Episode 355: Milwaukee, WI - 7/8/1995

Moving ahead in our series to Pearl Jam's highly regarded 1995 tour covering the first of two nights from Milwaukee's Summerfest. This year saw many changes for the band including a new drummer with Jack Irons, no Ticketmaster venues played or corporate sponsorships promoted and a change within their sound to fit what they were evolving into. This Milwaukee show comes at a time that was pretty controversial - it was the first show in two weeks since Ed was stricken with food poisoning at their Polo Fields show in San Francisco. The incident was seen as a turning point for the band that was dealing with their own internal struggles. It was either get on the same page as a team, or come to terms with the reality of a possible break up. This show allows us to dig into some topics about what the band's future looked like and how they were about to overcome the challenges laid ahead for them. Three days after would be the famed Soldier Field show, so the turnaround in order to get on the same page happens quick. This show will deal with a little bit of ring rust, but after a speech where Ed addresses media spreading rumors about him and the band, the show is kicked into the gear that we love from 1995 performances. Not For You, Alive and Blood are the headlining moments, but the show stealer comes from a duo named Lightning And Thunder well known throughout the upper midwest for covering Neil Diamond songs. With the movie Song Sung Blue having recently come out featuring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson that chronicles their journey, a big part of it included this moment where they sang Forever In Blue Jeans with Ed in front of a crowd of 30,000. We'll also dig into Ed's vocals at the time and how mentors of his encouraged him to limit his screaming in order to preserve longevity. We discuss whether it would've been wise to take advice from either Neil Young or Roger Daltrey, and perhaps share a baseball analogy along with it. As a matter of fact, there are many baseball analogies featured in this episode! Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - [email protected] Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs