If there’s one thing you can’t accuse me of, it’s not being dedicated to the cause of good live music. My friends and I are not shy of a good hard road trip in order to see an object of our affections, and last night saw us undertake an almost six hour round trip from North-East to North-West and back again. But hell, it was worth every minute.
Pearl Jam are one of those bands that I’ve loved for years and years but have somehow managed to pass me by on their touring circuits, possibly because I tend to avoid arena gigs like the swine flu or because they’ve played festivals I haven’t been present at, but as it is, this is my virgin Pearl Jam experience and by God, It’s an itch that desperately needs scratching.
None of my party had any desire to sit around watching a middle of the road indie band (Gomez) after a long drive so we had a pint instead and arrived in time to take in the atmosphere before the main event. Playing to what appeared to be a sold out crowd, the band’s opening number, ‘Long Road’ was fairly unknown to me and came across as somewhat understated, but it was a thoughtful opening after which the set quickly gathered tempo, visiting the band’s entire back catalogue (almost) at some point or other, the more popular tracks with the crowd seeming to be those from their first two albums, ‘Ten’ and ‘Versus’. The inimitable Eddie Vedder had a choral accompaniment of around 25,000 people on the tracks from ‘Ten’ in particular, which was a wonderful thing to hear at times. ‘Alive’ sounded as though it was meant to be sung by an arena audience, and there are very few songs I’ll happily say that about and be part of at the same time.
Not that Vedder needed backing vocals. His unique voice, one which you might select as a prime candidate to suffer the ravages of age, hasn’t deteriorated one iota throughout the band’s long career. He soars effortlessly from laid-back verse to frenzied chorus, comfortable and yet full of energy, still looking every part the rock star. The rest of the band somewhat less so; middle age seems to have hit guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready hardest, although you wouldn’t know it to listen to them, or to watch them play in the case of McCready who manages a guitar solo from behind his back; entertaining in a sort of ‘that’s my Dad’s party piece’ sort of way.
Highlights of the setlist for me were numerous; beautiful renditions of ‘In Hiding’ and ‘Given to Fly’, a storming version of ‘Rearviewmirror’, and an encore featuring both ‘Smile’ from the ‘No Code’ album and live favourite ‘Black’, all topped off with a veritable cherry of a closing song, ‘Indifference’ – cold, heart-breaking and final.
Would you look at that, I’ve managed to get through the entire review without a single mention of the two fawning f**kwits who were in the seats in front of pawing each other and shouting in each others’ ears for the entirety of the concert. Oh, wait…
Pearl Jam are one of those bands that I’ve loved for years and years but have somehow managed to pass me by on their touring circuits, possibly because I tend to avoid arena gigs like the swine flu or because they’ve played festivals I haven’t been present at, but as it is, this is my virgin Pearl Jam experience and by God, It’s an itch that desperately needs scratching.
None of my party had any desire to sit around watching a middle of the road indie band (Gomez) after a long drive so we had a pint instead and arrived in time to take in the atmosphere before the main event. Playing to what appeared to be a sold out crowd, the band’s opening number, ‘Long Road’ was fairly unknown to me and came across as somewhat understated, but it was a thoughtful opening after which the set quickly gathered tempo, visiting the band’s entire back catalogue (almost) at some point or other, the more popular tracks with the crowd seeming to be those from their first two albums, ‘Ten’ and ‘Versus’. The inimitable Eddie Vedder had a choral accompaniment of around 25,000 people on the tracks from ‘Ten’ in particular, which was a wonderful thing to hear at times. ‘Alive’ sounded as though it was meant to be sung by an arena audience, and there are very few songs I’ll happily say that about and be part of at the same time.
Not that Vedder needed backing vocals. His unique voice, one which you might select as a prime candidate to suffer the ravages of age, hasn’t deteriorated one iota throughout the band’s long career. He soars effortlessly from laid-back verse to frenzied chorus, comfortable and yet full of energy, still looking every part the rock star. The rest of the band somewhat less so; middle age seems to have hit guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready hardest, although you wouldn’t know it to listen to them, or to watch them play in the case of McCready who manages a guitar solo from behind his back; entertaining in a sort of ‘that’s my Dad’s party piece’ sort of way.
Highlights of the setlist for me were numerous; beautiful renditions of ‘In Hiding’ and ‘Given to Fly’, a storming version of ‘Rearviewmirror’, and an encore featuring both ‘Smile’ from the ‘No Code’ album and live favourite ‘Black’, all topped off with a veritable cherry of a closing song, ‘Indifference’ – cold, heart-breaking and final.
Would you look at that, I’ve managed to get through the entire review without a single mention of the two fawning f**kwits who were in the seats in front of pawing each other and shouting in each others’ ears for the entirety of the concert. Oh, wait…
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