What Becomes an Epic Most?

I had planned to start off this blog with a theory on the perils of seeing the same artist twice in one week (a.k.a Billy Joel-itis), but then I actually attended my second Pearl Jam show of the week and a new point emerged.

Madison Square Garden 2 probably has already taken its place amongst legendary Pearl Jam shows. In fact, it was predicted in fan circles to do that before it even occurred. So what gives a show that distinction? Is it the venue, the fact that it's the last show of a tour leg, the setlist and/or the performance?

In the case of all four, MSG shoots and scores. (Of course on the music front, since the Blueshirts didn't even make the playoffs. Really, how far did anyone who knows me think I'd get without a flip Rangers remark?)

But back to the show. Even before Pearl Jam had taken the stage, it was obvious that the sound in the Garden outpaced The Rock in Newark. Tuesday's show had its sonic moments, but it also made some songs seem very small and boxed in.



Enjoyed some pre-show amusement when a couple complained about the hallowed venue, saying it's basically a sports arena and not the old-fashioned theater they thought it would be. (Maybe they were thinking Radio City Music Hall.)

And for the end of the first leg of the 2010 tour, the guys pulled out all the stops. The setlist was a great blend of rarities and high-octane rock 'n' roll.

Set List: Corduroy, Hail Hail, Do The Evolution, World Wide Suicide, Got Some, Breath, Nothingman, I’m Open, Unthought Known, Grievance, Amongst The Waves, Present Tense, Not For You/Modern Girl, Push Me Pull Me, Rats, Daughter/WMA, The Fixer, Why Go

1st encore: The End with string quartet, Just Breathe with string quartet, Lukin II with string quartet, Black Red Yellow, Sweet Lew, Given To Fly, Spin The Black Circle, Rearviewmirror

2nd encore: Wasted Reprise, Better Man/Save It For Later, Black, The Real Me (Townshend), Hunger Strike, Alive, Kick Out The Jams, Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner

"Corduroy" as opener signaled that they wanted to rock out the finale and the steady stream of pulse-pounders kept everyone on their feet. Noticed somewhere along the line that almost all the first singles from each album were represented.


The first evening shocker would probably be the one that I was hoping for. "Breath," another top five Pearl Jam song of mine came into play pretty quickly after being scratched from the Newark setlist. Gorgeous and it got the anticipation bug out of my system relatively early.

A bunch of songs that I wouldn't have put at the top of that list were truly dazzling. The audience helped out greatly with "Nothingman," it just kinda reverberated around your soul. Multiply that by like five when we eventually got to "Better Man," definitely one of my least favorites, but one of the many highlights of the night as the audience sang a verse and a chorus before Eddie chimed in with some urgent and throaty vocals and the band raised the song's usual tempo really drive the point home.

Back to the rarities: "Push Me, Pull Me" from my all-time fave Pearl Jam album, "Black Red Yellow" AND "Sweet Lew" in quick succession, Pete Townshend's "The Real Me" and "Kick Out the Jams." When you're in the middle of these kind of songs, you just kinda stand there with your mouth open going, "Really?"


Don't want to leave out the string quartet, which joined the fray for three songs during the first encore. Eddie's spiel on there being more than one way to skin a cat ("Who the fuck is out skinning cats?") led to the gorgeous reinvention of raucous "Lukin" as an acoustic number, and seemed unrecognizable to a huge faction of the audience until he got to the chorus.

On a personal note, it seemed like I got a lot of songs in the show that I'd rarely seen: "Spin the Black Circle" (which I apparently had never seen live), "Hail Hail," "Not for You," "Black," "Present Tense." Every single one of them just resonated. Like my good friend Liam said the other night, the band always brings it and, with all the rarities, it would be easy to sort of overlook the rest, but that would be wrong, wrong, wrong. Every song was just out of the park.

And then the monster. I've been to one other epic Pearl Jam show in the band's almost 20-year existence -- the 10-year anniversary show in Las Vegas. At that show, they tackled Mother Love Bone's signature song, "Crown of Thorns." On Friday, it was Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike," with Band of Horses frontman Ben Bridwell doing a great job handling Chris Cornell's chores.

The video's linked at the top of this blog. I don't know if it captures it for anyone not there, but it's still kicking my ass. Going right from that into "Alive" and singing the chorus was cathartic.

I'm so blown away, that I almost forgot the mention the harbinger of things to come -- the kick-ass poster. There's not enough room at Casa Park to hang every poster we have, but if you're gonna have a Kong reference... And unlike my first epic show, I managed not to leave my treasured keepsake in the cab.

Now I just gotta figure out a way of upping that epic ratio.

I Surfaced and All of My Being Was Enlightened

I've always been one of those obsessive music fans. If I'm into something, I'm really into it. Listening to someone and almost no one else at a particular time. There are phases that I sort of outgrew (Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, Nirvana, Elliott Smith), some that are bound to reoccur (Eric Clapton, Jeff Buckley, Liz Phair, The Beatles) and some somewhere in the middle (Rick Springfield, Glenn Tilbrook, Pete Yorn, Van Morrison). And then there's Pearl Jam.

Pearl Jam's a band very near and dear to my heart, maybe because they're from my generation. They're around my age, so they've made music that strikes a literal chord with songs about things that I've gone through myself. So no matter what's going on, I know when I go to a Pearl Jam show that there's going to be an element of soul searching going on.

So I ventured to the Prudential Center in Newark with Liam -- my third straight PJ show with him. Not exactly the May trip that I planned to The Rock, for my other obsession, the New Jersey Devils, should be still playing there around this time. But definitely the perfect option for a first concert there.

Before the show we had dinner across the street and came up with a song each that we wanted to hear and one we decidedly didn't. His pick was Pearl Jam staple "State of Love and Trust" (aka "SOLAT") and mine was off the board, a cover they performed on the 2000 Tour, "Timeless Melody." I thought his odds were a lot better than mine. Neither of us got our picks, but that's not something that has ever bothered me, for I feel that the setlist is part of the artistic process and the songs played at a show are the ones meant to be played.

But having said that, it was rather righteous both of the choices for being not played actually weren't. Mine: "Last Kiss." His: "Jeremy." I would have gone for a second choice of "Better Man," also not played.

I did add that if the band wanted to play my all-time favorite PJ song, "In Hiding," for two hours, I wouldn't mind that one bit.

We had our familiar Ten Club seats, Stone side, back a couple sections and up on the risers. For Devils games, they're the top seats in the house -- the black pleather ones that are more comfortable. So we settled in and spent much of our time making fun of Roky Erickson's "Two Headed Dog" ahead of the amiable opener, Band of Horses. Eddie and lead singer Ben Bridwell's daughter, Annabelle, (2 years old Wednesday) helped them close the set with "Act Together."

And now on to the main attraction:
Set List: Of The Girl, Brain Of J, Do The Evolution, The Fixer, Alone, Amongst The Waves, Immortality, In Hiding, Even Flow, Insignificance, Supersonic, Brother, Glorified G, Daughter/Blitzkrieg Bop/WMA, Unthought Known, Leatherman, Lukin, Once

1st encore: Just Breathe, Footsteps, Inside Job, Got Some, Go

2nd encore: Jersey Girl, You Are, Whipping, Life Wasted, Alive, Indifference, All Along The Watchtower

Opening with "Of the Girl," wow! One of my very, very favorite songs and one I'd actually never heard in seven previous shows. It was going to be a good night, even if Stone seemed to be sporting my hair do.

There was something a little bizarre about the sound quality of the show. Some songs, "Even Flow" is a great example, filled the entire arena and others, like "Supersonic," seemed to be in a little box and very distant. The band still sounded great, but just not as cacophonous.

I didn't even think about the fact that the Devils still aren't playing ... OK, not for seven or eight songs anyway. Nor the fact that we were standing the whole time ... OK, maybe when we settled back into the pleather for a minute at the first break.

There were highlights that I probably wouldn't have previously called highlights from other shows -- "Immortality" and "Insignificance," in particular were knockouts. But if we're talking "knockout," then "In Hiding" has to be mentioned. Not two hours long, but still a very emotional four minutes.

We got "Glorified G" and "Leatherman," both of which we also heard in 2006, but lesser-played treats in the lexicon. And "Brother" and "Footsteps," played for the first time this tour. Hearing the opening salvo to "Once" really got the motor racing and there were fabulous versions of "Daughter" (with a great story about the original riff coming from a bathroom at a Motel 6 in Denver and "Blitzkrieg Bop" AND "WMA" tags), "Go" and "Whipping" as well.

Eddie told a very touching story after the first encore about a Pearl Jam fan who had written a heartfelt tribute to his father, who is battling illness. He praised the son's reverence for his dad and dedicated "Just Breathe" and the later "Alive" to them.

And you know how the more things change, the more they stay the same? Lots of great interplay between Jeff and Stone. Mike's amazing guitar and energy. Eddie's voice sounded amazing. Matt's driving beat. And there was something very assuring about the fact that Eddie and Stone still butt heads from time to time, even after 20 years. This little fracas came after covering "Jersey Girl," getting a chorus of "Bruuuuuce" from the audience and Eddie adding that he loves Bruce but Tom Waits actually wrote the song. "Twenty years and it's ending tonight!" Eddie chided.

I thought we were ending on a fabulous "Indifference," but then Ben Bridwell came out to help close the show with a charged "All Along the Watchtower."

So "how much difference does it make?" Quite a bit.