Philly Rock Radio Gets A New Contender

I still miss the days of WDRE (103.9). That's when I had to tape my favorite songs from the radio onto cassettes....I had various mix tapes in my collection. Here's a little tidbit for you too...Pearl Jam's "Alive" was the first (and last) song played on WDRE. You can hear the dramatic sign-off from "Bitterfest" here.

Thank God for WMMR (93.3) and WXPN (88.5) -- which features "Y-Rock" for fans of the former Y100 (still bitter about that one). Now, there's a new radio station for the Philadelphia-area listeners. It's at 104.5 on the frequency and professes to be entirely listener-controlled. So far, I like what I hear, with regards to the music. I don't know about the creativity though...It's actually called "Radio 104.5." I've been listening to it off and on while driving my car this week. I heard Pearl Jam's "Yellow Ledbetter" on it, so that's a plus. Just before the change-over, it was a Spanish station. However, I remember while I was growing up it was a pop/soft-rock station....wasn't it Sunny 104.5? Anyone?

Anyway, this new listener-driven 104.5 is yet another Clear Channel creation (surprise, surprise). I wonder how long it will take for them to jerk this one away or change it to a more pop-friendly theme.

In any event, I hope this one stays awhile. You can also listen online, so check it out, and tell me what you think!

I'm In Heaven

Pearl Jam + The Who = Happy Colleen...

I've got some Pearl Jam-related news I must share. Browsing the popular fansite, The Sky I Scrape, today I discovered a link to a trailer for an upcoming Adam Sandler movie called "Reign Over Me." The news bit said Eddie Vedder can be heard singing The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" in the trailer. I immediately went to check it out, and sure enough, a little past halfway through the trailer, I hear Eddie singing one of my favorite Who songs. (If you have never heard The Who's album, Quadrophenia...shame on you!). I'm not sure if this is a whole band cover or just an Eddie cover. Needless to say, I can't wait to hear the entire track...hopefully it will turn up on the movie soundtrack or as a single.

Oh, and the movie looks good too......it will be a serious role for Sandler, which we don't see too often. It also stars Don Cheadle and Jada Pinkett-Smith. It's current release date is March 9, 2007.

View the trailer here!

New Pics

I've added new pictures online from Pearl Jam's June 3rd concert in East Rutherford, NJ. I went to this concert with my friend Patrick...we had an awesome view from our floor seats! One of the funniest things we saw that night was crazed fans running from one merch stand to the next, looking for posters that were selling out all too quickly. We decided not to join the poster people, though...we bought a few cool stickers instead.

You can view my concert pics here.

My Eventful Week

I just got back today from visiting my sister, Erin, who lives outside Baltimore, Maryland. She's been bugging me for quite some time to come down and stay for a few days, so we finally made it work for the both of us. While I was there, I went to the community college where she works as an Athletic Trainer. She even put me to work on the computer for a little bit...well, actually, I volunteered. It was very impressive to see her in her element. She's very good at what she does (which I already knew), which has earned her the nickname, "Dr. Erin."


She, of course, apologized for dragging me to work with her, but it wasn't all day long...really only a few hours on each day, Tuesday and Wednesday. With all the new things to look at, and the overall quiet in the training room, it gave me plenty to learn about while I was there. And well, I somehow always manage to keep myself busy.

I met some of her co-workers and colleagues, and saw some of the facilities. Her friend & co-worker, Kate, stopped in a few times to say hello, and we visited her as well. Overall, I didn't mind being there because I received some much-needed therapy on my lower back. So, I can't complain.


Going to Erin's training room wasn't the only thing we did...far from it, actually. On Tuesday night, we went to see Pearl Jam at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. I had bought a pair of Fanclub tickets and decided to take Erin as an early birthday present. She hasn't seen them since 1998 (yikes)...and so, it was about time! This also worked out perfectly in planning my visit. We took the Metro down to DC a little ahead of rush hour, and made it down there around 5:15. After picking up my tickets at the Will-Call window, we had to wait until just about 6:40 for them to open the doors...people outside were hot and tired of waiting. Upon getting in, we rushed to the merchandise stand so I could get my poster and a t-shirt.

We then went to get some food to bring to our seats, in hopes of catching an acoustic pre-set by Eddie Vedder. When we got down to the floor, I was happy to find out exactly where my seats were (as I had not looked at a seating chart since I picked up my tickets)...we landed 10 rows back from the stage, dead-center! I was flying high (on life only!). While we waited, I pointed out some of Pearl Jam's road crew and security to my sister, who looked at me with a mix of marvel and fright. Not more than 20 minutes after we sat down, sure enough Eddie came out and performed a cover of Cat Stevens' "Don't Be Shy." Many seats around were still empty, so we were happy to catch the pre-set with a great view and without being bothered.

They played a very good mix of songs...hitting every album from their first, Ten, to their current self-titled one. The setlist was as follows:

Set 1: Release, World Wide Suicide, Severed Hand, Corduroy, Animal, Do The Evolution, Given To Fly, Low Light, Unemployable, Grievance, Even Flow, I Got Id, Present Tense, BetterMan, Inside Job, Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Why Go, Rearviewmirror

Encore 1: Man Of The Hour, Masters Of War (by Bob Dylan), Small Town, Come Back, Alive

Encore 2: Comatose, Leash, F***in' Up (by Neil Young), Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner

A note about "Betterman"...it was a beautiful, re-worked version, starting out slower with a piano intro by Boom Gaspar. Because I can't comment on all the songs, I'll say the highlights for me were: the overall mix of songs, calling the opener ("Release"), hearing the intro music to Ten as the band walked on stage, the re-worked Betterman, Matt Cameron throwing drumsticks out to the crowd and them landing not even 5 feet from our seats, hearing "Leash" live for my first time, hearing "Inside Job" live (amazing!!) and, of course, seeing the concert with my sister. Even though the guy behind me spilled beer on my chair and the back of my leg, I had a great time...Pearl Jam never disappoints.

Wednesday was my last full day in Maryland. In the morning, I had an opportunity to meet some people at an educational writing/editing company that I've done some freelance writing for. Erin's friend, Jocelyn, works there...she's the one that got me started on the freelancing, so she invited me to come in and see around her office. Then, the three of us spent the late afternoon and evening walking around the Inner Harbor. It was a beautiful night considering we had sweltering hot days this week. We had hoped to make it into the Baltimore Aquarium, but we ran out of time. That will be the plan for the next time I visit my sis...Thanks again, Air!!

You can see the above pictures and many others from the concert in my online photo album.

Pearl Jam - AOL Sessions

Pearl Jam recently recorded some music for Sessions at AOL. The set includes mostly tracks from their new album, with a couple older ones thrown in for good measure. There is lots to view at the site in addition to the sessions...there are photos, short video interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. All can be viewed at the AOL Sessions site.