Article - Akron Beacon Journal (OH) - Cleveland Review(Positive)
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Pearl Jam jam pleases masses; Voracious crowd eats up hard-rocking show of more than 25 songs
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal staff writer
21 May 2006
Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
4X
2
It's been 15 years since Pearl Jam became the second-most-
famous grunge band in the world. In that time the Seattle quintet has perfected the reluctant rock star pose, fought and lost a battle with a corporate ticketing monolith, spoke out and supported various political issues, released eight albums' worth of its earnest, mostly arena-ready guitar rock and garnered loyal and dedicated fans who have grown up with the band.
The bulk of the band's albums don't reach the lofty heights of the 1991 debut, Ten, but they have transformed themselves into a monster touring act, selling out arenas and recording and releasing nearly every show for the last four years on CD to a still-
voracious fan base.
Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, the band of forty-somethings played to a near-capacity audience and gave the screaming masses their money's worth with an array of more than 25 songs from Pearl Jam's entire career. Singer and setlist-maker Eddie Vedder front-loaded the set with a few of the concise, hard-rocking tunes from the bands' recently released Pearl Jam. But the band began the show with a pair of old chestnuts -- Given To Fly and Betterman, to which the audience happily sang the first verse and chorus accompanied only by Vedder's solo guitar.
For much of the first half of the 2 ½-hour show, the band, known to turn the `Jam' in its name into a verb, was a straightfoward rock 'n' roll machine, playing exacting versions of several new upbeat tunes including Life Wasted, Severed Hand andthe anti-war single, World Wide Suicide.
While much of the audience seemed familiar with the new songs, it was longtime fan favorites such as Daughter from the second album, Vs., and Immortality that drew the most attention.
The first setlist ended masterfully with a foursome of hard-rocking and punk-
influenced songs that included Lukin, Do The Evolution and Spin The Black Circle, leading into an extended You that allowed guitarist Mike McCready the first real chance to show off his facile fret work.
Vedder kept his comments brief and mostly apolitical, offering a well-received ``Pistons suck!'' and commenting on the job market in Northeast Ohio before Unemployable.
Earlier, opening act My Morning Jacket made a favorable impression on the then-still-growing crowd with its take on Southern-fried, '70s-influenced rock taken mostly from the most recent album, Z, and the 2003 breakthrough, It Still Moves.
Pearl Jam jam pleases masses; Voracious crowd eats up hard-rocking show of more than 25 songs
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal staff writer
21 May 2006
Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
4X
2
It's been 15 years since Pearl Jam became the second-most-
famous grunge band in the world. In that time the Seattle quintet has perfected the reluctant rock star pose, fought and lost a battle with a corporate ticketing monolith, spoke out and supported various political issues, released eight albums' worth of its earnest, mostly arena-ready guitar rock and garnered loyal and dedicated fans who have grown up with the band.
The bulk of the band's albums don't reach the lofty heights of the 1991 debut, Ten, but they have transformed themselves into a monster touring act, selling out arenas and recording and releasing nearly every show for the last four years on CD to a still-
voracious fan base.
Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, the band of forty-somethings played to a near-capacity audience and gave the screaming masses their money's worth with an array of more than 25 songs from Pearl Jam's entire career. Singer and setlist-maker Eddie Vedder front-loaded the set with a few of the concise, hard-rocking tunes from the bands' recently released Pearl Jam. But the band began the show with a pair of old chestnuts -- Given To Fly and Betterman, to which the audience happily sang the first verse and chorus accompanied only by Vedder's solo guitar.
For much of the first half of the 2 ½-hour show, the band, known to turn the `Jam' in its name into a verb, was a straightfoward rock 'n' roll machine, playing exacting versions of several new upbeat tunes including Life Wasted, Severed Hand andthe anti-war single, World Wide Suicide.
While much of the audience seemed familiar with the new songs, it was longtime fan favorites such as Daughter from the second album, Vs., and Immortality that drew the most attention.
The first setlist ended masterfully with a foursome of hard-rocking and punk-
influenced songs that included Lukin, Do The Evolution and Spin The Black Circle, leading into an extended You that allowed guitarist Mike McCready the first real chance to show off his facile fret work.
Vedder kept his comments brief and mostly apolitical, offering a well-received ``Pistons suck!'' and commenting on the job market in Northeast Ohio before Unemployable.
Earlier, opening act My Morning Jacket made a favorable impression on the then-still-growing crowd with its take on Southern-fried, '70s-influenced rock taken mostly from the most recent album, Z, and the 2003 breakthrough, It Still Moves.
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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