Pearl Jam are streaming live video of a 2018 performance of their 2000 track, “Of The Girl.”
The Seattle outfit opened their July 3 show at Tauron Arena in Kraków, Poland with the tune, which first appeared on the band’s sixth album, “Binaural.”
The project debuted at No. 2 on the US Billboard 200, but went on to earn the distinction of being the group’s first non-platinum record in the country and part of a downward sales trend that has continued ever since.
“Binaural” was released in sync with the start of the European leg of a world tour in support of the record; six weeks later, Pearl Jam were onstage at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark when nine fans died after being trampled in a massive, muddy mosh pit near the stage.
As their evening set got underway, reports indicate the surge of fans in front of the stage saw people fall to the ground as some concertgoers tried to offer assistance, while others continued rocking out, unaware of the danger before organizers alerted Eddie Vedder, who stopped the show to ask for fans help in stepping back from the stage area as emergency personnel went to work.
Pearl Jam recently released a statement marking the 20th anniversary of the concert tragedy, which was later referenced on their 2002 track, “Love Boat Captain.”
“It's been 20 years since that day,” wrote guitarist Stone Gossard in a statement on behalf of the band. “A normal festival show day...show up 5 hours ahead. Wait for your slot. I barely remember it...Sunny, I think. Lou Reed played, I think. Then rain and wind.
“But nothing has been the same since. An unexpected moment intervened that forever changed all involved.
“The 9 young men who were trampled. The lives of their families and loved ones who had to endure imagining their deaths over and over and the reality of never seeing them again. Every person at the festival who witnessed what was happening and tried to do something, maybe pulling someone up, or not being able to...And those, like our band, who never realized anything was going on at all until it was too late...All of us Forever waiting for the news to be different.”
“20 years later, our band has 11 more kids, all of them precious, and another 20 years between us,” Gossard continued. “Our understanding of gravity and the loss felt by the parents of those boys has grown exponentially magnified as we imagine our own children dying in circumstances like Roskilde 2000. It is unthinkable, yet there it is. Our worst nightmare.
“We've met some of the families over the years. With some, we have forged strong friendships...sharing and supporting each other. Some we do not know.
“Young men who loved PJ and wanted to get up close. That was the through-line of all those who passed that day. We hope we will never know what that loss feels like. We hope. We are forever in the shadow of your pain and loss and we accept that shade and are forever grateful to share that sacred space. The space created by the absence of those 9 young men...”
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Search Pearl Jam at hennemusic
