FOUR PEARL JAMS BETTER THAN ONE!

I recently had the privilege of seeing Pearl Jam at all four of their Southern California tour dates in early July. I can only speak from the perspective of a long time, diehard fan, but in my most unbiased possible opinion, each show was fantastic! Not only because the band played a different set virtually flawlessly each night, showcasing familiar favorites as well as long lost b-sides, but because everyone in the audience seemed unified by their love for the band.  

One could argue that any band with enough exposure could gain as large and loyal a following, but Pearl Jam cultivated most of their fans without the help of the media.  In fact, after getting what they felt was too much exposure early in their career, the band stopped making videos, stopped doing interviews, and took a lot of time off between recording their increasingly-esoteric albums.  Still they sell out arenas worldwide and perform to audiences whose members all stand for the entire show, singing sometimes louder than the band. And it’s been like that since the beginning.  Despite spending most of the 90’s in willful obscurity Pearl Jam’s fan base seemed only to grow into a huge community of unusually dedicated fans.         

COX ARENA, SAN DIEGO, JULY 7, 2006

On July 7^th at San Diego’s Cox Arena, the band opened with Oceans, a fan-favorite off their first album, Ten, that in the past served as a common opener, but hasn’t made as many appearances recently. It’s possible they chose this as a reminder that a portion of the ticket prices went to the Surf Rider Foundation, an environmental organization the band has supported for years.  Whether that’s true or not,   I think I speak for everyone in attendance when I say it was very exciting to hear those first few bars!   

The band ripped up their first set (PJ usually plays for about 2 hours, usually including a pre-set before the opening band which features a solo performance by lead singer Eddie Vedder as well as two encores… the fans just won’t leave!), playing six songs off their latest self-titled release.  Peppered in between the new tracks were mind-blowing renditions of Yield’s Brain of J, Vitalogy’s Betterman and Satan’s Bed, and Vs.’s Rearviewmirror amongst others.  

During Betterman, Vedder played guitar as the crowd sang the entire first verse without his help.  This is not an uncommon occurrence at a Pearl Jam show, but having seen them perform 12 times, I think this crowd was among the loudest!  We were so unbelievably loud in fact that Vedder looked to the on-stage engineer, asking him to turn up the vocals several times during the set.  Their first encore featured moving performances of Long Road and Come Back (the former dedicated to Clayton Liggett, the latter to Johnny Ramone, both late friends of the band) as well as a cover of Mother Love Bone’s Crown of Thorns.  Pearl Jam ended their six song second encore with Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World featuring pro-surfer Kelly Slater on guitar, and Yellow Ledbetter featuring guitarist Mike McCready’s Hendrix-inspired a cappella performance of the Star- Spangled Banner.   It was a great night.  

THE LOS ANGELES FORUM, JULY 9 - 10, 2006

Two days later, Pearl Jam played back to back sold-out shows in Los Angeles at The Forum.  Between these two shows they covered classic territory (Alive, Even Flow, Black, and Jeremy) as well as compositions they rarely play live these days (Garden, Footsteps, Whipping, Why Go, and Leash).  Both nights the band played with the same energy they displayed in the early 90s, which may be an indication of what has made the fans stick around for so long.   

An interesting highlight of both nights was a guest appearance by actor Tim Robbins.  Robbins and Pearl Jam have played previously on 2004’s Vote for Change tour, a series of shows to generate support for Democratic candidate John Kerry.  Vedder and Robbins played I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts and Here’s to the State of Mississippi, two politically charged songs the second of which Robbins added his own updated lyrics to. To end the first night’s show, the band played a great cover of The Who’s Baba O’Riley, a long time fan favorite, followed by the classic Yellow Ledbetter.  On night two they changed it up playing Rockin’ in the Free World, a great performance which featured many broken tambourines to feed the crowd.  

THE SANTA BARBARA  BOWL, JULY 13, 2006

After seeing these three shows I didn’t expect it could get any better, little did I know…

On July 13^th Pearl Jam played The Santa Barbara Bowl. Fans were treated to what the band called it’s “mini-Gorge” show, in reference to an up coming show at George, Washington’s beautiful outdoor venue The Gorge.  They started the show with a great set of softer songs, including long time fan favorite Hard to Imagine, and covers of The Rolling Stones’ Waiting on a Friend and Lucinda Williams’ Crazy Mary.  The opening set gave the show a very intimate feel that was certainly not lost on me in the seventh row.  When I looked back at the rows behind me to see everyone on their feet, singing together in the sunset I could tell that it wasn’t lost on them either.   

As cheesy as it sounds, Pearl Jam seems to bring people together!  During their second set, Pearl Jam played a slightly heavier mix of new and old songs leaving fans horse from constant cheering and singing along.  Corduroy, a staple of Pearl Jam’s set lists, featured Pink Floyd’s Interstellar Overdrive as an intro and was dedicated to the late Syd Barrett. Pearl Jam closed the show with another variation of their usual closers, this time playing Rockin’ in the Free World and Yellow Ledbetter.

I can’t wait for their next tour!

 

by Trevor Vento