Pearl Jam Kicked Off Their Tour in St. Paul With 2 Shows and We Picked the Wrong One.
Blue lights and bluesy guitar riffs cut through the smokey air at the Xcel Energy Center, Thursday August 31, 2023. Eddie Vedder, perched on a barstool and raised his hand to the crowd kicking off both Labor Day Weekend and Pearl Jam’s most recent tour. It’s been nearly 10 years since Pearl Jam last played in Minnesota and almost 32 years to the day in which their iconic album Ten was released. Perhaps starting the tour in St. Paul with two shows was their symbolic way of saying “HELLO “ to us elderly people behind counters in a small Minnesota town. Don’t get us wrong. Thursday’s show was a fist pumper, but as reviews come in, we worry that the Saturday show would have been the better choice, and that we’ve screwed up our only shot to see Pearl Jam for another decade.
Let’s Make a Trade
First of all, this is not a bad review for one of the most influential rock bands of all time. Pearl Jam always puts on a good show. They are true musicians who refuse to put on formulaic and canned performance. With 11 studio albums spanning over 30 years, the questions PJ concert goers constantly ask is, which mix of classics, rarities and covers will they perform? And that’s why, after seeing Saturday’s set list, I’m afraid we done f’ed up. While “Daughter,” “Even, Flow,” “Alive,” “Porch,” and “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” were played both nights, Saturday’s crowd also got some grungy bonus bangers. If you were lucky enough to choose the second show you also heard “Jeremy,” “Better Man,” “I Am Mine,” “Last Kiss.,” “Corduroy,” the better of the two Tom Petty covers, (“I Won’t Back Down” vs “Wildflowers”) and get this—"Purple (freaking) Rain” to end the show. Now sure, there were a few songs the second show audience did not hear. But if we you could take your pick, which list would you pick?
Show 1
Indifference
Black
State of Love and Trust
Yellow Ledbetter
Show 2
I Am Mine
Corduroy
Jeremy
Better Man
Given to Fly
While the opening night audience may have missed out on a few tracks, Pearl Jam always makes fans feel welcome. Ten years ago, the last time Pearl Jam played the Xcel, Eddie Vedder was spotted playing pool at Alary’s Bar. One fan noticed and put his quarters up on his table, calling, “I got next.” Vedder, being the down-to-earth guy he is, obliged. But before long the back room was crowded with people trying to get a glimpse. So, Eddie did what Eddie does. He took a seat on the edge of the pool table, told stories and gave them a tell-all, intimate experience. And that’s similar to what you’ll see at a Pearl Jam concert. What they lack in terms of blinding light shows and oversized video screens, they make up for with true and powerful music. Watching Pearl Jam, you never think that they’re there hiding behind smoke, mirrors, or a façade of pageantry. The house lights are often up, exposing it all—pulling the crowd in and making you feel like part of the show. And PJ fans won’t hide from that spotlight, belting out every Vedder chorus and mimicking every McCready behind-the-neck guitar lick. Even during “Elderly Woman,” Pearl Jam’s entire band walked to the back of the stage and played the entire song for those sitting in the cheap seats.
You’ve Changed
One thing both first and second show audiences probably noticed is how Pearl Jam isn’t the same angry, emo, lack-of-eye-contact band that they were in the 90’s. It’s as if their lead singer/songwriter/surfer is finally going with the flow and not fighting against the current. Gone is the stage-climbing, war-helmet-wearing, evil-glaring Eddie. While angst-fueled rage against your stepdad can inspire some pretty awesome tunes (including their murder, mini-opera, triolgoy that Vedder wrote lyrics to as a tryout— “Alive” “Once” and “Footsteps”) fans are now more likely to walk out of Pearl Jam concerts feeling positive and grateful. That’s because even though you may not hear every hit, the deeper tracks that they’ve subbed-in have meaning that Vedder shares through empathetic (sometimes rambling and mumbling empathetic) stories. Before playing “Love Boat Captain” Eddie choked back tears while speaking about the Maui wildfires and co-writing that song with keyboardist and Hawaiian native Boom Gaspar. Before covering Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers” he dedicated it to a fan in the crowd whose wife had recently died. There was even a moment when Vedder paused the show to direct EMTs through the crowd so that someone could get emergency medical attention. So, do we wish he would have played Jeremy on Thursday? Yes. But when the last greatest grunge rock star is saving lives, you kind of just let it go.
Pearl Jam is an American treasure, and we must protect them with our lives.
Cobain, Weiland, Cornell, Hoon, Staley, all gone. Never again will there be a show from Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Blind Melon or Alice in Chains. Therefore, every chance we get to see Pearl Jam we have to take it. Regardless of whether it’s back-to-back shows and you don’t know which one to choose, you have to go. Pearl Jam are the official kings of 90’s Alt. One of the shows might be better, and you could be kicking yourself for picking the wrong one. But no worries, you can try again when they come back ten years from now.
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