I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: August 18, 2018] Pearl Jam

Two summers ago Sarah and I took the kids to Boston.  It was a vacation that was centered around we adults seeing Pearl Jam at Fenway Park.  When Pearl Jam announced that they were doing a short summer tour, I thought it would be fun to try to get tickets to the Wrigley Field Shows.

I’m not a huge baseball fan, but I used to enjoy baseball and always wanted to see Wrigley Field.  So when the tickets were announced I took a chance and scored two tickets to each night of their dates.  And so we built another vacation out of travelling to see Pearl Jam.

Ironically we’ve never seen them in our home state.

Sarah wrote a great post about all we did in Chicago (a city I had never been to before).  But in sum, in the five days we were there, we went to Navy Pier, The Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park (and saw The Bean), Portillos, The Sears Tower, an architecture cruise, Shedd Aquarium, The Museum of Science and Industry, a wade into Lake Michigan (that’s 4 of 5 Great Lakes for me), and Nuts on Clark.  And of course, Wrigley Field.

In Boston, we enjoyed wandering around Fenway the day before the show with the kids.  We also bought some merch from a popup stand.  Chicago didn’t seem to be as convenient for merch stands–they were only set up right at Wrigley.  And Wrigley isn’t really near anything else.  So the kids didn’t get to see Wrigley–which they didn’t care about at all.

In fact the experience with Wrigley wasn’t as cool as at Fenway. The Green Monster is pretty awesome.  The charm of Wrigley is its tininess (and ivy wall).  Well, the ivy walls were barely visible with the stage and there were so many people crowded in that it was hard to appreciate anything.

We couldn’t even get merch before the show the lines were so long.  The band went on later than announced so we could have waited, but who wants to risk that?.  We found our Ten Club seats (I have to say that I thought the Ten Club seats were ok, but weren’t great or anything–200s)  Had I known that that’s where they were I would have tried to get something better.  They didn’t even put the foul ball net down (we were behind it, but it was pretty unobtrusive, really).

It was dusky when the band came out and this show started slowly with a moody and interesting “Wash.”  I can’t get over how many songs they regularly play that were only official released on their rarities compilation.  It was followed by more moodiness with “Low Light.

The stage set up was just like last time, with screens flanking the stage.  We couldn’t really see the band all that well, so the screens were helpful.  But the sound was very good.

They broke out of the moody stuff with a lovely version of Elderly Woman (the crowd loves to sing along to this one) and then a ripping “Breakerfall” (fist time we’d seen that one).

Sarah and I joke that we have no idea what half of the Peal Jam song titles are.  Especially “Corduroy.” Love the song, happy to hear it every time, but just cant remember the name.  It sounded fantastic.  They continued the rock with “Hail Hail” and “Animal” and by the crowd was in a frenzy.

Then played three in a row that we hadn’t seen before.  Sarah loves the newish album Lightning Bolt (possibly more than the band does, given how little they play from it) so she was super psyched to hear Getaway.  I get most of my Pearl Jam fandom from the live bootlegs that they first put out in 2000.  It was a real opportunity to hear how different Pearl Jam is live rather than recorded.  They played “Leaving Here” a lot on that tour so I was super psyched to see it in person.  And then “Present Tense,” a great song from the overlooked No Code.

Then it was time for Mike McCready to stretch out with “Even Flow.”  How many miles do you think Mike walks in a show?  He is constantly on motion.  Mike played the guitar behind his head and then wandered out into the crowd a bit for the extended solo section.

They played “Missing,” the Chris Cornell song which sounded familiar, but I’m not sure if I knew it.

Then they played “Garden.”  Back in Philly, we had been at the Pearl Jam show where they did NOT pay Ten in its entirety.  And I’m okay with that, but I still want to hear all of the songs live.  We have now seen all of the songs except “Release.”

Then some more rocking with Not for You and the Sleater-Kinney tag they’ve been tacking on the end.)

Then my first exposure to their new anti-trump song “Can’t Deny Me.”  No idea why I hadn’t listened to it before.  It came out and I kind of forgot about it.  But the live version was intense with Eddie hitting a metal folding chair with a drumstick.  I hate when Pearl Jam “fans” complain about Eddie being political, as if the band isn’t intensely political–it’s part of their DNA.

Jeff Ament was wearing a T-shirt that said “metaphor” presumably for their Missoula Montana show poster which depicted a destroyed White House and a dead trump in front of it.

And I love that Eddie is always speaking out for women’s rights.  He addressed the alleged assault that happened at Wrigley Field during a recent Foo Fighters show, saying that there was no place for it here or anywhere.  And then men needed to treat women not with any special respect. There should be nothing special about it, it should be every day.

We had a lot of drunken meatheads out by us (it bugs me that there are so many Pearl Jam fans who are drunken meatheads and want Eddie to shut up and just play music).

Then came “Wishlist,” Sarah’s favorite song.  It makes me so happy when they play it because of how happy it makes her.

Eddie came out with the red guitar that Tom Petty gave to him and he played a nice singalong version of “I Won’t Back Down.”

And then came “Porch” a great, lengthy moody song to end the first set.  During the song, Eddie was wearing a Cubs jersey which he took off an gave to a fan in the front row.

Later in the set, Eddie went down to the barrier and high-fived the fans.  One of them was a young boy.  Eddie stayed with the boy for a few extra seconds (caught on the big screen). The boy’s dad couldn’t have been happier–a tear jerking moment for any proud parent.

Then it was an encore break (not sure why its not just called sets one and two,)

The band was in great form.  They sounded awesome and Eddie was his usual fun self.  A guy held up a sign that said “Play Red, Yellow, Black you Evanston pussy” (or something like that. Eddie joked with him–we played that the other night, where the fuck were you?  And then took exception to the Evanston crack and told Mike to tear his head off with the next guitar lick.

Eddie came out to play some solo stuff.

He played “Just Breathe” from Backspace and Sarah was super excited.  She was really hoping he’d play it, and then he did.

And then Dennis Rodman came out and was weird and possibly not appreciated (he mentioned something about North Korea).  Then he gave Eddie a ukulele.  Sarah has been learning the ukulele, so the fact that he played it live AND played the wonderful “Sleeping By Myself” was just too awesome.

They played a very cool, moody “Footsteps” which is always better seeing than just hearing.  Then I freaked out because they played both songs from the Singles soundtrack.  I love (and have seen) “State of Love and Trust” and “Breath” before, but to get them back to back was awesome.

It was interesting to hear them do The Clash’s “Know Your Rights” which I’ve heard them do live, but which doesn’t quite have the punch I wanted it to (I suspect that if you are on the ground or closer to the front these songs are much more powerful).

They played a roaring “Do the Evolution” (probably my favorite Pearl Jam song at any given time) and after the surprise Alone, they played a climaxing “Rearveiwmirror.”  This song is just so amazing live. They build it and jam it out for minute upon minute of building and building and when it’s finally done, it feels like the whole show is over.

But no, it’s just an encore break.

He talked about his beloved Cubs winning the world series.  The projected a video of David Bote’s incredible walk-off grand slam earlier in the week before covering the rookie’s walk-on song, “Rebel Rebel.”  They even somehow got general manager Tom Ricketts to leave the Cubs’ 2016 World Series Trophy on stage for a song.

And then they made Sarah very happy by playing “Better Man.”

Then Stone began the roaring opening to “Alive,” signalling the beginning of the end.  Eddie went out into the audience and everyone sang along as the stadium lights were turned on so you could see everyone.

It was followed by a great “Rockin in the Free World.”   Eddie had tambourines and everyone jammed and it was wonderfully cathartic.  It felt like the end of the show.  So much so that a raucous fan decided to take the opportunity to hop the barrier and get into the cherished infield.  He tiptoe-ran to third base and then did the ultimate fan thing by running the baseline and sliding into home (which was covered by a tarp, but still).  He got up as the band rocked in the free world with a giant smile on his face.  And as he tried to escape, five security guards piled in top of him knocking over the barrier as they went.  (Around 35 seconds in the video below)

I thought that was surely the end, but they had about ten minute left until curefew which was just enough time to squeeze in “Yellow Ledbetter.”

What a show.  We actaully go out of our aisle really quickly and were right by a merch booth so we were able to score some T-shirts and such (no posters were left).

Then we rushed back on the crushing and speeding (it went so fast around a tur that the whole car screamed) L train to take us back home to our sleeping kiddies.

What a terrific show.  And I couldn’t wait until Tuesday to see what they would play in conjunction with this one.

 

8/18/2018 (Wrigley Field Night 1)	8/20/2018 (Wrigley Field Night 2) 90 minute rain delay
“Aye Davanita”     (recording)	“Aye Davanita”     (recording)
Wash	Given to Fly (2)
Low Light (2)	Why Go (2)
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town (2)	Go (2)
Breakerfall	Last Exit
Corduroy (2)	Mind Your Manners (3)
Hail Hail (2)	Do the Evolution (4)
Animal (2)	Rain (The Beatles)
Getaway	Throw Your Hatred Down (Neil Young)
Leaving Here (Edward Holland Jr.)	Even Flow (4)
Present Tense	U (first performance since 2014}
Even Flow (3)	In My Tree (2)
Missing (Chris Cornell)	Immortality (2)
Garden	Daughter
Not For You (with “Modern Girl” tag) (2)	Unthought Known (3)
Can’t Deny Me	Jeremy (2)
Wishlist (3)	I am a Patriot (Little Steven)
I Won’t Back Down (Tom Petty)	Lukin (2)
Porch (2)	Porch (3)
encore	encore
Just Breathe	We’re Going to Be Friends (White Stripes)
Sleeping By Myself	Come Back
Footsteps (2)	Corduroy (3)
State of Love and Trust (2)	Black
Breath (2)	Lightning Bolt (3)
Know Your Rights (The Clash)	Rearviewmirror (4)
Do the Evolution (3)	Smile (2)
Alone	Evil Little Goat (live debut)
Rearviewmirror (3)	Leash
encore 2	Alive (4)
Rebel Rebel (David Bowie)	Baba O’ Riley (The Who)
Better Man (2) (with Save It For Later tag)
Alive (3)
Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young) (2)
Yellow Ledbetter (2)

4/28/2016 (Philly)	8/5/2016 (Ten Club Screening)	8/7/2016 (Fenway Park)
“Master/Slave”	“Baba O’Riley”     (The Who song)	Pendulum
Once	Release	Off He Goes
Animal	Long Road	Nothing as It Seems
Gonna See My Friend	Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town	Nothingman
All Night	Low Light	Wishlist (2)
Mind Your Manners	All Those Yesterdays	Corduroy (with “Interstellar Overdrive” intro)
Low Light	Given to Fly	Animal
Wishlist	Mind Your Manners	Hail Hail
Love Boat Captain	Why Go	Lightning Bolt (2)
Given to Fly	Daughter (with W.M.A. & Another Brick in the Wall)	In Hiding
Evenflow	Even Flow	Even Flow (2)
In the Moonlight	Faithfull	Sirens
In My Tree	Grievance	Draw the Line  (Aerosmith cover) (with Tom Hamilton)
Jeremy	I am Mine	Lukin
Education	Down	Not for You  (with ‘Modern Girl’ tag)
Unthought Known	Black (with Bronson Arroyo)	Immortality
Do the Evolution	Do the Evolution	Deep
Lightning Bolt	Masters of War     (Bob Dylan cover)	Jeremy
Porch	I Am a Patriot     (Little Steven cover)	Unthought Known (2)
encore	Porch	Rearviewmirror (2)
Picture in a Frame	encore	encore
Oceans	Strangest Tribe	Yellow Moon
Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns	Society     (Jerry Hannan cover)	Angel
Why Go	Just Breathe	Footsteps
Got Some	Sleeping by Myself     (Eddie Vedder song)	I Believe in Miracles     (Ramones cover)
Rearviewmirror	Wasted Reprise	Mind Your Manners (2)
Encore 2	Life Wasted	Better Man
Save You	State of Love and Trust	encore 2
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town [to the back seats]	Comfortably Numb     (Pink Floyd cover)	Smile
Crazy Mary	Corduroy	Go
State of Love and Trust	encore 2	Love, Reign O’er Me     (The Who cover)
Alive	Draw the Line     (Aerosmith cover)	Do the Evolution (2)
Fuckin’ Up	Alive	Breath
Indifference	I’ve Got a Feeling     (The Beatles cover)	Alive (2)
	Baba O’Riley (The Who cover)	Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young cover) (with J Mascis)
		Yellow Ledbetter (with “The Star-Spangled Banner” Mike McCready guitar outro)

These were the songs that I hoped they’d play
Grievance
Light Years
Dissident