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Pearl Jam fires off hits for faithful fans
DONNIE MOORHOUSE
STAFF
30 June 2008
The Republican
All
B06
ART: PHOTO
HARTFORD - Eddie Vedder looked out to the lawn at the New England Dodge Music Center on Friday night and was inspired to interrupt the version of "Betterman" he had just launched.
"Thank you Hartford," he said. "That is beautiful."
Thousands of faithful out on the vast hill held up lighters and cell phones, an impressive display of illumination in the midst of Pearl Jam's nearly three hour rock marathon at the Hartford venue.
The band barreled through a 28-song, double-encore set in front of a sold-out crowd.
Despite Vedder's proclamation from the stage that "we're gonna ease into this thing," Pearl Jam rattled-and-hummed through eight songs in the first 20 minutes opening with "Can't Keep," and full-throttling to "Breakerfall," "Last Exit," and "God's Dice."
Vedder gave the event a local feel when he dedicated "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town," to fans from "Ellington, Manchester, Danbury and Colchester."
He also commented on the humidity of a typical summer night in New England, claiming that it was "like playing under water," as he wrung out his soaked-through shirt.
The first wave of songs included "Big Wave," "In Hiding," and a cathartic "Not For You" culminating in the double salvo of "Daughter," which seamlessly bled into Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)."
Vedder used the song for one of a handful of political statements uttered during the set by rhyming the line "Teachers, leave them kids alone," with "bring our soldiers home." He urged the audience to "keep thinking, keep talking, keep acting," and introduced "Gone" by saying "this song was written when gas was still $2 a gallon."
As the finally tally can attest, the band was not merely racing toward a finish but urgently firing as many bullets from the gun as they could muster. There were a few healthy guitar jams during "Jeremy," "Gone," and the set-closing "Porch."
The encores seemed endless, with Vedder following the aforementioned "Betterman" with a blistering version of "Even Flow." The second encore showcased five more songs including "Yellow Ledbetter."
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists opened the show with a 45 minute set played to a sparse but enthusiastic crowd in transition from the parking lot to the venue.
CUTLINE: (COLOR) Eddie Vedder performed with Pearl Jam on Friday at the New England Dodge Music Center in Hartford.
Pearl Jam fires off hits for faithful fans
DONNIE MOORHOUSE
STAFF
30 June 2008
The Republican
All
B06
ART: PHOTO
HARTFORD - Eddie Vedder looked out to the lawn at the New England Dodge Music Center on Friday night and was inspired to interrupt the version of "Betterman" he had just launched.
"Thank you Hartford," he said. "That is beautiful."
Thousands of faithful out on the vast hill held up lighters and cell phones, an impressive display of illumination in the midst of Pearl Jam's nearly three hour rock marathon at the Hartford venue.
The band barreled through a 28-song, double-encore set in front of a sold-out crowd.
Despite Vedder's proclamation from the stage that "we're gonna ease into this thing," Pearl Jam rattled-and-hummed through eight songs in the first 20 minutes opening with "Can't Keep," and full-throttling to "Breakerfall," "Last Exit," and "God's Dice."
Vedder gave the event a local feel when he dedicated "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town," to fans from "Ellington, Manchester, Danbury and Colchester."
He also commented on the humidity of a typical summer night in New England, claiming that it was "like playing under water," as he wrung out his soaked-through shirt.
The first wave of songs included "Big Wave," "In Hiding," and a cathartic "Not For You" culminating in the double salvo of "Daughter," which seamlessly bled into Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)."
Vedder used the song for one of a handful of political statements uttered during the set by rhyming the line "Teachers, leave them kids alone," with "bring our soldiers home." He urged the audience to "keep thinking, keep talking, keep acting," and introduced "Gone" by saying "this song was written when gas was still $2 a gallon."
As the finally tally can attest, the band was not merely racing toward a finish but urgently firing as many bullets from the gun as they could muster. There were a few healthy guitar jams during "Jeremy," "Gone," and the set-closing "Porch."
The encores seemed endless, with Vedder following the aforementioned "Betterman" with a blistering version of "Even Flow." The second encore showcased five more songs including "Yellow Ledbetter."
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists opened the show with a 45 minute set played to a sparse but enthusiastic crowd in transition from the parking lot to the venue.
CUTLINE: (COLOR) Eddie Vedder performed with Pearl Jam on Friday at the New England Dodge Music Center in Hartford.
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
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PEARL JAM IS ELECTRIC GRUNGE SOUND STILL DRAWS PLENTY OF FANS TO DODGE
ERIC R. DANTON; Courant Rock Critic
29 June 2008
The Hartford Courant
3 stars/final
B3
We live in a time tailor-made for Pearl Jam.
In fact, it's not so different from the Seattle band's early years: the waning days of a Bush administration, economic malaise, general uncertainty about the future. Those were among the elements that fueled the rise of grunge in the early '90s.
Such factors may well have contributed to the band's roiling performance Friday at Dodge Music Center in Hartford, where Pearl Jam ripped through new tunes and old favorites before a huge crowd of vocal supporters.
Despite long lines of traffic into the venue and a daunting queue in which fan-club members had to wait to pick up their tickets, the hassles seemed worth the effort for the crowd, which sang along throughout Pearl Jam's 90-plus minute set. The band sounded alive and electric as the musicians sweated out their songs in the humidity.
"It's a lot like playing underwater up here," singer Eddie Vedder cracked. Still, he danced and stomped and pulled his coat over his head on "All Night," and guitarist Mike McCready roamed in tight near circles near his amplifiers on "Gone" and peeled off a wah-wah guitar solo on "Not For You." While the band showed hints of punk-rock roots in its urgent riffs and underdog attitude, Vedder demonstrated a populist streak, too. He dedicated early favorite "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" to Manchester, Ellington, New Britain and Danbury, which was surely a first.
He also made pointed reference to the tenor of the times. "Daughter," a grunge-era classic, morphed into Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2," and Vedder led the crowd in the refrain before adding an anti-war twist: "President, bring our soldiers home," he intoned.
Later, he launched into a critique of the Bush administration's environmental record, concluding, "We best start getting kind of active."
After playing for about 90 minutes, Pearl Jam returned for an encore that included "Better Man" and "Even Flow," two of the band's best-loved songs.
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists opened the show with a 40-minute set of smart, careening songs overflowing with heart. Although Leo has expanded the band from a trio to a quartet by adding another guitarist, the front man was still busy as ever on stage, jumping up and down on spring-loaded legs and digging into songs, including several new ones, with punk inflection.