Show Notes
This episode keeps the Chronology Series train moving while also digging into current events surrounding the world of Pearl Jam. 2009 was a fresh year for the band. It was a renewed start as they brought back long time producer Brendan O'Brien into the studio to produce their 9th album, Backspacer. It was a more positive outlook for a band that spent the last three records exhausting frustration over war and other tragic moments, and that outlook was presented as such on stage. While we cover a hometown San Diego show for this episode, you can't talk 2009 without mentioning the impact that the final shows from The Spectrum had on this fanbase.
This episode is a culmination of weeks of Javi dreading his least favorite era of Pearl Jam live. However, we put a challenge to the test to see if he could make it through the entire show without being irritated by the sonic staleness of the guitars from this tour, and you'll have to tune in to see how well he acquitted himself. It helps that this is a hometown show with some great stories that more than make up for the sounds not being up to par. We get to see music instructors of Ed and Matt join stage for Little Wing, and an outstanding cover of So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star where Ed shares a fun story about his time trying to play music in San Diego.
Oh, and I suppose it needs to be mentioned here that we have a show announcement! We'll react to the lineup announcement at Ohana and the questions that still remain after knowing that Pearl Jam will headline the third night.
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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.
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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.
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