Feature Friday

"I kept almost every ticket stub, and I had the original ticket stub from the Mansfield show. I was living by myself, and I thought, ‘How am I going to decorate my tree?’ So I thought about hanging all of my ticket stubs on the tree. Then I thought about bringing a copy of that ticket stub of that show to her grave that year as a remembrance of her."

“This band has given me and Rob so much in terms of the opportunity to love a band and the music and to make friends and create relationships with people,” Schenk said. “There really is truly no way to thank them. So for us, we always try to support the organizations that the band supports.”

Allen George, known as LBC72 — or “LoveBoatCaptain72” — to many fans on the Pearl Jam Message Board Pit, has truly shown others how to lead by example. George was not cursed the day he let that lightning bolt go. He was blessed. And since then, he has taken the reins and has steered many lives towards the clear.

"The ocean is always moving, so you can have something similar, but it’s always something different. I think that’s what makes it so exciting."

"Rather than weakening me, I felt stronger and more connected with myself, the world around me, and my patients in the COVID Unit. Once again, the power of Pearl Jam worked its sublime magic.”

“We documented Pearl Jam’s first show at the Gorge when they were opening for Neil Young in ‘93."

"Every now and then (the interpreters) will catch Ed's attention if they are near the stage, and he will interact with them in a very spontaneous, unforced way. He's brought them onto the stage and has sung to them, and in one of my most favorite memories - he even slow danced with a very surprised interpreter. I get choked up pretty much every time, as I am reminded of what compassionate and inclusive people we are lucky enough to work with."

"But there was Joe…facing his first infusion to help battle his disease. He had his playlist ready to go—which was kicked off with “Alive.” We are all navigating uncharted waters together—with COVID-19 and my family with my brother’s illness. It is beyond difficult to not have fear when there’s a path of uncertainty in front of you, but knowing we have each other provides hope that we will be okay."

"I’m just glad that I never quit and that I stuck with my passions creatively because if you would have told me as a 15-year-old, as I was driving around blasting Vitalogy in my Ford Bronco, that I would be directing a video for Pearl Jam, I would have said, ‘No way.’"

"In the film, Mike talks about the fact that he had given up music when he was younger. But after going to a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert at the Gorge, he said to himself, 'I'm playing the guitar again.'"