Pearl Jam Alive

Rip It Up, Issue 212, 1 April 1995, Page 21

Pearl Jam Alive

It was not the night to be either a Dead Flower or a Dead Flowers fan. What should have been a support slot conducive to great things, turned into a support slot conducive to hardly anything at all, due to a lack of suitable support at the front of the stage. Dead Flowers had the plug pulled on them before they could even get two numbers out. Things were looking mildly over excitable, so I wandered off for a spot of crowd sussing while some stage hogger talked the hyperactive audience into calming down. The word ripping around the girls’ toilets was that Pearl Jam were about to take to the stage. ‘This can’t be,’ I thought, ‘for what about the Dead Flowers?’ But indeed, it was over for the Dead Flowers, and the next band to grace the stage were Pearl Jam themselves.

They opened with an audience soothing cover of Hunters and Collectors’ ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’, which turned out to be the first of the show’s trio of totally unexpected songs. It got things off to a mellow beginning as Eddie Vedder urged the crowd to dance where they were standing. ‘Oceans’ kept things in this vein, but was merely a calm (albeit a mighty enthusiastic one) before the storm.

Four of Vitalogy’s most rocking tracks came next: ‘Spin The Black Circle’, ‘Last Exit’, ‘Tremor Christ’ and the superbly crafted ‘Corduroy’, whipping the faithfully chanting crowd into a pogoing frenzy. Then came the first of the monster ballads; ‘Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town’ saw the crowd pipe up in harmonious form. The lights came on the audience when Eddie sang: ‘I just want to scream hello,’ prompting a frenzy of hand waving. This number was only beaten by ‘Daughter’ in the proverbial lighter lifting stakes. The now legendary intro’ to ‘Alive’ was one of those rare moments that seem to beam out in slow motion — that split second between recognition and response was definitely one to sear into memory. There’s really no other way to describe its reception,

except to say, we 11... the crowd went absolutely apeshit. Subsequent album anthems ‘Jeremy’ and the beautiful ‘Betterman’ (the first song of the encore) were also serious roof raising contenders. Familiarity was definitely the overwhelming feeling beaming off the crowd. It sounded like they knew almost every word to almost every song, and loved the lot. From Pearl Jam’s side of the stage barrier, it was the songs rooted in societal aggression which saw them at their most potent. Every single one of the more controlled bursts of fury off Vs were crashed out in exhilarating form. ‘WMA’ was not completed, but ‘Glorified G’, ‘Leash’, ‘Rats’, ‘Animal’ and a dripping red version of ‘Blood’ were more than intact — if they’d been any more there they would have been dangerous. Of Eddie’s few softly spoken interludes (and my, what a deep voice he has), the most surprising came two songs before the end. He raised a patriotic cheer by saying Split Enz had been a big part of the music that had kept him sane as a lad. What happened next was testament to the fact that Pearl Jam are one of the biggest bands in the universe, and hence can do whatever they jolly well please, which, on this occasion, included hauling Tim and Neil Finn on stage. ‘History Never Repeats’ and ‘I Got You’ were the songs, and hysteria was the reaction. It was pretty neat, but then it was

over... the whole concert that is. Hence, instead of going home singing: “All that’s sacred, comes from youth,” or some other Vedderesque pearl of wisdom (excuse the pun), it was: “I don’t know why sometimes I get frightened,” or some other way latter day line.

Eddie didn’t stage dive or crowd surf either but, in the end, it really didn’t matter. (I probably wouldn’t have been able to see if he had anyway — Supertop my ass). All I’d heard from abroad about Pearl Jam was true. They are quite possibly the greatest live band in the world.

BRONWYN TRUDGEON