my God it's been so long, never dreamed you'd return

*** Be forewarned that this may be one of the more long-winded posts I’ve written. There is just so much that needs to be said about the show and my love affair with Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam, so be patient with me. ***

In grade 7 I changed schools and I can remember wanting to be cool and well liked more than anything. Coming from a very multi-cultural school where kids got dressed up for the first day and called teachers by their last name, I wasn’t so sure about this new school where everyone looked the same. One big thing that caught my attention was that so many of the kids wore Doc Martens and the Pearl Jam t-shirt with the Alive stick figure on it. Like any 13 year old, I wanted desperately to fit in and I was determined to see what all the hype was about. Now, growing up in our house there was always music playing; my dad schooled us right and we were exposed to jazz and classical music from the start. The problem was, admitting that my clock radio was set to CHFI wasn’t going to earn me any friends so I set out to buy the single for Jeremy. One minor glitch – the album had already been out for over a year – so I wound up having to buy the entire cassette. That was the best thing that could have happened, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Everyone has, at the very least, a list of their top 5 bands and even though the list changes with time, there are certain bands whose name will always be carved in stone. For me, Pearl Jam is one of those bands. The music, the lyrics, Jeff’s crazy hats, it all makes me smile. This last long weekend (after too many drinks and burgers and smokes) Dave and I got to talking about music and Pearl Jam and the upcoming Eddie Vedder show. We are both big PJ fans and we both like the solo stuff Eddie has done with movie soundtracks. We talked about how their sound has changed from album to album, and how some fans dropped off after ‘No Code’ (which was their loss because the next album, ‘Yield’ rocks so much it should be illegal). We compared our favourite moments from past shows, and laughed at some of the clips in “Single Video Theory”.

As usually happens when the 2 of us get into this conversation, the inevitable question eventually came up, “what are your favourite songs off each album?” (My answer changes here and there, but for the most part: Ten – Oceans, Vs. – Rearviewmirror or Indifference, Vitalogy – Tremor Christ or Immortality, No Code – Who You Are or Off He Goes, Yield - Given To Fly, Binaural – Insignificance or Rival, Riot Act – Can’t Keep, Pearl Jam – Big Wave or Inside Job, Lost Dogs – All Night or Hard to Imagine). Oddly enough, we both chose ‘Yield’ as our top album.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that there isn’t anything that the band has put out that I am not a big fan of. Sure some of the songs I may skip over, but then I’ll hear them again and fall in love with something I never noticed before. Their music has become something that helps me forget the craziness that may be in my life, and lets me just clear my head. My point with this long-winded meandering of sorts is that Pearl Jam’s music has always been a constant in my life regardless of the situation and it is comforting to know that it will always be there. Like a good friend or a reassuring hug (or a kick in the ass), it keeps me grounded. I know I’m probably preaching to the choir here since most of you are music fans as well, so you can relate to what I’m saying. We need more good music, music with substance and credibility.

One of my favourite things about Pearl Jam shows is that Eddie likes to interact with the crowd; he chirps up the audience, he gives long winded intros to songs, he rambles – it’s absolutely endearing. I was really looking forward to a more personal show at Massey Hall especially since the venue provided a more intimate setting than the typical ACC stadium style shows PJ does. Everything about the show was simple and without the frills of a big arena rock show. The set up on stage looked like a home studio with just Eddie, his guitars, and a suitcase full of lyrics that he travels with. The backdrop varied from an alley behind old buildings, to a backstage with crates, to a lamp-lit tent, and finally an ocean view.

My one beef was with the crowd itself. They may have been confused or ill-informed, but my ticket clearly said “Eddie Vedder @ Massey Hall” and not “Pearl Jam @ ACC”. There was no need to shout out requests or toss in comments or yell out randomly throughout the show. As one exasperated fan put it, “shut up and let the man play!” It was borderline disrespectful and definitely annoying when Eddie was trying to talk and give us a rare glimpse into what he is all about, and you couldn’t understand him because people were hollering out stupid requests like Jeremy or State of Love and Trust. He finally spoke up at one point when the crowd started to cheer for Dead Man Walking and Eddie told them “not to sound so uplifted”. And rightfully so – the song is about a death row inmate who is about to be executed, it not the best time to be applauding.

Musically, I have no complaints. He played a ton of PJ stuff, more so than I was expecting. Elderly Women turned into a fantastic sing-a-long, both versions of Lukin satisfied the requests being shouted from the balcony (the first attempt sounded more like Turning Japanese and had Eddie laughing at himself), Soon Forget made me wish I could play the ukulele (or mandolin for that matter), and I Am Mine was just perfect. Every song further solidified my respect for the band and the music they put out.

The covers were solid too and Eddie paid tribute to the history of the building and Neil Young with Helpless and Old Man among others (both gave me serious chills). On Masters of War you could really see the intensity and passion he has for the song and what it stands for (Eddie made his views on politics quite clear that night and he took the time to educate and enlighten us as well)

Songs from his 2 soundtracks (‘Into The Wild’ and ‘Body of War’) were all well received and helped the crowd remember that we came to see an Eddie Vedder acoustic show, and not a Pearl Jam rock fest. He played 2 strong sets including a few songs with the opening act (Liam Finn and Eliza-Jane Barnes), and closed with Hard Sun. It was the perfect way to end the night, and the crowd was up and on their feet singing under the house lights. There was nothing about his performance that was pretentious or over the top or unnecessary – it was just a kick ass night of good music.