PEARL JAM (2 Nights)
Tuesday and Wednesday, I didn't watch any films, so I'll have to catch up soon. Instead, I spent two nights in Worcester, MA seeing Pearl Jam again! I'm excited to report the number of times I've seen them is well into the teens now, and it seems like each other gets better and better with Eddie Vedder and Company.
Full disclosure, I never really enjoyed Pearl Jam in their "peak" years back in the early '90s because I was hands down I much bigger fan of Nirvana, and I naively believed that if I liked Nirvana and was devoted to them, I couldn't like Pearl Jam. They were like the antithesis of Nirvana. I missed their 1996 tour/show at the Augusta Civic Center, during their lawsuit/court battle with Ticketmaster, and I'm still kicking myself. I used to get in arguments with peers at school about who was better.
Then, my Senior year of high school, I started working at the independent record store, Bull Moose Music, and suddenly became "cool." And I began to really appreciate music, in general. Sure, I had Pearl Jam's albums and I enjoyed them. And I have always appreciated their somewhere DIY/punk approach to the music industry. And then in 2001, my respect for them reached a new level, because on one Tuesday they decided to do something unprecedented. They released 72 live album bootlegs at once. I purchased all of them, because something I learned as I studied the band I was growing to love for many reasons, was that each of Pearl Jam's shows was a unique experience. And I had to have all of them. I didn't see them on that tour, but coincidentally, I did happen to be in Mansfield, MA for two nights right before their two night stay. Only, I was at two Britney Spears' shows in 2000 (which I absolutely do not regret, but it was Pearl Jam AND Sonic Youth the next nights). So, I bought all 72 live albums and listened to them. Then, in 2003, I finally saw them for a couple of shows. They played two shows, and then released their entire tour as a bootleg series, which I bought all of those as well. I guess you could say I became quite the superfan at that point. I love seeing them live and I have to every single time they come as close to Maine as possible (usually MA), and it's usually always two nights, except for the last time I saw them, in 2010 with Band of Horses. Oh, I've also seen Ted Leo and the Pharmacists as well as My Morning Jacket open for them.
I've also seen Eddie Vedder play a couple of solo shows at the Boston Opera House, with Liam Finn, twice and Glen Hasard (of the Frames) twice, as well. I have a completely heterosexual, man-crush on Eddie Vedder. I would love to meet him, have a conversation, and/or have dinner with the man and just listen to him philosophize.
In conclusion, before I get into this past week's shows, you MUST SEE Pearl Jam live. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
The first night, the band played for a little over 3 hours. They did not have an opening act, instead they took the stage a little before 8:30 and ended the show right around 11:30. It was an incredible show, with so much energy. Eddie even climbed on top of one of the swinging lightbulbs during the jamming session known as "Porch" and swung out over the crowd a bit. And I've never seen an entire band interact with a crowd as frequently and well as the men in Pearl Jam do at every show (I've been to). They are very humble guys who genuinely appreciate their fans and give back. Eddie shared his wine with a few people in the front row, on the floor, during "Crazy Mary" (thanks in large part to the lyrics... "take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around..."). And most importantly, they play different setlists every single night, which makes going to their shows almost an addiction, in the hopes that you'll see/hear them play something rare. Just look at their setlist from night one (which included favorites and hightlights for me: "Nothing as it Seems" and "Leash" and then acoustic versions of "Man of the Hour" and "Fatal" in the first encore, and then "Crazy Mary," "Sonic Reducer" and the finale "Indifference").
And then on Wednesday night, they came back out at 8:30 and this night they ended around 11:00 for about a 2 and a half-hour show. I could sense that they were tired, especially having witnessed how much they put into the previous night's show. But, regardless, I was still impressed and blown away by their ability after 20+ years of rocking large arenas like this. Night #2 had some repeat songs, but they did pull out some great songs from deeper in their catalogue to please diehard fans like myself. I loved hearing their new song "Pendulum" which worked really well as an opening track. And then some more highlights and favorites, for me, on night two included: "Cropduster," "Lukin," and "State of Love and Trust" and then, "Otherside," "Gone," and my favorite song "Black" but by far I absolutely loved hearing "Smile" and "Baba O'Riley" and one of their staple ending songs "Yellow Ledbetter."
Full disclosure, I never really enjoyed Pearl Jam in their "peak" years back in the early '90s because I was hands down I much bigger fan of Nirvana, and I naively believed that if I liked Nirvana and was devoted to them, I couldn't like Pearl Jam. They were like the antithesis of Nirvana. I missed their 1996 tour/show at the Augusta Civic Center, during their lawsuit/court battle with Ticketmaster, and I'm still kicking myself. I used to get in arguments with peers at school about who was better.
Then, my Senior year of high school, I started working at the independent record store, Bull Moose Music, and suddenly became "cool." And I began to really appreciate music, in general. Sure, I had Pearl Jam's albums and I enjoyed them. And I have always appreciated their somewhere DIY/punk approach to the music industry. And then in 2001, my respect for them reached a new level, because on one Tuesday they decided to do something unprecedented. They released 72 live album bootlegs at once. I purchased all of them, because something I learned as I studied the band I was growing to love for many reasons, was that each of Pearl Jam's shows was a unique experience. And I had to have all of them. I didn't see them on that tour, but coincidentally, I did happen to be in Mansfield, MA for two nights right before their two night stay. Only, I was at two Britney Spears' shows in 2000 (which I absolutely do not regret, but it was Pearl Jam AND Sonic Youth the next nights). So, I bought all 72 live albums and listened to them. Then, in 2003, I finally saw them for a couple of shows. They played two shows, and then released their entire tour as a bootleg series, which I bought all of those as well. I guess you could say I became quite the superfan at that point. I love seeing them live and I have to every single time they come as close to Maine as possible (usually MA), and it's usually always two nights, except for the last time I saw them, in 2010 with Band of Horses. Oh, I've also seen Ted Leo and the Pharmacists as well as My Morning Jacket open for them.
I've also seen Eddie Vedder play a couple of solo shows at the Boston Opera House, with Liam Finn, twice and Glen Hasard (of the Frames) twice, as well. I have a completely heterosexual, man-crush on Eddie Vedder. I would love to meet him, have a conversation, and/or have dinner with the man and just listen to him philosophize.
In conclusion, before I get into this past week's shows, you MUST SEE Pearl Jam live. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
The first night, the band played for a little over 3 hours. They did not have an opening act, instead they took the stage a little before 8:30 and ended the show right around 11:30. It was an incredible show, with so much energy. Eddie even climbed on top of one of the swinging lightbulbs during the jamming session known as "Porch" and swung out over the crowd a bit. And I've never seen an entire band interact with a crowd as frequently and well as the men in Pearl Jam do at every show (I've been to). They are very humble guys who genuinely appreciate their fans and give back. Eddie shared his wine with a few people in the front row, on the floor, during "Crazy Mary" (thanks in large part to the lyrics... "take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around..."). And most importantly, they play different setlists every single night, which makes going to their shows almost an addiction, in the hopes that you'll see/hear them play something rare. Just look at their setlist from night one (which included favorites and hightlights for me: "Nothing as it Seems" and "Leash" and then acoustic versions of "Man of the Hour" and "Fatal" in the first encore, and then "Crazy Mary," "Sonic Reducer" and the finale "Indifference").
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(Save It For Later tag)
- Encore:
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- Encore 2:
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(Wayne Cochran cover)
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(Victoria Williams cover)
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(Dead Boys cover)
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- Encore:
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(First performance since October 28 2009)
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- Encore 2:
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(The Who cover)
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