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Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Entertainment
Stef Lach

Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard hails the "shamanistic" brilliance of IDLES

Pearl Jam in 2024.

Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard has hailed British heroes IDLES as an "amazing" live band.

Gossard, 57, describes IDLES as "shamanistic" and says they are among his favourite current bands.

He tells the NME: "IDLES are just amazing. We played a couple of shows with them and the abandonment that they have, it’s shamanistic, it’s ecstatic dancing. And the simplicity of it, the fundamentals of it, you get your fucking old blokes and everybody grabs something and you hammer on it in a thoughtful way.

"And then the lyric and the way the singer approaches music, it’s spoken word and singing in a way that shows you – just like all those unconventional singers show you – new ways of how it can still be a song. That shows you the democracy of music. And people just go fucking crazy."

As for his own band's energy levels, Gossard admits they have had to slightly shorten their sets for the sake of their own longevity.

He adds: "Well we’ve started to play a lot shorter gigs these days for our own well-being and longevity. We’ve done the three-hour gigs many, many times and there is something fun about having accomplished that and there might even be something fun about witnessing it and lasting through it.

"But I don’t want to go to a three-hour gig in general.

“In two hours we can still create that atmosphere of a Pearl Jam show where there’s gonna be some things you know, there’s gonna be some things you don’t know, it’s gonna have some climaxes that hopefully feel the right shape.

"We all know what it’s like to go to a movie or read a book that should have been edited. We’re trying to be conscious of that."

Pearl Jam are currently in the UK as part of their Dark Matter world tour.

Pearl Jam: Dark Matter World Tour dates 2024

Jun 29: London Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, UK            
Jul 02: Berlin Waldbühne, Germany              
Jul 03: Berlin Waldbühne, Germany               
Jul 06: Barcelona Palau Sant Jordi, Spain        
Jul 08: Barcelona Palau Sant Jordi, Spain  
Jul 11: Madrid Mad Cool Festival, Spain*              
Jul 13: Lisbon NOS Alive Festival, Portugal*

Aug 22: Missoula Washington-Grizzly Stadium, MT       
Aug 26: Indianapolis Ruoff Music Center, IN^    
Aug 29: Chicago Wrigley Field, IL           
Aug 31: Chicago Wrigley Field, IL            
Sep 03: New York Madison Square Garden, NY        
Sep 04: New York Madison Square Garden, NY        
Sep 07: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA    
Sep 09: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA    
Sep 12: Baltimore CFG Bank Arena, MD       
Sep 15: Boston Fenway Park, MA            
Sep 17: Boston Fenway Park, MA            

Nov 08: Auckland Mt Smart Stadium, New Zealand        
Nov 13: Gold Coast Heritage Bank Stadium, Australia      
Nov 16: Melbourne Marvel Stadium, Australia        
Nov 21: Sydney Giants Stadium, Australia 

* festival date
^ rescheduled show

Tickets are on sale now

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