November 14-15, 2002; The Late Show With David Letterman,
Ed Sullivan Theatre; New York, NY
Nov. 14: I Am Mine
Nov. 15: Save You
s.dodge@sympatico.ca:
Okay, so it was only one song but I couldn't resist writing a fanview for
PJ's performance at the Late Show with David Letterman on Thursday, November
14th. My boyfriend Paul and I travelled 10 hours on the overnight bus from
Toronto just to see the show, and only had one day off from work, so had to
jump right back on the overnight bus after the show for another 10 hour trip
home.
Was it worth it? Hell yes.
From the worst possible seats in the Ed Sullivan theatre [the very back row
of the balcony, after the official seats end and they put in a row of
chairs], I anxiously anticipate the four minutes of raw yet delightful
musicianship that I have grown to love and respect about pearl jam over the
years, like a trusted family member or a close friend. I have long been a
fan of the David Letterman show, so just being there on its own was a real
treat. I am swiftly reminded though, of how "American" David Letterman [and
the show] really is. Having yet another military sector read off the top
ten list, and making fun of Saddam Hussein [while making subtle derogatory
comments about middle eastern culture in general] left a very bad taste in
my mouth. The other segments however, such as "Dr. Phil's Words of Wisdom"
and the Oprah transcript reading were just hands down hilarious. Dave did an
interview with some spaced out actress who mused about living
underneath a cigar sweatshop and trying to kill her brother when she was
three. Very...interesting.
The moment of sheer joy had arrived during the break when they rolled out
the band's gear... I was so excited. Everyone around me was excited.... you
could tell that a lot of people [especially in the balcony] were there
especially for Pearl Jam, as the bulk of us had requested tickets
specifically for that day after we had learned PJ was going to be there....
So one by one, the band walked onto set up to their instruments as the Paul
Schaffer band continued to play for a few more minutes. What torture it was
to see Pearl Jam up close, with their instruments in hand only to have
another band play overtop of them. Well, it's Paul's territory I guess...
So the break ended, Dave introduced PJ and they played their radio-friendly
single "I Am Mine" beautifully [although I think Ed hit a wrong note right
near the beginning, but we'll call that 'texture'] I think the band felt a
tad reserved, as they often seem when they do tv appearances. As an audience
member there were so many restrictions it was hard to keep track of them
all, I can only imagine what the band was told or forced to do/not to do
before the show. Despite all of this, they were great and their performance
left us all wishing for more.
See you on the next tour guys. You ARE coming to Toronto, right???
Danny (moeknutz@earthlink.net):
My friend Cade and I lucked out in getting into Letterman for the
Thursday's show taping. God was with us when it came time to answer our
trivia question for tickets. Most people were getting incredibly hard
questions, but ours was, "What's the full name of the Late Show
band?" Piece of cake.
Once we were inside, we could easily spot the fans
in the audience and they were amped to be there, as were we. And, like the
other fanview, we had a poor view in that we could only see Ed and
Stone. Our view of the rest of the band was obstructed by the CBS
Orchestra, which did a nice rendition of Hail Hail during a commercial
break. Very cool. Overall, a very pleasant PJ show, especially since we
didn't think we would get in. All this two days before my birthday. What
a great present. Take care.
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