Why Pearl Jam matters

Its taken a week to wrap my head around Pearl Jam’s show at Madison Square Garden on May 21st - and to get my voice back to normal. Without a doubt, Pearl Jam always puts on an amazing show. Though not seeing them for several years (after seeing them a dozen times in a few short years with the exception of Eddier Veder’s solo acoustic show), maybe I forgot how incredible a group they are.

So…my thoughts on why Pearl Jam matters….

- Ed’s ever-present bottle of wine on stage to, you know, keep his throat from getting dry

- Tribute song, “I’m Open,” dedicated to Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States

- How Eddie still acts amazed when he stands on stage and lets the crowd sing “Better Man” to him

- The crowd clears out for bathroom breaks during a “popular radio song,” (ie “Daughter”) but no one moves when he stands on stage and talks to the crowd

- No matter how massive a Pearl Jam fan you are, you will hear at least one, possibly two, songs you don’t know

- No matter how massive a Pearl Jam fan you are, and how many times you’ve seen them in concert, you will hear at least one song performed that you have never heard them perform live before

- After doing this for twenty years, the band still brings it like its their first concert and keeps it going like it might be their last

- Because even though they will forever be linked by time and place, Pearl Jam is not Nirvana, which is a good thing for both bands

As incredible as the show was as a whole (I would have paid just to hear Eddie belt out “Neverman”), the show was stolen when Eddie invited Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) out to accompany him on “Hunger Strike.” Watch that performance and sometime around 45 seconds into it Bridwell seems to realize what he is singing and who he is singing with. The only thing better than the look of awe on his face is the look of pride on Ed’s face.

Pearl Jam, Madison Square Garden, May 21, 2010 

Main Set:
Corduroy, Hail Hail, Do the Evolution, Worldwide Suicide, Got Some, Breath, Nothingman, I’m Open (Dedicated to Howard Zinn), Unthought Known, Grievance, Amongst the Waves, Present Tense, Not For You/Modern Girl, Push Me Pull Me, Rats, Daughter/WMA, The Fixer, Why Go

Encore 1:
The End (w/ string quartet), Just Breathe (w/ string quartet), Slow Lukin (w/ strings), Black Red Yellow, Sweet Lew, Given to Fly, Spin the Black Circle, Rearviewmirror

Encore 2:
Wasted Reprise, Betterman, Black/We Belong Together, The Real Me, Hunger Strike, Alive, Kick Out the Jams, Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner