There was a time back in August of '93 in Berkeley, California that Pete Townshend of Who fame played a few shows at the Community Theater. Invoking the spirit of Bill Graham, Pete unleashed a musical barrage unseen by any Who fan ever before. Digging out obscure chestnuts such as Sleeping Dog and Til the Rivers All Run Dry, Who fans listened in amazement as the wonders unfolded and some mystical 60's kinda aura permeated the venue. I was among the thousands who witnessed this event and upon completion, set forth for the journey to my hotel. Being a bit thirsty due to some restrained yelling and cheering thanks to Jared, I stopped at a mini-mart for a drink and probably some Ho-Ho's or foodstuffs of that ilk. At a gas pump, some kid (everybody is a kid if they are younger than me) and his girlfriend were servicing their vehicle and asked me if I had seen the concert. That is all it took as I launched into a rambling diatribe describing in details the magic in the air in Berkeley that night and a little speech about The Who and the meaning of this band in The Life and Times of Gooch. Now this kid took it all in and..."WOW", he drove off into the night. These California shows were to me Townshends definitive solo performances. INCREDIBLE!
A few years later, Pete is on the road again, doing a small tour on each coast to promote "COOLWALKINGSMOOTHTALKINGSTRAIGHTSMOKINGFIRESTOKING", his Best of compilation. In April of '96, two shows in one night at the House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard! Is Pete nuts! The line started forming quite early for the event and the buzz of anticipation kept this Who crowd, familiar faces all, eager for the doors to be opened. I was with Lenny and we had witnessed the VH1 Honors show the night before at the Universal Amphitheater and were ready for round two. Now these solo shows had gotten to be quite entertaining as the set list was full of obscure Who material, Townshend solo album tracks and a varied assortment of other artists songs. Always a surprise or two. And Pete was playing piano!!! An evenings worth of excitement! and wouldn't ya know it, two shows!!! Well, after being dazzled by the 9:00pm performance we had to zip out the door to get in line for the midnight show. Naturally, the line was long already, but some deft and skilled concert going maneuvering got us within a few feet of the stage, and we bided our time in nervous anticipation. Could Pete produce the goods again!
Well, it had been a long day, what with jet lag, standing in line for hours and yelling and screaming during the first show and other rock'n'roll kinda stuff and then running like the wind to get back in and wait a little more! ANYWAY, one had to be a little on edge and as that first waft of wondeful cigarette smoke filled my nostrils with that wretched stench, I had to utter an expletive( such as f%#$*^&ing cigarette smoke!!!) HAHAHA And to my UTTER AMAZEMENT the person behind me(not the culprit directly)((but definitely an accomplice))(((HAHAHA))), issued an apology and proceded to stamp out the offending stinkweed. I was astounded and turned to offer a thank-you. Such kindness not neccassarily a part of the general admission crowd. And as we faced each other, he took a glance and said "Weren't you in Berkeley in '93?" Took me by surprise, but YEAH, I WAS. And his girlfriend said "you werre the guy we talked to after that show"! Hmm, well yeah I geuss I was. So having some common ground, we chatted awhile waiting for Pete to start the show. He said he lived in Seattle but grew up in the Chicago area and I spun some extraordinary yarns about life in Utica and the grave-digging profession and what the Who meant to me. When he heard "Utica", he said "Hey, I once played in Utica and we did a tune "A minute of Utica", supposedly a little humor there extolling the virtues of such a wondrous city! Yeah sure ya did, I laughed!!(turned out he was mistaken Ithaca)((understandable)). Anyway we chatted for at least 15 minutes and I had him and his girlfriend rolling in laughter, as we swapped story after story. Eventually, I got to a point where I asked him what he was doing now and he said he was in a band. I asked him what they were called, and, seeing as we were in a crowd of people waiting for the music to begin, he whispered "Pearl Jam"!!!! Get out of here! EDDIE VEDDER! I didn't believe him but yet I kept this info to myself and set forth QUIZZING HIM as to the validity of the aforementioned statement!!!HAHA Hey buddy "What three songs did you sing at the Celebration of Pete Townshends Music at Carnegie Hall in Feb. of '94?" "Which night?" He played two nights. "First night KIDS ARE ALRIGHT SHERATON GIBSON MY GENERATION" Guy was good! Then I tried to trick him by saying "You were pretty good up there solo playing those songs acoustic!" HAHA "Electric guitar" stated the kid with his House of Blues New Orleans cap pulled low over his eyes. HAHAHA IT WAS ED VED!! HAHAHA And here I am quizzing him and trying to trick him!!! BUT HEY THE SHOW BEGINS AND PETE PUTS ON A STUNNING PERFORMANCE as Ed Ved nudges me during moments of awe-inspiring wonders!
And then....it was over, Pete puts down the guitar and leaves the stage and the lights come up and me and Ed Ved whistle a "Whatta show!!!!" So we talk a little more as the crowd thins and seeing that I wasn't a big Pearl Jam fan, I told him and stated I was gonna listen more to his music and see a coupla shows cause they did have that incredible driving guitar sound that I kinda dig. And to my right this kid comes hurtling over the floor and up to us and with ecitement yelled "GOOCH!! I KNEW YOU WOULD BE HERE! YOU ARE THE BIGGEST WHO FAN IN THE WORLD!!!"(well Utica anyway) It was Andy from New Hartford who was living in Orange County. And he rambled giddily abou t Pete and me and Utica and The Who. Ed Ved was taken aback by this spectacle and what more could he say. We shook hands and he gave me his hat and we parted. Hey Ed Ved, How are ya!
So I got home and bought the rest of the Pearl Jam catalog and hey, there was some incredible music being played here that I had never heard and yeah they are my favorite band now. I will never forget the first time I came across that name. I was still working in the cem in the fall of '91 and Rico had the tape of "TEN" and played it constantly, raving how good it was. At the time, I was still U2ing up a storm and I was focused on ACHTUNG BABY which had just come out. So I paid no intention. Then I had the misfortune of viewing the Jeremy video and that turned me off completely. But in the ensuing years, I saw Eddie a few times seeing that he was a huge Who fan and we always chatted about stuff. The first time I saw Pearl Jam was at Seattle's Showbox in Sept '96 thanks to Jim Fromalbini and at the Key Arena. Also in '96 one of the Randall Island messes with Jim and at the new Buffalo arena in October with Joe S. And an incredible performance at the Bridge School later in October.And the highlight for me was going to Hawaii for the Yield opener in Maui and Ed singing with Pete in Chicago June of '97 and Ed with C Average opening for the Who in Chicago in Nov. '99 and subsequently singing Let's See Action with The Who!!!! WOW Also in '98 I was at Chicago with cousin Rick, Portland with the awesome Alison, Vancouver and two in Seattle with Alison the first night, My fave. In '99 I was at the Bridge School again And in 2000 I was at Jones Beach with Jackie and Saratoga with THE STORK!!!! and my brother and at the Greek Theater in LA with my brother. So that is the extent of my Pearl Jamming. Mind you I was Whoing and U2ing and Pretending the majority of the time. Hey, whatta ya gonna do.Hey that is enough for this and it is another chapter in the Life and Times of...my favorite Pearl Jam song..."Yellow Ledbetter" so send our regards
