Pearl Jam Will Play Some Canceled Dates

EXHAUSTED by the media's preoccupation with its ongoing battle with Ticketmaster, Pearl Jam announced it was canceling the remainder of its summer tour. Now, the rock band says, it will honor commitments to play Milwaukee (July 8, 9) and Chicago (July 11).

The announcement comes amid reports that band members are also physically exhausted: Lead singer Eddie Vedder fell ill during the band's San Francisco concert; Neil Young finished the show.

Ticketing for Pearl Jam's national summer tour was done by ETM, an alternative, high-tech ticketing system. The computer software used by ETM and bridge financing for the Pearl Jam tour were supplied by Fillmore Mercantile, which wants to enter the $1-billion-a-year ticketing market long dominated by Ticketmaster.

The ETM system performed well in selling and distributing tickets. "The ticketing system has done a great job for us," band manager Kelly Curtis says, citing the security devices on tickets that eliminated counterfeits and curtailed scalping. But the entire Pearl Jam tour was clouded by the band being shut out of the larger venues that have exclusive contracts with Ticketmaster.

"If scheduling a tour at alternative venues had gone as smoothly as selling tickets through ETM, we would not have been in a position to cancel," Ms. Curtis says.