It seems to be the hip thing these days to hate Pearl Jam. They haven’t had
a major radio hit in years. They don’t ever have videos on MTV. They represent
a genre of rock (Seattle grunge) that lost steam almost half a decade ago. Come
on, does anyone listen to Alice In Chains anymore?
When I mentioned to people that I was going to the Pearl Jam concert this past
Saturday night, at least fifty percent of them would roll their eyes. “Pearl
Jam?” they would ask incredulously. One of my friends out and out laughed
at me and proceeded to mock the band and Eddie Vedder’s mumbled singing voice.
Despite hearing a strong number of people opposed to Pearl Jam still having a
musical career of any sort, I knew the concert would be good. I had seen them
at the Palace of Auburn Hills a few years ago and knew they would put on a great
live show. However, all of the verbal dissing I had heard over the past few weeks
led me to wonder just how many Pearl Jam fans still existed.
Well, I got the answer Saturday night, when my friends and I showed up to the
Palace’s parking lot (after a slightly cramped two hour car ride) to see
crowds lined up outside of the doors. The parking lot was also quickly filling
up with eager fans who were ready to tailgate, even in the thirty degree weather.
Waiting in line to get in the doors, my friends and I enjoyed people watching.
The crowd was a mix of both young and old (I swear I saw my friend’s dad
there) fans ready for a night of crowds, $7 “souvenir” cups of beer,
flannel shirts and music.
Things started to look dismal when I sat down in my seat and asked my brother’s
friend when Supergrass (the opening band) was going to play. “They got done
about ten minutes ago,” she said. Hmmm, I guess when the Palace says the
show starts at 7:30; they mean 7:30.
After going on a swearing rant for what was probably way too long, (“S***!
That’s half the ****ing reason I came here!” and so on) I accepted responsibility
for my tardiness and settled my nerves with a trip to the snack bar and a $3.50
plate of nachos.
I laced up my mountaineering shoes, strapped on my oxygen mask and hiked back
up to my seat, ready for Pearl Jam to take the stage. Unfortunately, the token
“fat, rude and drunken concert guy” was in my seat. I made my way past
my brother’s friends and said to the guy, “You’re in my seat.”
“That’s your problem,” he slurred to me with a glare.
It was either the three MGD’s I had prior to the concert or the processed
cheese I had just eaten, but something gave my 130-something pound self the guts
to say to this 220-pound gorilla of a man, “No. Actually, that’s your
problem.” To my surprise, he moved. This was especially lucky for my group,
since my brother was getting into the protective-older brother mode and none of
us know how to fight.
To make up for everything, Pearl Jam put on a fantastic show. Everything; the
opening band, the overpriced food, the lines for the bathroom and the drunken
bastards were forgotten the second they took the stage. Opening on a strong note,
with “Go,” the band proceeded to capture the attention of the crowd,
which was filled to capacity. For over two hours, Pearl Jam owned us.
The set list for the night was even stronger than when I had seen them in ‘98.
The amount of energy infused into every song was enough to get the crowd to sing
along, clap their hands and, yes, even break out the lighters on occasion.
Pearl Jam has been around for almost ten years and therefore have a wide variety
of songs to choose from. For this concert they picked the perfect mix of old and
new, fast and slow and popular and less well-known tunes to play. There were only
two songs out of the twenty-five plus that they played that I didn’t want
to hear; “Evenflow” and “Jeremy.” Somehow the band managed
to play those two songs with life and energy, even though they have to be as sick
of playing them as I am of hearing them.
None of that mattered however, as Pearl Jam played song after song of what we
wanted to hear. “State of Love and Trust,” “Up In My Tree,”
“Given to Fly” “Rear View Mirror” and “WMA: White Male
American” were just some of the highlights.
Everything about their performance was on target, from the lighting, to the songs,
the on-stage chemistry and the encores. Vedder didn’t even pretend to be
done for the night when the band left the stage for the first time. They came
back strong for a six-song, two-part encore complete with “Crazy Mary,”
“Spin the Black Circle” and “Nothing As It Seems.”
The Palace gets fined by the City of Auburn Hills if any music is played after
11:00 p.m. As Pearl Jam took the stage for their second encore, Palace staff turned
the lights up, apparently in an attempt to shoo us out of the doors. We weren’t
having it and neither was the band. They closed the show with a cover of Neil
Young’s (their Godfather and mentor) “Fucking Up.” I don’t
think they could have chosen a better way to end the night.
As Vedder hustled offstage, away from Palace security guards, he found time to
throw his tambourine into the audience, smash the mike stand and bid the crowd
goodnight.
I don’t care what anyone says. Pearl Jam has not faded into oblivion or irrelevance.
Don’t be looking for a “Where Are They Now?” on them anytime soon.
They’re way too busy proving that they are one of the greatest live rock
bands around today. Very few bands play as well as they do onstage.
I’m just happy that gorilla-man didn’t toss me over the seats, cause
this was one show that I’m damn glad I didn’t miss.

E-mail the author: Tricia WoolfendenLIFE Et cetera Writer