Lollapalooza '07 review by non fan
I thought this was a nice read, someone not wanting to enjoy the show but couldnt help them selves 
from Pitchfork :-
I won't pretend; I've barely thought about Pearl Jam, let alone listened to them, in this century. And so it was with a mix of morbid curiosity and nostalgia that I approached this, Lollapalooza 2007's culminating moment. Nostalgia ultimately won over, but first came the awe: There were A TON of people gathered on the south end of Grant Park, a panoramic sea of heads and colors, a spectacle unto itself. A steady stream of people left throughout this two-hour-plus set, but that vast mass of bodies never seemed to shrink. Tens and tens of thousands, numbers which, in my experience, only turn out at major sporting events-- a somewhat horrifying realization from which sprung a question: Can music really have meaning in a setting such as this?
As Eddie Vedder and band tore into "Why Go", it triggered for me a chain of Pearl Jam memories and associations: The band's unsuccessful attempt to trump Ticketmaster, Vedder's refusals to accept awards on principle, that kick-ass Todd McFarlane-animated video for "Do the Evolution", and so on. And when Eddie began "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" and everyone around me started singing along, I found myself singing too, surprised to find I knew and remembered pretty much all the lyrics. This would happen again with "Not For You", "Alive", and "Better Man". As a child of alternative rock radio, there are some things you'll just never shake.
Eddie's still a man of indie ethics too. He twice paid his respects to fellow Lollapalooza performers Patti Smith and Iggy Pop, two figures he described as "teachers." Mid-set he called attention to the campaign to save nearby Lake Michigan from BP Amoco's nefarious waste-dumping practices and suggested we think twice before buying BP gas. And then, um, Pearl Jam played a little song that went "Don't go/ To BP Amoco!" Goofy for sure, but also charming in its way.
Later Eddie morphed the outro to "Daughter" into "Another Brick in the Wall", which he further spun into some sort of indictment against our sitting president. And the second and final encore no doubt had the conservative Pearl Jam fans out there (I suspect there were more than a few) squirming: Eddie first called a wheelchair-bound Iraq War veteran onstage to say a few words against the war, then joined Friday night headliner Ben Harper for a (pretty lifeless, I'm sorry to say) acoustic protest tune. With the rest of Pearl Jam and Harper, Vedder capped it all off with-- what else-- a cover of "Rockin' in the Free World". Some 30 people soon joined the onstage orgy, although I wasn't close enough to discern precisely whom (word is Dennis Rodman was among them?!). Hell, Eddie even danced for a bit with the sign language interpreter.
I could tell you Pearl Jam have lost their edge with age (and they probably have, but is that at all surprising?). I could tell you their best songs remain their earliest songs, from that astoundingly fertile period when this band put out albums that spawned four or five radio hits apiece. I could tell you I was a tiny bit disappointed Eddie didn't climb the scaffolding during "Even Flow" like his does in the video, but that Mike McCready playing an entire solo with the guitar slung behind his head was pretty damned bad-ass (as were the fireworks that ignited the nearby sky soon after).
But when things reach this cultural level, nothing I say is going to matter in the least. This isn't music as art, or music as expression, or even music as spectacle (indeed, the complete lack of visual accoutrements, for one, contrasted sharply with Muse and Daft Punk, who had closed out this same stage the two previous nights). When it reaches this level, this is, fundamentally, music as ritual. Music for a bunch of once-or-twice-a-year concert-goers to mingle to, music for diehards to pump their firsts to, music for people who don't get out much to marvel at, music for lifelong and casual fans alike to sing along to. And there ain't nothing wrong with that. Let the Pearl Jam fans have their Pearl Jam.
from Pitchfork :-
I won't pretend; I've barely thought about Pearl Jam, let alone listened to them, in this century. And so it was with a mix of morbid curiosity and nostalgia that I approached this, Lollapalooza 2007's culminating moment. Nostalgia ultimately won over, but first came the awe: There were A TON of people gathered on the south end of Grant Park, a panoramic sea of heads and colors, a spectacle unto itself. A steady stream of people left throughout this two-hour-plus set, but that vast mass of bodies never seemed to shrink. Tens and tens of thousands, numbers which, in my experience, only turn out at major sporting events-- a somewhat horrifying realization from which sprung a question: Can music really have meaning in a setting such as this?
As Eddie Vedder and band tore into "Why Go", it triggered for me a chain of Pearl Jam memories and associations: The band's unsuccessful attempt to trump Ticketmaster, Vedder's refusals to accept awards on principle, that kick-ass Todd McFarlane-animated video for "Do the Evolution", and so on. And when Eddie began "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" and everyone around me started singing along, I found myself singing too, surprised to find I knew and remembered pretty much all the lyrics. This would happen again with "Not For You", "Alive", and "Better Man". As a child of alternative rock radio, there are some things you'll just never shake.
Eddie's still a man of indie ethics too. He twice paid his respects to fellow Lollapalooza performers Patti Smith and Iggy Pop, two figures he described as "teachers." Mid-set he called attention to the campaign to save nearby Lake Michigan from BP Amoco's nefarious waste-dumping practices and suggested we think twice before buying BP gas. And then, um, Pearl Jam played a little song that went "Don't go/ To BP Amoco!" Goofy for sure, but also charming in its way.
Later Eddie morphed the outro to "Daughter" into "Another Brick in the Wall", which he further spun into some sort of indictment against our sitting president. And the second and final encore no doubt had the conservative Pearl Jam fans out there (I suspect there were more than a few) squirming: Eddie first called a wheelchair-bound Iraq War veteran onstage to say a few words against the war, then joined Friday night headliner Ben Harper for a (pretty lifeless, I'm sorry to say) acoustic protest tune. With the rest of Pearl Jam and Harper, Vedder capped it all off with-- what else-- a cover of "Rockin' in the Free World". Some 30 people soon joined the onstage orgy, although I wasn't close enough to discern precisely whom (word is Dennis Rodman was among them?!). Hell, Eddie even danced for a bit with the sign language interpreter.
I could tell you Pearl Jam have lost their edge with age (and they probably have, but is that at all surprising?). I could tell you their best songs remain their earliest songs, from that astoundingly fertile period when this band put out albums that spawned four or five radio hits apiece. I could tell you I was a tiny bit disappointed Eddie didn't climb the scaffolding during "Even Flow" like his does in the video, but that Mike McCready playing an entire solo with the guitar slung behind his head was pretty damned bad-ass (as were the fireworks that ignited the nearby sky soon after).
But when things reach this cultural level, nothing I say is going to matter in the least. This isn't music as art, or music as expression, or even music as spectacle (indeed, the complete lack of visual accoutrements, for one, contrasted sharply with Muse and Daft Punk, who had closed out this same stage the two previous nights). When it reaches this level, this is, fundamentally, music as ritual. Music for a bunch of once-or-twice-a-year concert-goers to mingle to, music for diehards to pump their firsts to, music for people who don't get out much to marvel at, music for lifelong and casual fans alike to sing along to. And there ain't nothing wrong with that. Let the Pearl Jam fans have their Pearl Jam.
~~~~~~~~~~ PINK FLUFFY LOVE PSYCHO~~~~~~~~~~
Astoria,Dublin,Reading 06,Wembley 07,Sheapards Bush & o2 09 thats multiple Jamgasms!
Astoria,Dublin,Reading 06,Wembley 07,Sheapards Bush & o2 09 thats multiple Jamgasms!
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Astoria,Dublin,Reading 06,Wembley 07,Sheapards Bush & o2 09 thats multiple Jamgasms!
My Morning Jacket
Pearl Jam
Neil Young
Wilco
Tool
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pj shows
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Fuck yeah! This part gave me goosebumps. Is that sad?
- the great Sir Leo Harrison
if it is that makes 2 of us
Astoria,Dublin,Reading 06,Wembley 07,Sheapards Bush & o2 09 thats multiple Jamgasms!
I recall being at leeds in 2006 and there was a huge crowd really into the show, a huge number of people who clearly loved the show, people who wouldnt usually have bothered, but it was packed right to the death. Cant say more than that can you??
The NME - the piece of shit that it is, still managed to report that it was a shit show and full of boring guitar wanking. Just happy that i only read that article on a newstand and never paid them a fucking penny.
make that 3 of us, that part really got to me too.
Thanks v v
Here,here and LONG LIVE THE PEARL JAMS!!!!!!