![]() I screamed “Champagne Breakfast for everyone” at every passing car on the highway during “Grievance” and my jaw dropped wide open each time I heard the last “falllllllll….” fly out of Eddie Vedder during “Breakerfall.” I got jittery with concert excitement listening to the thunderous “Insignifcance”. I popped the Binaural CD into the stereo of my Xterra and spun that black circle non-stop for the next three and half hours. They challenged themselves in ways the led to no guitar solos, a chilling, haunting and unlikely first single in “Nothing As it Seems”, and had an extensive North American tour agenda laid spread out before them, on the heels of the Roskilde tragedy. With Binaural, we saw Pearl Jam explore their dark corners of creativity. “We were but stones, your light made us stars.” – Come on. “Light Years” to me, is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. I have always artistically connected to this record in a deep way. Pearl Jam has just released Binaural in May of 2000. I had to get home by 2pm in order to link up with my cousin in New Jersey and make it to Long Island in time. Right after our 6am morning session on the 23 rd, instead of stopping during our end of practice sprints, I continued straight through the fence to my car and got the hell out of there. I am convinced I ultimately sacked him with the game on the line. But my story worked like a charm, and for that I am forever grateful. He was horrible to me leading up to that point, and for unrelated reasons, he continued that trend for my remaining time on the team. “Well, you are at that age now, so I understand,” coach said. Really? Leave on a Wednesday for a wedding? Oh, well, that’s because it was in Kansas City and I had flight arrangements. I was a groomsman in my cousins wedding and in order to properly fulfill my duties, I would have to leave camp on Wednesday August 23 rd and return on Saturday the 26 th. I marched down to my coaches office one afternoon and in my strongest “be stressed” impersonation told my coach I had a dilemma about the upcoming camp. After months of stressing and wrestling with ideas, my “aha” thought arrived like butterflies. Four months earlier, as the second semester was letting out for the summer, I happened to devise a master plan. This might have been my greatest school accomplishment. How was I going to get away from camp and get there for three straight days? There was no way I was missing Pearl Jam playing in what I considered to be my backyard. My cousin and I scored tickets through the Ten Club months earlier. ![]() Pearl Jam was playing a three-night run at Jones Beach Amphitheater, August 23-25. There was one thing I loved much more, however. Right after Labor Day, I’d officially be a sophomore, but it was my first year on the football team. I was in Waltham, MA, six days into summer football camp at Bentley College (now Bentley University). Thanks to Pearl Jam at Jones Beach, It’s O.K. ![]()
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