*** Rock Werchter Festival Fanviews 29/6/07 ***

Since Werchter is a festival that ends on Sunday, chances are it'll take a while before this gets a lot of response. I only went this day, for PJ, cause my son is gonna enter the world any day now and I was/am on standby.


First off: there was no Save it fro later tag, or not really anyway: only a small 'don't runaway' bit. Oh well

Festivals are always different, but I actually had an amazing time and the setlist was great, though I could've done without Dissident and Why go, which they already had played in Antwerp in 2006 - but that's just whining.

Highlights for me were Brain of J, God's Dice, Porch, Smile (!) and a stunning No More War, were Ed stood alone in front of - what? - 80.0000 people and had them singing 'No more!', even though over 79.000 had never even heard of the song or it's context. Goosebumps.

Ed was in stellar shape, though at the end he said he was amazed about how we treated him, even though his voice was shit from talking to other bands backstage all day He also warned us never to accept a pill from Josh Homme - who joined in on Baba for a split second - or at least only take half. (QOTSA was tight by the way, stiff on coke, a newspaper said). I wouldn't be surprised if Ed actually did take half of what Josh was having - cause he kept telling us to make babies. I already took that advice.

conclusion: good times.

Great show, as expected an almost 'best off' one. Highlight for me was absolutely SMILE!!!!! I think it was a reaction on the balloon thing 'I miss you already' at Nijmegen. Thanks so much for that one!
But also Brain Of J., Gods dice, the beautiful no more war, dissident, porch... .
Where I was standing, pretty far in the back (for the first time this tour), the crowd dissapointed me a bit. They only knew 'Even flow' and 'Alive'. When Ed asked to help him with 'Better Man' I sang with whole my heart... but I was the only one... (where I stood anyway).
Ed was in a speaking mood... he talked about the war and about going home to do some cleaning up (in the white house), about the other bands... and yes about love and make baby's.
Now it's time for a big recovery and to wake up from a PJ experience that lasted for 2,5 weeks (5 concerts). Many thanks to the band and hope to see them again soon because... I miss them already... .

There was only one reason why I went to Rock Werchter this year, and it was for Pearl Jam. I've seen them in their "own" gig, in Antwerp, and it was completely different from the festival-gig yesterday.
Antwerp last year only allowed the capacity of +/- 20,000 people, so from the 80,000 present yesterday, quite a lot might have never seen PJ live before! The expectations were high!

And they nailed it
The set list was a "best-of", but I didn't expect anything else for a festival. Songs as Brain of J, God's Dice and Smile were still some nice treats for the PJ addicts!

I was quite in front (30th row?), and around and with me, there were quite a lot of people (Dutchmen, Americans and some Belgians) singing a lot songs along, but only Alive could make the whole crowd go nuts.

Ed was quite talkative, especially about the White House, going back to the States "to clean up the mess, and get the trash out. For once we're not into recycling". He dedicated Elderly Woman "to the families of soldiers who went to Iraq, and didn't know what the fuck they're doing there. Often they're just poor families, living in small towns."

Right before "No More" (1st encore, Ed solo in front of a huge crowd: "I don't know how personal you can get with such a crowd, like one on one, but I want to give it a try"), saying he wrote this song for a guy he met, who's paralyzed from his chest down. He challenged the crowd to sing the words "no more", so they'll get it on tape and send it out to George W. to show them that we all want it to change, and that it's an issue on the international scene. Although hardly anyone ever heard the song before, we all gladly sang "no more war"!

In the end, Ed said he was having a great time today, watching great bands, talking in the backstage. That's why his voice "sounds like shit" (although when hearing him sing, "shit" must be a good thing!). From England, he liked the Arctic Monkeys and the Kaiser Chiefs, from the States "you had great bands, like the Kings (of Leon), the Queens (of the stone age) and... uhm... the Pearls!".

Now and then he was checking out the crowd in front if they were doing ok: "On the left, you're ok? (crowd: "yeah!"). On the right, you're ok? (corwd: "yeah"). Alright. Just checking." He often went from the left to the right stage, to dance in front of the crowd. When coming back during the solo of Porch, he jumped over the monitors, and fell. No bad, though. But he was into jumping

He also asked us to be kind of one and other during the show, "take care, watch over your neighbours, and be happy, or make babies!"
In the end, he once more encouraged the last!

Right before the Baba (last encore), he gave us some advice: "You all know Josh Homme? Big tall blond guy, singing with QOTSA? Well, whenever Josh offers you a pill,... don't take it. (crowd laughs). Believe me. Or just take half of it."
During Baba Josh came on stage to sing "don't cry, don't raise your eye, it's only teenage wasteland", before Ed taking over the mike again with a big scream. Josh just walked out, mister cool himself, throwing his cigarette (joint?) behind his back while heading for the backstage again.

Overall, I think the Antwerp gig was better, because it was more intense (maybe also because it was my very first PJ gig). And still nothing can do better than 20,000 people singing "tu-du-du-du-tu-du-du" during Black for 2 minutes. Not even a 80,000 people crowd singing Alive at their best.
But it was a festival, and Pearl Jam just showed how much better they are than all the other bands. They got the place on fire, that's for sure!

Mike was the solo-ing himself again (Even flow on the back of his neck, those Arctic Monkey teenager fans were in awe! Now THAT's a band! ). Matt was the engine of it all (great - by the crowd appreciated - solo during Even Flow). Jeff was jumping and singing along (and playing guitar during Smile). Stone was giving his best solo's he could (Porch, DTE) and having fun playing the bass during smile. And Ed was Ed: screaming, jumping, running, dancing, going crazy on his guitar during a hell good version of Corduroy, speaching, being appreciative towards the crowd, and showing he has the best voice ever. Pearl Jam like we know them

oh, and Ed did the Pete Townshend arm-move on the guitar (does this move have a name?), but I forgot during what song.

Sorry, I don't want to be the only one talking here, but here's another review:

http://www.standaard.be/#

"First of all: Eddie Vedder has a great voice. Sometimes, this hasn't been the case in the last 10 years. Some moments the Grunge-icon only reached a small part of his once so mighty roar.

That roar came back from deep inside, in Werchter. Especially during the many songs from their debut album "Ten" gave us goosebumps on our arms: "Once", the - with a long, spectacular guitarsolo overwhelming "Even Flow", en the hotblooded "Porch" are fantastic nostalgy trips for everyone who reached the age of 30. The setlist was almost perfect: many crowd's favorites ('Animal', 'Corduroy', 'Why go', 'Betterman') which are - not coincidentally - the best songs of the band. The concert also had a political dimension. Vedder says the band goes back to the States to clean things up at the White House. 'Elderly woman' is being dedicated to the poor in America whose children are fighting in Iraq. The singer also talks about a good friend who came back from war, disabled. He asks the crowd to protest as one international voice against Bush's administration.

Far after midnight, the famous guitarintro of "Alive" enters the night. Werchter sings along, like one powerful voice.

Crazy Pearl wrote:

Great show, as expected an almost 'best off' one. Highlight for me was absolutely SMILE!!!!! I think it was a reaction on the balloon thing 'I miss you already' at Nijmegen. Thanks so much for that one!
But also Brain Of J., Gods dice, the beautiful no more war, dissident, porch... .
Where I was standing, pretty far in the back (for the first time this tour), the crowd dissapointed me a bit. They only knew 'Even flow' and 'Alive'. When Ed asked to help him with 'Better Man' I sang with whole my heart... but I was the only one... (where I stood anyway).
Ed was in a speaking mood... he talked about the war and about going home to do some cleaning up (in the white house), about the other bands... and yes about love and make baby's.
Now it's time for a big recovery and to wake up from a PJ experience that lasted for 2,5 weeks (5 concerts). Many thanks to the band and hope to see them again soon because... I miss them already... .

Ha..ha...me and hubby were also the two person who where singing along with betterman...i was sooo glad that i could sing it this time because in Antwerp i had Bronchitis so i could not sing along and then in Berlin they didin't play it...the last 3 songs we where in the back at the left side of the stage but the people around us also moved alot i filmed it when they played Alive...the rest of the show we where standing in front of the left side of the stage ...plenty of room to jump aswell...well alot of people come to Werchter just to get drunk and don't care about other bands or people like the group that stood next to us...assholes..so we moved a bit away from them...to people who just want to get drunk i would like to say STAY HOME next time....

was amazing!!!!!!!!

My first PJ concert ever... and this for a longtime and huge PJ fan since the beginning! I have many live cd's and dvd's from their concerts and compared to those I was very pleased with the performance yesterday. It's like Ben Harper said the best band in the world (though I already knew that like 15 years ago).

There was only 1 negative thing to the show: the crowd. I was about 50 meters from the stage. I really really wanted to get closer in the beginnig but it was almost impossible since everybody was pushing to get close. (I could not get there any earlier because I had to drive a long way from the Netherlands... and I did not have any interest in the other bands at Werchter, just PJ) But once the show started people were just standing there like they were watching a classical concert. I was jumping and dancing and singing like crazy.
Same thing... I was also singing my lungs out on Betterman... me and my friend were the only ones in our area.
People just expect an encore. So they just stand there and wait. I was screaming and clapping to get them back on stage. Then I kept on clapping and finally the crowd joined in on that.

Conclusion:
Great experience, great band, great show!!!!!
Sucky crowd (most of them, not the real PJ fans that I met)

Just came back from Belgium (after 6 trains and 10 hours later).

1. The show was good imo. In comparison with Nijmegen, the Werchter show was a bit behind. It was not the best PJ show I've seen.

2. What a lame crowd!! I've had this experience also last year in Antwerp, but is it that Belgians are not that cheery?? Even with NO MORE everyone beside did not join...

3. From where I was standing (just behind the 2nd fence) I couldn't hear anything what Mike was playing. This really frustrated me. What a bull**** PA system Werchter had.

4. Fuck that English kid who wanted to fight with me! Bastard!

5. Highlights: SMILE!!, Brain of J, Ed's speech of pills from Josh Homme , and I really liked the energy of PJ. Jumping and jumping on the stage.


THANK YOU PEARL JAM FOR GETTING BACK TO EUROPE!! I HAD A REAL GREAT TIME THIS WEEK!! YOU'RE WELCOME IN THE NEXT YEARS!!

Note: this was written under the influence of tiredness, so the story is a bit going everywhere...

Went to Dusseldorf, Nijmegen and Werchter. For me Dusseldorf was the highlight music and atmosphere wise...it felt like a group of friends and family coming together for a fantastic party. But Nijmegen AND Werchter were the highlights when it came to connecting with the band.

We worked out way to the front row from Bloc Party onwards in a crowd that was pretty rough. Stood at Mikes side at the barrier when PJ began to play and met some of the 10C members I saw at Nijmegen again. That was pretty cool, considering there were 80.000 people there.

PJ was very energetic again, playing their asses off. My spoiled butt was a bit dissapointed that the show was a lot like Nijmegen...but hee, cant complain actually! I was standing is a very tide spot so I could only move my arms to show appreciation. The crowd on Mikes side was pushing a lot but were alright. Most behind me did not know PJ songs too well, but seemed to enjoy themsleves. They were singing "Black" tunes during the breaks all the time. Was a bit disturbing to see how many people were taken out of the crowd and put on strechers.

Highlights were when Mike saw my bf's new t-shirt on which he had printed an image of Mike's new pic. Mike gave a big smile and was really surprised. He returned to us different times smiling, pointing and threw many many many pics to our side. Made a great picture of Mike while he was standing in front of us. Will upload later!
I made a poster telling the guys to "come back soon" and "Take care" and Mike and Ed both saw that and gave a little wave/nod. That was pretty awesome.

The whole show was over before I knew it. Baba was fantastic, but it made me kind of confused as I did not realize that was their last song. I was waiting for the second encore after they left...hahaha. So, that left me with a stone in my stomach and felt like a bummer...all my own fault.

Next time ending the tour with a non-festival gig would be more fun in my opinion. But hee, I had a blast anyway.

So guys, do take care of yourselves and come back whenever you can!!