I had the good fortune to attend the simulcast in the Hogg Auditorium while Pearl Jam recorded their session for Austin City Limits in the KLRU studio.

You can watch a time lapse of what will be aired on Austin City Limits synched up with Pearl Jam’s performance of The Fixer:

I saw the unedited 2 hour concert, so if you’re interested, read further, if not, please remember to set your TiVo or DVR to record this show!

I went to Texas with my friend WashMyLove (on the TenClub forum) to see Pearl Jam headline the Austin City Limits Music Festival (Oct 2-4). We knew Pearl Jam was also taping for the Austin City Limits TV show on Saturday night, but had no hope for tickets.

The airport information center lady said it hadn’t rained in 2 years and rain was expected. On Saturday it felt like 2 years’ worth of rain was falling. We didn’t rush out to Zilker Park early because bands we wanted to see - Mos Def, The Decemberists and Dave Matthews Band - were later in the day at ACLFest. I read on the TenClub message pit that someone had extra tickets to the simulcast viewing of PJ taping at Austin City Limits, so I posted asking for details.

We chose to visit the Blanton Museum of Art on the UT campus instead of going to Zilker Park. Despite rain ponchos and waterproof shoes, we were soaked from just a 15 minute walk from the hotel upon our arrival at the museum. The Blanton was dry and had a wonderful collection of Latin American modern art.

The rain was still pouring down after the museum tour, but the internet knows no weather. TenClub forum updates on WashMyLove’s Blackberry told us how to find the guy with the extra simulcast tickets. PJ fans rule! We abandoned all plans to go to Zilker Park and used the Blackberry to find directions to the Hogg Auditorium. That meant a trip back to the UT campus. We were in line around 5pm waiting for the doors to open at 7pm for the 8pm show.

We never did find the guy with the extra tickets. Some ACL folks handed out extras. All the ACL staff were nice and professional. Their sponsors were generous with the free Budweiser, Heinekin and water, which was great since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Pearl Jam had a poster for the show and of course I bought it and an ACL t-shirt to support the local economy.

The crowd was a mix of PJ fans and folks associated with ACL or KLRU. Folks were excited as it’s rare that they setup a simulcast to watch a live taping; plus many people were like us - thrilled to have come by their tickets last minute.
We met several cool people, including Betsy and Dave, a couple who lived in Rochester for a time, but now live in Austin. They were just as thrilled as me about the show, the new album, and hearing it live. I had already heard The Fixer and Got Some at the Toronto show earlier in the summer. I was most anticipating hearing Unthought Known and The End live for the first time.

The simulcast felt like we were actually in the KLRU studio, just sitting farther back. Before the show began, they played the season opener of ACL with the Dave Matthews’ Band. It made up for missing them play that night at ACLFest. The show started late. Eddie Vedder said that they were already changing up the setlist. In a nod to history, he and Jeff Ament played Walking the Cow, a song by Austin singer Daniel Johnston. (Ed played this song a lot on his Into the Wild solo tour.)

EdVed was in hi-larious rambley storytelling mode. The whole band looked excited to play everything based on the smiles, jumping and interactions of the band. Stone Gossard must be very proud of Backspacer since he was actually wearing the special Backspacer t-shirt from Target! I love that geek.

I could understand why the ACL studio is so beloved. There’s a residual vibe from the space that translates into a warm comfortable atmosphere, no doubt fueled by the years of amazing music, and sustained by the very nice ACL staff. I’ve seen Pearl Jam play on TV a few times and Ed rarely looks comfortable around cameras. He had a couple false starts on Just Breathe. Although the crowd said it sounded good, Ed commented he wanted it to sound good to him which it finally did. After The Fixer, Ed looked like he was at home and he was hosting guests. He remarked that they were now the ACL House Band and they would have to kick them out.

The End was better than I hoped, made more lovely with the strings accompaniment. All the new songs from Backspacer sounded amazing. Mike McCready and Stone Gossard are so in synch with how they blend their guitars together.

Before playing Johnny Guitar, Ed talked about how he used to look at this Johnny Guitar Watson album with 2 women and an Afghan hound on the cover. That album cover was clearly the inspiration for the song’s story. From there he wandered into a discussion about the late ’70s and wearing spandex that he turned into a question tossed to Mike McCready about gold lame. The startled look on Mike’s face was hilarious. I know Mike had that KISS phase… After the story, and then hearing Johnny Guitar played, it turned this song into one of my favorites on the new album.

As I hoped, Unthought Known was indeed a highlight. This song has such great positive momentum. I predict Unthought Known will eventually become like another Given to Fly as an energetic sing-along at Pearl Jam shows.

Ed went on another rambling discussion that concluded with the world needing an evolution in compassion. It sounded like Ed was re-inventing Buddhism, but honestly, he lost me… then he admitted he lost himself! It was worth it once they tore into a great version of Do the Evolution.

Got Some keeps improving every time they play it. When Ed was singing Gonna Meet My Friend he had the wild genius look in his eyes that reminds me of when he sang DTE on the Single Video Theory DVD, or older versions of Not For You.

Another highlight was a cover of The Police’s Driven to Tears. The Police are the first band I loved as a teenager. Ghost in the Machine is one of my favorite albums from start to finish. It makes me a little sad that the post-vinyl generations don’t have a concept of listening to a whole album. Record albums are some of the original “audiobooks”. Sometimes they are novels, other times anthologies of really short stories.

The band invited several service members from a nearby rehab center for wounded veterans. At one point Ed needed a guitar pick and he remarked how they go for an arm and a leg on Ebay. One of the veterans yelled something like “I’ll trade you for mine!” Ed then gave the young man each member’s guitar pick, and Matt Cameron’s drumsticks, then signed the guy’s prosthetic leg and then another guy’s leg. Ed told all the soldiers that the band would sign anything more after the show.

The local string players returned and tried to follow Ed’s instructions and keep up as he played Lukin on acoustic at ultra punk speed. I couldn’t care if I ever hear Lukin again, but Ed seems to really enjoy playing the song so I predict it’s not going away. With the lightspeed tempo, it’s over in under 2 minutes. Now Porch and Betterman are songs I don’t seem to tire of hearing. Porch was another standout version to close the set.

Boom, the organist, got a little teary after Ed told the story of how Boom would watch ACL with his Dad and dream about playing there some day. Boom got the spotlight on their cover of Crazy Mary. I’ve heard this songs too many times, so this very extended version was a bit too much of a good thing for me, but very nice for Boom. Mike McCready ended things with his version of the Star Spangled Banner, which is always a treat. I believe he gave that guitar to one of the veterans later too.

Another amazing night with Pearl Jam. Thanks to the band, the drought-ending rain, TenClub forum fans and the generous people at Austin City Limits. The ACL taping simulcast was the perfect warm-up for the big show on Sunday night.

Setlist
first set: Walking The Cow, Just Breathe, The End, The Fixer, Johnny Guitar, Amongst The Waves, Unthought Known, Army Reserve, Driven To Tears, Do The Evolution, Got Some
second set: Lukin, Red Mosquito, Inside Job, Better Man, Gonna See My Friend, Porch
encore: Crazy Mary, Star Spangled Banner

Update: A great full-screen video of Pearl Jam’s Austin City Limits TV appearance is available on the PBS website here. Another reason to support public television!

Come back for the details of Pearl Jam headlining the final night of ACL Music Festival 2009: Sunday Muddy Sunday.

Supernatural episode 5.06 “I Believe the Children Are Our Future” airs on Thursday, October 15 at 9pm EST/PST on the CW. Listen in next week to Tuning in to Sci Fi TV for our in-depth conversation about this episode; and join in the discussion.

Check below out a teaser clip from this week’s episode.
Spoilers!

Spoilers: Check out a preview clip for this week’s episode. Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) may still be on the hook to stop the Apocalypse, but even demon hunters with issues like to check under the hood of a cool car now and again… especially if the car may be a supernatural killer.

Listen in next week to Tuning in to Sci Fi TV for our in-depth conversation about this episode; and join in the discussion.

The mastermind behind Lollapalooza who started all these great festivals, Perry Ferrell, joins Pearl Jam on stage:

More of the details from Austin will be coming soon!

Supernatural episode 5.04 “The End” airs on Thursday, October 1 at 9pm EST/PST on the CW.

Spoilers: Check out these preview clips for this week’s episode. Clip 1: Dean meets the future:

Clip 2: Castiel uses the cell phone again:

Listen in next week to Tuning in to Sci Fi TV for our in-depth conversation about this episode; and join in the discussion.

A spoilery clip from Supernatural episode 5.03 “Free to Be You and Me” follows the break, plus a link to Eric Kripke discussing a few upcoming episodes.

Spoiler alert!
A few minutes from Supernatural “Free to Be You and Me”:

More Spoilers! Eric Kripke talks about upcoming episodes of Supernatural.

Listen in next week to Tuning in to Sci Fi TV for our in-depth conversation about this episode; and join in the discussion.

This episode opens with the sobering sight of Bobby in a wheelchair, the obvious first casualty in the apocalyptic war. Everyone else in his hospital room is carrying scars too. Castiel was reborn, but he’s lost some of his mojo and cannot heal Bobby. He can’t even find the Winchesters without using a cell phone. When Dean laughs at his plan to draft God onto the team, Castiel airs his grievences – he had to kill two of his angel brothers, he’s cut off from Heaven. He lost everything for nothing since Dean failed to stop Sam and they didn’t save the world. Castiel figures God resurrected him and put the guys on the Soul Plane, so God can actually make a dent with Lucifer. Castiel borrows Dean’s amulet to use as a God EMF and disappears to locate God.

Dean’s still carrying his distrust of Sam when they start the job to help other hunters save a town overrun by demons. After killing two people he thinks are demons, Sam’s thirst for demonblood and power gets reawakened. Sam admits to Dean that he’s dangerous. Dean agrees that worrying about Sam is effecting how he can do his job right. They part ways, presumably to lick their wounds.

#1 Saving People - Hunting Things
Another demon hunt, but with a big twist – no demons, just WAR. WAR played havoc using confusion and isolation by disabling the bridge and knocking out the phones. Add the hallucination juice from Roger’s Ring, and then human fear does the rest to scramble the brains so everyone looks like a demon. The demons just manipulate situations and then the humans start making their own choices (similar to episodes like “Croatoan” and “Sin City”).

The confusion about who was a demon was rationalized once Ellen and Dean paused to think about how ‘DemonJo’ was acting. Sam came to the same conclusions as he realized ‘DemonJo’ and ‘DemonRufus’ were trying to exorcise him.

Roger’s visit to Sam seemed odd in hindsight, but perhaps excessive pride is a common trait amongst all evil creatures. Dean said ‘the hits keep on coming” and this poor town just took a lot. Maybe 10 people survived? Nobody even pauses to lament the civilians killed by the demon hunters. Speaking of demon hunters, Ellen showed some chops and worked well with Dean. Rufus and Jo were kind of wasted as action heroes and faux demons though.

This story had the right mix of a demon hunt along with advancing the Apocalypse mytharc. Kripke and Co. have tweaked the recipe to just about the perfect blend. (Made even sweeter with the return of more classic rock music!)

#2 The Road So Far
Another Apocalypse player arrives – the first of the Four Horsemen. WAR (in the body of Roger) operates a lot like the demons in “Sin City” did. He creates some problems then makes suggestions and leaves the rest to human weakness. Roger has a Ring to cause hallucinations. WAR says that he’s looking to join up with his three brothers, so hinting they will all be mixing it up soon. Roger also has some awful truth for Sam. Roger sees Sam’s thirst for power, to be the strongest, packaged up in good intentions, is still pounding in Sam’s brain. Sam and Dean cut off Roger’s Ring, but WAR can’t be killed and he got away along with his Red Mustang. Did taking the Precious off Roger make a dent in WAR’s powers? Will he come back for it with two hobbits?

Castiel is convinced he was resurrected by God and that God put Sam and Dean on the Soul Plane. He looked in Heaven and God wasn’t home, so He must be around on earth someplace. The reasoning by this angel is fascinating, and has nothing to do with what anyone believes about God or religion.

Castiel claims Dean’s amulet can help him. Now Dean’s amulet has a new story purpose – to glow blue in the presence of God (maybe Orks too). But the importance of Dean’s amulet isn’t so much as God’s EMF. The amulet represents Dean’s idea of himself. It’s a symbol of Sam’s love and belief Dean. Sam gave it to Dean because Sam decided he was most deserving of it and not John. The amulet also represents Dean’s mission as “Sam’s protector”. Ever since Hell, Dean’s been redefining himself for himself. Dean is reluctant to let go of the amulet, but he does. Dean’s purpose now is to lead the human resistance and saving Sammy has to come second.

The Ties That Bind
Poor Sammy, he’s killed 2 more civilians. The brotherly issues about trust and whether Sam is going to fall off the wagon are impacting the demon hunting job in a very bad way. The conclusion to take a timeout was awesomely sad, and extremely important for both Sam and Dean. Sam is being honest throughout the action and taking responsibility for his messed up feelings and motives. Dean is stepping into the leadership of the human resistance and thinking about the Big Picture again. Dean stopped himself from rushing off to save Sam and instead thought things through and came up with a plan. He also recognized that Sam is a liability to his performance, another sign of a leader emerging. By going on their own paths for a while, they may both come out stronger in the end. Dean offering the car to Sam indicates he has hope and expects to reunite with Sam again.

#3 Arsenal in the Trunk
Great use of locations. A few overturned cars really can make a town looked overrun. The gorgeous shot of the Impala driving up to the disabled bridge was wonderful setup for events to come. And the episode closed with a beautiful location for the Picnic Table Breakup Talk.

Giving WAR a Red Mustang instead of an actual horse was a nice reinterpretation.

The shakey camera effectively created confusion, but after a while just queasiness – too much of a good thing.

Great performances by the usual suspects – Sam (Jared Padalecki), Dean (Jensen Ackles), Bobby (Jim Beaver), and Castiel (Misha Collins). Ellen (Samantha Ferris) and Roger (Titus Welliver) were also excellent. Nice to see Jo and Rufus, but give they didn’t have enough to do or say.

The Good Words
“Get healing, now!”

“When you find God, tell Him to send legs!”

“God isn’t in Heaven, he has to be somewhere.”

“No, he’s not on any flatbread.”

“Where’d you serve? Hell. Seriously? Seriously - Hell.”

“She called me a bitch. Bruise a little easy don’t ya think?”

“How far I’ll go – there’s something in me and it scares the hell out of me.”

“So, pit stop on Mount Doom?”

“Do you want to take the Impala?”

Team Winchester battles on the front lines again this week when they join up with some old allies to save an imperiled town. But things may not be what they seem. Those demons (and angels) are tricky.

A preview clip for Supernatural episode 5.02 “Good God Ya’ll” and links to other preview clips follow the break.

5.02 Good God, Y’all

Check out Mo Ryan’s blog for even more episode clips.

Listen in to Tuning in to Sci Fi TV for our in-depth conversation about the episode too, and join in the discussion with us.

Contains spoilers for Supernatural Episode 5.01 “Sympathy for the Devil.”

The days of miracle and wonder start with Lucifer’s arriving white light. Sam and Dean Winchester were nearly thunderstruck by Lucifer’s arriving beam but Somebody put them on a Soul Plane to safety.

Our heroes searched for answers but Zachariah and Meg kept dogging Dean for his sword. Castiel was smited into chunky soup but Somebody brought him back to save Team Winchester. Meanwhile Lucifer’s beam circled Nick, his intended vessel. Nick’s grief and anger gave him too much sympathy with Lucifer’s daddy issues. But Dean had no sympathy for Sammy’s betrayal with that demon Ruby.

#1. Saving People - Hunting Things
The pacing in this episode was like a sprint, starting with the “Thunderstruck” recap. The people getting saved this time were Sam and Dean and Castiel. Poor Nick, the targeted meatsuit for Lucifer, could not resist the temptation of revenge. Nick was one sorry mess since someone (a demon perhaps?) killed his family in their beds. Lucifer woos Nick with haunting sounds of his baby crying and visions of his dead wife telling him he’s chosen. Lucifer’s whining that he’s just another kid betrayed by a Bad Daddy touches a nerve. How could God care if He let that intruder kill his wife and baby? Lucifer wins over Nick by claiming they are getting justice, not revenge. (Right, so was Sammy.) As usual, a human choice may lead to the evil consequences.

The angels and the demons are equally monstrous to Team Winchester. They couldn’t even start looking for Lucifer since Dean was hounded by Zachariah and hammered by Meg. Chuck gets a vision that lures Dean and Sam out of hiding to hunt for “the Michael sword”. Zachariah’s trick works and he corners Dean in John Winchester’s storage space. Zach tells chucklehead that he is the sword. (Oh, symbolism!) Dean, the intended vessel for the General is done being the angel’s chosen Rube.

Zachariah’s Guantanamo methods in persuasion include breaking Sam’s legs and paralyzing Bobby, even surpassing Uriel’s smitey ways. Smarter Stubborn Dean refuses to be Michael’s skin. Zachariah prepares to unload another round of torture when Castiel arrives and kicks angel butt.

Castiel’s return from the dead, and the Winchester’s seats on the Soul Plane introduce doubt about God’s whereabouts. Perhaps rumors of His death were greatly exaggerated and He has returned to the building.

#2. The Road So Far
The Apocalypse is Now! This episode drops more information about the Apocalypse, Lucifer and the angels. Possibly God too. The demons and angels are mobilizing. The urgent war is mostly invisible to humans since the signs of doom are covered by the media as climate change, terrorism and pandemic flu.

The angels’ plan for shock and awe can’t begin until their General, Michael, gets his skin. It’s a race to beat Lucifer from getting his meatsuit first. Zachariah claims Dean is “chosen” as Michael’s vessel. But Lucifer went directly to Nick to make the skin connection. Castiel went directly to Jimmy. So why hasn’t Michael contacted Dean directly?

Free Willy does not consent to Zachariah’s demand to donate his skin. Dean concludes there must be another way – a human way. Now that sounds like the leader of the human resistance talking! Perhaps his guilt at breaking the first seal, failing to stop Sam from killing Lilith and remembering actual hell are pushing Dean to fight to the last. Dean’s focusing on the Big Picture when he decides to go after the Sword instead of staying with wounded Bobby; and again when he does not cave to Zachariah’s arm twisting, although Bobby was left paralyzed due to his decision.

Our heroes have learned some new tricks. Sam’s mastered Ruby’s hexbag recipe to keep them cloaked from demons, so they can carry on hunting without a constant onslaught. Dean knows the bloodspell to send the angels to far far away. Castiel engraved Sam and Dean’s ribs to make them invisible to the angels. Is the resurrected Castiel different? Hopefully his new body got cloaking too from the angels since he must be on their hit list. Will we meet the Somebody who put the guys on the Soul Plane?

Chuck is on TeamWinchester too. He can feel when the angels are coming now. But if Zachariah can plant visions on Chuck, is Chuck help or more danger? Maybe Chuck can mobilize his Fangirl Army to use Twitter for something useful.

The new player in the Apocalypse is Lucifer. Lucifer’s chosen vessel Nick has similarities to John Winchester’s history. Both men lost their anchors to overwhelming grief and anger. John was a boozy mess before he focused on his obsessive quest to hunt what killed Mary, turning himself into a hunter, and losing sight of his job as a father. Nick didn’t search for the mysterious Somebody who killed his family. Instead he bought Lucifer’s story that God is to blame. Nick became Lucifer’s vessel to get paybacks on God, but the choice is not much different from John’s choice to get revenge on Azazel.

If the humans want the world and history to continue, then killing Lucifer isn’t the endgame. Killing Lucifer wipes the slate clean. That means earth is smited and one big do-ever with no more mudmonkeys.

Remember when the angels were getting killed in On the Head of a Pin? Castiel stated that only an angel can kill another Angel. Assume Lucifer is way more powerful than the foot soldier angels in the garrison. Michael could only drive him to the Underworld. Could Castiel get juiced up by Somebody and take him back down?

Bobby’s lore books showed images of Michael wielding a sword. What if there is a real Sword? Ruby’s Knife and the Colt have powers that work on demons. Perhaps the Sword will work on any angels?

Sam seems to have lost his demonblood thirst and his mojo. But that may be temporary. Chuck said he was full-on Vadar when he killed Lilith, but Sam hasn’t been fitted for a black helmet yet. What if Sam can control his powers without drinking demonblood? Ruby told him Sam didn’t need the demonblood that it was all inside him all the time. Here’s crazy thinking… what if Sam’s powers are the “Michael Sword”? It sure would fit with the overall Supernatural theme that Dean and Sam together will save the world.

The Ties that Bind
Events start with both Sam and Dean still carrying all the emotions from Lucifer Rising. Sam heard the fake message and thinks Dean called him a monster. Sam never heard Dean’s real apology. Dean isn’t sure what Sam is anymore or if he can trust Sam. He just knows he failed to stop Sam from killing Lilith, and he’s deeply hurt that Sam chose to believe and work with Ruby.

Once Team Winchester gets a moment, Sam wants to apologize, but Dean isn’t ready to deal with Sam’s mistakes, or his own. Dean tells Sam to quit talking so they can clean up their mess. He’s still protective of Sam, not wanting him to tell Bobby the details on the seal breaking. Dean’s protection ends once Sam confesses to Bobby that he broke the last seal by killing Lilith because he didn’t listen to them.

When DemonBobby tells Sam that these things don’t get forgiven, Dean looks angry but doesn’t disagree. DemonBobby later told Dean he never would have thought John was right about having to kill Sam if they couldn’t save him. (Did Sam or Dean ever tell Bobby about that? Did John? Or was that the demon reading Dean’s mind and saying what he was thinking?) Later the real Bobby says he would not cut out Sam. Dean does accept that Sam is sorry. But he tells Sam maybe he can’t trust or depend upon the way he used to due to his betrayal. Dean leaves Sam standing alone because he can’t just forgive and forget how Sam let him down. Their relationship will not go back to what they were before. That could be a good thing for both Sam and Dean to fix their co-dependency issues.

#3 Arsenal in the Trunk
Kripke and director Robert Singer pulled out the shiny big guns to start the season, setting the tone with the fast cut montage for the Road So Far set to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” Then the Title Card hints at the explosions, blood and screamy gooey chaos in store this season.

The episode title is another shoutout to classic rock, and thematically the perfect title for the introduction of Lucifer. No sympathy for Lucifer, but many sniffles for sad sack Nick. Jimmy once said that being Castiel’s vessel is like ‘riding a comet’, so this does not bode well for Nick.

Great performances all around. Sam (Jared Padalecki) showed the appropriate levels of shame, guilt and self-pitying dejection when DemonBobby cast him out. Big brother Dean (Jensen Ackles) bit his tongue trying to focus on the job, but his deep hurt at Sam’s betrayal finally gets blurted out. Dean also showed hints at the germinating General he’ll have to become to lead the human insurgency that kicks the angels and demon off their planet.

Nick (Mark Pellegrino) was the right mixture of crazy with grief and despair so Lucifer’s explanations seemed plausible to a man who’s lost everything. Bobby, Castiel, Meg, Zachariah and Chuck were all delights to see again.
Bringing back Meg, and the return to John Winchester’s supernatural storage chest were thoughtful touches by the writers. Becky with the gropey hands and marzipan was a hilarious surprise. This IS the fun Apocalypse!

Nice visual effects for the Winchesters’ rescue from without by Somebody. Lucifer’s light seemed more powerful than the archangel’s blasts from season 4. The transition to the Looney Tune cartoon of Yosemite Sam in hell was inspired.

The Good Words
“You’re Sam Winchester! And (to Dean) you’re not what I expected.”

“This sucks a@@.”

“Can you quit touching me? No.”

“Let’s see, Yosemite Sam, ah I can use a guy like you.”

“It’s you chucklehead. You’re the Michael sword.”

“Let’s say it was all our faults and move on.”

“I just said all that crap for Bobby’s benefit.”

“I got a GED and a give ‘em hell attitude.”