Pearl Jam - Adelaide 2009

Pearl Jam

Adelaide Oval

Tuesday 17^th November 2009

Pics and Story by Allison O'Donoghue

After a long absence from these shores, well more precisely Adelaide, Pearl Jam made a pit stop to Adelaide to promote and relaunch their debut album Ten as well as showcase songs from Vs, Vitalogy and the 2009 album Backspacer.

Adelaide tends to miss the big gigs and/or major music events, presumably because we are a small provincial city. So we create our own festivals and events only to inevitably get them poached by bigger cities. They tend to watch and wait to see if we can pull it off, if it has legs and flies then they strike! But only after Adelaide has tackled all the trial and error issues that a new event often presents and honed it down to a fine art. More recently Sydney tried to steal Adelaide’s world renowned WOMADELAIDE from us but alas we managed to secure the successful world music event for another 5 years. And then there is the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festival which get bigger and bigger every year and are roaring success stories. So they poach our ideas and has start they’re own.  

Anyway, it is a beautiful summers night and a fair sized crowd, over 20,000 has shown up, although the oval is so large that it doesn’t look that many, but no venue is big enough to accommodate that many people. Two large video screens and one behind the band project their performance for those out the back to get a better look.

They launch into Once a ripping rock number that still resonates today. Even Flow their most recognised song from Ten is fantastic live. I was waiting for Eddie Vedder to launch himself into the crowd or fly across the crowd as he did in the film clip but of course he doesn’t. Not as young and reckless as they once were. Why Go has that familiar ring and Eddie’s vocals are so distinctive it’s unmistakable and throws me back to the 90’s grunge era. Loved it then. Love it even more now.

The line up consists of Jeff Ament on bass, Mike McCready on Lead guitar, Matt Cameron on drums who joined in 1998 and Stone Gossard on rhythm & lead guitar with of course Eddie Vedder on vocals and rhythm guitar.

The crowd went berserk when the first few bars of Alive started. This song has more poignancy now, as they are still alive considering they have lost so many friends over the years through various misadventures or illness. The fact that PJ are still alive and kicking is no mean feat. Eddie sang this song as if his life depended on it. It was brilliant. It was tight as a drum and perfected after years from playing it live.

We all know PJ hail from the rainy city of Seattle, Washington and launched themselves along side Nirvana, Mud Honey, Alice in Chains and Sound Garden to name but a few, somehow through all the dramas and there has been many, PJ have lasted the distance with a few line up changes along the way.  It was Nirvana and Pearl Jam that reignited my love of music, up until then I was so disenchanted with the music scene, nothing excited me and obviously so were many other people as these bands exploded onto the scene, created grunge and forged great careers as a result. I’m sort of waiting for that to happen again because quite frankly I listen to music today and think its all repetitive crap. We need another explosive, anti-establishment, anti-authoritarian movement to kick in again.

Come on all you garage bands – assault our senses and jolt us back into reality. We desperately need it right now coz we’re all sleepwalking into an uncertain future.

In fact, I might be as bold as to suggest that all the surviving bands and/or band members from the Grunge era get together and put on a world- wide Grunge tour. And in keeping with the era - poverty, struggle and discontent much like society today - keep it inexpensive so everyone can come along. It would sell out.

Got Some a song from their 2009 album Backspacer is one song I wasn’t familiar with and it has a bit of an electronic 80’s vibe to it with rock elements, an interesting sound that I need to hear a few more times, before I decide what I think.

PJ are well known for their political and environmental activism, which sometimes gets them into trouble, especially spokesmen Vedder and McCready, nonetheless, they were awarded Planet Defenders by Rock the Earth in 2011. And rightly so, they use their fame and celebrity status in a proactive way to highlight causes. They also take major companies to task such as Ticket Master for over charging and making it impossible for all their fans to see them. This doesn’t endear them to major record companies who are all about the money, but PJ remember when they were paupers and couldn’t afford a ticket let alone a beer.

I admire them for these qualities as opposition in the music industry can be vicious, a death by a thousand cuts. PJ nearly bled out from all the backstabbing after a concert in 2000 at the Roskilde music festival in Denmark went horribly wrong. Nine punters were trampled to death from a stampede to the front. The organisers tried to get PJ to stop the gig however they didn’t quite understand what was going on and delayed for various reasons and were blamed for the deaths. Eventually they were cleared of all responsibly. Devastated, they cancelled the rest of the tour and contemplated quitting altogether. Thankfully they just took a well-earned break instead.

Back to the gig Garden showcases Vedders’ undeniable quivering vocals and is as throw back to the 70’s with a long guitar solo and went on too long but why the hell not. Even though PJ has named the Ramones as one of their major influences they don’t necessarily adhere to the 3 min song criteria.   

The band played so well it almost felt intimate even in such a large space. They created an atmosphere of warmth. It is interesting to watch a band that has been together so long, they know each other so well they develop an unspoken language one look says it all, they don’t need to talk.

I was disappointed they didn’t do Jeremy – such a great song. I know it’s a big orchestral number but I would have settled for an acoustic or semi rock out version, alas not to be.

They did one encore and bid farewell. A great gig and Adelaide loved it. I thought Pearl Jam looked humble, grateful and appreciative. It was sweet. Maybe they were pleased with the end result. I know I was and the crowd loved em’.

In 2012 Pearl Jam celebrate 20 years and the widely anticipated film by Cameron Crowe - PJ20 - a retrospective of Pearl Jams work over 20 years will be released to coincide with a tour. Can’t wait!

Thanks for a fabulous gig and the flood of memories Pearl Jam.