Pearl Jam go from strength to strength at epic MSG concert

By John Curley

Pearl Jam’s tour in support of their 12th studio album, which is titled Dark Matter, rolled into New York City’s Madison Square Garden for the first of two sold-out shows on Tuesday, September 3rd. Many members of the crowd at the show were on their feet for the duration of the two-hour-and-10-minute concert, singing along with lead vocalist Eddie Vedder at the top of their voices. Pearl Jam always deliver the goods live, and this show was no exception.

The evening of music commenced right on time at 7:30 p.m. with a 40-minute set by the Irish singer-songwriter and longtime leader of the Irish band The Frames, Glen Hansard. Hansard’s set was received enthusiastically by the crowd. Among the highlights from Hansard’s set were an outstanding acapella version of Charles O’Neill’s “The Foggy Dew” that Hansard performed with Josh Okeefe, an Irish singer-songwriter that has been the opening act for Hansard’s headline shows, and the rip-roaring cover of Them’s “Gloria” that featured special guest guitarist Lenny Kaye of The Patti Smith Group.

Following an interval of 40 minutes, Pearl Jam took the stage to deafening cheers. The touring lineup for the band is Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guitar), Matt Cameron (drums), Stone Gossard (guitar), Mike McCready (guitar), Jeff Ament (bass), Boom Gaspar (keyboards) and Josh Klinghoffer (guitar).

They kicked off their set with a great version of the anthemic “Pendulum” on which Vedder provided a strong lead vocal and had the band firing on all cylinders. It set the template for the rest of the performance. That was followed by a terrific version of “Better Man” to which the band added a bit of The English Beat’s “Save It for Later.” The crowd singalong during “Better Man” was quite moving. And Vedder, wearing a fedora and a Walter Payton Chicago Bears jersey, led the crowd in a singalong during the “Save It for Later” bit.

The band performed six songs from Dark Matter during their set. The first of those was a heavy and rocking version of “Scared of Fear” that featured Vedder’s powerhouse lead vocal, solid work by the rhythm section of Ament and Cameron and an incendiary guitar break by McCready in the song’s midsection. McCready’s playing throughout the concert was outstanding. Vedder spoke to the crowd after the performance of “Scared of Fear” and with United States’ general election looming in two months, concluded his remarks by saying to the fans, “Don’t complain. Vote!”

The propulsive rocker “React, Respond” from the Dark Matter album had Vedder’s frenetic lead vocal at its center before slamming to an abrupt ending. The ferocious performance of “Satan’s Bed” was great. McCready’s guitar work was incendiary and Cameron’s drumming magnificent. The crowd sang along with Vedder in a deafening roar.

The terrific performance of “Even Flow” was one of the highlights of the evening. McCready played behind his back for much of the guitar break. Cameron’s drumming throughout the song was fantastic. And the crowd sang along with every word of Vedder’s lead vocal.

During the performance of “Do the Evolution,” animated images from the song’s music video were shown on the massive video screen above the stage. The video screen was used to great effect throughout the concert.

The crowd’s singing was so loud during the performance of “Black” that they almost drowned out Vedder’s lead vocal. McCready once again did stellar work, providing guitar histrionics that drew huge cheers from the fans.

In between songs throughout the show, Vedder had been reading messages sent by fans. Some of those were birthday greetings for fans in attendance at the concert. But after the performance of “Black,” Vedder read a message from a father whose autistic son had been bullied so much by classmates that he had to transfer to another school. Vedder angrily roared that the school the boy had to leave should “f—k off” for not doing more to stop the bullying and to help the boy.

The main set drew to a close with intense performances of “Given to Fly” and “Porch.” The former featured Cameron’s strong drumming while the latter was an all-hands-on-deck affair that had the audience going bonkers.

Two minutes after the band left the stage, Vedder returned by himself and performed a cover of John Lennon’s ”Imagine” while accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. The crowd sang along, and many held their phones up with the flashlight function on so that there was a sea of lights in the crowd. It was very effective.

The full band then returned to the stage and performed tight versions of “Inside Job” and “Unthought Unknown.” An incendiary version of “Running” from the Dark Matter album got the crowd fired up once again. From that point on, the band and crowd were engaged in a pitched battle to see who could be louder. The crowd’s deafening singalong to “Once” was quite something. Two hours into the show, and they were still fully engaged. Most bands would be quite fortunate to have such enthusiastic fans. The loud vocals from the crowd continued during “Alive,” and McCready’s outstanding playing during the song drew yet louder cheers from the fans.

Vedder is a longtime fan of The Who, so it wasn’t surprising that the penultimate song of the show was a terrific cover of “Baba O’Riley.” Gaspar’s keyboard playing on the song was quite impressive. Vedder was bashing a tambourine as he sang toward the end of the song.

The mellow song “Indifference” closed out the show. Ament was seated and playing a standup bass. And the crowd, still full of energy, sang along once again to Vedder’s lead vocal.

Pearl Jam’s live shows still pack a wallop and are every bit as good as their gigs were back in the band’s 1990’s heyday. They remain an absolute must-see in concert.

Glen Hansard’s tour dates can be found at https://glenhansard.com/tour/.

Pearl Jam’s concert schedule is available at https://pearljam.com/tour. Half of the shows listed are already sold out.

Glen Hansard’s setlist was as follows:
Come Back From the Dead
The Feast of St. John
Down On Our Knees
When Your Mind’s Made Up (The Swell Season song)
Bearing Witness
Revelate (The Frames song)
The Foggy Dew (Charles O’Neill cover, performed acapella with special guest Josh Okeefe)
Gloria (Them cover, performed with special guest Lenny Kaye)

Pearl Jam’s setlist was as follows:
Pendulum
Better Man (with a bit of The English Beat’s Save It for Later)
Immorality
Scared of Fear
React, Respond
Wreckage
Satan’s Bed
Even Flow
Out of My Mind
Mind Your Manners
Dark Matter
Do the Evolution
Upper Hand
Love Boat Captain (with a bit of the Rolling Stones’ Jumpin’ Jack Flash in the intro)
Black
Given to Fly
Porch

Encore:
Imagine (John Lennon cover)
Inside Job
Unthought Known
Running
Once
Alive
Baba O’Riley (The Who cover)
Indifference

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