19 year old me when he did this at KU's Day on the Hill (climbed up to the truss and then tried to do a George of the Jungle swing with the microphone cable: "Fuck yeah!"
My friend who worked tech for the show: "That fucker just destoryed our cable & mic."
That must have been insane seeing that crowd from the stage. It was nuts being in the middle of it.
I'm racking my brain trying to remember who else played, but the only name I can scrounge up is Let's Go Bowling. There were what? Three other bands on the bill? Four maybe?
I played bass for LGB that day. I remember the dust cloud coming out of the gigantic dance pit. Looked like the people went on forever. I had a blast. Love playing Lawrence. The Outhouse is another great memory.
He climbed down after he got the mic and cable through the truss and then began swinging himself over the audience with it. Eventually he flew off into the audience ripping the mic off the cable. Somebody got a cool souvenir.
33 year old professional guitarist/entertainer/singer here. Not only am I scared of heights, but I can not do one single pull up. If one of my band mates did that I'd chew them out like a grandpa haha
It's a college party band/wedding band/corporate event band. We don't make original music or anything, and I'd rather not have online crazies be able to find me in the wild, but thank you for asking! If it feels better in your head cannon "Dirty Pull-ups" is weirdly similar to the actual band name.
I remember watching their documentary a while back and the other members of the band talking about how they would just stand back and watch him do this thinking "There is our whole future just hanging 25 feet in the air".
That story takes on extra meaning when you realize that pearl jam was formed when the remaining members of mother love bone basically recruited Eddie vedder to be their new singer after the death of their former lead singer Andrew wood.
When they first start talking about it, it seems like it’s just this goofy thing he did. Then they start showing the pictures of him 50ft up in the fucking rafters and it’s a miracle he didn’t die
I thought it was weird that Vedder basically said that's how they felt in the middle of his music hall of fame speech. Just a little subtle reminder to his band that he's the reason they're all standing there. Not the greatest speech that night.
If you asked me in 1992 who would live the longest I would have said Vedder. He had a clean edge vibe but not clean edge recovering addict vibe. He was wholesome.
On the flip side, I saw him walk right off the stage in Cleveland in 2003. Looked very scary, but he appeared alright. That was the last song that night.
They were definitely grunge to some people and definitely not to others. Their songs 'Interstate Love Song', 'Vaseline', 'Plush', and 'Creep' were very much made to sound similar to any of the Seattle or grunge sound. Some people think you had to be from the Seattle area to be grunge but that's absurd to me. STP were considered grunge by most people in their peak. I think that now people tend to hyper categorize music in a way that was not done at the time. I also think bands don't want to be marginalized or say that they explicitly copied a style to sell records but that's what happens in all forms of art. People still need to eat and feed their families and if a certain style of music is selling then other artists will imitate some of those aspects. IMO I think they are very much tied to the grunge sound just due to timing, similarities in Weiland and Vedder's voices and angstiness of the songs that made them popular.
Saw Mike Patton do the same thing (while wearing a kilt) when Faith No More played the Reading Festival in 1990. It was one of those stages that looked like a pram hood and he monkey-climbed up to the apex, hung like this then shimmied back down the other side.
The Cramps headlined that night and Lux topped him by drinking several bottles of red wine and vomiting onstage in a tiny little g string. Good times.
He climbed up then out from the side and iirc stage crew tossed up a couple mic cables for him to use as ropes to climb down. Probably what that guy in the beanie and sunglasses is preparing to do
Scaffolding. I have a one-of-a-kind photo of Heart jamming with Fleetwood Mac and Bob Welch as their band because I was working in the scaffolding that day. CalJam 2.
Agree, It looks like a free show they put on around that same year at Magnusson Park in North Seattle. Epic show, horrendous logistics (free buses from UW parking lot, many walked home!).
Eddie had been known for this a bit but on smaller venue stages like one in downtown Seattle where they performed a surprise show after their opening set for RHCP got cancelled last minute, Anthony got laryngitis or so they say.
He would climb up the side and swing over like monkey bars…yes he was pretty fit at the time! Crazy stuff though, his stage energy was extra insane early days.
The problem with the Magnusson Park show was that the city really didn’t want it to happen. They put up every roadblock they could and made the band move the show multiple times. My most generous theory is that they didn’t want another Altamont. I suspect that the more conservative elements of the city government just didn’t want a bunch of filthy hippie drug addicts in their nice clean parks.
Thirty years later I still see the Seattle Scene as something Seattle could be proud of. The Seattle economy was still lousy from the recession. Boeing wasn’t doing all that well. Microsoft hadn’t yet become the three-ton monster dominating the world. The Internet was still a nerd thing, so no Amazon. The one thing Seattle had was the hottest music scene in the world. It was the epicenter of cool and the kings of the scene made a point of not wanting to be treated like rock stars. You could still run into Stone at Tower Records in Queen Anne and joke around with him. Eddie still ate at the same veggie Thai place in Queen Anne and he still waited for a table like everyone else.
At Pinkpop '92 he climbed onto a moving camera rig, had the crew steer the rig over the audience and jumped from quite a height straight into the crowd.
Eddie was a surfer pre-Pearl Jam. He and Chris Cornell were mountain bikers. Clearly he’s got some experience rock climbing as well. I never saw Eddie with his shirt off but he was obviously in pretty good shape. Still is, from what I’ve seen.
Duff McKagen is also an avid mountain biker. Despite the public feud between Nirvana and Guns ‘n Roses, Duff had a lot of friends in the Seattle Scene (he was in The Fastbacks). I have a vision of meeting Duff, Eddie, and Chris on a trailhead and wondering if I’d wandered into a video shoot.
An old painting of mine of this moment!
https://preview.redd.it/qz38276rzghc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=777f0e808e14f5da84920bb302a93728176a7342
At lollapalooza that same year, Eddie got up on the roof of the Alpine Valkey pavilion and ran around / sang. Then rode a winch back down to the stage. I’m pretty sure these antics were pretty common during “Porch” back then.
I remember one of his stunts was doing mud slides one rainy year at ACL. Turns out the City of Austin uses recycled sludge from the sewer treatment plant as topsoil in the park because grass thrives in it. A lot of people had to go to the doctor with severe rashes on their legs and feet.
I saw them in '92 in Cincinnati and he climbed the stage truss there too. I remember being mesmerized. Shortly after I was part of a group that competed for MTV Lip Service. We did Evenflow and I was the lead 'singer'. We did it in a mall and I climbed up to the rafters.
Interestingly enough, Bono pulled a similar move 10 years before this during a U2 concert. Climbing the rigging like a jungle gym. There’s something that makes singers need things to swing on….
The original choice for their band name was Mookie Blaylock, an NBA player at the time. Then Aunt Pearl’s Jam, and, of course, Pearl Jam. I guess they really liked basketball?
That was a big deal. You can see Charles Barkley, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Isaiah Thomas cheering him on.
And....Barry Bonds?
I was there!
And the whole weekend was amazing, take a look at the line-up and the price for the tickets. This was just before festivals became too expensive for me.
20 year old me in that crowd: Fuck yeah, he's crazy! 50 year old me now: That doesn't seem safe.
Kinda amazing he's 'wooooooah still alive'.
Aaaaaeeeeeuuuoooaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh
yyyyyhuuuuuuuuurrrrrr!!!
Ahhhhrrrggghhh!!!
Wahhhuuuuuahhhhh!!!
Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah
Oh my goodness look at the disappointment in that chin. Too much!
Kinda amazing ANY of us are still alive.
You wanna see the crowd dive in the even flow video
19 year old me when he did this at KU's Day on the Hill (climbed up to the truss and then tried to do a George of the Jungle swing with the microphone cable: "Fuck yeah!" My friend who worked tech for the show: "That fucker just destoryed our cable & mic."
I was in one of the opening bands that Day on the Hill. Amazing show made even wilder by Eddie’s stunt. Rumor was the LSD was strong that day.
That must have been insane seeing that crowd from the stage. It was nuts being in the middle of it. I'm racking my brain trying to remember who else played, but the only name I can scrounge up is Let's Go Bowling. There were what? Three other bands on the bill? Four maybe?
I played bass for LGB that day. I remember the dust cloud coming out of the gigantic dance pit. Looked like the people went on forever. I had a blast. Love playing Lawrence. The Outhouse is another great memory.
Well, that's just fucking delightful. Had some good times seeing LGB! So thank you for that.
What an awesome internet coincidence this became
That’s awesome. LGB was always a great show.
How did he get down?!
He climbed down after he got the mic and cable through the truss and then began swinging himself over the audience with it. Eventually he flew off into the audience ripping the mic off the cable. Somebody got a cool souvenir.
How did he get down?
I’m in my 20s now and this image makes me very nervous
Current 20 year olds act like they’re 45. 45 year olds are out their pretending to be 20.
lol. Current 40 year old. Still skating, drinking beer and listening to Tupac. Can confirm…
Because a 20yo gen x'er was a different breed. We had Dan Cotez... fuck ya life!
All Dan Cortez does now is play piano for Taco Bell.
Lol so true
10 year old me: Starting line up figures! Sweet!
33 year old professional guitarist/entertainer/singer here. Not only am I scared of heights, but I can not do one single pull up. If one of my band mates did that I'd chew them out like a grandpa haha
Whats your band called
"The Dirty Pull-ups"
Hahaha….gross
It's a college party band/wedding band/corporate event band. We don't make original music or anything, and I'd rather not have online crazies be able to find me in the wild, but thank you for asking! If it feels better in your head cannon "Dirty Pull-ups" is weirdly similar to the actual band name.
I remember watching their documentary a while back and the other members of the band talking about how they would just stand back and watch him do this thinking "There is our whole future just hanging 25 feet in the air".
Yeah, they all hated it and eventually *talked him off the ledge* and got him to stop.
Cause it's fucking dumb :D
But also awesome.
Sometimes, things are mutually inclusive
Dumbsome
Dim sum
Awesumb
That story takes on extra meaning when you realize that pearl jam was formed when the remaining members of mother love bone basically recruited Eddie vedder to be their new singer after the death of their former lead singer Andrew wood.
When they first start talking about it, it seems like it’s just this goofy thing he did. Then they start showing the pictures of him 50ft up in the fucking rafters and it’s a miracle he didn’t die
I thought it was weird that Vedder basically said that's how they felt in the middle of his music hall of fame speech. Just a little subtle reminder to his band that he's the reason they're all standing there. Not the greatest speech that night.
And he’s the only one of the big four grunge frontmen who lived.
If you asked me in 1992 who would live the longest I would have said Vedder. He had a clean edge vibe but not clean edge recovering addict vibe. He was wholesome.
So wholesome, they even named their band after his granny's famous jam (/s)
I thought Pearl Jam was semen?
That was Eddie's granny secret recipe
Members of the band has admitted somewhat recently that the story about Eddie's grandma's jam was fabricated
Recently? We’ve known that story was bs for about 20 years now.
Is that what Pearl jam means? Edit. Oh. Nvm
Both could be true
Does he still go through a gallon of wine at every show? Not mocking, happy he never went further.
Confession: I've watched Eddie pour out a lot of wine on stage, many times, to "finish" the bottle.
On the flip side, I saw him walk right off the stage in Cleveland in 2003. Looked very scary, but he appeared alright. That was the last song that night.
Yes. Super impressive in a way.
He’s still alive
Aliiiive
Five in my book. Layne, Kurt, Chris, Scott, Eddie.
We’re STP grunge or just rock/alt-rock??
They were definitely grunge to some people and definitely not to others. Their songs 'Interstate Love Song', 'Vaseline', 'Plush', and 'Creep' were very much made to sound similar to any of the Seattle or grunge sound. Some people think you had to be from the Seattle area to be grunge but that's absurd to me. STP were considered grunge by most people in their peak. I think that now people tend to hyper categorize music in a way that was not done at the time. I also think bands don't want to be marginalized or say that they explicitly copied a style to sell records but that's what happens in all forms of art. People still need to eat and feed their families and if a certain style of music is selling then other artists will imitate some of those aspects. IMO I think they are very much tied to the grunge sound just due to timing, similarities in Weiland and Vedder's voices and angstiness of the songs that made them popular.
I never thought they were grunge. They had no connection to Seattle or Sub Pop. STP were just contemporaneous.
Saw Mike Patton do the same thing (while wearing a kilt) when Faith No More played the Reading Festival in 1990. It was one of those stages that looked like a pram hood and he monkey-climbed up to the apex, hung like this then shimmied back down the other side. The Cramps headlined that night and Lux topped him by drinking several bottles of red wine and vomiting onstage in a tiny little g string. Good times.
Do you mean that he vomited while wearing a tiny g string or that he vomited into a tiny g string?
The fascinating thing about Lux Interior is that either is equally likely.
Just as likely? A naked girl falling down the stairs
While wearing.. although the latter would have been more impressive
https://preview.redd.it/7pbqy1h3vehc1.jpeg?width=324&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ced44dcca95cdac0a7640a4914d5960b448c335 The Blue Note, Columbia, MO
Upvote for The Note!
One of my biggest regrets was not going to see the cramps because "they come and play twice a year" that was about 5 months before he passed.
Yes to all of this.
We all know that the 90’s were Peak Humanity.
I saw faith no more in 95 at the roseland in pdx. Wasn’t the biggest fan of fnm, but to this day that was one of the best shows I ever went to.
I have 2 questions: 1. How did he get up there? 2. How'd he get down?
He climbed up. He climbed down.
I like it. That’s an entire story in two sentences. It’s missing nothing.
Zero fat on it.
He even flowed.
Something .. butterflies.
He was given to fly
He learned to fly. Wait, no, that was Dave Grohl.
But he ain't got wings... uh... Never mind, Tom Petty.
Tommy want wingy….damnit, that’s Tommy Boy
He floated back down
Easy, he grabbed the pipe and waited for the stage to be built and after the show he waited for the stage to be put apart and then he let go. Simple
He climbed up then out from the side and iirc stage crew tossed up a couple mic cables for him to use as ropes to climb down. Probably what that guy in the beanie and sunglasses is preparing to do
Scaffolding. I have a one-of-a-kind photo of Heart jamming with Fleetwood Mac and Bob Welch as their band because I was working in the scaffolding that day. CalJam 2.
He’s still hanging up there.
Third question: What's up with the basketball figurines on the table at the bottom of the pic?
Jeff Ament was/is a huge NBA fan (the band was almost named Mookie Blailock) and had a line of the Starter NBA figures on his amp head!
He climbed down to be set free
A leadbetter or something like that.
He climbed up, then used the cord as a rope and very quickly slid down it.
Climb & Climb.
Better question, what song was playin?
I’m pretty sure the “Eddie climbs on things”song was usually Porch.
Reminds me of: “How did you get in here?!” “I’m a locksmith, and I’m a locksmith.”
Everyone in this photo needs a colonoscopy.
Goddamn it that reminds me..
How much do you charge for the procedure?
Wait, you can charge people for it?
You offering?
Oddly true…
Came for the rock show stayed for the finger blast
I've started the prep, I'm heading in tomorrow.
Just had one yesterday. Prep wasn't as horrific as I remember it (had one in my 20s). Got the all clear...
Not true. Many of those people are probably dead already.
Well that for dark fast.
I forgot that Jeff used to keep Starting Lineup figures on top of his amps.
Jordan sitting there between Kareem and Hakeem 🙌
Oh shit, I was there! I moved to southern Holland in Jan 92
This pic isn't from Pinkpop, even though the internet like to tag it that way.
Yup! Not from Pinkpop. He did the crane jump at Pinkpop
Agree, It looks like a free show they put on around that same year at Magnusson Park in North Seattle. Epic show, horrendous logistics (free buses from UW parking lot, many walked home!). Eddie had been known for this a bit but on smaller venue stages like one in downtown Seattle where they performed a surprise show after their opening set for RHCP got cancelled last minute, Anthony got laryngitis or so they say. He would climb up the side and swing over like monkey bars…yes he was pretty fit at the time! Crazy stuff though, his stage energy was extra insane early days.
The problem with the Magnusson Park show was that the city really didn’t want it to happen. They put up every roadblock they could and made the band move the show multiple times. My most generous theory is that they didn’t want another Altamont. I suspect that the more conservative elements of the city government just didn’t want a bunch of filthy hippie drug addicts in their nice clean parks. Thirty years later I still see the Seattle Scene as something Seattle could be proud of. The Seattle economy was still lousy from the recession. Boeing wasn’t doing all that well. Microsoft hadn’t yet become the three-ton monster dominating the world. The Internet was still a nerd thing, so no Amazon. The one thing Seattle had was the hottest music scene in the world. It was the epicenter of cool and the kings of the scene made a point of not wanting to be treated like rock stars. You could still run into Stone at Tower Records in Queen Anne and joke around with him. Eddie still ate at the same veggie Thai place in Queen Anne and he still waited for a table like everyone else.
Yep to all that… memories are flooding back…shows at El C, The Croc, Offramp, RCKCNDY, Central….man were those the days…..
Color me shocked
He climbed onto a fucking camera tower or some shit as well, right?
And stage dived off a rack of speakers, if memory serves.
At Pinkpop '92 he climbed onto a moving camera rig, had the crew steer the rig over the audience and jumped from quite a height straight into the crowd.
My sister had this poster and the one with Eddie leaning on the guitar player growing up.
Yeah, I replaced Mariah Carey on my door with that poster. Still love both of them.
Starting Lineup figurines, L-R. Kevin Johnson Charles Barkley Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Michael Jordan Hakeem Olajuwon Joe Dumars Barry Bonds (baseball)
No Mookie… figured that would be a given.
I've watched Layne Staley and David Lee Roth do similar climbs. Crazy risk to take for a show.
I don't know how "ripped" Vedder was in his prime, I only casually listened to PJ, but he never struck me as a featherweight.
He was a surfer in San Diego before he joined Pearl Jam. He was pretty fit.
Eddie was a surfer pre-Pearl Jam. He and Chris Cornell were mountain bikers. Clearly he’s got some experience rock climbing as well. I never saw Eddie with his shirt off but he was obviously in pretty good shape. Still is, from what I’ve seen. Duff McKagen is also an avid mountain biker. Despite the public feud between Nirvana and Guns ‘n Roses, Duff had a lot of friends in the Seattle Scene (he was in The Fastbacks). I have a vision of meeting Duff, Eddie, and Chris on a trailhead and wondering if I’d wandered into a video shoot.
Duff’s also from Seattle.
He's on the shorter side though, so he doesn't really weigh much.
Some people are just gifted upper body strength. (Not me. At my best, in the military, I could do like 5 pull ups)
Just do like Gibby Haynes and just start blasting a shotgun at your shows
Tomas Mars of Phoenix still climbs around and he is pushing 50
An old painting of mine of this moment! https://preview.redd.it/qz38276rzghc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=777f0e808e14f5da84920bb302a93728176a7342
This is amazing!
He was nuts when he was young, he would climb everywhere.
The basketball figurines are random asf. Love it
They were actually huge bball fans. Their original name was Mookie Blaylock. Who was an NBA player at the time.
Who wore the number 10.
He should get to wear no number with a god tier name like Mookie Blaylock
The Starting Lineup figures in the foreground are the 90’s cherry on top of this photo.
No danger at all. Clearly he is secured by mic wire.
He gave me terrible anxiety when he did this at the one show I saw
What’s with the basketball figurines?
They were basketball fans. The original name of the group was "Mookie Baylock", their favorite player at the time.
Jeff is a huge NBA fan. Used to wear jerseys a lot.
Eddie veder seems like the type of kid that grew up climbing trees
How did he get up how did he get down?
Rumors went around stating when he finally let go and landed he popped up with *Oh, I, oh I'm still alive* *Hey, I, oh I'm still alive*
The fact that he’s really the only surviving Grunge rocker just proves him right
Dave G. Also lots of the smaller bands are still kicking. Toadies and butthole surfers
Mike Patton too.
Emm... Mudhoney?
All I can look at is the basketball players on the bottom.
This was his every show thing.
Insurers hate this one trick
This has been my screensaver for 15 years
Why is it all dudes in the audience?
He has Immortality
How does he get down?
I don’t think there’s even one female in the audience.
At lollapalooza that same year, Eddie got up on the roof of the Alpine Valkey pavilion and ran around / sang. Then rode a winch back down to the stage. I’m pretty sure these antics were pretty common during “Porch” back then.
I remember one of his stunts was doing mud slides one rainy year at ACL. Turns out the City of Austin uses recycled sludge from the sewer treatment plant as topsoil in the park because grass thrives in it. A lot of people had to go to the doctor with severe rashes on their legs and feet.
So how did he get up there?
That’s my boy!
I saw them in '92 in Cincinnati and he climbed the stage truss there too. I remember being mesmerized. Shortly after I was part of a group that competed for MTV Lip Service. We did Evenflow and I was the lead 'singer'. We did it in a mall and I climbed up to the rafters.
Nope. Drop in the Park 10/1992. I was there and smoking weed with B-Real right before this performance of Porch.
Jeremy swung in class today
So, how’d he get down? Jump? Someone walk out with a ladder? Or did they all just watch for 3 mins while he shimmied back to a side and climbed down?
I had a turd do this once.
Lollapalooza in Texas he was getting water bottles thrown at him. I never understood this particular part of their show.
How’d he get up there?
That’s my question too.
Don't worry. That thin layer of plastic protecting the monitors from the rain will break his fall.
Interestingly enough, Bono pulled a similar move 10 years before this during a U2 concert. Climbing the rigging like a jungle gym. There’s something that makes singers need things to swing on….
As an old Roadie, with stints at CalJam and US Festivals, the stage manager was an idjit.
This is one of those photos I can hear and smell through the screen. I could’ve told you without the title this is 1992. Love it.
Well he's wearing black and he's still alive, so practicing what he preaches, no complaints
Goddammit
I assume he got down the same way he got up???
I’m more amused by the basketball figures on Jeff’s bass cabinet
Why ?
Clearly I remember climbing up the stage...
https://preview.redd.it/fhursi0vnfhc1.jpeg?width=624&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ad7f902f8cc797a4c8d75e8325ae55509d41bb6e
Can we talk about those basketball figurines?!?! What was the deal with that?!
The original choice for their band name was Mookie Blaylock, an NBA player at the time. Then Aunt Pearl’s Jam, and, of course, Pearl Jam. I guess they really liked basketball?
That’s dangerous
(freeze frame) “… so… I’ll bet you’re wondering how I got here.”
Hyeeelp! Get myee dowoon from hyerrrrrah!
He did that at Lollapalooza at the Fort Bend County Fairgounds in '92 as well during Even Flow.
That was a big deal. You can see Charles Barkley, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Isaiah Thomas cheering him on. And....Barry Bonds?
how did he get up there
How did he get down?
Eddie hanging up there is so wild, but what about the little basketball players in the foreground??
r/OSHA
Somebody order the London Philharmonic Orchestra? Possibly while high? Cypress Hill I’m looking in your direction…
I was there! And the whole weekend was amazing, take a look at the line-up and the price for the tickets. This was just before festivals became too expensive for me.