(Photo by Kristian Dowling/Getty Images)
It's a win-win. You give some money to help the victims of the Maui wildfires, you might get a reissued Pearl Jam concert poster in return.
It's no surprise that the band stepped up recently to do what they can to help those affected by the devastating wildfires in Hawaii. Eddie Vedder is a lifelong surfer, and Pearl Jam has a rich history with the islands. They shared their intent to help on Facebook over the weekend.
The post reads:
"We are devastated to see the impacts of the wildfires in Hawaii. In an effort to raise support for organizations helping those affected, we are offering a chance to win a limited-edition 2018 2XL print reissue of Pearl Jam’s 1998 tour poster from Hawaii, signed by all five current members of Pearl Jam plus touring keyboardist and lifelong Hawaii resident Boom Gaspar. Click the link in our bio to support for your chance to win."
Pearl Jam Concert Poster Raffle to Raise Funds for Maui Wildfires
You don't have to click the link in the bio, you can just click here. Here are the deets on what you'll be getting if you win:
2018 2XL print reissue of the 1998 Pearl Jam Hawaii poster signed by all five current members of Pearl Jam, plus touring keyboardist and lifelong Hawaii resident Boom Gaspar
- Artist: Ames Bros
- Size: 31.75” x 60 in” 2XL Print
- 2 colors, plus 3 color split fountain screen printed poster
- Signed and numbered by the artist
- Limited Edition 1 out of 100
A $10 donation gets you 100 entries. A max donation of $500 gets you 10,000 entries. And there's even an option to enter without donating if you're a bit strapped for cash at the moment. Either way, big props to Pearl Jam for leveraging their big fanbase to do some good for Hawaiians who are in dire need of it right now.
Revisiting the Pearl Jam Ticketmaster Battle
Hey, Swifties: you aren't the first to curse Ticketmaster. The Pearl Jam Ticketmaster battle had us rooting for our favorite band years ago.
Now the battle cries are having a resurgence, thanks to Taylor Swift's latest tour announcement. Fans last week waited in the presale queue for hours, only to be kicked to the back of the line. The situation was such a mess that Ticketmaster was forced to postpone the general on sale on Friday, which only stoked the ire of Swifties.
This is nothing new. Just a few months ago, Bruce Springsteen fans trying to purchase tickets to his first tour in years experienced frustration. Ticketmaster's "dynamic pricing structure"--kinda like surge pricing for ride share services--saw ticket prices reach upwards of $5,000 per ticket. Springsteen has since spoken out about the kerfuffle, but to what end? Superstars like Springsteen and Swift have the power to change the current ticketing dynamic. They just need to look back a few years.
Revisiting the Pearl Jam Ticketmaster Battle
In 1994, Los Angeles Times investigative reporter Chuck Phillips reported in a series of stories that Ticketmaster was price-gouging Pearl Jam fans. And they were. The band was livid to learn that a service charge had been added to tickets to a pair of benefit shows they performed in Chicago. This led Pearl Jam to attempt to organize a tour outside of Ticketmaster's sphere of influence. This was a difficult undertaking, as the ticketing giant had exclusive deals with the majority of major venues. Pearl Jam failed in getting their tour off the ground, but they succeeded elsewhere.
An investigation into Ticketmaster's practices by the United States Department of Justice just happened to coincide with Pearl Jam's battle, so Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard of the band were invited to testify in front of a subcommittee in June of 1994. I've shared that footage below, along with some news coverage of the story at the time.
In the end, Pearl Jam just weren't big enough to move Ticketmaster in a direction that was better both for their fans and for music fans in general. But I'd argue that Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift are. The question is: what, if anything will they do?
