Dave Abbruzzese discussed Pearl Jam’s MTV Unplugged performance in a new interview with Michael Aubrecht.
“I hadn’t slept in 30 hours and I had a wicked sinus infection and head cold. The band began our unplugged set sometime after midnight. Add to that we didn’t have a real sound check. The monitors and audience were in the round and I was playing with only a very minimum of monitor sound. There were long stretches of that show that I played with no audible reference to what the other guys were playing at all.
I think my style of playing was the result of me just enjoying an easy night of good music with confidence in myself and in my friends to do a good job. Also, it was the timing. We never relaxed and played our music. From the very start of joining the band, we had to prove it every time…bring it every night. We knew if we were going to be successful, it was up to us. The band hadn’t even signed a record deal yet!
That’s still what eats at me about the band not standing up respectfully at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for how hard we worked and what we achieved before I was fired.”
