Pearl Jam still Alive -- but they're no U2
Red Lukin2
Posts: 108
havent read it yet, but by going by the title I'd have to disagree
http://www.torontosun.com/Entertainment/Music/2005/09/20/1227294-sun.html
On Saturday night, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder joined U2 on stage at the Air Canada Centre. Last night, Bono returned the favour.
After a two-and-a-half hour set that made multiple references to the "distinguished, dignified" Irish lads, Pearl Jam launched into Neil Young's Keep On Rocking In The Free World for their third encore. With the lights completely raised in the venue, the unmistakable shape of a short rock star in a cowboy hat became clear: Bono was at the mic. The surprise guest appearance raised the show from mediocre to memorable.
Pearl Jam are rock 'n' roll survivors. The Seattle group has outwit, outplayed and outlasted almost all their 1990's "grunge" peers and the fall of the music industry in general by becoming a touring machine. They haven't had a hit in years, and their activities hardly generate a mention in the media these days. But 14 years after their groundbreaking debut disc, Ten, they're still alive, selling out shows at stadiums like the Air Canada Centre with little effort or promotion.
Last night's ACC gig is part of an extensive cross-Canada tour that hits such oft-neglected markets at Thunder Bay and St. John's.
And the crowds follow, trailing them from town to town, obsessive over the ever-changing set lists.
The band has even developed a successful authorized bootleg system. They've sold more than 3 million live discs so far, and you could buy a CD of last night's show for $10 just hours after it ended.
The band that was considered leaders of a brand new movement a decade ago has now become like a very old one.
Judging by the drunken, university-aged crowd, the Lollapalooza generation has abandoned them, but Gen Y has fully embraced Pearl Jam as the new Grateful Dead.
Pearl Jam don't do much in the way of spectacle these days. They don't have to. They simply launch into a classic like Given To Fly or Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, singer Eddie Vedder reaching his arms and voice up to the rafters to grab hold of the faithful, and the sold-out crowd responded with much enthusiastic nodding and pot smoking. Yes, just like Deadheads.
"Good evening, a toast," saluted Vedder. "My hotel room window looks out at something," he continued.
"I don't know what it's called, a big tower in the middle of the city. It makes me homesick because we have one, too. It's comforting to know that our big cities have something in common: They are both sporting rather large erections."
The singer isn't normally one for jokes, but he did crack another soon after:
"I want to thank U2 for opening for us" he laughed, referring to the band's multi-night stand at the ACC. Later, he admitted his group drank $1,500 worth of vodka with the Bono and the boys on Sunday night.
There were several musical U2 references throughout the set, too: Impromptu segues into bits of the Irish band's hits A Sort Of Homecoming and Bad, which Vedder called "one of the greatest songs ever."
Comparing themselves to the best live band on earth is a bad idea. While U2 has proven to be vital in the 21st century, their live shows spectacular displays of showmanship and innovative stage design, Pearl Jam in 2005 has little to offer anyone but their, albeit many, diehard fans. The audience knows every word, every nuance and new trick from guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, delighting in the extended solos and clever combinations of hits, album tracks and covers. From the opening riff of Indifference they knew to get their lighters out for the line "I will light the match this morning." They knew to "boo" when touring keyboardist Boom Gaspar was introduced.
For their part, Pearl Jam delivered an upbeat, rocking set heavy on their best known tunes, such as Even Flow, Daughter and Do The Evolution.
When Vedder took the stage solo for the tender Better Man, the audience erupted into a thunderous roar. They cheered and sang along on a sweet version of Neil Young's Harvest Moon, featuring back-up vocals from Carrie Brownstein, of opening act Sleater-Kinney.
But despite the massive love-in, something was missing. A sense of occasion. A sense of danger. A sense of now.
You could call Pearl Jam timeless. You could also call them outdated. They've earned the right to be classic rockers, but even when they play their biggest hit, Alive, it doesn't feel like a classic moment.
Vedder certainly didn't turn up his performance a notch. (Although he did run to one side of the stage instead of just facing drummer Matt Cameron.)
It was just another rock song from by-gone era, back when Pearl Jam actually mattered.
For two and a half hours, Pearl Jam preached to a grateful flock.
Then at the end, they were upstaged by a man in a cowboy hat and tambourine.
Just because they can make a good living being serious, damned good players with a massive back catalogue, doesn't make them relevant in the outside world once the lights go up.
As Bono's presence only highlighted, they're certainly no U2.
---
SELECTED SET LIST
HERE'S WHAT PEARL JAM PLAYED LAST NIGHT AT THE ACC
- Love Boat Captain
- A Sort Of Homecoming (U2 cover, excerpt)
- Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
- Even Flow
- Daughter
- Better Man (Vedder solo)
- Bad (U2 cover, excerpt)
- Black (extended)
- Do The Evolution
- You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (Beatles cover)
- Present Tense
- Wishlist
- Harvest Moon (Neil Young cover, with Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney)
- Indifference
- Alive
- Jeremy Keep On Rockin' In The Free World (Neil Young cover with Bono)
---
PEARL JAM
LAST NIGHT AIR CANADA CENTRE
Sun Rating: 3 out of 5
http://www.torontosun.com/Entertainment/Music/2005/09/20/1227294-sun.html
On Saturday night, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder joined U2 on stage at the Air Canada Centre. Last night, Bono returned the favour.
After a two-and-a-half hour set that made multiple references to the "distinguished, dignified" Irish lads, Pearl Jam launched into Neil Young's Keep On Rocking In The Free World for their third encore. With the lights completely raised in the venue, the unmistakable shape of a short rock star in a cowboy hat became clear: Bono was at the mic. The surprise guest appearance raised the show from mediocre to memorable.
Pearl Jam are rock 'n' roll survivors. The Seattle group has outwit, outplayed and outlasted almost all their 1990's "grunge" peers and the fall of the music industry in general by becoming a touring machine. They haven't had a hit in years, and their activities hardly generate a mention in the media these days. But 14 years after their groundbreaking debut disc, Ten, they're still alive, selling out shows at stadiums like the Air Canada Centre with little effort or promotion.
Last night's ACC gig is part of an extensive cross-Canada tour that hits such oft-neglected markets at Thunder Bay and St. John's.
And the crowds follow, trailing them from town to town, obsessive over the ever-changing set lists.
The band has even developed a successful authorized bootleg system. They've sold more than 3 million live discs so far, and you could buy a CD of last night's show for $10 just hours after it ended.
The band that was considered leaders of a brand new movement a decade ago has now become like a very old one.
Judging by the drunken, university-aged crowd, the Lollapalooza generation has abandoned them, but Gen Y has fully embraced Pearl Jam as the new Grateful Dead.
Pearl Jam don't do much in the way of spectacle these days. They don't have to. They simply launch into a classic like Given To Fly or Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, singer Eddie Vedder reaching his arms and voice up to the rafters to grab hold of the faithful, and the sold-out crowd responded with much enthusiastic nodding and pot smoking. Yes, just like Deadheads.
"Good evening, a toast," saluted Vedder. "My hotel room window looks out at something," he continued.
"I don't know what it's called, a big tower in the middle of the city. It makes me homesick because we have one, too. It's comforting to know that our big cities have something in common: They are both sporting rather large erections."
The singer isn't normally one for jokes, but he did crack another soon after:
"I want to thank U2 for opening for us" he laughed, referring to the band's multi-night stand at the ACC. Later, he admitted his group drank $1,500 worth of vodka with the Bono and the boys on Sunday night.
There were several musical U2 references throughout the set, too: Impromptu segues into bits of the Irish band's hits A Sort Of Homecoming and Bad, which Vedder called "one of the greatest songs ever."
Comparing themselves to the best live band on earth is a bad idea. While U2 has proven to be vital in the 21st century, their live shows spectacular displays of showmanship and innovative stage design, Pearl Jam in 2005 has little to offer anyone but their, albeit many, diehard fans. The audience knows every word, every nuance and new trick from guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, delighting in the extended solos and clever combinations of hits, album tracks and covers. From the opening riff of Indifference they knew to get their lighters out for the line "I will light the match this morning." They knew to "boo" when touring keyboardist Boom Gaspar was introduced.
For their part, Pearl Jam delivered an upbeat, rocking set heavy on their best known tunes, such as Even Flow, Daughter and Do The Evolution.
When Vedder took the stage solo for the tender Better Man, the audience erupted into a thunderous roar. They cheered and sang along on a sweet version of Neil Young's Harvest Moon, featuring back-up vocals from Carrie Brownstein, of opening act Sleater-Kinney.
But despite the massive love-in, something was missing. A sense of occasion. A sense of danger. A sense of now.
You could call Pearl Jam timeless. You could also call them outdated. They've earned the right to be classic rockers, but even when they play their biggest hit, Alive, it doesn't feel like a classic moment.
Vedder certainly didn't turn up his performance a notch. (Although he did run to one side of the stage instead of just facing drummer Matt Cameron.)
It was just another rock song from by-gone era, back when Pearl Jam actually mattered.
For two and a half hours, Pearl Jam preached to a grateful flock.
Then at the end, they were upstaged by a man in a cowboy hat and tambourine.
Just because they can make a good living being serious, damned good players with a massive back catalogue, doesn't make them relevant in the outside world once the lights go up.
As Bono's presence only highlighted, they're certainly no U2.
---
SELECTED SET LIST
HERE'S WHAT PEARL JAM PLAYED LAST NIGHT AT THE ACC
- Love Boat Captain
- A Sort Of Homecoming (U2 cover, excerpt)
- Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
- Even Flow
- Daughter
- Better Man (Vedder solo)
- Bad (U2 cover, excerpt)
- Black (extended)
- Do The Evolution
- You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (Beatles cover)
- Present Tense
- Wishlist
- Harvest Moon (Neil Young cover, with Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney)
- Indifference
- Alive
- Jeremy Keep On Rockin' In The Free World (Neil Young cover with Bono)
---
PEARL JAM
LAST NIGHT AIR CANADA CENTRE
Sun Rating: 3 out of 5
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
Circle comes around each time
then put your pen and notepad down and get your fist in the air! jeez. critics man.
This article is written by someone who only knows the music industry as money, glitz, glamour and designer jeans. He ignores the music in his article.
it seems that she is biased... maybe a diehard u2 fan...
and in her mind.. she knows... PJ is way better than U2...
damn these fools...
"I always tell the truth. Even when I lie" - T. Montana
---
"Yeah i know... sounds stupid." Aldrin said.
#18 INC forever
Is Lisa Ladouceur (writer) under the impression that every band goes out on stage and tries to compare to other bands.
U2 is a great band. They put on a great show. But they're different.
If you're going to write a review on a band, write a review on that band.
Don't compare everything they do to "what U2 would do".
Ridiculous.
This review is the funniest thing i've seen all week.
At least she threw in a pot smoking reference for me, before she started bashing the crap out of our favorite band.
yeah, go back to your U2 show, you sad little woman.
we know you don't get it, and we hope you weren't in a floor seat, cause that would be a waste.
If I opened it now would you not understand?
Did it ever occur to this woman they might be saying "Booooom" not "boooo" or even "Boooo-urns"?
Yea, seriously...what an idiot.
she's written the SAME review for PJ in toronto after the amazing show at the Amphitheatre in '03
she's saves her 5 star reviews for evanescence, system of a down and the killers.
by the way, someone said they save the 5 stars for system of a down, well they do deserve a good rating for sure. that was an awesome show as well. not as good as pearl jam to me, but they did kick ass.
God help us all if every rock reviewer starts judging all concerts by how they feel about U2.
Toronto '00, Buffalo '03, Detroit I & II '03, Toronto '03, Toledo '04, KItchener, London, Hamilton, Toronto, Halifax, St. John's I&II '05, Toronto I&II, Pittsburgh '06
It's like dodgeball when Stiller introduces his team. 'Blade, Razor, Blazer.....'
I don't like their music but i appreciate that they have good live shows.....they're U2, they have to! How fuckin' THIN would their songs sound if they did what PJ do? I'll tell you, FUCKIN THIN!!!!
Bastards, all of them!!!
Unless I was at a different show, it was Corine Tucker singing back-up vocals on Harvest Moon...which just about sums up the accuracy of Liisa Ladoucer's review.
ds
And no one makes me close my eyes
So I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky....
i agree, very uneducated.
lets face it - this sums up her musical knowledge!!
Looked like Corin Tucker to me
these guys just show up, ask people around them what's going on and then
write up some shit
I find it innocuous because she screwed up so badly that it's obvious she doesn't know what's she's talking about
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm a number that doesn't count
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the nothing ventured - the nothing feigned
omg, lmfao... Booooo-urns...
this writer is a loser...The Sun is notrious for uneducated and uninformed music reporters... If anyone is from the GTA, they will know that Jane Stevenson once gave the No code album 2 stars......
ahhh hello, that's because that album got rid of all the shit heads who wet their pants over hearing Jeremy!
go away losers
It was a great show, and the show didn't need Bono, just an added Bonus
great show boys!!!
probably pissed because she isn't reviewing the Bon Jovi show tonight....
HELLO!!!!!!!!!
U2 is NOT a ROCK BAND
U2 is NOT a ROCK BAND
U2 is NOT a ROCK BAND
U2 is NOT a ROCK BAND
Stop comparing Pearl Jam to a commercial POP band!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Halifax '05
To each his own, I suppose.
As she slams the door in his drunken face
And now he stands outside
And all the neighbours start to gossip and drool
He cries oh, girl you must be mad,
What happened to the sweet love you and me had?
Against the door he leans and starts a scene,
And his tears fall and burn the garden green