in 1996, the music world that was still attempting to grab on to the last lingering traces of the grunge movement was anticipating Pearl Jam's 4th album after Vitalogy skyrocketed the band to the top of the charts. People that expected to get more of the same raw sound from the previous record were shocked to find that No Code took a completely new direction that didn't quite captivate their audience like their first three albums did. Along with their continued boycott of Ticketmaster venues, Pearl Jam was losing mainstream appeal at a time where rock music was fading out of interest.
After much anticipation over who was going to be behind the kit for Pearl Jam for the first time since Matt Cameron left last summer, we have finally found our answer... or so we think. Abe Laboriel Jr., who has made a name for himself as the drummer for Paul McCartney, was revealed as the guy holding it down for the band as they played for the first time since May of 2025. We'll have plenty of reaction to how Abe approached these songs and what kind of chemistry he had with the band that led to the festival being a big success. But there is also the fallout after Ohana with some added speculation on whether or not Abe is fully a part of Pearl Jam's future. We'll address comments from the band and try to make sense of the next steps involving their future.
The time is finally here! We've been waiting for a year and a half to find out who the new drummer of Pearl Jam is going to be, and this weekend at the Ohana Festival, we'll finally have our answer. Will it be Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins? Zak Starkey from The Who? Dave Krusen making a triumphant return? Or maybe a guy like Abe Laboriel Jr., Josh Freese or Richard Stuverud. The time has finally come to turn the page to the next chapter, and we're here to get you ready for it with this week's episode going back to the most recent Ohana performance back in 2024.