why pearl jam is no longer relevant
…perhaps relevant is kind of a harsh word.
But let me explain.
There’s this great show they show here in the U.S on Fuse (imported from the UK) called “Later…with Jools Holland”. It’s hosted by Jools Holland, the former keyboard player from Squeeze. He hosts the show and barely talks to anyone, it’s all about the music. He collects a range of bands/performers, usually about 6 and they play. That’s it. No B.S, no endless chat about cd releases or whatever, just music. It’s a great show, and I’ve found a few cool bands there myself.
The episode I just watched, which is probably a year old, had Pearl Jam performing, along with The Zutons, Corinne Bailey Rae, Jamie Fox and some singer girl named Jenny Lewis (who I think used to be a child actor) who put me to sleep. This was the second time I saw Corrine on this show and she is great. She has this great smile and a great way with playing with notes.
However the show opened with Pearl Jam singing “World Wide Suicide” which I believe was the first single off thier last cd.
Let me take you in a ride in the way back machine to properly explain this.
I was in high school when I became a huge Mother Love Bone fan. If you’ve never heard of them, go pick up “Apple”. Amazing shit. Andy Wood, thier singer died, and not too long after it, I kept reading about (in magazines as the interweb had yet to really exist in people’s houses) this new band that some of the guys from MLB had formed called Pearl Jam. Thier new record was coming out soon and the day it did, I went to the Tower Records on South Street here in Philly and bought myself the cassette tape (as we did back in the day). I immediately fell in love with “Ten” and wouldn’t shut up about it for six months. I wore off the track listings flipping the tape over and over in my walkman. During that time everyone told me to shut the fuck up about it. Until the video for “Alive” came out. Cue explosions.
Watching that band live during that time was awesome. There was energy, there was fire, there was something burning there. While no other release by them had the same fire, they were evolving as a band, and that seemed to work for them somehow even if they weren’t really my thing anymore.
I hadn’t seen them live in a long time, until today when I saw them on Later..
Wow.
Opening the show with “World Wide Suicide” was a band I could not believe 15 years ago was literally burning to play, burning to say something, burning to get out there in front of people.
To say Eddie Vedder was anemic would be being nice. To say the rest of the band was sleepwalking (with the exception of drummer Matt Cameron, who is a monster behind the kit at all time, always) would be a good way to put describe it. It was like going back to your elementary school and seeing it for the craphole it really was.
They also closed the show, playing thier very first single “Alive”. I am guessing they haven’t played that song in a good long time, because the looks on their faces showed some life, there was even some laughing going on and Eddie ran over and danced with Corrine during the guitar break towards the end, it was all very cute.
But what that whole performance showed was that Pearl Jam is a 15+ year old band thats got nothing left but fumes. That’s not to say that individually they might not have things to say or that a different direction wouldn’t kill them but it was like watching a favorite old uncle take his last wheezing breath.
And man, was it sad.
The Pain Of Being A Philadelphia Sports Fan
There were two headlines today for me that made my eyes bleed.
One was “Giants go to the Super Bowl” and the other one was “Phillies and Howard still 2 Million Apart” (referring to the rumor that Ryan Howard wants 10 Mill and the Phils won’t give it to him).
This makes me crazy on many levels.
First of all, the Giants are not a bad team. The New York press made getting started hard, printing rumors of Tom Coughlin being fired/quitting, and Tiki Barber shooting his mouth off on national television about stuff that really had no business in a fact based football show (ie: keep your boneheaded personal thoughts on your quarterback, coach or whoever to yourself and be impartial for the most part like most other commentators, except for Jimmy Johnson and Troy Aikman who are ridiculously pro Dallas. I do hate them so.).
However, to say they had not had some breaks this year would be lying. The Eagles basically fell apart right after training camp and the Redskins had the Sean Taylor tragedy. This basically made the Cowboys thier only rival in the NCF East. The two teams boast young and pretty much unproven quarterbacks with some vets on thier teams. As with most unproven qb’s, sometimes things go slightly pear shaped and someone has to lose.
The game last nite in Green Bay? Both teams played well, but NY could not seem to catch the football when it really counted, altho it’s alot to do with the cold, even tho they do have a bad record of dropped passes. Smart play calling got the Giants down to the field goal zone and the bad snap sent them into overtime. Brett Favre is a legend, a Hall of Fame qb, but even geniuses have bad days. He threw one pick and one good snap later, the Giants go to the Super Bowl.
Do they have a shot at winning against New England? No. New England has been on a roll this year, breaking the ‘72 Dolphins unbeaten record and are one win away from a perfect 19-0 season. They have previous SB experience, which means a lot, and Belichick, while I hate him (cheater!), is a crafty guy. It might be close, but in the third quarter, like in all NE games, they will turn on the afterburner and smoke the Giants.
Now about Ryan Howard and The Phillies.
No one seems to know who exactly owns the Phillies. Apparently the Daily News ran a series of articles awhile back asking the question “who owns the Phils and who is behind some of these boneheaded moves?” (ie: signing Mike Leiberthal to a multiyear contract because he is a fan favorite but has the knees of a 85 year old french hooker).
The Phils are owned by a bunch of people:
Claire Betz: widow of John D. Betz, who owned Betz Labs. Thought to be the biggest investor.
Bill Giles: When the Carpenter’s sold the team, Giles was the face of the buyers, and usually thought to be the owner. However he is not even thought to be a big investor.
Dave Montgomery: Current Phils President but no one knows if he has a stake in the team. Grew up in Philly, and worked his way up from working in the ticket office when Giles took over the team.
The Buck Brothers: Three venture capilatists who’s father was the president of Smith, Kline and French.
John S. Middleton: Owner of the McIntosh Inn chain and is on the Board of Trustees at Penn Medicine.
As you can see, none of these people are baseball people. Now I can hear you saying “yo, genius, rarely are teams owned by anyone with a clue as to how to run a team”. And I say, yes, you are right. However, there are a lot of very smart and crafty people working in the front office of the Phils. Pat Gillick, while not a rocket scientist, is no dope.
However, I have been a Phils fan for my entire life. I remember how excited I was the day after the Phils won the World Series in 1980, my kindergarten teacher thought it was hilarious and made me go tell the Principal (like she didn’t know?). And of course the heartbreak, HEARTBREAK of the ‘93 series. I still have trouble looking at Mitch Williams on Comcast Sportsnet Post Game reports. What I know the most tho, is that they will never, NEVER spend money on people who they need (hello, Curt Schilling).
Now common sense tells us that if you have smart people in charge, then smart things will get done unless someone is gumming up the works. The front office people the Phils have always had were not idiots. So who is gumming up the works then? Who is saying “let’s give Mike Leiberthal a huge contract because he is a fan favorite!”? And why has no one said anything about this!
My theory is that the problem lies with the owners. Or, specifically, I have the sneaking suspicion that the problem lies directly with Claire Betz. Now, obviously I have no proof here that what I am saying is true. It is complete speculation. But it all makes sense (damn you insessant Murder, She Wrote reruns): bozo moves and not spending money on things that make sense in a baseball view (ie: not signing, say, Schilling to a multiyear contract but signing Leiberthal because he is a fan favorite). Giles and Montgomery are baseball guys, The Buck Brothers are venture capitalists. VC guys are used to spending money to make money.That leaves Claire Betz and John Middelto. I doubt the guy who owns a hotel chain is going to be very loud about spending money. This brings us to dear Claire. What are her ideas on how to run a team? How long does it take before you see how you run things does not work? Even Ed Snider has started to open the coffers to lure better talent here, and keep the talent we have (let’s keep the Sixers out of this). Perhaps she thought a spiffy new stadium would make the players just want to stay?
When Aaron Rowand signed elsewhere, everyone I knew wanted to scream. Let’s sign Wes Helms? There was a collective “WTF?” on that one. And now the ULTIMATE SPIT IN YOUR FACE TO THE FANS, the jackass front office guys are not giving Ryan Howard the money he rightly deserves. Yes, he had a weird year last year but he’s a kid in baseball years, and he has the talent and the drive to do very well. Not to mention he is a dream for the PR department! (I’m not looking at you, wifebeating Brett Myers). What next? Giving away Jimmy Rollins? Personally, I think they should have held onto the movers and shakers of last year’s NL East winning team. Is that not COMMON SENSE?
I don’t even think they have a plan “b” if he wants to walk. And while I am hoping and praying they sign him, and I think they will, I cannot help but wonder how many more years Philly sports fans will have to hold thier breath and hope that the next great player won’t be traded for a can of Coke and a bag of Munchos.
Will we have to wait until the team is sold?
If so, bring on a new owner.
I hear Pat Croce is kinda bored these days.
Hey There….
So, after having various blogs in various places, I’ve landed here at WordPress. I write a column at Teevieo and I do watch alot of television (thank jeebus for dvr), so look for lots of tv posts, as well as posts on philly sports (and sports in general) and music. So keep an eye out for stuff coming very soon!
