This is a small extract from a Passion Presentation I gave to the Editions Financial team last week, sharing what rock band Pearl Jam means to me. They embody a rock n roll approach, rejecting music industry norms, and held a line of deep integrity over 25 years. Their songs, combining profound lyrics and soaring melodies, have soundtracked my life and talked to me from age 15 to now, age, cough... you can work that out.
Yes, that's me aged 16, in full Grunge mode, underneath my favourite Pearl Jam lyric which talks to me about getting the most out of every moment you are alive.
My presentation started with an attempt at immersive experience, when I turned all the lights off and played a live version of Release, to recreate the feeling of being at the start of a Pearl Jam gig - one of my favourite places to be. It sort of worked?! I also touched on finding your 'flow', that moment when you are so absorbed in the moment it's almost meditative.
Just a thought... we consume music so differently now, almost as a commodity. I remember when a new album was an event, where me and my friends got together to listen intently from start to finish. Sometimes albums didn't 'get you' on the first listen, and you had to work a bit to appreciate them. Is this getting lost? Do songs now have to be so catchy, so instantly accessible, that the work of more challenging artists will be lost? I hope not.
At Editions Financial, we have regular passion presentations over lunch, as a way for the team to practice their presentation skills and introduce colleagues to new, wonderful things which can enrich their work and life.
2. Why Pearl Jam are so
great
Sold 60m records worldwide
Been together for 25 years
Shun music industry convention
Their music taps into the
human experience
6. I know I was born
and I know that I’ll
die, the in-between
is mine
7.
8. Pearl Jam
London 1996
Glasgow 2000
Manchester 2012
Berlin 2014
Leeds 2014
Philadelphia 2016
Eddie Vedder
Manchester 2012
London 2017
Pearl Jam
London 2018
London 2018
Berlin 2018
9. And is that the
question? Oh
and if so, if so,
who answers?
