OK, so this may have been discussed before. I have not always been lucky enough to have 10C seats at larger shows. These days, most other bands have screens so you can see close up. Pearl Jam doesn't - so if you have bad seats, it's a 5 ants on the stage. Why don't they play to the whole crowd?

For the same reason they don't have crazy pyros and effects, they hate technology.

problem with screens is that they're distracting..you end up watching them rather than the stage even if you're close enough not to need them...bit like subtitles on a movie were you understand the language anyway.

So unless they can be on only after a certain distance (which I think I heard was the case in Mansfield..like the lawn screens were on, but thank god not the front ones), then it's better to have them off.

what is wrong with watching the screen even if you have good seats? if you find them distracting don't watch them, its really not that hard.

Depends on the venue. I specifically remember screens at Merriweather 1998.

Lots of arena shows do not do screens at all and rightly so - you would be staring straight up at the ceiling towards the middle of the room. Screens are quite common at ampitheatres and I believe PJ uses them regularly in those venues.

In West Palm, they have screens for people on the lawn, which makes perfect since. Because when I saw DMB there, its like looking at gnats on a stage.

Pyros and screens are apples and oranges btw. Really not one in the same.

If you're going to watch the screen you might as well be on the lawn, you'll pay less for it and leave the seat for someone that want to actually watch what on stage rather than a TV (which shows you only what the director wants).
And depending where they are, particularly if you're on the hard side (which is where most of my seats ended up), it can be hard not to watch them as they can take a large portion of your field of view.

Well I for one was refering to Madison Square Garden. Every show there uses screens - except Pearl Jam. In 98 and one of the 08 shows I had seats totally across from the stage. The band were ants. It would have been nice to have the screen and the option to see them. They introduced Ace Frehley - a sixth ant on the stage. They could have introduced John Lennon for all that I was able to see.

I know that seeing isn't everything - but I could have just bought the bootleg and it would have been a lot cheaper.

I see your point but I find screens even worse in Arenas!
only place I understand them are stadiums (which I avoid like the plague) or festivals.

that's why I avoid going to shows where I can't get decent seats (well, I avoid seats point ..but if I have to go for seats, as in there's no GA, I only go for good ones or don't go at all..paying $70-80 to see ants or watch a screen.. no thanks).

You'll never know just how dark this screen can be

As a shortie, I would appreciate screens. Even if I'm in row 3 - if the person in front of me is tall, I see nothing but sweaty back for the whole show. Clearly - in this case, watching a screen would mean nothing against my dedication to the band, and moving further from the stage would not result in me seeing anything, either.
I encounter this problem a lot. I think about 4 or 5 of PJ shows I've been to, I saw very little or none of the actual band. At Vote For Change, all I saw was what crappy pics I got back the next day from the disposable camera i used while standing on my chair and holding it over my head.

If my memory serves me correctly the 2006 Australian Tour had functioning screens in Sydney and Melbourne but not the small Newcastle venue. Not sure about the other cities though.
I was lucky to be close enough to not need them but 1 night I was a little further back and a glance up to see the guys expressions every now and then was good. It gives the people further back the chance to see what the people up the front are lucky enough to see.

Early July 2003. Pearl Jam plays Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA since they couldn't book Merriweather Post in Columbia, MD. Nissan's screens are used. Eddie mentions them on either side of the stage since they're so huge. The cameraman zooms in for a close up. As a joke he picks his nose and the entire place busts out laughing. Good times.

in 2003 in san antonio they used the screens too. i don't really remember watching them a lot, i was looking at the stage most of the time. and my seats were not even that close (wasn't a 10c member back then).

this year at msg II i had very, very far seats, and the stage and band looked mighty small, but it didn't harm my enjoyment in the bare minimum. i had an absolute blast, mainly because everyone there was having a blast. as long as i can afford it, i would never trade being at a pj show (regardless of the seats i get) for just a bootleg.

what watch the screens from the third row!!!! you should be banished from being a fan and do not deserve to be that close. you should give your seat up to a "real" fan. back of the venue you belong.

The only problem with that, is the sound is much better under the pavilion. At least in Mansfield. So it's worth the money to hear everything clearly. That said, I see no need for screens anywhere near the front.

That's why god invented Tool shows.

Can you read? If I can't see, I can't see. So WANTING to see the show makes me not a "real" fan? Are you retarded? Give me a break.

real fans wanna hear the music, not look at sweaty 40 somethings

Which is why I still go, even though I know my chances of seeing are pretty slim.
I've HEARD all the shows. Sometimes, it's nice to see them, too.