Concert Review: Pearl Jam at Wells Fargo, Philadelphia 10/21/13

Night one in Philadelphia for Pearl Jam for the Lightning Bolt tour. And what a night!

Each individual Pearl Jam concert is different than the next. More than any other band that I know, this band really makes a point of working hard to have a diverse body of songs to choose from, which makes their concerts a lot of fun. It's a mixed bag, and you just never know what you are going to get.

Case in point: this was my 23rd Pearl jam concert. There are some staples with pretty much most, if not all, of their shows. I can't tell you how many times they performed Porch in my shows, but I'm willing to bet that it was in all but one or two of them. Same with Alive, Even Flow, Animal, Elderly Woman and Daughter. Corduroy would be up there as well, although they did not perform that particular one tonight. Nor did they perform Yellow Ledbetter, which is one of the ones that they traditionally close shows on, with the house lights turned on.

There are others that they have performed with a degree of frequency just under those, such as Jeremy (albeit sometimes different versions), Rearviewmirror, and Do the Evolution.

Chances are, if you have been to a Pearl Jam concert, you have seen the majority, if not all, of those songs.

But the reason that Pearl Jam specifically has this cult following of fans that attend many, and in some cases, perhaps, all of their shows in any given tour, is that they are unpredictable, and do something different almost every single night. If you go to two different Pearl Jam shows, you will not see simply a rehashing of the same songs played on the first night. There may be some songs played in common, but chances are, you will see the band play quite a few others, as well. So, if you have certain favorites that you really want to see them play, chances are better if you go to more than one show (always allowing that money and circumstances allow for this, of course).

Yet, I believe that it is a testament to the group that they truly do try and play a strong and diverse number of songs, which often not only includes all of the different albums (they are now up to ten), but also covers from other bands, many of which have become fan favorites.

So it is that I tend to try and see more than one show per tour, to the extent that I can. Because ultimately, there are certain songs that you definitely want to see. In those 23 songs, I have seen one of my personal favorites, Release, only twice. Until tonight, I had only seen Indifference twice. And there are some songs that I have never seen the band play yet, including Garden and Hunger Strike, and hope each time I go to a show, that they will play those two, specifically. That is the draw.

Well, tonight, the band was pretty much on fire. They seem to play some great shows in Philadelphia. I saw them here a couple of times in 2003, including at the old Spectrum, and again at Camden (right across the river) in 2006. In 2009, the band closed the old Spectrum with a very memorable series of four shows, during which they tried not to repeat too many songs, and to play the entire library of their songs. They came pretty damn close, and those rank as some of the fan favorites as far as the bootlegs are concerned. I wish I had been in attendance in 2009, for any, and especially all, of the shows. Unfortunately, I cannot make that claim. But I wanted to be there this year for the latest album.

This show started off with the rather dramatic sounding Pendulum, which I understand is the most common opening piece so far on this tour, before going into Long Road, which received an enthusiastic response form the crowd.

The relatively calm tempo kept up for a few songs (you can find the entire set list from the show at the bottom of this blog entry, before exploding into Why Go, which was followed by not long after by other fast tempo tracks like the newest addition to their punk repertoire, Mind Your Manners, as well as Brain of J, and Animal. It almost goes without saying that the band was pretty much on point throughout the night.

They mixed it up for the rest of the first set with a decent cross mix of new songs and older ones. They played Sirens, Infallible, and Let the Records Play from Lightning Bolt, and older tracks including Even Flow, I Got Id, Wishlist, Lukin, and Not For You, which they added the tag of Sleater Kinney's Modern Girl to, before closing out that first part of the show with Spin the Black Circle and Rearviewmirror.

The intermission was not too long before the band took the stage again, performing the beautiful Man of the Hour (one of my personal favorites, and a real treat tonight), from the Big Fish soundtrack. Then, the lights turned to orange, and they played Off He Goes, from No Code. This is a beautiful song with deep lyrics, and one that, rather ironically, I have long associated with the orange. Back in October of 1996, a friend of mine and I decided to take a trip to Canada, but it had to be after an evening class of mine. We left, and crossed the border at some ungodly hour. Before long, he was fast asleep, and I remember wanting to stay awake long enough to just make it straight to Quebec City. I played their newest album No Code, and that song, which was one of my favorites off that album came on as I approached a stretch of orange lights along the highway. That, and it being October, just made it have the right feel, if you will. Tonight's version was perhaps the most beautiful and memorable rendition that I have heard this song done by the band.

In that first encore, they also surprised the crowd with a cover of Mother by Pink Floyd, and it reminded me of Vedder's memorable performance with Roger Waters on Comfortably Numb for the 12/12/12 concert. I wondered if that might be performed at some point in the future and, perhaps, become a relatively common track for their live performances. I remember Eddie Vedder just killed that part for that concert.

They also did an intense version of Given to Fly, and then performed Unthought Known, 1/2 Full (the only track they did from Riot Act), and Leash, which everyone seemed to enjoy intensely, and sing along to.

At some point during the first intermission, Eddie Vedder began to speak to the crowd. In typical fashion, he said, "I just want to ask one question...", and then he abruptly turned to the seating area to the rear of the stage, focusing on those of us watching from there. He actually spotted a large banner way up high in the upper levels, referencing the Ramones, that read:

Gabba Gabba 
Hey!

Vedder then talked about how this world is fucked up, and that it would be almost impossible to fix all of the problems. But wouldn't it be nice to correct the wrong of these people (he was referencing the people with the Ramones banner) to come down to the side of the stage for the duration of the show?

They got the chance to be next to the stage and, presumably in honor of the occasion and the Ramones reference, the band performed "I Believe in Miracles", followed by Porch to close the first intermission to deafening roars from the crowd. During that last, Eddie Vedder climbed onto these kind of balls of light that were swinging on stage, which was a bit reminiscent of his earlier day acrobatics on stage. It was very cool!

It happened to be Boom Gaspar's birthday on this day, and as a surprise, his brother came up on stage and hugged him. Then, the band did Crazy Mary, which is always a good way for Boom to showcase his tremendous abilities on keyboard. Vedder even did something that I don't remember him doing at live shows for years during the song - literally passing around a bottle of wine for the fans in the front to enjoy!

The rest of the show was with the house lights on, and they then ripped into Alive, followed by Sonic Reducer, before closing the show with Indifference, with heavy audience participation.

The show was a great one. Along the way (although I cannot remember which songs precisely), Mike McCready played the guitar from the back of his head. That man was just incredible all night, and as always, he brought a tremendous amount of energy on stage. That said, the crowd, though energetic, was not quite as loud or relentlessly on their feet as I have seen at some other Pearl jam shows (including Philadelphia in 2003). But all in all, an amazing show that made for a memorable night!



Pendulum  
Long Road  
Low Light  
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town  
Why Go  
Lightning Bolt  
Mind Your Manners  
Brain of J.  
Animal  
Pilate  
Even Flow  
Infallible  
I Got Id  
Wishlist  
Sirens  
Lukin  
Not for You  (with Modern Girl tag) 
Let the Records Play  
Spin the Black Circle  
Rearviewmirror  

Encore: 
Man of the Hour  
Off He Goes  
Yellow Moon  
Mother  (Pink Floyd cover) 
Given to Fly  
Unthought Known  
1/2 Full 
Leash  
I Believe in Miracles  (Ramones cover)
Porch  

Encore 2: 
Crazy Mary  (Victoria Williams cover) 
Alive  
Sonic Reducer  (Dead Boys cover) 
Indifference