Pearl Jam's rhythm guitarist, who recently recorded with Fags' bassist Barbara Ireland, will join the reunited local early-80s act tonight at the King Cat Theater. (Thanks for the tip, Marlow Harris.) $15 gets you in to see that band (minus original singer Charles "Upchuck" Gerra, who died of AIDS in 1991), Ginger Coyote and the White Trash Debutantes, and the Nasty Habits—and the CD Upchuck: Gone But Not Forgiven, a new collection of Gerra's notable......

...but another member of Pearl Jam has written a little ditty to show their support--not for a politician, but for a long-suffering sports team. But don't hold your breath, Mariners fans, though we too are long-suffering: Eddie Vedder, an Illinois native, has penned a song about the Chicago Cubs. While we haven't had a championship in 31 years, the Cubs haven't had one for nearly a century. Give us a few more losing decades and......

Seattlest is late to the party (as usual) on this supercool event—“Skiffle” has already been scooped by WSB and other blogs—but in case you haven’t heard: Bison, a (presumably) rocking group formed by members of Pearl Jam (Mike McCready), PUSA (Dave Dederer), Velvet Revolver (Duff McKagan), the Dusty 45’s, and “artists and students from Arts Corps, Rock School and the Service Board” are playing a benefit show at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. (Whew) Tonight.......

The incredibly talented guitarist and genuinely nice guy, last seen smashing a Les Paul on VH1’s Rock Honors: The Who, will rock a couple of small Seattle clubs in August. McCready’s killer UFO tribute band, Flight to Mars—until now an exclusively annual benefit act—will turn up at an El Corazon-hosted Seattle Tattoo Expo afterparty on the 8th. (They’ll support Duff McKagen’s new band, Loaded.) On August 27, McCready’s Shadow 86 (his first band, reunited after......

Sup Pop is well-known for unabashed self-promotion and grandiose overstatement. Thing is, most of that (tongue-in-cheek) hyperbole is deserved. The much-touted reunion of Green River, one of the label's first signees, was no different. It truly was the highlight of Sub Pop's two-day 20th birthday bash. From the moment Green River—drummer Alex Shumway, guitarists Steve Turner, Stone Gossard, and Bruce Fairweather, bassist Jeff Ament, and frontman Mark Arm—took the stage, the crowd (packed tight and......

Without Green River in 1984, there might be no Sub Pop Records today. Without Sub Pop in 1987, there might be no Mudhoney—or even Pearl Jam—in 2008. (Green River begat Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone; MLB begat PJ.) And without either in the 80s, there likely would have been no "Seattle Sound" explosion in the early 90s. Fortunately, the timing and location were right for both the post-punk-rock band—originally comprised of singer Mark Arm,......

The Boston Phoenix came up with a "Best Of" list, organized state by state, of the greatest bands ever. They chose three categories for each state of our diverse Union: Best Band of All Time, Best Solo of All Time, and Best New Band. Are you ready for Boston's take on Washington's musical legacy? Results after the jump. Hint: Photo by Michael Is Soliloquy. Thanks!......

BEST LOCAL SHOW EVER: Okay, maybe that's too strong a statement. There are people who would argue otherwise, but Seattlest is pretty thrilled with all the bands on the bill tonight at the Tractor. It's a big ol' acousti-pop night in Ballard with Grand Hallway, Kate Tucker, Odessa Chen, and Husbands Love Your Wives. Yeah, we know. Hot action. Maybe it's not as killer as a Pearl Jam-Dave Matthews-Death Cab-Heart show would be, but it's......

Pearl Jam is touring (nowhere near Seattle) this month—they’re kicking off a 13-stop trip tonight in West Palm Beach, actually—and that means more official bootlegs of Pearl Jam shows. Announced yesterday, the band will once again make their sets available via high-quality downloads—and on physical, “made-to-order” CDs. (Fans clamored for the latter option after the band’s last tour was released solely in intangible file format.) Even you crazy kids with Verizon V CAST phones......

If your squeezed-by-gas-and-groceries-and-“strip club” budget doesn’t cover flying east this month to catch Pearl Jam at Bonnaroo or Madison Square Garden, may we suggest a cheaper, closer, and more summer-vacation-y alternative: VH1’s Rock Honors show in Los Angeles on July 12. For as little as $65 (plus fees, duh), you can see Pearl Jam live. And Foo Fighters. And The Flaming Lips. And The effing Who. And possibly see your raised fists on TV a......

You'd never know by listening to Pearl Jam records that lead guitar player Mike McCready might have been in excruciating pain or at risk of losing his bowels at any moment in the studio. Seeing the band live at a large venue like KeyArena probably wouldn't clue you in, either. McCready doesn't play as if he suffers from an inflammatory bowel disease. He's all over the place—running, jumping, and flailing with his guitar. Seeing the......

If you're not a Pearl Jam fan, you don't suffer from Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, and you aren't familiar with England's hard-rockin' UFO, chances are you don't know about PJ guitarist Mike McCready's tribute band, Flight to Mars. You should. Not because McCready is one of the planet's greatest guitar players. (Ever.) And not because Flight to Mars' covers—"Rock Bottom," "Too Hot to Handle," "Lights Out," etc.—rock harder and sound better than UFO's......

May and June will be great months for concert-going fans of the few seminal Seattle rock bands and artists still thriving today. If you live east of, say, Iowa. Because the following local acts will play everywhere from Columbus to West Palm to NYC to London. And not Seattle. Shawn Smith: To support The Diamond Hand, his latest (fantastic) album, the Brad frontman and soloist extraordinaire will play five shows in early May, jumping......

Late last year, Sean and Robin Wright Penn filed the paperwork necessary to put their marriage the way of yesterday's hangover. Tuesday night, the couple attended Eddie Vedder's Berkeley, Calfornia show at the Zellerbach Theatre—together. The Into the Wild director apparently even hopped on stage to dedicate one of Eddie's songs to his wife; a special birthday surprise. (We're guessing he didn't choose "Better Man.") Turns out the near-divorcees asked that their dissolution proceeding......

Everyone knows Seattlest loves Pearl Jam. Which means we love Eddie Vedder. Which means we would have loved to see him play a tiny little venue in West Seattle on Monday night. And last night. Since this Seattlest lives in the neighborhood and all, we could have freaking walked to Kenyon Hall. But no. We weren't in the know. And, ignorantly, we decided to stay home Monday night. And last night, we decided to......

Last month, four-fifths of Pearl Jam touted their own Obama-song, unofficially signaling the band's endorsement of the (delegate) leading Democrat. Unofficially, because Eddie Vedder wasn't involved. Then Ralph Nader—Eddie's favorite former candidate—joined the presidential race. Would the frontman split from his bandmates or maintain political solidarity? Now we know. Eddie likes Barack Obama. Evidence: The Body of War soundtrack-contributing artist is one of 24 "celebrity judges" (our quotes) to judge the entries of MoveOn.org's......

If you weren't lucky enough to nab a pair of tickets to an April Eddie Vedder show via Pearl Jam's fan club presale or Ticketmaster's sale last Friday, you're only screwed if you aren't extremely wealthy—and charitable. Though his six-city, expanded-to-10-date tour sold out within minutes, there are a few sweet seats reserved for big-time, big-money fans who also wouldn't mind seeing the West Memphis Three go free. Per the press release: For all......

What with his recent Into the Wild success, it's not a huge surprise that Eddie Vedder's embarking on his first solo tour—announced today—up and down the West coast. What is surprising is that he's not playing Seattle. Where Eddie is playing: Apr-02 The Centre Vancouver, BC Apr-05 SC Civic Aud. Santa Cruz, CA Apr-07 Zellerbach Th. Berkeley, CA Apr-10 Arlington Th. Santa Barb, CA Apr-12 Wiltern Th. Los Angeles, CA Apr-13 Wiltern Th. Los......

Unlike Kevin Henry, Congressman Brian Baird, of Washington's third district, has endorsed Barack Obama. He joins Congressman Adam Smith, Governor Gregoire, and Pearl Jam as state leaders on Obama's side. Hillary Clinton has the the support of Senator Murray, Senator Cantwell, Congresman Jay Inslee, and King County Executive Ron Sims.......

Well, not exactly. Eddie Vedder wasn't involved. And it's a "new rendition of an old-school tune"—a cover of the 1955 ditty "Rock Around the Clock." The "new rendition" doesn't amount to much more than a single-word swap; "Clock," in both title and refrain, has been replaced by "Barack." Seriously. Listen. Stone Gossard, Pearl Jam's guitarist and "Barack" vocalist, says this about the tribute: This is a track I've been thinking about for a while.......

So the Sonics won last night. Kevin Durant scored a bunch of points and stuff. The biggest highlight, though, came from the seats, when Pearl Jam bassist—and die hard Sonics fan—Jeff Ament donned a headset for a chat with announcer Kevin Calabro. Jeff commented on Durant's talent, voiced opposition to the Sonics' possible departure, and said our recent snow (quality) was stellar. Regarding his band, Jeff told Calabro, "We're gonna get together here in......

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's speeches (and his very presence in the race) are inspiring people to speak up, chant—and now sing—about embracing change. Jon, Joe and Jake Bergevin, Kirkland-based brothers and musicians all, got some local colleagues together to record "Fired Up, Ready to Go" in response to Obama's uplifting words. Recognize some of those faces and voices? You should. Contributors include lead singer Reverend Pat Wright and her renowned Total Experience Gospel Choir,......

The only thing more sad and lame than a cover band is a tribute band. (Usually.) Well, even worse is a tribute band that plays the music of an another band that still exists. No, wait—a tribute band that plays songs from a one-off band’s one-off album … whose members live on. That’s truly scraping the musical barrel-bottom. Okay, okay. Worser yet is a national tour of three tribute bands that run this lamentable......

Happy Monday, Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder fans. The frontman-gone-sometimes-solo can be seen on VH1 today in the video for “Guaranteed,” his acclaimed song from the (brief, but really effing great) Into the Wild soundtrack. Since television sucks and you’re visiting Seattlest instead of working at the moment… Well? If you were hoping for Eddie’s eyes and the cords in his neck to pop like they did in “Jeremy,” you’re probably lamenting the last three minutes of......

Vedder’s first solo music video—for his critically lauded and Grammy-nominated Into the Wild song “Guaranteed”—airs on VH1 (and VH1.com) on Monday. Perfect timing, then, for the ever-more-famous guy to bump into his 1992 self while browsing Easy Street’s vinyl bins. Serendipity! 1992 Eddie (strokes soul patch; sings to himself): I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution… take a bow for the new revolution… 2008 Eddie (spots 1992 Eddie): Hey, are you ... ? Young......

The past few months have seen Mr. “Wes C. Addle”—Eddie Vedder—looking more like Mr. Tinseltown than just another (incredibly talented) Easy Street customer. Times don’t look like they’ll be a-changin’ in 2008. Vedder recorded a song for the Cate Blanchett Bob Dylan study I’m Not There, penned two for the documentary Body of War, then a whole soundtrack for Sean Penn’s Into the Wild. He’ll appear in the upcoming singer-biopic spoof Walk Hard. He’s just......

Say what you will about Sean Penn and Eddie Vedder's politics, but the guys put together a hell of a film and soundtrack. While Penn's Into the Wild might not match its somber weight with Oscar gold, its music, care of Vedder, could score at the Grammys and Academy Awards. His song "Guaranteed" (covered below) already received a Best Song nom from the former. Vedder's sparse, loping tunes that accompany the story of Christopher McCandless'......

Seattlest doesn't know crap about jazz. (Until we recently drank a Brother Thelonious, we thought Monk was actually a dude in an orange robe.) But staple a big-time Seattle rock drummer (above, going off solo) to a jazz act and we're interested enough to listen and learn. The Macage Harybu trio, playing Seattle Drum School tonight, is just such an act: upright bassist Geoff Harper, keyboardist Ryan Burns, and (Soundgarden! Pearl Jam!) drummer Matt......

Last month, in response to a push to "reconsider" old Mudhoney songs, we said that the band never made it big because they sounded more "rough and fuzzy" than the Big Four (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains). We said that singer Mark Arm's style--as well as the band's--was "not bad, just different." After witnessing Mudhoney's transcendent assault on El Corazon Friday night, we'd like to propose a reconsideration of the band itself.......

Attention Pearl Jam fans and Flatstock attendees: You need the new, superfancy art book Pearl Jam vs Ames Bros: 13 Years of Tour Posters. The book is a compendium of the band's 1995-2007 gig posters by artists Ames Bros and Brad Klausen, PJ's exclusive print-design minds. Though (sadly) it doesn't date back to the Golden Days of Grunge, at 229 posters, it's an exhaustive collection. But it isn't just poster reproductions. Pearl Jam vs......