pearl jam 2010 concert review new Orleans
pearl jam 2010 concert review new Orleans
Pearl Jam concert review
Pearl Jam kicked out the jams at the New Orleans Jazz Fest
By Keith Spera, The Times-Picayune
May 01, 2010, 9:35PM
Chris Granger, The Times-PicayunePearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder plays on the Acura Stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Saturday.
It’s hard to imagine now, but during grunge rock’s early ’90s heyday, Pearl Jam was often dismissed as pretty-boy pop poseurs. On Saturday at theNew Orleans Jazz Fest, Eddie Vedder and company delivered an exhilarating set that reiterated why they now rank among rock’s finest live bands.
Wearing a short-sleeve plaid shirt over a “Mr. Bill Show” T-shirt, Vedder was the genial everyman rock star, his voice undiminished. Facing one of the largest, densest and youngest crowds to assemble at the Acura Stage in recent memory, he addressed fans in the distance: “I can’t get closer, but we can play louder.”
From my vantage point 100 yards deep on the field, Pearl Jam was plenty loud, and plenty clear. Every nuance of the musicians’ interplay, from Jeff Ament’s robust electric upright bass on “Nothing Man” to the nimble give-and-take of guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, was audible. There was much to savor in those details.
The thrills came early and often. After getting their bearings with the opening cover of The Byrds’ “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n Roll Star,” they bore down on “Corduroy,” powered by drummer Matt Cameron. Multiple sunburst refrains broke open in “Given to Fly.” They beefed up a raging “Even Flow” with bonus guitar solos, but still maintained the spirit of the original arrangement.
Gossard and McCready swapped well-constructed riffs on “Down” and elsewhere. Gossard windmilled through the big finish of “Better Man.” McCready nailed his solo in an epic “Alive,” then extended it as Vedder hopped off stage to meet-and-great the folks down front.
Vedder recalled how, in November 1993, a Decatur Street brawl earned him a trip to Orleans Parish Prison. “There’s a lot of people here. I can’t be the only one who’s had the great pleasure of spending a night in a New Orleans jail.”
That night he learned that, if you have enough money for your bail and someone else’s, “you’ll never see a happier 85-year-old toothless man.”
His stint in the pokey aside, Vedder noted, the band has enjoyed some good times here. The 1994 album “Vitalogy” was partially recorded at Daniel Lanois’ former Kingsway Studio on Esplanade Avenue. In honor of that visit, they knocked off that album’s squalling “Tremor Christ.”
Vedder greeted members of the Louisiana National Guard and other troops watching the show in Iraq and Afghanistan via a live video and audio feed. He thanked them for their “valiant work in extreme conditions…I wish you’d break down and have a beer. You’ve earned it.”
The singer mounted his soapbox only once: To chastise British Petroleum for the oil polluting the Gulf of Mexico. Vedder suggested the children of company executives should vacation on the Louisiana coast this summer. “Send your sons and daughters, BP, to clean up your f—– mess.” (Imagine the awkwardness had the blown oil rig in the Gulf belonged to Jazz Fest title sponsor Shell.)
With that, Vedder and his bandmates got back to business with early anthem “Daughter.” On Pearl Jam’s more recent, uneven, albums, hooks and melodies are sacrificed for a full-bore attack. At Jazz Fest, they flirted with that punkish spirit on “Comatose” and “Supersonic.” A final thrash through the MC5′s “Kick Out the Jams” brought it all home.
Their only misstep was a sin of omission — they omitted the last 20 minutes of their allotted set time. But the previous hour-and-40 minutes left little doubt that Pearl Jam, at peak form, has few peers.
Music writer Keith Spera can be reached at kspera@timespicayune.com or 504.460.4763.
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