People of Georgian: Professor travels the world for Pearl Jam concerts

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People of Georgian: Meet Jeremy Fromanger

My first experience with Pearl Jam was actually in Barrie at the old Molson Park, when they played the first Lollapalooza in 1992.

I had already discovered the band, after being introduced to their music by some people I was travelling with while living in Europe and was interested in seeing them live so close to home. My love of Pearl Jam just grew from there.

People huddle together for a photo with their arms around each other's shoulders. — *Jeremy with friends at a Pearl Jam concert in Philadelphia.*

I guess it was a case of “the right time, right place” for me. Travelling and exploring when the whole Seattle Sound exploded and, like so many Gen X kids, I found I was drawn to something in the music.

From that first live show in Barrie, things just sort of evolved into a bit of a love affair with the band and 20-plus years later I’ve found myself at more than 50 Pearl Jam shows across multiple countries.

From Canada to the U.S., England, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, the list of places the music has taken me, both figuratively and metaphorically, is large and it’s been an adventure.

Certain dates stand out for the venue or events that transpired, others for the people I’ve been lucky enough to meet.

From the Waldbühne, a huge stone amphitheater built in the woods behind the original Olympic Stadium in Berlin to the iconic Wrigley Field in Chicago.

An outdoor stadium filled with people at nighttime. — *Jeremy went to a Pearl Jam concert at Waldbühne, a huge stone amphitheatre in Berlin.*

An outdoor venue with ancient-looking stone columns lit up in pink and yellow lights, with a band playing on stage and a mountain in the distance. — *Jeremy took this photo at a Pearl Jam concert in Taormina, Italy.*

Not even a tornado warning can stop Pearl Jam fans

In 2013, while at a show at Wrigley Field there was an emergency evacuation due to a tornado warning about 40 minutes into the show. Fans stayed sheltered in place for over two hours under the grandstand while the storm raged.

Once the winds had passed, the band simply came back on stage and played until 2 a.m., with special permission from the Wrigleyville city council to go past the noise curfew.

Four people put their arms around each other while standing in a crowd inside a baseball stadium. — *Jeremy with friends at a Pearl Jam concert at Wrigley Field in Chicago.*

Pearl Jam concert experiences about ‘more than just the music’

Seeing Pearl Jam live is always an amazing experience – familiar but always slightly different. You could go see them three nights in the same week and it’ll never be the same set list.

As much as the music is great, it’s also the strange little subculture Pearl Jam fans have – much like fans of The Grateful Dead or Phish. You tend to see a lot of the same people around you at the shows after a while and friendships form.

You’ll be on the subway in Lisbon and see somebody with a Pearl Jam concert shirt and make eye contact with them and simply nod at each other. Then, four or five days later, three countries away, you’ll see the same guy walking down the street and smile and say “Hello.”

Pearl Jam fans are almost a bit obsessive in terms of following the band around. They’re part of the “Jamily” that is about more than just the music.

Before every concert, there’s an event hosted by the Wish List Foundation, a Pearl Jam fan-run non-profit, where fans can meet up at a bar and a portion of the proceeds are always donated to a local charity.

A person sits on top of a large blue light hanging from the ceiling of a concert venue. — *Eddie Vedder jumped onto this light and swung over the audience during a concert in Brooklyn. Photo courtesy Jeremy Fromanger.*

Making Pearl Jam friends from afar and close to home

Over the years, you start to develop friendships with people that you would never encounter otherwise. I’ve become close friends with people in Sacramento, Finland and Germany, to name a few, and there is always a couch waiting for you if the band tours their hometown.

Sometimes the people you interact with and friends you make are not from so far afield. In fact, in 2010, I was at the Toronto International Film Festival to see the premier of Pearl Jam Twenty, and as I was walking into a fan club event, I ran into a guy from my department at Georgian who I had seen hundreds of times at the photocopier, yet never shared more than a simple greeting! Adam is now one of my closest friends, and we’ve travelled together many times.

Most of my friends, and some of my students, make fun of me for the fact that my entire wardrobe seems to primarily consist of Pearl Jam T-shirts.

Over the years I’ve also managed to bump into most of the band members, randomly.

A black-and-white image of a person singing on stage at a concert. — *Jeremy has met all Pearl Jam members except Eddie Vedder. Photo courtesy Jeremy Fromanger.*

Pearl Jam a ‘big part of the soundtrack of my life’

From meeting Boom Gaspar on the streets of Berlin or Jeff Ament in London while walking down the street, Matt Cameron in a restaurant or Mike McCready in a park in Quebec City… I guess if you follow the band around on tour long enough, you’re bound to run into them.

But I’ve never met Eddie Vedder. He’s apparently my white whale.

Who knows, someday I may cross paths with him. His voice and music have been a big part of the soundtrack of my life.

Jeremy Fromanger (he/him), professor in Georgian’s Engineering and Environmental Technologies department and program coordinator for the Environmental Technician and Environmental Technology programs. Jeremy’s also an alumnus of the Environmental Engineering program (class of 1998), now called Environmental Technology, and a Dialysis Technology post-graduate diploma (class of 1999).

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