Post by MaxQuad on May 18, 2006 11:00:26 GMT -5
Pearl Jam officially opened their North American tour in Toronto on Tuesday May 9th. My ticket was for the second Toronto show - Wednesday May 10th. How fortunate I was.
Pearl Jam's new album was recently released. They are not shy about playing new music as they tour (unlike some other band we will not mention - a band not producing new music and hesitant to feature it in concert when they do), hence a sense of "urgency" to buy the album and familiarize myself it before the show.
There is much to respect about Pearl Jam. They have fought to keep concert ticket prices reasonable. They support charitable causes with a portion of the proceeds of ticket sales. They have maintained artistic integrity, making the music they desire rather than what is expected. They appreciate their fans. They are politically vocal at a time when we need activism. Last, but not least, they give their all as they perform - and 10 May was no exception.
Eddie Vedder and Co. put together an incredible 60 minute performance that evening. Wait...that was only the two encores. The previous 105 minutes were pretty incredible, too. They teased a bit at the start, beginning not with World Wide Suicide or Life Wasted from the new album; rather, they began with Release from their first album - a departure from recent European dates. Songs from Ten and the new eponymous album were featured heavily through the night, not to mention many other songs from albums between the two. A bonus with Pearl Jam has always been an impressive array of cover songs of artists they respect. Being in Toronto (Canada and all), Neil Young was one such artist (Fuckin' Up and Cinnamon Girl).
It was an amazing performance, especially when the voices of 20,000 people would drown out Eddie Vedder's vocals - absolutely everyone singing along as one with the band. Moments like that never fail to impress me. The evocation of such passion and warmth is hard to describe to one not there, but hopefully you have a sense of what I mean.
The second encore consisted of 5 songs (the first encore included 6 songs - we were graced with a total of 30 songs that night) and concluded with Yellow Ledbetter - lights on in the arena, everyone bathed in white. As the song ended, all of the musicians except for the lead guitarist ceased making music - each waving in thanks to the crowd and acknowledging each other. It was obvious that it was a special experience for the musicians, as well. In the end, Mike McCready was singularly playing stage right - quietly winding down the song when suddenly he looked to Eddie Vedder and smiled. A few notes played. Recognition kicked in. Eddie Vedder smiled and looked for a microphone. He picked it up and he and McCready quietly offered a stanza and chorus of Beast of Burden - an impromptu moment that acknowledged they did not want it to end either. Beast of Burden didn't make the official setlist at the Pearl Jam site, but for 20,000 lucky people, we know we heard a fragment of it. It will be one special memory of many that night.
MQ
Pearl Jam's new album was recently released. They are not shy about playing new music as they tour (unlike some other band we will not mention - a band not producing new music and hesitant to feature it in concert when they do), hence a sense of "urgency" to buy the album and familiarize myself it before the show.
There is much to respect about Pearl Jam. They have fought to keep concert ticket prices reasonable. They support charitable causes with a portion of the proceeds of ticket sales. They have maintained artistic integrity, making the music they desire rather than what is expected. They appreciate their fans. They are politically vocal at a time when we need activism. Last, but not least, they give their all as they perform - and 10 May was no exception.
Eddie Vedder and Co. put together an incredible 60 minute performance that evening. Wait...that was only the two encores. The previous 105 minutes were pretty incredible, too. They teased a bit at the start, beginning not with World Wide Suicide or Life Wasted from the new album; rather, they began with Release from their first album - a departure from recent European dates. Songs from Ten and the new eponymous album were featured heavily through the night, not to mention many other songs from albums between the two. A bonus with Pearl Jam has always been an impressive array of cover songs of artists they respect. Being in Toronto (Canada and all), Neil Young was one such artist (Fuckin' Up and Cinnamon Girl).
It was an amazing performance, especially when the voices of 20,000 people would drown out Eddie Vedder's vocals - absolutely everyone singing along as one with the band. Moments like that never fail to impress me. The evocation of such passion and warmth is hard to describe to one not there, but hopefully you have a sense of what I mean.
The second encore consisted of 5 songs (the first encore included 6 songs - we were graced with a total of 30 songs that night) and concluded with Yellow Ledbetter - lights on in the arena, everyone bathed in white. As the song ended, all of the musicians except for the lead guitarist ceased making music - each waving in thanks to the crowd and acknowledging each other. It was obvious that it was a special experience for the musicians, as well. In the end, Mike McCready was singularly playing stage right - quietly winding down the song when suddenly he looked to Eddie Vedder and smiled. A few notes played. Recognition kicked in. Eddie Vedder smiled and looked for a microphone. He picked it up and he and McCready quietly offered a stanza and chorus of Beast of Burden - an impromptu moment that acknowledged they did not want it to end either. Beast of Burden didn't make the official setlist at the Pearl Jam site, but for 20,000 lucky people, we know we heard a fragment of it. It will be one special memory of many that night.
MQ
