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Pearl Jam
Madison Square Garden, New York City
"Everything has changed - Absolutely nothings changed"
With these words from the song "Corduroy," Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam burst onstage at Madison Square Garden as if to remind their faithful fans just what it means to be alive... and kicking.
After eighteen years of making music together, through the angst of adolescence and continuing struggles with life and fame, Pearl Jam has emerged from it all stronger and more inspired than ever.
Over the course of 29 songs and nearly three hours, the band performed as if their lives depended upon it. The sense of urgency and passion that they've demonstrated throughout their career was undiminished, and judging by the reaction of the sold out crowd, the music is just as meaningful as ever. More than a few people who were attending their first Pearl Jam show expressed disbelief at the intensity of the crowd, which sang and often screamed every word of every song throughout the set, sometimes drowning out the band. In fact, such was the force of the crowd's reaction to the band's music that, as Eddie Vedder noted three songs into the show after an incendiary version of their latest hit song, "World Wide Suicide," the stage was jumping up and down like a trampoline - as was the section where this reviewer was sitting.
And this reaction is not undeserved. Pearl Jam have grown, rather than softened their musical chops over the years. As proven during the five-minute, improvised, musical reverie sandwiched in the middle of the song "Rearviewmirror," the band is not only taking more chances on stage, but also exploring the subtle complexities of their compositions to a greater extent than ever before. Always the sign of a vital and inspired ensemble, the members of Pearl Jam are listening more to one another and less to themselves alone.
And eighteen years after their first tour, surprises still abound at a Pearl Jam show. As if the guest appearance of C.J Ramone during the song "I Believe In Miracles," made famous by his former band, The Ramones, wasn't enough, Eddie Vedder also invited three "friends" who he met earlier in the day to join the band on backing vocals at various points throughout the evening and, perhaps most surprisingly for the sold-out crowd at the Garden, Ace Frehley, former lead guitarist of the band Kiss, strapped on his old stratocaster for a raucous version of "Black Diamond."
But inevitably, time marches on. Slightly weathered, visibly older and now graying around the temples, the band members performed the two night, sold out run at the garden with their wives, children, family and friends standing and dancing in the backstage wings. While Eddie Vedder's stage performance was just as fast and furious as when he was in his twenties, his songwriting and lyrics have matured with the man. Although still swigging red wine out of the bottle and chain smoking during brief breaks off-stage, he now he holds his 4 year-old daughter's hand while waiting to perform the first of two encore sets.
But, despite all the changes, the immediacy and impact of this band's music has not decreased over time. These fans have grown up with Pearl Jam, and one gets the sense, that Pearl Jam have grown up with their fans.
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