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Fifth Column
Denver Fans Walk Out of Pearl Jam Show
2003-04-04
I like Pearl Jam. But this is getting ridiculous...
Dozens of fans walked out of a Pearl Jam concert after lead singer Eddie Vedder took a mask of President Bush and impaled it on a microphone stand.Several concertgoers booed and shouted Tuesday night for Vedder to shut up as he told the crowd he was against the war and Bush. He impaled the mask during the encore of the band's opening show of a U.S. tour.
When will "artists" realize that we don't pay to come and hear what they think. Sing, dammit, sing!!! That's what I paid for.
"It was like he decapitated someone in a primal ritual and stuck their head on a stick," fan Keith Zimmerman said. Vedder used a Bush mask in Australia and Japan to perform the song "Bushleaguer," from the band's latest album, "Riot Act." The song's lyrics say, "He's not a leader, he's a Texas leaguer."
Jeez, it went over big in Australia and Japan...Why not here?
During the show, Vedder said: "Just to clarify... we support the troops. We're just confused on how wanting to bring them back safely all of a sudden becomes non-support," he said. "We love them. They're not the ones who make the foreign policy .... Let's hope for the best and speak our opinions."
Fine. Just don't speak them on my dime. Speak them when you're piling into the limo after the show. I paid the money, you do the show. And speaking of shows, why don't you truck your asses over to Iraq and Afghanistan and do one for the guys you love so much?

That stuff about "we support the troops, we don't support the war" has gotten pretty rank by now. It's a pious platitude — they don't want the vilification that's going to come in the wake of actually spitting on them or throwing rocks at them, but they regard the troops as some sort of subhumans, not worthy of actual consideration by important people like them — innalekshul people, who know stuff we don't, 'cuz they're so much smarter than we are... Oh, and they're sensitive, too. They can detect McCarthyism at 300 paces, f'instance...
Posted by:tu3031

#4  Vedder has always been a Kurt Cobain wanna be, I just wish he would finish the job like Kurt did.
Posted by: Wills   2003-04-04 19:52:25  

#3  You see, its only free speech if the Hollywood- luddites use their speech to tell you what to think, if you decide to disagree, well thats just wrong and must be stopped.
Posted by: Frank Martin   2003-04-04 15:50:37  

#2  I'm with Fred. The only thing worse than the anti-war types who spew hatred - are the ones who spew hatred, but then lamely add, "BUT, I SUPPORT THE TROOPS (TM) disclaimer.

I suppose I should be grateful that they at least manage to gag that out. But there is no conviction behind any of the words, it's all about saying what they think makes them seem smarter, cooler and more nuanced than the rest of us. They are just too cowardly to face the potential confrontation that might result if they don't add their magic little phrase of absolution.
Posted by: becky   2003-04-04 14:14:31  

#1  
How does smashing a mask of Bush, during an anti-Bush song equal "we support our troops" and "want to bring them back safely"? I've hated Pearl Jam since they were Mother Love Bone. Not because they were partisan hacks, but because they are no-talent pukes. (I'm sorry tu3031, but all that hooting and shit that Eddie does in songs like "Jeremy", is absolutely maddening. If he wants to scat, he should learn how.) Now that I know what their all about, I don't like them as people either.
Posted by: Mike N.   2003-04-04 11:25:18  

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