It is a trick used by every band of this size; RTM saw Springsteen do it in this very place in 99 during “Born To Run,” Metallica did it before the iconic and incredible “Load” shows in the mid-90s and just about everyone since has given it a go.
During the rendition of “Rockin…” PJ front man Eddie Vedder was chucking tambourines into the ecstatic front rows. Standing next to the extremely fit and agile singer is X bass man and singer John Doe. A few hours earlier his band had opened proceedings. It’s a tricky ask to go on before a massive band at a massive gig, but X do it well. Reminiscent of REM at the best, the LA group have been doing this for 35 years. Opening with the brilliantly titled “Your Phone Is Off The Hook but You’re Not” they get their heads down and play for half an hour with the minimum of fuss.
Lets get one thing straight from the off. Pearl Jam are no longer remotely “grunge.” The movement may have existed in the minds of PR men anyway, but no matter. Pearl Jam are nothing more than a classic rock band – and an exceptionally good one at that. Their back catalogue stands up with nearly anybodies and for more than twenty years, Messrs Vedder, Gossard, Ament and McCready (together with a succession of drummers) have been creating music that has simply connected with people in the way that only great music can.
They are beginning their European tour tonight and they choose to do in typically understated fashion with the quiet ballad “Release” before things kick in a little with “Do The Revolution.” Mid period work “Given To Fly” mixes with later stuff like “The Fixer” – with its jaunty chorus and summery hook – in a truly career spanning set.
There is plenty of stuff from brilliant debut album “Ten,” indeed “Why Go” and “Even Flow” sound as fresh as ever, but really the whole thing is pretty much faultless, even chucking in a Joe Strummer cover, complete with a moving speech about the former Clash man.
Vedder is a convivial and thoughtful host, dedicating a track to Radiohead following the death of one of their crew members at a festival in Canada (Pearl Jam, you will recall, were involved in a festival tragedy early in their career.) The band appear to be acutely aware of their history too – reeling off the exact date they first played this city and playing “Pilate” for the first time in exactly 12 years.
The second encore was a chance to play to the crowd – literally in one case as “Come Back” is played on request of an audience member - and includes “Better Man” and “Jeremy” as well as “Alive,” still perhaps their best-known track. With its huge chorus and deliberately drawn out last solo, the song was just made to be sung by thousands of people.
And then, with a cheery “we’ve never played this song in Manchester before,” from Vedder we are right into the lights on celebration of “Rockin’ In The Free World.” This, though, was the only time this felt like an arena gig, which is entirely to Pearl Jam’s credit. They could have been playing your living room, such is the intimate feeling they engender. One of the few arena bands to change their set every night, (and RTM is gutted they don’t play “Life Wasted”…) they still manage to keep things fresh and almost small, despite having sold millions of records.
In today’s Times the question was posed: “Are Pearl Jam the last great American band?” This is nonsense of course, as fine music keeps being made. That said, Pearl Jam are one of the best bands in the world of any nationality. And how they proved it tonight.
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