Pearl Jam Clip of Opening Song "Indifference" at St. Paul, Minnesota - 8/31/23

I already posted something about the Pearl Jam show that my son and I recently attended, which was the opening show of their current North American tour. The first night was on Thursday, August 31, 2023, in St. Paul, Minnesota. I got the tickets months earlier, and it wound up being the first real commitment to a trip of the Midwest and West which ended up being our big trip together for 2023.

Indeed, I posted some pictures, but didn't actually review the show.

So how was it? 

It started with a band that I was admittedly not all that familiar with, Deep Sea Diver. While I had not really prepared for this show as I have for past concerts (not just Pearl Jam), this one somehow kind of snuck up on me. So I never quite got around to listening to any of their stuff before the show. Yet, what I heard from them on this night was impressive. They are a solid band, and put on a very good show as the opening act.

Then, of course, came the main act.

As always, Pearl Jam puts on a very good live show. This is a band who generally can be best appreciated live. They almost always exude a lot of energy. Yet, they still can play extremely well, even while bouncing around on stage. That is one impressive thing about this band that never ceases to amaze me. How is it that they make the music sound so good while in constant motion, and before a ton of fans? How is it that Eddie Vedder never sounds tired or winded while actually singing, even if he sometimes sounds like it when actually talking to the crowd?

In truth, I had been moving away from Pearl Jam. The last album was good, and I liked it better than either of the two albums that had preceded it. Yet, it also failed to grab me like many of their earlier albums have. I can honestly say that all but one of their first eight albums really just kind of captivated me from even the first listen, with the only exception being Binaural. But that has changed quite a bit. Not that I don't like those other albums, or have not given them a listen. It is just that they did not instantly and completely captivate me.

Also, I had not gone to see a live Pearl Jam show now in just shy of a decade, prior to the Minnesota show. And this one was more to make sure that I got my son to finally see them than anything else. Between 1996 and 2006, I went to 20 live Pearl Jam shows. Since then, the rate has slowed dramatically. I caught a couple of shows in 2010, a couple of more in 2013, and then, after almost ten years without having seen them, my son and I went to this show, the opening of the 2023 late summer/early autumn tour. 

Likewise, I just had not been listening to Pearl Jam nearly as often as I used to. Prior to this last show, I just could not even remember the last time that I made a point of listening to the band, other than in the days and weeks after they released Gigaton, which I have listened to three times so far. Again, it's not a bad album, but it just did not quite grab me like their earlier stuff has. 

That said, attending a Pearl Jam show always seems to draw me back to my fanhood. It is not like it once was, a passion that, admittedly, sometimes bordered on obsession. Lest I forget this, the people close to me were always quick to remind me. While I was not relentlessly listening to them and going on and on about them in conversations, I have listened to them more since returning from our summer trip, which more or less ended, for all intents and purposes, with this show. 

Not surprisingly, the show has gotten me back into a little bit of a Pearl Jam kick. It is a testament to the band, and how solid their live shows are, that I tend to get back into them after seeing one of their shows. I returned to listening to their music, and began rereading "Five Against One: the Pearl Jam Story" by Kim Neely, which was the best book so far that I have read about the band so far. In truth, I had been meaning to read it again for a while, but just could not find my old copy. Finally, I gave in and bought another one just before leaving for the Midwest/Western trip this past summer. 

Another great Pearl Jam concert, and finally, I managed to get my son to see one. He had seen Temple of the Dog with me at MSG in 2016, and I am thankful for that, since around six months later, Chris Cornell would be dead, and we really bonded over his music. But Pearl Jam also always figured prominently for us, and I had wanted him to see one of their shows. Maddeningly, I had gotten tickets for the Ottawa show that was supposed to take place in late March of 2020. However, the pandemic shutdown could not have been foreseen. Unfortunately, I simply could not attend the show when it actually came around, in early September of last year. That still irks me. Yet, it was part of the reason why I did get tickets to this Minnesota show, specifically, and which also helped to make the Midwestern/Western trip a reality, ultimately. And for my son's first show, Pearl Jam did not disappoint, putting on a typically great show. I am thankful to have been able to enjoy it with him. 

Below is the setlist from the show that my son and I attended in St. Paul, a month ago now:

Setlist from the show:

(Seated)

Indifference 

Buckle Up 

Sometimes 

Wishlist  

Black 

(Standing) 

Given to Fly 

Mind Your Manners 

Why Go 

Seven O'Clock 

Even Flow

Dance of the Clairvoyants  

I'm Open 

Insignificance (first time since 2016) 

Daughter 

Superblood Wolfmoon 

Love Boat Captain 

State of Love and Trust  

Porch   

Encore: 

Wildflowers (Tom Petty cover) (Eddie solo) 

Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town 

Go  

Crazy Mary (Victoria Williams cover) 

Alive 

Yellow Ledbetter

Note: "Street Fighting Man" was written on the setlist but not played. Soundcheck included "Insignificance", "Grievance", "Buckle Up", "Wishlist", "Sometimes", and "I Got Id".    

Pearl Jam Setlist at Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, USA  AUG 31 2023:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/pearl-jam/2023/xcel-energy-center-st-paul-mn-7ba54a74.html

Pearl Jam stage emotional tour opener at the Xcel TONY NELSON FOR MPR by Erik Thompson and Tony Nelson  SEPTEMBER 01, 2023:

Pearl Jam performed at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Thursday, August 31, 2023. Pearl Jam performed at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Thursday, August 31, 2023.

https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2023/09/01/pearl-jam-stage-emotional-tour-opener-at-the-xcel?fbclid=IwAR3g5yORgRxQUWccVOXQ1V4dwqSu1txIwN0w7xhJF85WSrv4gI4Md-lEytw

Review: Pearl Jam honors lost friends and lost time in first of two St. Paul tour openers September 9, 2023:

https://www.startribune.com/review-pearl-jam-honor-lost-friends-and-lost-time-in-first-of-two-st-paul-tour-openers/600301328/?refresh=true

Below is an admittedly very brief video clip of the opening song, "Indifference." I had to keep it short because, coming as it did at the very tail end of our trip, I had pretty much used up almost all of the internal storage on my cell, and thus, had only seconds of video space left when I cut this off, so that I could take the relatively few pictures that I took from the show (and added here, see below). 

My pictures from the recent Pearl Jam show in Minnesota:

Pearl Jam:

Deep Sea Diver:

The Arena:

My son at the concert:

The souvenir tickets for this show, which actually came in the mail weeks after the show. Most "tickets" to major events these days are done by phone, so these likely would not have gotten us into the show, in any case.