Seattle Slew

If there's one band who I would chunk down a large wad of cash to go see in any corner of the world, it's those Seattle survivors in Pearl Jam. When I say survivors, they haven't had to deal with 'Behind the Music' kind of drama or death of band members, but they're one of the few 90s-era bands who continue to make relevant music and sell out tours. This recent concert being in Sydney, of course it wasn't sold out, but the Sydney Football Stadium was well-represented by more than just the Gen X set. Pre-concert drinks at Mike and Laura's even provided the fantastic trifecta: good sports (watching my Buckeyes beat Michican!), good music and good people....

I'd consider Pearl Jam the quinessentail rock band of the last 25 years. Sure, there's U2, but their over-the-top shows are more spectacle than a pure, down-and dirty rock concert. PJ has taken the journey from 'grunge' superstardom to stalemate battling with Ticketmaster, relative obscurity following demise of alt rock and cult resurgence in the last 10 years. I was dissapointed to hear from some people, who were obviously not going to the Sunday concert: 'Pearl Jam? They're still around?' Little do they know, the band has one of the biggest tour followings in music. Plus, their last few albums have vaulted the band back onto magazine covers and musical guest spots on the late show circuit and Saurday Night Live.

If you've ever had the chance to see Pearl Jam, either in their 90s commercial grunge-era heyday, or now during a more matured, seasoned cult-status phase, you'd know this is a band that brings the a-game for each show. Last Sunday was a great example: lead singer Eddie Vedder was hampered with a nasty flu, which he apparently caught a few nights before in Melbourne. With us mortals, the flu will keep us home in bed, out of work for a few days. When you're in a rock band, drink some tea and get out there, give it your all. Eddie and the band gave us what would normally be a B performance, but much more appreciated given Eddie's health and the 90-degree plus sweltering heat.

The band took the Sydney crowd through a series of their hits, from Ten all the way to their most recent, Backspacer. Openers Ben Harper and Liam Finn even joined the band for a few songs during the encore. Mostly satisfied with the setlist, pretty standard collection for a stadium show. They catered to Eddie's diminishing voice and let Stone Gossard sing a track from 1996's No Code, one of their more underrated albums.

Oh, and here's a little piece of trivia I learned during our pre-concert partying: their debut album, Ten, was named such because that was the number of basketballer and the band's previous namesake, Mookie Blaylock. Ahh, yes, makes sense.

I'd prefer a smaller venue and not to have local yokels with their shirts off, yelling into mobile phones searching for their girlfriends. Buuut, pretty cool to catch the band in the land down under and hear Eddie talk about his take on Australia: something about a country with more lifeguards than any other, drinking Cascade beer and expat North Americans with Aussie accents.

After their traditional second encore set, the band closed out the show with a rollicking rendition of Neil Young's 'Rockin in a Free World.' An exhaused Eddie of course jumped the barricades and high-fived the appreciative crowd. He's not jumping off stages anymore, but still a man of the people. I'm not sure the crowd were as familiar with this tune, they might have been to busy on their mobile phone, looking for that elusive girlfriend.

This show now brings my PJ show count to seven, all in different cities: Hartford '98, Boston '00, Irvine '03, San Diego '06, LA '06, Chicago '07 and now Sydney '09. Can't wait for the next city.

Here's a clip from the band's Vitalogy years, with Eddie looking younger and beardless on SNL:

Ten Club

This is an appropriate title, since I saw Pearl Jam in concert last night (more on that later). As we enter the final month or so of the 21st century’s first decade, it’s time to crown the best performers and teams since 2000.

A look back at the decade reminds us that sports are still just a diversion for real life. The delayed games after September 11 showed us that. But it can still be inspiring (Lance Armstrong record-breaking run from ’00-‘05), make you believe in miracles (Red Sox ’04) and bring communities together (hell, even I rooted for the Yankees in 2001). For all the greed, problem athletes and steroid scandals, it’s still hard to beat a classic game in 2009. So here are my picks for the best teams and athletes of the no-name decade.

NFL: New England Patriots. They started out the decade as loveable underdogs. Eight years and three Super Bowls later, they’re a bit hated, but possibly the most successful sports team of the decade.

College football: Tough one between USC and Florida, and since I hate the Gators much, I’ll give it to the Trojans. Since ’02, they’ve been the best team on the west coast, and with the exception of this year, a lock for big-time BCS game. Florida remains number one at the moment and could win their third of the decade, but their qb is a preacher and coach seems like a major jerk. Enough reason for me.

NBA: LA Lakers. For all their infighting, the Shaq-Kobe-Phil incarnation brought the glory back to the purple and gold. Three straight championships, some possibly helped by questionable refereeing, might have been enough. The past two years and the ’09 championship put them above the Spurs.

College basketball: North Carolina. Another opportunity to knock Florida off their pedestal. Two championships is impressive, but Roy Williams finally breaking through and taking his alma mater to two championships gives the Tar Heels the ‘best of’ title.

Baseball: Boston Red Sox. While the Yankees have the most division championships, World Series appearances and tied for WS wins, it’s all about the Red Sox for me. Their comeback and eventual victory in 2004 remains one of the top five best sports stories of all time for me. Then to come back and win it two years later showed they weren’t a fluke. Without that story, baseball would be all about steroids and increasing gap between haves and have nots.

Hockey: Detroit Red Wings. A pretty sad decade for the league, with a marathon mid-decade strike and series of no-name franchises winning the Stanley Cup. Detroit won two - almost three this year – and remain Hockeytown USA, so I’ll give it to the poor city of Detroit. That might make up for the Lions, Tigers, General Motors and Kid Rock. Oye.

Athlete: Lance Armstrong. How can you go against the guy? He won seven straight tours, retired, came back and proceeded to sport the yellow jersey for much of this year’s race. Oh, and he was undergoing chemotherapy a little over a decade ago. Cycling wasn’t on the map before he came along, fell off when he was gone, and back again. Yes, he almost died f cancer and won an excruciating bike race against the best in the world for seven straight years.

Runner up: Tiger Woods. The most dominating athlete and a transcendent celebrity presence, but until he wins seven straight majors, he can’ beat Lance. Consistently hitting a golf ball has to be one of the toughest things in sports, but what’s harder is beating cancer and climbing a mountain on a bike. Tiger’s got all the money in the world, hot wife and a Stanford education. He can’t win everything.

There you have it. Here’s hoping for a memorable decade coming up that’s chock full of memories and less end zone dances, please. As for my fave sports moment of the decade, this might be tops since I snuck into this game in 2003:

Walk of Life

This blog is about music and sports. Two forms of entertainment that weave seamlessly together like peanut butter and jelly, pork chops and apple sauce or fittingly, lions and tigers and bears. We see athletes constantly trying to play in bands and musicians supporting their favoite teams. We watch basketball games at the arena one night and Led Zep rock the roof off the next. Hell, you can't even go five minutes at a sporting event these days without hearing the Stones at kickoff in Kansas City, Sinatra with a win in New York or Randy Newman postgame in LA.

There are even music videos which seem exclusively tailored for the sports fan, including this mid-80's gem from Dire Straits (dumb corporate record company won't let me embed video):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_lfqKbOvTk

Side note on that video: pretty cheesy look by the band, but love the sports bloopers, followed by great plays. And as a Laker fan, always remember the quick shot of the team celebrating the '85 championship...in the Boston Garden, no less.

Sure, both popular sport and music have been filtered down in the last 20-30 years by greed, poor sportsmanship and a host of lackluster bands, but there remains something about watching a classic game or the excitement of a great concert that can't be denied (to use the first of many sports cliches).

So this blog is about two of my favorite pastimes and all the history, celebration, passion and opinion that go along with the big game and the next big band. This is a fitting time to start writing, since NFL, college football, NBA and NHL are in full swing and bands are finally coming to Sydney again. Lots to cover, lots to discuss.

If you haven't seen this montage from ESPN's turn-of-the-century retrospective, give it a watch. In about three minutes, this encapsulates the passion of 100 years of sports and how powerful the driving force of a soundtrack can be. Scuse me, while I kiss the sky....then tear up a bit.