One Night With Pearl Jam
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I awoke in the back seat of our Altima fairly tired from a days work at the office and saw the looming city of Toronto stretch over me. Brendan chatted excitedly with the driver as we entered the home of the Blue-Jays, the Maple Leafs, and for two nights Pearl Jam. Lining the streets as we neared the ACC were countless people either flocking magnetically to the baseball game or to this concert. After parking only minutes from the stadium we began the walk. In the gravel parking lots outside the Air Canada Center stood people opening their trunks and blasting their favorite Pearl Jam tunes. With beer in hand and song on lip they prepared themselves to witness their band take the stage, and with a band like Pearl Jam, it really is their band. We received our seats just off to the right off center stage and on the inner circle; a great view of the band. Speakers rose like towers high into the stadium and fold-out chairs were tightly packed in front of the stage. Music from the likes of Neil Young played repeatedly from the speakers to keep the interest of the crowd as they slowly funneled in from the outside. One girl who sat behind us stated "My tape is burning out which has every Lettermen appearance [of Pearl Jam]" and her counterpart replies with equal somberness as to the severity of the situation. Brendan and I arrive early and watch people trickle in from all entrances. All sorts arrive, from the young and hip who may have either recently been turned on to the music or who have been life long fans, to the chic and fashionable executives of businesses with season passes to all concerts. Others are much older, two of the most interesting types of people sat on either side of myself and Brendan. On my left sat a grandiose man, stretched t-shirt and jean shorts resembling my experienced driving instructor, and on my right sat an elderly couple, conservatively dressed, with smiles on their faces. The variety was perplexing. The first band to play was the excited folks of Morning Jacket from Kentucky. They bashed out several rough edged rock songs with energy and enthusiasm even though not even a quarter of the house was yet seated. The sound was booming and the singers voice nearly inaudible, but the sheer feeling of being overcome by electricity flowed throughout the stadium, rumbling the seats with each bass note. The crowd cheered madly, always on the peak of explosion as they knew their band would arrive shortly. Morning Jacket depart and the stadium, now half full, is left in anticipation. |
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From the opening riffs of " World Wide Suicide " everybody's soul is grasped by the monolithic sound of Pearl Jam. If it was even a decibel louder the roof would have caved in on the place but the same feeling of being enveloped by madness overtook me. From left to right and every where in between people were jumping, singing, clapping, or stomping; the intensity was unstoppable. Audience participation, at any show is a crucial aspect to the success of the concert, and with this show every person was in the music somewhere. Through the first few songs the center was singing each word but when Eddie Vedder stopped singing to hear his fans chanting the words obediently the feeling was complete. For nearly every verse of the song Eddie mouthed the words away from the mic as the audience aptly sang each word, on time! As you looked out onto the sold out stadium and each person's response it made you wonder how these people saw this man. But as he kept complete composure and delivered each song with a directness and compassion it dawned on me that Eddie Vedder was a hero. The band played old songs, new songs, fast songs, slow songs, covers, originals; nearly anything you could imagine the band would play, they covered the bases. After a particularly crushing performance of "Given To Fly" they continued with "Better Man" as the house became pitch black except for a blue spotlight over Vedder and swaying lighters, like stars, scattered throughout the blackness. Each musician played with their soul and for two straight hours Pearl Jam cranked out tune after tune of grunge goodness. Now, I'm not familiar with most songs so the distorted vocals beneath the guitars became a diluted message but the simple feeling of the music gripped me by every nerve. For "Better Man" Vedder sounded as though he was pulling forth every soul from the audience and they, enraptured, gave it to him. He commanded with his hands to stress lyrics and as solos rung out from musicians he would tremble his hands or make drunken stumbles across the stage in rhythm with the music. The band was in fine posture, and it's no wonder, after 15 years of playing that they would be anything less. The real treat, for me, came at the encore. Before the band left, Vedder lifted up his mic stand to a roaring crowd and then as the last cymbal smashed so did the mic stand as Eddie shot it up into the air. They walked off the stage to ear-splitting screams of appreciation and even some calls of "Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie" as though he was their favorite hockey team. No-one was leaving, and neither was the band. With no silence in-between the band re-emerged to play a ripping version of "Alive " and a cover of Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking In The Free World" in which , being a Canadian hero in himself, everyone knew the words and sang in for the chorus. Having been unfamiliar with most of the Pearl Jam repertoire this moment greatly appealed to me and I pumped my fist in the air and screamed in unison "Keep on Rocking in the Free WOOORLLLD!" with thousands of people. A finale of "Yellow Ledbetter " came and a piercing guitar solo lasting at least 5 minutes rang out throughout every corner of the stadium. With call and answer chants of "Hey!" variations Vedder led the crowd to the climax and like a barren landscape after an explosion, it was all over. The band threw T-Shirts to the crowd, bowed dripping of sweat, and then exited the stadium. I must say though, I believe I missed alot of the impact of the music. Sure, it felt like a bolt of lightening shooting through my bones, but the words and the message of the music was barely audible. The echoing of the stadium proved too large a sound for the voice of Vedder and his gravelly textured voice slipped underneath the monstrous sounds of the music. Being only slightly familiar with the voice, but not the songs, gave me a reason to listen; I wanted to hear what this man was saying. Unfortunately I left the same way I came in; with little knowledge of what these songs are about. However, these venues are not for people like me. These venues are to please the fans, the people who are devoted to their band, who can recite nearly every word of every song, and let me tell you; the once icy hockey rink was packed from front to back with these people. As I let the ringing reside in my ears from a hard night of rocking I felt satisfied. Once simply a name to me now Pearl Jam embodies a feeling, a sensation. As Eddie Vedder stood hands clutching his microphone and arms reaching towards him he was an angel in my eyes. He was that fleeting thing that only touches this earth every once and a while and brings some kind of essential thing into people's lives that they can't imagine living without. Although I 'm not a converted fan of Pearl Jam, Jesus, can they ever play one hell of a great live show. *The show was also a kindly benefit for the White Ribbon campaign. With every ticket sale, $1 went to the cause to prevent the domestic violence against women.
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Set 1 Severed Hand, World Wide Suicide, Life Wasted, Marker In The Sand, Given To Fly, Better Man, Even Flow, Unemployable, Garden, Sad, Corduroy, Present Tense, Daughter, Grievance, Not For You, Inside Job, Why Go Encore 1 Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Come Back, Alive Encore 2 Porch, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter |
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