There’s nothing like the moment when the lights go out, the audience roars, the shadowy figures appear on stage, and then there’s the opening note. Ah, there’s nothing like that euphoric concert.
Most bands have it, others don’t. Pearl Jam defiantly has it.
So, what makes them such a great band, to the point where people have separate bank accounts for Pearl Jam shows?
To begin with, there’s always a sense of expecting the unexpected. The moment those lights dim, there’s anticipation on what song is going to open the show. While there are a number of regular openers, like “Release” or “Wash”, Pearl Jam can manage to throw in some crazy openers. I remember night two at Camden last year when they opened up with “Severed Hand”, and thought that was an awesome, yet odd, choice which perfectly set up the rest of the show.
For as much as a Pearl Jam opener is a little slower, to set the mood I reckon, there are moments that bedazzle even the biggest of fans. I’ve seen set lists where they’ve opened up with “Alive” or “Crazy Mary”, which is just madness. Although I’m partial to “Can’t Keep” as a opener.
Besides that opening track, there’s always the ever changing set lists. No two Pearl Jam shows are alike. Sure, the band is bound to play “Even Flow” or “Given To Fly”, but who knows what gems they’re going to pull out, like when “Leash” was finally unleashed in 2006.
With eight studio albums, and all the non-album tracks, there’s a lot of songs to be chosen. And, the band usually touches on every one. They also manage to promote their new material in depth, while showing love to all of their work.
This, however, is all due to the fact that band plays for at least two and a half hours, with set lists going around thirty songs and extended jams on classics like “Even Flow”, “Porch” and “Rearviewmirrow”.
A great lesson they learned from The Boss. Pearl Jam fans never feel like they’ve been cheated out of their money. More importantly, they also manage to make the fans feel like a part a band. It can be from fulfilling requests to play tracks like “Breath” or “Who You Are”, to being invited to clap wildly during “Save You”, or to take over vocals during “Better Man”. I’ve rarely been to a Pearl Jam show, where as cheesy as it may sound, I didn’t feel that I was being taken for granted.
There’s also the fact that they are indeed a band of the people. It could be anything from starting “let’s go Rangers” chants at MSG to sporting Red Sox jerseys in Boston to telling fans how much the Spectrum in Philly means to them because of Dr. J playing with the Sixers.
Then there’s Eddie taking the time to learn a different language. When I saw Pearl Jam in Montreal he spoke some French. I’ve seen clips of Eddie speaking some Italian to fans in Italy. There’s even a great clip of him singing Dead Moon’s “It’s OK” in Spanish to the crowd in Mexico City. Taking just a little bit of time to interact with the crowd in their own native tongue is a great way to thank the fans.
Finally, there’s the official bootleg series, which started in 2000. Pearl Jam records every one of their shows, and it’s a great memento for the fans. It is hands down the best memorabilia that a fan can have. With the official bootlegs, fans can re-live that magical moment of a Pearl Jam show over and over.
For these reasons, Pearl Jam has become one of the best live acts around. They are this generations Grateful Dead, and it’s easy to understand why fans money spend thousands of dollars and travel thousands of miles to be a part of the Pearl Jam live experience.