Caught Live: Pearl Jam, MEN Arena Manchester 17 August 2009

If you've seen the Simpsons episode 'Homerpalooza' you'll relate to Homer when he realises that he is no longer young and trendy as far as music is concerned. (Not that he ever was, but in his mind he felt so, until brutally informed otherwise by Bart.)


My own Homer moment came in early 1992; I remember flicking through the TV channels late one night and caught this band playing live in the studio, for a BBC arts programme. The band were Pearl Jam, and I'd never heard of them before. Their performance (of the song 'Alive' as I later learned) was excellent, it reminded me of the days of 'The Old Grey Whistle Test'. Having been suitably impressed, I soon found out via the next week's issue of 'Kerrang' mag (when it was still worth buying) that the band were playing UK dates, and that they would appear at Manchester's International 2. Shortly after that, I went along to the show, expecting it to be a low-key affair. Of course the place was completely packed that night, and I suddenly realised that this
'obscure' band I'd never heard of were actually rather popular! At that moment, I realised I wasn't 'with it' any more (not that *I* ever was really, but even so, where rock was concerned, it was obvious things had moved on and I'd missed it).

That was then and now, Pearl Jam have emerged as the sole survivors of that scene, coming through everything which has come since and are now regarded as a 'classic' band themselves. That show at the International 2 was the only time I saw them up
until 2000, by which time they were arena-status. Fast forward another nine years, and we are back at the MEN Arena for the band's return, one of only two arena dates in Britain. I must own up to not having really kept up with the band's output in that
time so I had little clue of what was to be played. They came on at around 8:50, and the packed crowd (they were even seated in the sections that reach BEHIND the stage, there must have been around 18000 in the arena) erupted. Opening track 'Long Road' was a Springsteen-esque anthem, but the harder stuff soon followed. Although they went down very well, I thought the band blew hot and cold during the main set. They were playing to a massive, packed arena but at times they did not project themselves; just five fairly anonymous figures on a big stage (six, if you count the Jon Lord lookalike who was on occasional keyboards!)

I was reasonably close, but having experienced that place from the very back, it is easy to feel disconnected from the stage action. You have to involve the crowd, even using the big lights to illuminate the stands helps. That was something they only
did in the encores; the band eschew big stage sets or other gimmicks but when in a venue this size, you really need some way to connect with the fans in the upper tiers. I didn't feel they did that enough, it was as though they were still at the International 2. The first bit of showmanship they produced was during 'Even Flow' when guitarist Mike McCready played an extended lead solo with the guitar behind his back. That was something, but it took until well into the set to even give that. Vocalist Eddie Vedder was static on the stage for much of the show, he only ventured to the edges later on.

Towards the end of the main set, things picked up, even shrugging off a messed-up song intro ('This is only our fourth gig as a band!' - Vedder) and a storming 'Rearviewmirror' ended the main set. They came back to play not one, but TWO encores (something else which is far from 'alternative'!) and in the first, played 'Alive'. The second encore saw bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard swap instruments, and also included a cover of The Who's 'The Real Me' (also covered by W.A.S.P. once - teehee!) before they went over curfew, playing the final song 'Indifference' while the house lights were up!

Overall, although it ended triumphantly and they DID play well, it was at times lumpen, the set meandered in the middle. In fact, they sounded quite like the Kings of Leon (who Vedder plugged by wearing their T-shirt). They should play more to their strengths and acknowledge they're an arena band, they've been around long enough now to cast off that 'alternative' cloak.

Support came from Southport indie scenesters Gomez, I'd never seen these before and knew only one song beforehand. After their set, I still feel I need only 'Whippin' Piccadilly' from them. They CAN rock out, their best asset is guitarist Ben Ottewell, who is also a great singer - he possesses a really rich throaty voice. But their set came over as trying too hard to be unconventional, to be different. It does not work in an arena, just plug in and rock out! There was one song where the drummer came out from behind the kit, he and guitarist/vocalist Ian Ball appeared to be wielding iPhones while a weird assortment of sounds raged. To be honest, they were going down like a lead balloon until they played 'Whippin' Piccadilly' which brought about a mass sing-song. That literally saved their set, the rest was almost instantly forgettable. They have three members who split the vocals, but they should put Ottewell more to the fore, he is far and away their best singer. Perhaps their quirky approach would work in a smaller venue, but here, in this cavernous bowl, it fell flat.

Pearl Jam Set list (taken from www.pearljam.com):

• Long Road
• Last Exit
• Why Go
• All Night
• The Fixer
• Low Light
• In Hiding
• World Wide Suicide
• Not For You(Modern Girl)
• Even Flow
• Present Tense
• Save You
• Grievance
• Sleight Of Hand
• Got Some
• Given To Fly
• Rearviewmirror

Encore 1:

• Go
• Daughter
• Do The Evolution
• Alive

Encore 2:

• Smile
• Black
• Leash
• The Real Me
• Indifference