Pearl Jam kicks out the jam
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Matt Freed, Post-Gazette photos
Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder performs at Mellon Arena last night.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Count among the beautiful things about rock 'n' roll the fact that it transcends all sports rivalries.
That's how Eddie Vedder and his adoring fans at the Mellon Arena were able to get past an awkward moment Friday night when the Pearl Jam singer, obviously wanting to flash a little Seattle pride (or sour grapes), said sheepishly, "Don't hate us, but Pittsburgh is not our favorite place on the planet."
It was followed by jeers, and then that familiar chant of "Here we go, Steelers."
A few minutes later, the football flare-up had passed and the lovefest continued between Pearl Jam and Pittsburgh. It was during the first encore or, you might say, the second set. The nearly three-hour show was broken into a standard set, a more casual sitdown session and, finally, a blazing lights-up third act.
The lone survivors of the Seattle grunge movement have hung around long enough to become a classic rock band with a right to that kind of indulgence. And yet, they still approach the show as if they're playing in some bar down the street. There were no video screens, props or fancy lights -- just a plain black backdrop for Pearl Jam to pound out the early hits, a heavy dose of songs from the well-received new album and a stray few tunes from those records in the middle that not many people care about.
There was nothing flashy about the music either. In pure grunge fashion, the band members just put their heads down and plowed away, fueled by Vedder's burning intensity, a rock-solid rhythm section and occasional guitar pyrotechnics from Mike McCready.
First set highlights included the crowd taking the first verse and chorus of "Better Man," before the band entered and rode it out with one of the night's best jams. Vedder then introduced "another uplifting song about abusive husbands" and offered a powerful version of "Daughter."
He couldn't avoid a few dabbles into politics. "No Republicans actually wrote this song, but in a way they helped us with it," he said, before launching into "World Wide Suicide," a new single with the fiery passion of early Pearl Jam.
Although the band played hard throughout, you could have walked in after the last song of the main set and still gotten most of your money's worth. During the sitdown set, where Vedder could better enjoy that bottle of red wine, Pearl Jam honored the Stones with "Waiting on a Friend," and packed all kinds of emotion into "Small Town" and the still-stunning "Black." The band's signature song, "Alive," still soared as well, with a jubilant Vedder on top of a speaker shouting "Look at us, we're all still alive!"
It was enough to send the faithful home happy, but PJ, maybe taking a cue from the Boss, returned with Vedder saying, "This part is like seeing a brick wall and stepping on the gas." As promised, Pearl Jam shifted into high and blasted through "Go," "Why Go" and "Comatose" like a young punk band. Vedder made two more pleas -- to vote for better leadership for the country and Jason Bay for the All-Star Game -- before turning up the house lights for a cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" that was played as if it really could change the world.
In the opening slot, Robert Pollard, the indie hero who fronted the Dayton band Guided By Voices, looked like your eccentric uncle up there, but powered up a joyous set of surreal pop tunes that harked back to the glory of the early Who.
Robert Pollard, former lead singer of Guided by Voices, opens for Pearl Jam at Mellon Arena last nightClick photo for larger image.
First Published June 24, 2006 12:00 am
