Pearl Jam - MEN Arena, Manchester - 20th June 2012 (Live Review)
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Written by Dave Ball
For anyone who feels the early 90's grunge scene is no longer relevant, a quick glance at the speed tickets for Pearl Jam's two Isle Of Wight warm-up shows sold out, as well as the huge crowd drawn by Soundgarden at last weeks Download Festival, proves quite the opposite.
There's a palpable buzz surrounding Manchester's M.E.N Arena when we arrives a good 2.5 hours before Pearl Jam are due on stage. With t-shirts spotted dating back as far as tours in 1992, clearly this band still mean an awful lot to a lot of people.
On entering the vast bowl with two tiers of seating surrounding the standing area for the start of support band, X, the 21,000 capacity venue is already well over half full with fans desperate for a good spot to see their heroes. The LA punk veterans who now have well over 30 years of experience are an excellent choice of support, their energetic songs keep everyone interested whether they've heard of them before or not.
The main event begins with a deafening cheer as Pearl Jam take to the stage and blast straight into 'Release'. It's clear that despite the 20 years they've been playing together this is a band still totally in love with their own music.
Throughout the show it's the energy of the band that is really most noticeable as they leap about the stage and although Eddie Vedder is no longer inclined to climb stage rigs and leap into the front rows, he still spins about the stage during the solos with the same gusto the sea of people who've paid to enter do.
As a band who've always prided themselves on keeping their set lists fresh and individual to each show, you can see there is one eye on performing at a festival where they won't necessarily be afforded the undivided loyalty they have at their own shows. All of the better known songs get an outing as the performance covers the entire breadth of their career so far.
Proving they're still releasing high quality music, 'The Fixer' from their most recent release, 2009's 'Backspacer', fits seamlessly in with tracks from their more classic efforts. Particular highlights of the main set include 'Small Town', the classic 'Even Flow', a brilliant 'Nothingman' and a raucous closing salvo of 'Got Some' and 'Why Go'.
Returning for two encores, which end up running longer than the main set, they open the first with 'Just Breathe' and 'Black' both showing off Vedder's still highly impressive vocals which are near flawless while singing despite sounding like he's croaking quite significantly when speaking between songs.
A second encore opens with a huge sing-a-long of 'Better Man' followed by another huge roar for the opening chords of a fantastic rendition of 'Jeremy', a personal favourite of mine. Seeming to close with the always epic 'Alive', they carry on playing even after the house lights have come up with a near ten minute cover of Neil Young's 'Rockin' In The Free World' to finish the night at well after 11pm.
Despite not playing together anywhere near as regularly as they have done, this truly collective brilliance is showed off by a band who, despite each being exceptional musicians in their own rights, are clearly a band at heart with each seeming to rise that extra level when playing together. A Special mention should go to drummer Matt Cameron who is only 10 days removed from playing a European tour with Soundgarden, a band he'll go back to play with again 3 days after Pearl Jam finish their European jaunt on 10th July. He has been excellent for both bands.
Anyone who has tickets for tonight's second M.E.N show is in for a treat as are those who are off to Isle of Wight this weekend. pearl Jam Tickets for their European tour are on sale now. Click Here to Compare & Buy Pearl Jam Tickets.
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There's a palpable buzz surrounding Manchester's M.E.N Arena when we arrives a good 2.5 hours before Pearl Jam are due on stage. With t-shirts spotted dating back as far as tours in 1992, clearly this band still mean an awful lot to a lot of people.
