I was one of the 50,000 people that was lucky enough to catch Pearl Jam's show in Melbourne at Etihad Stadium (formally Telstra Dome) on Friday night (20 November 2009).
Warning: If you're not a Pearl Jam fan then what follows may not be your cup of tea.
To say that I'm a Pearl Jam fan is something of an understatement. I've seen them live six times now, and own pretty much anything they've put their name to. Previously when they've come to Australia they've played two or three shows in Melbourne at smaller venues (eg. Rod Laver arena which holds about 10-15,000 I think). This time around though they are only playing the one big arena show at each major capital. At first this kind of bummed me out, cause it meant I'd only get the chance to see them once, but then once is better than not at all. On the plus side though, their decision to bring Ben Harper along for support was a big positive.
I'd been able to pick up General Admin tickets in "The Fixer" field, which on the map appeared to be the first quarter of the total general admin area, but in reality was probably more like half of the oval. Friday was a hot day, and with the roof closed, Etihad Stadium was a steam box. Walking into the stadium, with my sister, and fellow fan, just after the doors opened, the one thing I immediately noticed was the scale of the place. I'd been to a couple of football games there, but on Friday, with the stage up one end of the ground, it just looked bigger. After navigating my way through the various checkpoints we arrived at "The Fixer" field, then took up our position about 15 people back from the stage right in front of where Mike McCready would set up shop.
Liam Finn was the first support act to hit the stage at around 6pm, ripping through a short-ish set of material from his solo album. Rather than having a full band behind him Liam Finn made use of loops to back himself. For example, he'd play a few bars on the drums, sample and loop it, then pick up guitar and play along to that. At first it was interesting, but after the initial curiosity wore off I couldn't help but think he'd sound a heap better with a full band behind him. I think the fact that he was live sampling/looping his stuff was lost on some people as I heard a few mumblings around me along the lines of "Who's playing the bass? Where are the drums coming from? Is he using a backing tape?" All up though it was an entertaining and energetic little set.
Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 hit the stage at around 7pm playing a rock based set made up largely of newer material, with a couple of older tunes thrown in for good measure. Diamonds on the Inside was as mellow as it got from Ben Harper. For most people the highlight of his set was probably the special guest appearance from Eddie Vedder on the cover 'Under Pressure'. The crowd went crazy, and if there was ever any doubt about who people had come to see, it was most definitely put to rest.
When Ben Harper left the stage, there was a 30 min interval before Pearl Jam were due. Thinking it was as good a time as any, and given that it was hot as hell, my sister headed for the drinks stand. Twenty minutes later the crowd had packed tighter she hadn't returned, so I did the brother thing and went looking for her, suspecting she'd got stuck on the way back. I was right. Long story short, I found here, but by that time the crowd was so thick we were never getting back to our spot. All things considered though, by the time the guys did walk out on stage, we'd managed to make it almost back to our starting spot.
Pearl Jam opened with the relatively mellow 'Elderly Woman...' as if to get a feel for the audience, before launching into the rockier sure fire crowd pleasers Corduroy and Animal. From there it was 'Got Some' from their latest album, which translated well live.
Then there was the first surprise in the set, 'Brother' that was a b-side from the Ten sessions making an appearance. It was the first time I'd heard it live and it was sublime, complete with its tribal style chanted chorus. From their it was a mix of older favourites mixed in with the new tracks that stood up well against a lot of the 'classics'.
The set list drew heavily from the 'Ten' album, with the band playing eight songs from their first release.
By the time the first set drew to a close I was trying to figure out what would come next.
Eddie Vedder came out solo for the start of the first encore, to strum his way through the Neil Young song, "Needle and the Damage Done", inspired, he said, by Liam Finn's earlier cover of another Neil Young classic "Cinnamon Girl". Ben Harper then joined the band on stage to play some guitar on "Red Mosquito" then joined Eddie Vedder for "Indifference". The band then rolled into four "Ten" tracks in a row, "Jeremy", "Deep", "Why Go" and "Porch".
The second encore opened with Eddie Vedder joined on stage by Liam Finn for a cover of the Hunters and Collectors song "Throw Your Arms Around Me", before launching into crowd pleasers "Black", "Spin the Black Circle" and "Alive". Half way through the Who cover Baba O'Reily the house lights started to kick on and it looked like it may all be over, but the band then kicked into "Yellow Ledbetter" which has almost become the trademark finale.
Maybe it was just me, and maybe I'm getting old or my tolerance isn't what it used to be, but in my opinion there was a larger bogan/meat head contingent at this gig than any of the past shows I've been to. I think there was a correlation between proximity to the stage and percentage of dickheads. It seemed like as we got further back, the number of drunken dickheads increased. Why you would pay $100+ to go to a Pearl Jam gig only to get so shit faced that you can't even stand at a urinal without falling in is beyond me. I guess booze would be the excuse another drunken young gent would be using to explain why he thought it'd be a good idea to piss into a bottle while standing in the middle of the crowd. Right before the first encore break, my sister needed a time out for a sit down and water at the first aid tent, not long after she'd rejoined me there was some kind of scuffle that saw the chairs flying and security called in. Didn't really see what happened, why it started, or how it ended, but I'm chalking it up to booze as well. Drunken macho dickheads aside though it was good show.
For me the highlights were "Brother", "Present Tense", "Indifference" and "The Needle and the Damage Done". Pearl Jam remain one of the few live bands that continue to produce at the highest level, and their ability to command a crowd, even one as large as that on Friday, is a testament to the hard work that they clearly put in. The fact that they were rocking for a good two and a half hours, playing some 32 songs, in damn hot conditions also speaks volumes of their commitment to put on an awesome show, as well as their fitness.
Eddie Vedder continues to hold his position as my number one front man of choice, and if Friday night is anything to go by, it's going to take a lot for someone to come along and knock him off top spot. He oozes charisma like few other people, and to be perfectly honest, the guy could release a cd of himself reading the phone book and I'd be lining up to buy it.
If you haven't seen Pearl Jam before and get the chance on their current tour, make sure you get along, cause the band are as energized as ever.
For those of you into this sort of thing, here's Pearl Jam's complete set list from their November 20 show at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.
Set 1
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
Corduroy
Animal
Got Some
Brother
Amongst The Waves
Even Flow
Oceans
Lukin
Green Disease
Force of Nature
Present Tense
Gonna See My Friend
Given To Fly
Daughter/Another Brick In The Wall
Glorified G
The Fixer
Do The Evolution
Encore 1
The Needle and The Damage Done
Just Breathe
Red Mosquito
Indifference
Jeremy
Deep
Why Go
Porch
Encore 2
Throw Your Arms Around Me
Black
Spin The Black Circle
Alive
Baba O'Riley
Yellow Ledbetter
