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It's Good To See Who The Faithful Really Are: Pearl Jam, Boston 9/28-29/04Sep 30 '04 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Don't Go on me....
Let the Music Do the Talking While Aerosmith's song couldn't have been talking about Pearl Jam (it was written years before PJ existed), there was perhaps no better saying for Pearl Jam's two shows here in Boston this week. Working as "warm up" shows before the band heads out on the multi-artist, multi-venue Vote for Change tour, perhaps the most impressive thing about the shows was just how little warming up the band needed. There was also a good cause involved: all proceeds from these shows are being donated to the West Memphis Three for DNA testing. If you don't know about the West Memphis Three, check out wm3.org. Tuesday, 9/28/04 The first show, a fan club "sellout," was an energetic, take no prisoners set. Eddie came out before the opening acts to do a couple of songs, something that was once a rarity that now happens quite regularly. He started by saying "it's good to see who the faithful really are," eliciting a big response from the crowd. His first song was also his first political statement of the night, and it worked as a foreshadowing of what was to come; those looking for a Vedder rant would be disappointed, as Eddie did what his own song says: "let the song protest." That first song was Don't Be Shy, a Cat Stevens song. It wasn't the first time Vedder had covered this, but it seemed appropriate given Stevens' being kicked out of the country last week. Vedder then did a nice little version of You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, which resulted in the first (but certainly not the last) big sing-along of the night. With that, Eddie introduced Gob Roberts, a band fronted by Tim Robbins. Robbins should stick to acting, cause, well, his band sucked. Badly. One of their songs sounded like they were going to cover Moby Dick, but, thankfully it wasn't. Next up was Death Cab for Cutie. I had heard a lot about these guys and was curious to see what they sounded like. Someone had told me they were a bit like R.E.M., but after watching their set, a more apt comparison would be Coldplay with an edge at times. They write some gorgeous melodies, but their songs tended to blend together, and the lushness of the sound made me rather sleepy. After a longer wait than usual, at 9:35pm, the house lights went down, and the boys were on stage. They seemed to be discussing what was going to be the first song (audibles on opening songs, gotta love it), and soon, the gentle melody to Release, the opener of all openers, was ringing throughout the FleetCenter. Truth be told, my enthusiasm for these shows had been wavering; I just wasn't expecting the band to tour this year. But I was a quivering mess during Release, probably the PJ song that hits me harder than any other. And to hear 17,000+ people sing along with it, and have it be the first song I've heard them do in over a year, well, the term "religous experience" comes to mind. After that though, the band barely took a break. From Last Exit to Hail Hail (holy crap, Eddie got the lyrics right), Do the Evolution (AKA most fun live song on the planet) to Even Flow, the main set was like a careening train off the tracks. The slowest song was Dissident, with guitarist Mike McCready throwing in some nice improvised licks on the intro. The biggest anthem was Given to Fly, which sounded absolutely ballsy. And Eddie brought Howard Zinn up on stage before Down, which proved to be a wonderfully goofy time for both the band and myself. Eddie took a break to discuss how they hadn't played Boston proper in ten years. "We've been playing some f*cking wheat field or something," in reference to the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, MA, who gave PJ a lot of trouble after they went past curfew last year. (Side note: Hey Tweeter Center, given the concert business, do you really think it wise to give the cold shoulder to a band who had THREE sell outs at your 20,000 seat theatre?) The first encore consisted of a five song acoustic set. They began with a pretty Low Light, and then moving into the all powerful Masters of War, which got a HUGE crowd reaction. Elderly Woman proved to be a gigantic sing along as usual, and the band played Last Kiss to those seated behind the stage. The acoustic set ended with Crazy Mary, a nice rendition of a song played way too often as of late. The second encore began with a dedication to Red Sox GM Theo Epstein before a solid rendition of Love Boat Captain. The band went right into Better Man, which ended with the band extending the ending so that we could dance our a*ses off. A Dead Kennedys cover was next, and then, here came frickin Blood, which sounded amazing. A third encore was on tap, and when guitarist Stone Gossard began the intro to Alive, the roof just about blew off the place. In a funny moment, the band muffled the part right before the bridge, which had Eddie shrugging his shoulders at his bandmates and Mike and bassist Jeff Ament both laughing hysterically. The first night was a very good show, maybe not as good as previous shows I've seen, but certainly much more energetic, fluid, and tight (the Alive flub aside) than I had expected. With that, it was on to night #2... Setlist for 9/28/04 ed pre-set: Don't Be Shy, You've Got to Hide Your Love Away setlist: Release, Last Exit, Hail Hail, Save You, Do the Evolution, Dissident, The American in Me (The Avengers), Insignificance, Untitled, MFC, Given to Fly, Even Flow, Down, Jeremy encore 1 (acoustic): Lowlight, Masters of War, Small Town, Last Kiss, Crazy Mary encore 2: Love Boat Captain, Better Man, Bleed for Me (The Dead Kennedys), Blood encore 3: Alive Wednesday, 9/29/04 After being sorely blah'd to death with Gob Roberts and Death Cab for Cutie, the only reason to get to the show early tonight was for Ed's pre-set. Sure enough, Ed came out, grabbed a guitar, and played an unbelievable solo version of Patriot that had the crowd riled up from the get go. With time to kill, me and a bunch of friends hung out in the concourse. We started discussing what was gonna open the show. "Go" I said. So finally Gob Roberts and Death Cab are done, and finally the house lights go down, and I see the stage bathed in green light. At that point, I said to my friend Mike, "green means 'Go'." Sure enough, Matt C counts it down and that unmistakable intro hit, which just about brought the house down on those 8 notes alone. This was just part of another blistering early show that also featured Animal, Do the Evolution and Save You. For the second straight night, the band played their new cover of The Avengers The American In Me, which sounds really good. When they slowed things down with Wishlist (featuring Eddie making up the lines "you wouldn't believe the sh*t that goes on in the front row...stuff happens every show," as he watched a guy propose to his girl, she accepted) and Immortality, you were kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop. But a shoe didn't drop... Just my mouth did...the intro to Alone, a song not played live in over 10 years hit and I was just in shock. It sounded pretty good too, they nearly muffed it up, and almost gave up on it, but recovered to finish it if not properly then at least decently. Present Tense is always great, and for some reason the crowd really loved that song this night. Once closed out the regular set with a gigantic, deafening sing-along that was absolutely joyful. The band left and came back to do another small acoustic set, as they had the previous night. They started off with Lukin, which got me smiling. Off He Goes was greeted warmly, though not as warmly as Man of the Hour, which sounded amazing. After a terrific Parting Ways, the band ended with set with Black, with Mikey soloing like the bad a*s motherf*cker he is, and Eddie just seeming to be totally moved by it. The encores proved to be another eclectic, solid bunch. A cover of The Who's The Seeker started things off, and was immediately followed up with Daughter. For the tag at the end, Eddie paid tribute to Edwin Starr by singing the chorus to War, and having the crowd echo him. There's nothing more quality than hearing 18,000 people scream out "UHHHHHHH." Glorified G proved to be a huge hit with the crowd, and even the band seemed energized by the reaction it got. At this point, it was covers time. They first played a cover by The Germs, Lion's Share. I really hope this is the only tour where I have to sit through a hardcore punk cover (Sonic Reducer excepted). They followed this up with X's New World, which sounded great, despite the fact they brought out Tim Robbins to help out on vocals. And then, my jaw dropped again. The intro to I've Got a Feeling started, a Beatles tune the band hadn't done since last playing Boston proper in 1994. It also sounded pretty good, and Eddie completely shredded his voice on the "yeah's" heading into the chorus. I think I did too, and I can only hope official bootlegs are coming out for these two shows. The house lights came on and Rockin in the Free World started, and it was gigantic, everything it should be but hasn't been for the last couple tours. The solos from Mikey were great stuff, and it seemed the band didn't want the show to end. Just absolutely great spirits. Setlist for 9/29/04 ed pre-set: I Am A Patriot setlist: Go, Animal, Do the Evolution, Save You, The American in Me (The Avengers), Immortality, Wishlist, Grievance, Alone, Present Tense, Corduroy, I Believe in Miracles, Once encore 1 (acoustic): Lukin, Off He Goes, Man of the Hour, Parting Ways, Black encore 2: The Seeker (The Who), Daughter/(War), Glorified G, Lion's Share (Germs), New World (X), I've Got a Feeling, Rockin' in the Free World For those interested, the band is on Letterman tonight. Here's hoping they pull a ballsy move and play Bushleaguer. A better guess might be The American in Me. And oh yeah, tickets are still available to a couple of Vote for Change dates. Snap them up!  |
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