Review of Toronto I
MrMerkinball
Posts: 1,978
From the Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Music/article/477464
Maybe Eddie Vedder knew what he was in for last night at Massey Hall – the forbearance of the front man for Seattle grunge rock band Pearl Jam over a relentless barrage of shouted requests and outbreaks of "Ed-die! Ed-die!" was friendly and formidable – but it took the audience, packed to the rafters and Pearl Jam freaks every one, half the show to figure out it had nothing to do with rock 'n' roll.
This performance, the fifth in an eight-city solo tour that began in Boston on Aug. 1, was more like an unplugged concert in an apparent replica of Vedder's home studio. It had a pair of ancient PA monitors upstage, an amplified stomp board and a small suitcase full of lyrics at the seated singer's feet, a desk supporting a lamp and old analogue tape recorder, and an assembly of stringed instruments (electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, ukulele) tended meticulously by a man in a white coat.
While the sensibility was definitely rock-fuelled, with Vedder sometimes lashing and thrashing his guitars with Townshend-inspired fury, the execution and content approached folk territory.
The chatty 90-minute set was remarkable less for the pared-down, rearranged Pearl Jam songs ("Sometimes" "I Am Mine," "Porch," among others) and the movie soundtrack vignettes (from Into the Wild, Body of War, I Am Sam) for which Vedder has earned acclaim and awards in recent years, than for the vintage covers the singer pulled seemingly at random out of thin air. There was a powerful anti-Bush-oriented version of Phil Ochs' "Here's to the State of Mississippi," Cat Stevens's "Trouble," John Lennon's "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," Tom Waits' "Picture in a Frame," James Taylor's "Millworker" and – by way of tribute to Massey Hall, on whose exterior he once unwittingly urinated, he told the audience in one of several hilarious asides – Neil Young's "Long May You Run."
To his credit, Vedder seemed unfazed by the crowd's restlessness for the first half-hour of the show, though it took a full five minutes for him to calm them down after his entrance to a full-throated standing ovation. His banter was intimate and inclusive, devoid of rock-star pretensions, and the musical work – alternating between hearty strumming and elegant picking, with a soupçon of special effects – was earnest and compelling, his voice soulful and passionate.
One-man rock band Liam Finn, with help from singer and percussionist Eliza-Jane Barnes and an astonishing array of special effects and tape loops, was a frenetic and fascinating opener, in tune with the program's DIY aesthetic.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Music/article/477464
Maybe Eddie Vedder knew what he was in for last night at Massey Hall – the forbearance of the front man for Seattle grunge rock band Pearl Jam over a relentless barrage of shouted requests and outbreaks of "Ed-die! Ed-die!" was friendly and formidable – but it took the audience, packed to the rafters and Pearl Jam freaks every one, half the show to figure out it had nothing to do with rock 'n' roll.
This performance, the fifth in an eight-city solo tour that began in Boston on Aug. 1, was more like an unplugged concert in an apparent replica of Vedder's home studio. It had a pair of ancient PA monitors upstage, an amplified stomp board and a small suitcase full of lyrics at the seated singer's feet, a desk supporting a lamp and old analogue tape recorder, and an assembly of stringed instruments (electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, ukulele) tended meticulously by a man in a white coat.
While the sensibility was definitely rock-fuelled, with Vedder sometimes lashing and thrashing his guitars with Townshend-inspired fury, the execution and content approached folk territory.
The chatty 90-minute set was remarkable less for the pared-down, rearranged Pearl Jam songs ("Sometimes" "I Am Mine," "Porch," among others) and the movie soundtrack vignettes (from Into the Wild, Body of War, I Am Sam) for which Vedder has earned acclaim and awards in recent years, than for the vintage covers the singer pulled seemingly at random out of thin air. There was a powerful anti-Bush-oriented version of Phil Ochs' "Here's to the State of Mississippi," Cat Stevens's "Trouble," John Lennon's "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," Tom Waits' "Picture in a Frame," James Taylor's "Millworker" and – by way of tribute to Massey Hall, on whose exterior he once unwittingly urinated, he told the audience in one of several hilarious asides – Neil Young's "Long May You Run."
To his credit, Vedder seemed unfazed by the crowd's restlessness for the first half-hour of the show, though it took a full five minutes for him to calm them down after his entrance to a full-throated standing ovation. His banter was intimate and inclusive, devoid of rock-star pretensions, and the musical work – alternating between hearty strumming and elegant picking, with a soupçon of special effects – was earnest and compelling, his voice soulful and passionate.
One-man rock band Liam Finn, with help from singer and percussionist Eliza-Jane Barnes and an astonishing array of special effects and tape loops, was a frenetic and fascinating opener, in tune with the program's DIY aesthetic.
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8/25/98, 8/21/00, 9/5/00, 4/26/03, 5/3/03, 6/24/03, 9/28/05, 10/03/05, 5/20/06, 6/23/06, EV 8/16/08, EV 6/18/09, 5/20/10, 9/15/11, 10/11/13, 10/27/13, 10/1/14, 8/20/16, 8/22/16, TOTD 11/7/16, 8/18/18, 9/2/18, 9/4/18, 9/11/22, 9/14/22, 8/26/24, 9/12/24, 9/27/24, 9/29/24
Wondering if this person was actually there. Millworker was *not* played and his story was about *not* urinating on Massey Hall.
turns out the world thought me
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
Oooooh... Long May You Run... that must have been great to hear
check a montreal newspaper.
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I'm a number that doesn't count
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the nothing ventured - the nothing feigned
Well, things came down to the wire late yesterday afternoon, but everything worked out well in the end,...
I'm proud/excited to post that Ed has personally donated a SIGNED poster for TONIGHT'S pre-party auction to benefit the White Ribbon Campaign. Ed signed the poster sold at Toronto I with a silver sharpie and the signature is BRILLIANT! The poster was signed at 6:45pm yesterday at Massey Hall and was then handed to me so I can assure you it has been handled VERY carefully. For those attending tonight's pre-party, get there EARLY and make sure to place your bid for the BEAUTIFUL poster to help a VERY worthwhile cause!
"Me knowing the truth, I can not concur."
1996: Toronto - 1998: Chicago, Montreal, Barrie - 2000: Montreal, Toronto - 2002: Seattle X2 (Key Arena) - 2003: Cleveland, Buffalo, Toronto, Montreal, Seattle (Benaroya Hall) - 2004: Reading, Toledo, Grand Rapids - 2005: Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Quebec City - 2006: Toronto X2, Albany, Hartford, Grand Rapids, Cleveland - 2007: Chicago (Vic Theatre) - 2008: NYC X2, Hartford, Mansfield X2 - 2009: Toronto, Chicago X2, Seattle X2, Philadelphia X4 - 2010: Columbus, Noblesville, Cleveland, Buffalo, Hartford - 2011: Montreal, Toronto X2, Ottawa, Hamilton - 2012: Missoula - 2013: London, Chicago, Buffalo, Hartford - 2014: Detroit, Moline - 2015: NYC (Global Citizen Festival) - 2016: Greenville, Toronto X2, Chicago 1 - 2017: Brooklyn (RRHOF Induction) - 2018: Chicago 1, Boston 1 - 2022: Fresno, Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto, NYC, Camden - 2023: St. Paul X2, Austin X2 - 2024: Vancouver X2, Portland, Sacramento, Missoula, Noblesville, Philadelphia X2, Baltimore - 2025: Hollywood X2, Atlanta 2, Nashville X2, Pittsburgh X2
I checked the Gazette - nothing.
Believe he played Here's to the State after considering Millworker - also seems to have the length of the set way off.
q