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Pearl Jam ruled Voodoo Fest with Steve Gleason
Blredyellow
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Great review. Great night.
http://www.nola.com/voodoofest/index.ss ... aj-story-2
Pearl Jam ruled Voodoo Fest's opening night, with help from New Orleans icon Steve Gleason
Keith Spera, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Keith Spera, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
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on November 02, 2013 at 3:47 AM, updated November 02, 2013 at 9:55 AM
Steve Gleason, Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder clarified from Voodoo Fest’s main stage Friday, is a close friend, “if not part of the group.” Vedder and company should consider making his membership official.
As most New Orleanians know, Steve Gleason is the former Saints special teams star now locked in a deadly battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The disease has destroyed his physical abilities, but not his spirit.
The Team Gleason organization sprang up to support him and others afflicted with ALS. The members of Pearl Jam – friends of Gleason's from his native Seattle -- are committed to the cause. At Voodoo, Vedder wore a Team Gleason wristband on his right arm. Lead guitarist Mike McCready, who is especially close to Gleason and his family, sported a “Defend Team Gleason” T-shirt.
Even though he can no longer speak or walk, Gleason introduced Pearl Jam using eye-tracking computer software and a synthesized voice. “New Orleans has become my hometown,” he said via technology, “but this is my hometown band.” (Saints quarterback Drew Brees was also on hand – he tweeted a photo he snapped during the introduction. But he remained in the background. This was Gleason’s moment.)
Additionally, Vedder said, Gleason wrote the night’s set list. Clearly, it was assembled by a fan, as it encompassed most major hits, especially from Pearl Jam’s first two albums: “Jeremy.” “Daughter.” “Alive.” “Even Flow.” Shows on the band’s current tour have generally included one or two, but not all of them.
More than a set list, Gleason supplied inspiration and incentive for a band already fueled by plenty of both. Over two hours and 10 minutes, Pearl Jam reiterated its status as one of the great American rock bands. From musicianship to songs to rapport to charisma – all the pieces were there.
And on a cool night in City Park, they methodically assembled those pieces into a tour de force. Having seen just about every headlining set at all 15 Voodoo Fests, I'd rank this as unequivocally one of the very best, right up there with Green Day, Wilco, My Morning Jacket and Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
Pearl Jam eased in with McCready on an acoustic guitar for “Sirens.” By the fourth song, a frantic “Corduroy,” they had warmed up; McCready turned in the first of many deep solos. He parted the churning waters of “Animal” with a tidy ascending passage as rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard handled the rest.
Later, during “Even Flow,” McCready conjured a precise, extended solo, heavy on the wah-wah pedal, while holding his guitar across his shoulders behind his head. Fans of rock guitar heroics should not have been disappointed.
Nor bass heroics. For “Daughter,” Jeff Ament switched to an electric upright bass; the song melted into the “we don’t need no education” chorus of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II.” The full band barreled through the punk-ish “Mind Your Manners,” from Pearl Jam’s recent, 10th studio album, “Lightning Bolt.”
Vedder rehydrated with the first of many swigs from a wine bottle, and offered several toasts. “Here’s to the Jacuzzi section, or whatever the (expletive) is going on over there,” he said, addressing the LOA VIP viewing platform.
As during the 2010 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, he comically referenced his 1993 arrest following a drunken altercation late one night in the French Quarter. For anyone who might get arrested after the show, he offered a phone number with a Seattle area code: “This gentleman has agreed to pay your bail. His name is Macklemore.” (The Seattle rapper preceded Pearl Jam on the same stage.)
Vedder was exceedingly gracious, and not just to Macklemore. He toasted Saturday night Voodoo headliner Nine Inch Nails (“we’re just preparing the stage for a great show tomorrow night”). He asked an over-exuberant man down front to remove his backpack so it wouldn’t bludgeon the women behind him.
Like Bruce Springsteen, Vedder strives to foster a sense of community. During an especially uptempo “Rearviewmirror” propelled by Matt Cameron -- he’s also Soundgarden’s drummer -- Vedder shouted, “Let’s out-run every (expletive). They can’t touch us!” With that first-person, plural “us,” he aligned himself squarely with his audience.
He struck the right balance between heavy and light. He stood for something, but not on a soapbox. He spoke out against religious intolerance -- “the one thing we’re intolerant of is intolerance” -- in “Getaway.” Prior to “Severed Hand,” he noted the lack of marijuana overdoses in states where it is now legal; chiming, U2-style riffs gave way to far grungier chords.
And he called out a certain oil company for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, a company “who shall remain nameless. I’ll say their initials – BP.” He was informed enough to reference tar balls uncovered by Tropical Storm Karen, the vast sums BP spends on PR campaigns, and the ongoing efforts of the Gulf Restoration Network.
The encore opened with “Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns,” a modest chestnut from Pearl Jam precursor Mother Love Bone (“Chloe does the tables in the French Quarter”). They ramped up a scalding “Do the Evolution,” and smoked “Go.” Auxiliary keyboardist Boom Gaspar dressed up “Black” while McCready caught and released fat, full notes. He and Vedder sprinted the length of the barricade, high-fiving fans, during the life-affirming anthem “Alive.”
Earlier, Vedder had spotted a guy wearing a full-body cartoon rabbit costume. The singer asked if the rabbit guy was a “plushie,” i.e. someone who is aroused by dressing as a stuffed animal: “I knew we wouldn’t meet anyone like that until we came to New Orleans.”
Lo and behold, during a raging “Rockin’ in the Free World,” the furry rabbit and his female unicorn companion materialized onstage, dancing arm-in-arm with a grinning Vedder and his bandmates. They were obviously feeling loose, and having fun.
How to set this huge show down gracefully? The special fan who authored the set list knew: “Yellow Ledbetter.” As McCready teased out the song’s coda, he turned his back to the audience and walked to a rear corner of the stage. The corner where his friend was confined to a wheelchair but, as a previous song celebrated, still very much “Alive.”
McCready locked eyes with Gleason and saluted him not with words, but with the elegiac and elegant guitar passage that concludes “Yellow Ledbetter.” It was a remarkably emotional and intimate moment, shared with thousands of onlookers fortunate enough to be among the “us.”
Keith Spera can be reached at <!-- e --><a href="mailto:kspera@nola.com">kspera@nola.com</a><!-- e --> or 504.826.3470. Follow him on Twitter @KeithSpera.
http://www.nola.com/voodoofest/index.ss ... aj-story-2
Pearl Jam ruled Voodoo Fest's opening night, with help from New Orleans icon Steve Gleason
Keith Spera, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Keith Spera, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
Follow on Twitter
on November 02, 2013 at 3:47 AM, updated November 02, 2013 at 9:55 AM
Steve Gleason, Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder clarified from Voodoo Fest’s main stage Friday, is a close friend, “if not part of the group.” Vedder and company should consider making his membership official.
As most New Orleanians know, Steve Gleason is the former Saints special teams star now locked in a deadly battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The disease has destroyed his physical abilities, but not his spirit.
The Team Gleason organization sprang up to support him and others afflicted with ALS. The members of Pearl Jam – friends of Gleason's from his native Seattle -- are committed to the cause. At Voodoo, Vedder wore a Team Gleason wristband on his right arm. Lead guitarist Mike McCready, who is especially close to Gleason and his family, sported a “Defend Team Gleason” T-shirt.
Even though he can no longer speak or walk, Gleason introduced Pearl Jam using eye-tracking computer software and a synthesized voice. “New Orleans has become my hometown,” he said via technology, “but this is my hometown band.” (Saints quarterback Drew Brees was also on hand – he tweeted a photo he snapped during the introduction. But he remained in the background. This was Gleason’s moment.)
Additionally, Vedder said, Gleason wrote the night’s set list. Clearly, it was assembled by a fan, as it encompassed most major hits, especially from Pearl Jam’s first two albums: “Jeremy.” “Daughter.” “Alive.” “Even Flow.” Shows on the band’s current tour have generally included one or two, but not all of them.
More than a set list, Gleason supplied inspiration and incentive for a band already fueled by plenty of both. Over two hours and 10 minutes, Pearl Jam reiterated its status as one of the great American rock bands. From musicianship to songs to rapport to charisma – all the pieces were there.
And on a cool night in City Park, they methodically assembled those pieces into a tour de force. Having seen just about every headlining set at all 15 Voodoo Fests, I'd rank this as unequivocally one of the very best, right up there with Green Day, Wilco, My Morning Jacket and Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
Pearl Jam eased in with McCready on an acoustic guitar for “Sirens.” By the fourth song, a frantic “Corduroy,” they had warmed up; McCready turned in the first of many deep solos. He parted the churning waters of “Animal” with a tidy ascending passage as rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard handled the rest.
Later, during “Even Flow,” McCready conjured a precise, extended solo, heavy on the wah-wah pedal, while holding his guitar across his shoulders behind his head. Fans of rock guitar heroics should not have been disappointed.
Nor bass heroics. For “Daughter,” Jeff Ament switched to an electric upright bass; the song melted into the “we don’t need no education” chorus of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II.” The full band barreled through the punk-ish “Mind Your Manners,” from Pearl Jam’s recent, 10th studio album, “Lightning Bolt.”
Vedder rehydrated with the first of many swigs from a wine bottle, and offered several toasts. “Here’s to the Jacuzzi section, or whatever the (expletive) is going on over there,” he said, addressing the LOA VIP viewing platform.
As during the 2010 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, he comically referenced his 1993 arrest following a drunken altercation late one night in the French Quarter. For anyone who might get arrested after the show, he offered a phone number with a Seattle area code: “This gentleman has agreed to pay your bail. His name is Macklemore.” (The Seattle rapper preceded Pearl Jam on the same stage.)
Vedder was exceedingly gracious, and not just to Macklemore. He toasted Saturday night Voodoo headliner Nine Inch Nails (“we’re just preparing the stage for a great show tomorrow night”). He asked an over-exuberant man down front to remove his backpack so it wouldn’t bludgeon the women behind him.
Like Bruce Springsteen, Vedder strives to foster a sense of community. During an especially uptempo “Rearviewmirror” propelled by Matt Cameron -- he’s also Soundgarden’s drummer -- Vedder shouted, “Let’s out-run every (expletive). They can’t touch us!” With that first-person, plural “us,” he aligned himself squarely with his audience.
He struck the right balance between heavy and light. He stood for something, but not on a soapbox. He spoke out against religious intolerance -- “the one thing we’re intolerant of is intolerance” -- in “Getaway.” Prior to “Severed Hand,” he noted the lack of marijuana overdoses in states where it is now legal; chiming, U2-style riffs gave way to far grungier chords.
And he called out a certain oil company for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, a company “who shall remain nameless. I’ll say their initials – BP.” He was informed enough to reference tar balls uncovered by Tropical Storm Karen, the vast sums BP spends on PR campaigns, and the ongoing efforts of the Gulf Restoration Network.
The encore opened with “Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns,” a modest chestnut from Pearl Jam precursor Mother Love Bone (“Chloe does the tables in the French Quarter”). They ramped up a scalding “Do the Evolution,” and smoked “Go.” Auxiliary keyboardist Boom Gaspar dressed up “Black” while McCready caught and released fat, full notes. He and Vedder sprinted the length of the barricade, high-fiving fans, during the life-affirming anthem “Alive.”
Earlier, Vedder had spotted a guy wearing a full-body cartoon rabbit costume. The singer asked if the rabbit guy was a “plushie,” i.e. someone who is aroused by dressing as a stuffed animal: “I knew we wouldn’t meet anyone like that until we came to New Orleans.”
Lo and behold, during a raging “Rockin’ in the Free World,” the furry rabbit and his female unicorn companion materialized onstage, dancing arm-in-arm with a grinning Vedder and his bandmates. They were obviously feeling loose, and having fun.
How to set this huge show down gracefully? The special fan who authored the set list knew: “Yellow Ledbetter.” As McCready teased out the song’s coda, he turned his back to the audience and walked to a rear corner of the stage. The corner where his friend was confined to a wheelchair but, as a previous song celebrated, still very much “Alive.”
McCready locked eyes with Gleason and saluted him not with words, but with the elegiac and elegant guitar passage that concludes “Yellow Ledbetter.” It was a remarkably emotional and intimate moment, shared with thousands of onlookers fortunate enough to be among the “us.”
Keith Spera can be reached at <!-- e --><a href="mailto:kspera@nola.com">kspera@nola.com</a><!-- e --> or 504.826.3470. Follow him on Twitter @KeithSpera.
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thanks for everything you're doing, Steve.
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