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: