Bold Gestures

Exhibition of Connections
Pearl Jam  10/20/2014 : Bradley Center – Milwaukee, WI

by Brenton Goodrich

I’ll say it up front, I have expectations going into Pearl Jam shows and have no problem being critical when deserved. That said, this was PJ concert #31 for me, and I have a hard time remembering a better show and better time. It positively crushed.

There’s no way I can complain about the fan club not coming through with prime stage-front seats over the past few years. The new lottery system is only fair for new fans to get a chance up front…welcome aboard. No Chicago show this time around, so after putting in my entry for a few shows, I was awarded with GA pit tickets for Milwaukee. That requires some waiting in line to get close, near 3 1/2 hours to be accurate, which gave my fiancé Becca (2nd show) enough fan conversation time to declare “these people are all just as intense as you are”. We had some good laughs about that and everyone’s personal close relationship with “Ed”. In truth, the anticipation for both of us had been building for some time, but life routine defers real excitement until you are about to enter the show. Cheers to the Ten Club for an organized process, resulting in standing 15 feet from the middle of the stage and the band’s already assembled rigs.

Finally, the lights go down and the studio recording of the instrumental “Red Dot” from the middle of the Yield album is played as the band walks out. “Pendulum”, from new album Lightning Bolt, is the perfect slow-churning opener they tend to start with. I thought when I first heard this tune it would be a fantastic opener. Had no idea lead guitarist Mike McCready plays with a bow on this song and first glance around the stage sort of set the tone for me. Then they immediately launch into “Mind Your Manners”, an explosive counterpoint to the gentleness of the first song. “Corduroy” and “Lightning Bolt” are up next, and that realization of where you are and what you are witnessing takes hold. The band sounded great, the crowd was energetic, and our perspective was perfect. Eddie Vedder addresses the crowd for the first time and introduces a special guest that walks out with a sparkling guitar. I honestly had no idea who it was at first as they launched into The Who’s “Baba O’Riley”, which is never played this early. Kind of a sloppy version if I were being critical and then Ed says “Rick Neilson everyone”.  Ahhh…Cheap Trick guy….local guy…cool.

Next up was “Brain of J.” from 1998’s Yield which I haven’t heard in a long time. This fast song was especially fierce, complete with the veins popping out of Ed’s head. Then we got “Faithfull”, one of the most underrated Pearl jam songs. This melodic beauty has seen some resurgence over the past few tours and is played with considerably more focus than the earlier days. That seems to be true with all the songs off of Yield. It was a phenomenal version. The band then stared riffing the beginning to “No Way”, a real rarity that got me excited. Killer version also from Yield……wait……oh! “They’re playing Yield front to back aren’t they” I thought to myself. If the next one is “Given to Fly” then this is really happening. It was. I have always wanted them to play an entire album in order, and even if it’s not one of my favorite albums, it was extremely special. As I said, these songs come off so much better these days in a live setting. Some of it due to the less than desirable production of the studio album and some simply because of the mature musicianship of the band now.

After the always off the hook “Do The Evolution”, some fans, myself included, started the “We’re all crazy” chant from the short quasi-instrumental “Red Dot” that comes next on the album…oh right…sort of already played. A foreshadowing opener…nicely done! I really went nuts for “MFC”!  Intense burning version and it’s been so long since hearing this one. Lots of guitars flung around and an increasingly animated band with Ed leaning out over the crowd and shaking his now sweat-drenched head. After the lovely “Low Light”, we got another top-notch delivery of a song that continues to grow as a live song, “In Hiding”. This song is a clinic of melody but the crunch of the guitars and a more straight ahead approach to the soaring vocals really stood out. Next up would be “Push Me Pull Me” and Ed paused before beginning, saying “this next one was recorded when we really thought we had the trust of our audience”. This eccentric and funky spoken-word tune was phenomenal! Incredible to watch it go down. Jeff Ament laying down the rumbling bass, Matt Cameron with inventive percussion work, Stone Gossard and Mike dominating their effects pedals, and Ed delivery the vocals with a very direct snarl and touch of mad smirk. “Like a cloud dropping rain, I’m discarding all thought. I’ll dry up, leaving puddles on the ground.” It was fucking brilliant! It was then I really started noticing the enthusiasm of my lovely show partner. Several exclamations of love for this moment were revealed. 🙂  We would listen to Yield, and specifically this track, on the way home the next day and of course be disappointed….it just didn’t sound as good.

Before finishing up Yield with “All Those Yesterdays”, Ed told a funny story about growing up around the Chicago area and the inspiration for the song. The short version is he recalled stealing a friend’s dad’s Old Milwaukee Beer when he was a kid. He remembered how bad it was and the slogan on the can: Taste As Great As Its Name, which was pretty funny. The whole crowd responded “YES” when he asked if they still make it, to which he replied: “I’ll stick to my wine”…which promptly started flowing on stage. The engaging song is one of those lost gems. I had never seen it live, and it did not disappoint.

Additional highlights from the first set included getting to hear the gorgeous “Sirens”. It is such an amazingly orchestrated song, and everyone in the band was locked in to the emotion of it. One of the few times Mike opened his eyes was to switch from acoustic to electric midway, and Ed has this way of delivering chilling intensity in even the most mellow of numbers. “Rats” is always fun to hear and obviously fun for the band as well. “Setting Forth” was played by request from Aaron Rodgers who was in attendance. There was an abundance of dialogue from Eddie about Rodgers being royalty and finding a way to get rid of Jay Cutler. He was really hamming it up on stage and baiting the audience, playing both sides a little. Someone threw a cheesehead up on stage, and right as he started to put it on, he said “I am a Bears fan, nah, I can’t do it”. This entire account was extremely amusing and the band was laughing throughout. Then, they changed gears again and delivered a vehement version of “Rearviewmirror”.  As they walked off stage, everyone knows the show is just over halfway done.

They set up Ed’s ukulele, and when they came back we got a half band rendition of “Sleeping By Myself”.  I would have preferred the solo ukulele version instead of this rendition, but it’s a nice enough tune.  After “Just Breathe”, a couple of crew members came out with a large black blanket.  Ed talked to them for a second then turned to the audience. He said it was his good friend Tom Petty’s birthday and every birthday they record a video message for each other.  “We’re going to play a trick.” (paraphrasing) “I’m going behind this curtain and recording a message for Tom, and I need you to be very quiet. When the curtain drops, he’ll see I’m at a show, and then everyone sing Happy Birthday loudly for Tom”.  It was a special moment being a Tom Petty fan as well.  Eddie mentioned the last time they were in Milwaukee was a long time ago when they opened for Petty. I was at that show….part of Summerfest.  He then played an extremely passionate solo version of “I Won’t Back Down” on electric guitar. These are the sorts of events that make a special show. Keep in mind we are still just a few rows back…..wait…..one of us has edged closer. Becca was now a few people in front of me, her arms raised in the air and sort of reaching towards Eddie. 🙂

Among this first encore was “Jeremy” which I somehow still always enjoy. It’s such a well written song, and the band still seems to be locked in when playing it. This set would close with one of my old favorites, “Porch”.  The song has become a jam vehicle over the years, and this one seemed more varied and impressive than most. They were absolutely going off…great playing from everyone.  The large pendulum light globes that have been part of the set for the last couple of tours were lowered to stage level, and Mike, Jeff, and Stone start shoving them out towards the audience. They would swing back, providing a game of dodge ball for the guitarists. This went on for a while, dodging and shredding. “Porch” usually includes a way for Ed to connect with the audience….but I don’t think I’ve ever seen what happened next before.  He went off stage left and started down the outside rows towards the back of the floor section.  We couldn’t tell what was going on, but suddenly he’s towards the back of the arena, standing on some equipment and singing the end of the song. The whole place was going insane, trying to mimic his vocals through huge smiling faces.  The singer made it back to stage just in time to wrap the song, and the sweaty performers thanked the audience and exited.

The second encore is always just icing.  When they came back, Eddie was taking more swigs from the bottle of wine he had been scarcely indulging throughout the show. After some expressions of gratitude to the audience, he mentioned towards some stage crew that he was going to need several more bottles for this next one.  I knew that meant “Crazy Mary” was coming next. “Take a bottle drink it down, pass it around”. Always an enchanting tune and a lengthy instrumental section allowed Ed to drop down in the front row and share his wine.  Bottles were being passed around everywhere and cups handed out it seemed….a fan taking a pour and passing the bottle back. We could see Ed walking from left to right in the very front with a huge grin pouring wine for everyone.  This band is just not quite like others, and the fans get that, evident by their respectful participation.  The next song was “Black”, one of the all time best live songs from anyone.  The closing 4 numbers of “Alive”, Neil Young’s “Fuckin’ Up”, “Yellow Ledbetter” and Mike’s solo “The Star-Spangled Banner” all just ripped and roared as the band said their goodbyes. Eddie was crashing tambourines together the whole time, throwing them out to the crowd, then grabbing two more and repeating the madness. He must have given away close to 10 of them, but I was as unsuccessful as my efforts to get some wine. Mike threw out a handful of picks and Becca, who at this point had obviously been converted into one of us crazies, anxiously grabbed one and presented it to me.  The band took their customary all-together bow and said good night.

What a night!! 3 hours and 20 minutes of show time to match our 3 hours and 20 minutes of standing in line. The words intense, awesome, and charismatic were thrown around by both of us. Becca wanted to know where the next show was and if we should try to go. 🙂  Pearl Jam really have some special quality to me that goes beyond rock and roll….it’s an exhibition of connections…a deeply satisfying spectacle….a celebration of life.  We all need that regardless of where you find it.  We found it on this night, and it’s one I won’t be forgetting!

SET 1

Pendulum
Mind Your Manners
Corduroy
Lightning Bolt
Baba O’Riley
Brain Of J.
Faithfull
No Way
Given To Fly
Wishlist
Pilate
Do The Evolution
MFC
Low Light
In Hiding
Push Me, Pull Me
All Those Yesterdays
Even Flow
Sirens
Rats
Setting Forth
Rearviewmirror