There are very few bands in this day and age in the cutthroat music industry that live to see 10 years. Well, there are, but they usually have long since faded from the spotlight and are usually remembered for being part of some cheesy fad like the hair bands from the 80s. It's become even rarer that a band actually has a career that lasts anything more than 3-5 years. There's a reason acts like Tom Petty still sell out whenever they tour...they're the only acts still GOING after that many years.

And so it is probably with a little bit of surprise that Pearl Jam made it to ten years. After all, the band's history is colored with problems, from the Ticketmaster debacle (anyone wanna complain about them doing that now?) to the rotating drummers. Most of the dissension though has been colored over and covered up by band members, who mostly feel it's none of our business. But I think it's safe to say that there was a strong period from the middle of 1994 to 1996 where the band could have broken up any number of times.

They soldiered on however, and they are still one of the only acts making solid rock music regularly. They are the last remaining band from the Seattle explosion that also brought us Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. And in terms of popularity, only Stone Temple Pilots remain anywhere near as popular as Pearl Jam as far as bands that broke through in that whole 91-94 scene where rock became "serious" again.

And if there was one show on PJ's 2000 tour that I would've gone to, if I could've had my pick of one more show to see, ANY show, it would have been Las Vegas, the band's tenth anniversary show. (And #62 in the bootleg series the band released; for those of you who know me, I should let you know this will be the only one I review individually, so have no fear, there aren't 71 more of these coming =))

It was on October 22, 1990 that Pearl Jam took the stage at the Off Ramp in Seattle, a small club where probably 200 people at most watched them that night. 10 years later they were at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in front of 17,157 strong.

Perhaps some of the most interesting parts of a Pearl Jam show is how singer Eddie Vedder changes the lyrics to songs to fit his mood/thoughts for the night. It's more interesting on this night, as on Corduroy ("absolutely EVERYTHING'S changed") and Given to Fly (f*ckers, WE still stand") he obviously refers to the band in a couple of moments of self appreciation that for longtime fans of the band can only make us smile. Vedder himself seems to be the most relaxed person in the world on this recording. He's obviously finally come to peace with the "rock star" thing, and in some ways, he's actually embraced it.

Before Even Flow, when he jokes with the crowd about this song "we've only played twice," as a total tease to those who were expecting something really special out of this show, you can't help but smile again. Vedder is having fun, and perhaps nothing tells you how to gauge exactly how good a show is gonna be than Vedder's mood. "Only played twice." Even Flow has been left off setlists maybe 10 times in Pearl Jam's 10 year career.

This show really doesn't pick up steam until the encores. The regular set sees the band relaxed and having fun, with Vedder being playful as noted above. But after Once, Vedder goes into the ten year speech that is so perfect, he even mentions how he could never give this speech "accepting a Grammy or anything," but it's perfect and poignant and self-deprecating and just f*cking beautiful cause it's from his heart. He then mentions how Jeff and Stone (Ament, and Gossard, bassist and rhythm guitarist respectively) have been playing in various bands together for 17 years and he talks about how they're gonna do a song that they wrote together before he was around, and it's called Crown of Thorns.

Crown of Thorns was a song done by Mother Love Bone, a band that ended tragically with the death of Andrew Wood. In an interview with Rolling Stone and Cameron Crowe in 1993, Vedder said the following about Andy: "I wonder about Andy. I relate sometimes. Not the drug part...I don't need drugs to make my life tragic...but the fact that things were going so well for him. He didn't know. There's one song of his I'd be proud to sing. I won't tell you which one. But there was one song of his that always got to me. Someday I'm going to sing it."

COT is truly a wonderful song, it's definitely Mother Love Bone's best song, and also, along with Chloe Dancer, one of only two songs that just don't fit with the rest of their catalog. Vedder's voice soars. After this, they play Black, the song Vedder threatened to kill himself over if it was made into a video in the fall of 1992. They follow that up with a completely perfect rendition of Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love.

The rest of the encore is kind of a blur, until they hit Baba O'Riley, the infamous cover they've used for almost their whole career once every few shows. This is by far the loosest version of the song I've ever heard, it's a total celebration of life, of the band.

The show closes, appropriately, with Yellow Ledbetter, as if there was any other way to close the band's tenth anniversary show.

It is truly the second half of this show that makes it worthwhile to own. The speeches by Vedder alone make it worth your $12, and the entire catalog is well represented. This is the band celebrating life and music, not only their own, but of those who came before them. If you are even a casual Pearl Jam fan and have no idea which ONE of the bootlegs you should buy, I urge you to experience what happened this night. You won't just be a casual fan anymore.

Recommended: Yes