Milwaukee Newspaper Reveiw

chicagoguy

Did not see this online yet.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=445270

Vedder rocks with new power while relaxed
Petty brings a few surprises at amphitheater
By DAVE TIANEN
dtianen@journalsentinel.com
Posted: June 30, 2006


As Eddie Vedder noted several songs into his set, it was almost Pearl Jam unplugged Thursday night at the Marcus Amphitheater.


Leading the crowd in a round of thanks, Vedder said, "Thanks to the power company for doing their part to keep the rock 'n' roll alive."

It was evident early on, though, that the resurgence of power wasn't limited just to the Summerfest electrical system. As has been noted, this seems to be a new Eddie Vedder. At last, at 41, he seems comfortable in his rock 'n' roll star skin.

Vedder leaps high into the air and even steps to the front of the stage to slap fans' outstretched hands. He has turned into a showman, and a generous one at that, thanking Tom Petty for the opportunity to play with his band and even leading the crowd in a choral greeting to Elvis Costello out there on the grounds.

Not surprisingly, the show relied heavily on Pearl Jam's self-titled new album. The band opened with the quieter reprise of "Life Wasted" and then charged into the furious full-length take at full velocity. That was followed by the equally relentless "World Wide Suicide," Pearl Jam's angry lament of the violence at play on both sides of the global conflict. Although the album clearly has a point of view, Vedder largely resisted the temptation to preach. Frankly, much of the lyrical content early on was obliterated by the roar of Mike McCready's guitar.

When this show was announced, I had some doubts about how well the Pearl Jam and Petty audiences would complement one another. They clearly cover two, maybe three different generations. As it turned out, however, only maybe 15% or 20% of the crowd left after Pearl Jam's set.

Those who stayed were rewarded with a relaxed, confident Petty who seemed happy to reprise the old hits. They started with the jangly Byrds flavor of "Listen to Her Heart" before moving into the cheery defiance of "I Won't Back Down" and the good girl done wrong of "Free Fallin'."

There were a couple of minor surprises early on. Petty introduced a song from his forthcoming solo album. The new tune was called "Saving Grace," and it wrestles with redemption over a churning John Lee Hooker / ZZ Top boogie guitar line. After a slightly pumped-up take on "Mary Jane's Last Dance," Petty delivered a nod to the Yardbirds by way of Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley with an up-tempo take on "Mannish Boy."

One of the oddities of Thursday's show was that Pearl Jam didn't get to employ any of the elaborate lighting or projection TV screens that the Heartbreakers put into service. Depending on the configuration, there were six to eight screens going at once.

Deadlines prevented a review of Petty's entire set.

patrickredeyes

chicagoguy wrote:

Did not see this online yet.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=445270

Vedder rocks with new power while relaxed
Petty brings a few surprises at amphitheater
By DAVE TIANEN
dtianen@journalsentinel.com
Posted: June 30, 2006


As Eddie Vedder noted several songs into his set, it was almost Pearl Jam unplugged Thursday night at the Marcus Amphitheater.


Leading the crowd in a round of thanks, Vedder said, "Thanks to the power company for doing their part to keep the rock 'n' roll alive."

It was evident early on, though, that the resurgence of power wasn't limited just to the Summerfest electrical system. As has been noted, this seems to be a new Eddie Vedder. At last, at 41, he seems comfortable in his rock 'n' roll star skin.

Vedder leaps high into the air and even steps to the front of the stage to slap fans' outstretched hands. He has turned into a showman, and a generous one at that, thanking Tom Petty for the opportunity to play with his band and even leading the crowd in a choral greeting to Elvis Costello out there on the grounds.

Not surprisingly, the show relied heavily on Pearl Jam's self-titled new album. The band opened with the quieter reprise of "Life Wasted" and then charged into the furious full-length take at full velocity. That was followed by the equally relentless "World Wide Suicide," Pearl Jam's angry lament of the violence at play on both sides of the global conflict. Although the album clearly has a point of view, Vedder largely resisted the temptation to preach. Frankly, much of the lyrical content early on was obliterated by the roar of Mike McCready's guitar.

When this show was announced, I had some doubts about how well the Pearl Jam and Petty audiences would complement one another. They clearly cover two, maybe three different generations. As it turned out, however, only maybe 15% or 20% of the crowd left after Pearl Jam's set.

Those who stayed were rewarded with a relaxed, confident Petty who seemed happy to reprise the old hits. They started with the jangly Byrds flavor of "Listen to Her Heart" before moving into the cheery defiance of "I Won't Back Down" and the good girl done wrong of "Free Fallin'."

There were a couple of minor surprises early on. Petty introduced a song from his forthcoming solo album. The new tune was called "Saving Grace," and it wrestles with redemption over a churning John Lee Hooker / ZZ Top boogie guitar line. After a slightly pumped-up take on "Mary Jane's Last Dance," Petty delivered a nod to the Yardbirds by way of Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley with an up-tempo take on "Mannish Boy."

One of the oddities of Thursday's show was that Pearl Jam didn't get to employ any of the elaborate lighting or projection TV screens that the Heartbreakers put into service. Depending on the configuration, there were six to eight screens going at once.

Deadlines prevented a review of Petty's entire set.

Nice pic of Ed. Petty looks like hes dead. lol

rebornFixer

patrickredeyes wrote:

Nice pic of Ed. Petty looks like hes dead. lol

I am a big Petty fan, but damn ... Has anyone here seen Cold Mountain? He looks like Teague's psychopathic second in command, the guy that kills Inman in the end?

Damn ...

Zoso

cool review but me staring to think bad idea opening for Petty. Pearl jam get most of the coverage in these reviews anyhow.