By Steve Newton
Everybody and their dog knows that Taylor Swift is bringing her hugely publicized Eras Tour to BC Place Stadium for three shows this December, and that’s cool. She’s awesome in every way.
But Vancouver’s old-school guitar-rock fans deserve something to look forward to as well, don’tcha think?
Enter Pearl Jam. The Seattle grunge act so great that Neil Young once made them his backing band for an album and tour.
The Eddie Vedder-led combo from the Emerald City has just announced that it will kick off its 2024 world tour with two shows at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena on May 4 and 6 before heading off for gigs in the States, Ireland, England, Germany, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, and Australia.
Pearl Jam has held Vancouver close to its heart since day one. As guitarist Mike McCready told me back in 2003, when they were teenagers the band members used to trek up here in search of vinyl.
“I love Vancouver,” he raved, “and I’ll tell you why. Growing up in Seattle, as a teenager in high school my friends and I would go up there and go to these killer record stores around Granville. A&B Sound was there, and Revolution something, near Gastown. Whatever we were into at the time—posters, KISS things, Aerosmith—you could always find more stuff in Canada.
“We’d go up there to look for records and spend the weekend in this really dive-y Granville hotel and party,” he added. “I loved it!”
Vancouver guitar-rock fans took a liking to Pearl Jam from the get-go as well. I remember how psyched the crowd was when the band played the Town Pump in September of 1991, after the release of its debut album, Ten. I for one was mightily impressed, judging by my ancient concert review:
“From the sound of things, this act—which features two former members of the ill-fated Mother Love Bone—has what it takes to follow fellow Seattlers Alice in Chains right up the charts…and maybe even whip right past ’em!”
Pearl Jam’s upcoming tour will coincide with the release of its 12th studio album, Dark Matter, set to hit the record racks on April 19. The Andrew Watt-produced disc was recorded over three weeks last year at the Rick Rubin-owned Shangri-La studio in Malibu, California.
General on-sale ticket registration for Pearl Jam’s Vancouver shows is open now and you can find more info here.
To hear the full audio of my interview with Mike McCready from 2003–and my 1991 conversation with Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard as well–subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 400 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with the legends of rock since 1982.
Discover more from earofnewt.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.