**Thunder Bay Fanviews Here**

I found this review of the Pearl Jam show in Thunder Bay on the internet. Is the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Jounrnal the MAIN newspaper in town? I hope not. Anyways, I wrote a reply on the story -- I had to. I figured I'd post the story since it's good for a laugh at least. I doubt the band is in the business of reading each night's reviews, but it kind of amuses me to think about what their reaction would have been to this one.

Some of you guys in TB should call the editor and ask that they send a MUSIC REPORTER to do their concert reviews from now on.
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Pearl Jam brings back early ’90s

By Ward Holland - The Chronicle-Journal

September 11, 2005

http://www.chroniclejournal.com/story.shtml?id=28857

There were several memorable moments during Friday’s Pearl Jam concert, but one sticks out.

At the end of the first encore, lead singer Eddie Vedder modified the lyrics of his song Alive and pointed to a few fans in the audience and belted, “Oooo, you’re still alive. You’re still alive!”

It was a fine gesture to Thunder Bay residents who may have suffered layoffs in the pulp and paper industry of late. And like the Allan Cup victory earlier this year, it gave people a positive vibe. The crowd roared after the song ended.

Pearl Jam, a band with a social conscience, put on a very good show Friday and used every weapon in their arsenal, including a simple, effective spotlight system to introduce themselves.

They also gave the audience, most of them from Generations X and Y, what they wanted: songs from their early albums. They played Black, Even Flow, Jeremy, Nothing Man and Animal.

The volume at the concert was just about right. They were loud, but not too loud, like a Smashing Pumpkins concert I went to in Edmonton several years ago that was painful. (You know you’ve hit 30 when you start talking about volume levels and damage to your hearing.)

By the third song, Vedder had the crowd in his back pocket. When he started clapping, nearly everyone in the stands and on the floor at Fort William Gardens was clapping along with him. Vedder looked comfortable on stage, casually sipping from a water bottle like he was in his kitchen.

Another reporter told me he saw Pearl Jam in Minneapolis a few years ago and believed Friday’s Thunder Bay show was better because they played more of their old stuff.

I agree. I was most impressed when they played songs from their first two albums, Ten and Vs. Vedder got the crowd blaring the lyrics of Animal back to him. And the best guitar moment of the night was Even Flow, when the bassist played a steady, rat-a-tat-tat solo that lasted a few minutes. It was impressive and showed that Pearl Jam isn’t just The Eddie Vedder Show.

Vedder, who comes across in magazine interviews as Mr. Serious, even displayed a bit of humour. He said the Gardens was a hot stadium to play in and added, “How the (expletive) do you play hockey in here?”

He even cracked a joke about losing his hearing. “I can (expletive) like a rabbit, but I can’t hear a thing,” he said.

The band didn’t do any crowd surfing like they did in the 1990s. Thank goodness. Those thirty- and forty-somethings might have broken a hip! ha. Instead, Vedder walked among the people in the stands sitting directly behind the stage. I’ve never seen the lead singer of a major rock ‘n’ roll band do that. It was a nice touch, very Gordie Howe-ish.

Pearl Jam is a good band, but for the life of me I still don’t understand what some of their lyrics are trying to communicate. I wish their songs were more straightforward, like when Vedder sat in the crowd and sang, “Oh where oh where could my baby be, the Lord took her away from me,” at the west end of the Gardens.

The concert was very good, but it left me wanting more. Pearl Jam is a band that is politically aware. And, unlike many others, they have the ability to shape the way people think. (Any band that lists Errol Morris’s documentary The Fog of War on their website must have brains.)

But where are their political songs? Creedence Clearwater Revival and other bands wrote straightforward songs about the Vietnam War.

Why can’t Pearl Jam do the same?

They showed they can do basic rock ‘n’ roll. At the end of the show, they and the Supersuckers did a rockin’ version of Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World. It was inspiring. Wouldn’t it be great if Vedder and Co. could write and perform snappy anti-Iraq War and anti-George W. Bush songs?

Then they would be even more impressive.

All I know is that was well worth the 33 hours of driving to see Pearl Jam in Thunder Bay. Talk about hot though. Man! I was sweating bullets out there and walked out so dehydrated, which was I can contribute partly to the alcohol consumed before the show.

The set was freaking awesome. And my seats....I about shit it when I picked up my tickets. I figured I'd have decent seats, being ten club and all, but I never expected to get 5th row center. Unbelievable! I've never been so stoked in my life. My calves were sore the next day from jumping.

Best parts...Ed piggy back singing I Believe in Miracles, the fist-pumping "Ay!" action during Alive (talk about adrenaline rush, I thought I was gonna pass out by this time in the show), the crowd starting off SOLAT, and Porch...

Despite the heat, the energy was so high at this show I left completely drained and changed aftershow plans from partying on the town to going back to the Valhalla with Little Caesars and resting up for the next days drive.

I couldn't have had a better time and I can't wait for next years US tour.

Thanks for the hookup ten club....made the gas money meaningless and the heat stroke painless.

That show rocked!!! I will never look at a setlist and think the show was not a good one. Unbelievable energy.

All you Tunderbay folk can party. Thanks for the hookups. You guys are great!

You are welcome to come to Chicago and party anytime.

The dude from Winnepeg had me laughing all the way back to Chicago.
"So who do you know here?"
"Not a one"

Great time!

I downloaded that really hot show last night and was unable to receive Cropduster and Animal to finish my first half of the disc. If you could email me those two files it would be great. I am rather upset with Basecamp. The Gorge show only gave me half the damn songs. Any help would be great.

Email:

daughter34@yahoo.com

nevmiles wrote:

Haven't read many of the other posts so it may have been mentioned already . . . but what was it like with only about 4800 people? Must have been fantastically intimate . . .

Great show, I could have sweated it out for a few more songs. Present Tense was a great way to start out a show, even though I could tell I was among a small group singing along. The jam sessions on Even Flow and Porch were especially great, it shows how great of performers Stone, Jeff, Mike and Matt can be without using their voice.

Another Great Show for the Record Books!!

Thanks for the props Mike, CCFA.

Minneapolis 1998
St. Paul 2003
Alpine Valley 2003
Thunder Bay 2005

HeartAttackMan wrote:

Unless you were there dont complain. Ive had the priviledge of seeing them a pile of times and this was the best yet. They played there ass off in a hot venue and it was amazing. The pictures tell the story. It was great to see them here and they continue to amaze. 23 songs maybe, but the actual show was no shorter. They jammed out alot of them and to see poor girl and I believe in Miracles with the Supersuckers was awesome. It was a fantastic show and Ed was exhausted by the end. They never cease to amaze. The crowd didn't sit for the whole show. I m glad they came here and I hope they will come back. It was an amazing show.

oh. well, ok. still not the best set list i've seen, though.

however, there's no doubt that pearl jam rules.

Everyone here in tbay cant stop takling about that concert! Fucking amazing show i think even with a shorter set. Its amazing they came here. It was cool to meet some people from the states too i met some from chicago and new jersey and all over. PLayed some ball got stoned and drunk with some americans. lol its all about the whole day and night along with the concert when its in your home town. prob wont come bakc ehre but whatver it was fuckiing briiiiiliant
p.s the guy who wrote the article in our paaper is an idiot. lots of people have been writing back to the editor and telling him off.

Crazy Stickman wrote:

im just listenin to the thunderbay bootleg and i believe the solo in "alive" contains a lil metallica reference...cant put my finger what song its from but as a big 'Tallica fan aswell its strickingly familiar...how cool i must say!

Sounds like chord progression in Unforgiven II to me. Since that's a crap song, I hope it wasn't intentional.

tonywellington wrote:

You know what's dumb? Complaining about a show and calling it sub-par when you were not there. Does anyone really think it impresses anyone (Pearl Jam included) when the show is judged by a list of tunes 5 minutes after it ends by a group of people that were not there? With fans like that.... who needs critics?

NICELY SAID.