stratoman Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 ROBIN A. ROTHMAN THE GAZETTE It was 11 p.m. when the house lights came up Tuesday at the Pepsi Center, but guys in Pearl Jam weren't ready to vacate the stage. They weren't concerned that they were 15 minutes past curfew. After all, it was the opening night of their 2003 U.S. tour and they had barely begun the third song of their second encore. The crowd was equally determined to "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World" for at least a few more minutes. The song, both in performance and in sentiment -- "Take to the streets! Raise your voice!" -- was a powerful ending to a night of varied content and mixed response. Amply sprinkled with tunes from their latest release Riot Act, the set list adequately represented the group's catalog, but the selection was clearly geared toward those fans dedicated enough to own albums after the debut "Ten" and follow-up "Vs." A touching tribute to the nine fans trampled when the band played in Denmark in 2000, "Love Boat Captain," opened the show slow and steady at 8:45 p.m. with the borrowed idea that "All you need is love." "Corduroy" and "Better Man" were obvious crowd-pleasers, and unsurprisingly those rare, older, bigger hits like "Even Flow," "Porch" and "Daughter" prompted mass sing-alongs. "I see you're into the song," front man Eddie Vedder improvised during "Black," tying it in as if it were a standard lyric. Riot cuts like the fierce "Save You" and the distorted, pulsating "You Are" weren't as overpowering. The banter mirrored the songs it separated. "Guzzling gas is bad for your blood," Vedder semi-sang as an anti-SUV introduction to the more cryptically political "Green Disease." The idea induced immediate cheers. The same cannot be said for his anti-war segue into "Do the Evolution," for which he was hit head on by a chorus of booing; one fan actually audibly told him to shut up. "I don't know if you've heard of this thing," he retorted. "It's called freedom of speech." The moral of his poorly received preamble: his Vietnam veteran buddy "doesn't feel like we've evolved at all in the 20 years." Vedder dug into the vocals, however, and aided by dual assault from guitarists Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, he quickly won the crowd back. Reiterating before the encore that his statements shouldn't be considered anti-troop, Vedder said, "They're not the ones who make foreign policy. They're just doing their job." But Vedder wasn't done with politics. He soon took the stage wearing a plastic Bush mask and a silver jacket worthy of Elton John. Mockingly dancing his way to the microphone - rolling his arms, poking himself in the eyes and grabbing his crotch - he didn't appear to think twice about delivering the unrepentantly scathing "Bush Leaguer," singing "Drilling for fear, makes the job simple/ Born on third, thinks he got a triple." Propping the mask on his mike stand as if it were a head on a stick, Vedder then lifted the pole into the air, inverted it, and crashed it into the stage. Finally the band put politics aside and lightened up for the second encore, which began with Vedder's solo acoustic ukelele rendition of "Soon Forget." The band back behind him, including intermittent keyboardist Kenneth "Boom" Gaspar, bassist Jeff Ament, and drummer Mike Cameron. Vedder swigged his wine and launched into Victoria Williams' "Crazy Mary." He eventually took his bottle again and, as the song goes, drank it down and passed it around -- into the crowd, where a lucky fifth-row fan got the final drink then held onto the souvenir for dear life through the rest of the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJWatson3 Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 Pepsi Center, in America? I'd bet any sum they won't go Chicks w Dicks and retract any statements and apologize for any behavior tomorrow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 Originally posted by AJWatson3 Pepsi Center, in America? I'd bet any sum they won't go Chicks w Dicks and retract any statements and apologize for any behavior tomorrow... The Pepsi Center in Denver, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted April 3, 2003 Share Posted April 3, 2003 Originally posted by AJWatson3 Pepsi Center, in America? I'd bet any sum they won't go Chicks w Dicks and retract any statements and apologize for any behavior tomorrow... No, I doubt they will either... Pearl Jam is very Anti Bush.... They have what 2 videos on MTV? The do little if anything to promote themselves. They are in some ways anti rock stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratoman Posted April 3, 2003 Author Share Posted April 3, 2003 Yes, The Pepsi Center is in Denver. I saw a kicka$$ ACDC concert there 4/11/2001! :notworthy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redman Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Pearl Jam? Didn't they used to be a rock band? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fansince62 Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Pearl Jam...the conscience of America....yea.....right........ why can't they just live to the rock-n-roll standard & off themselves before reaching middle age? speaking of which...I revisited voodoo chile today....oh for the great ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuckinIA Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Originally posted by fansince62 Pearl Jam...the conscience of America....yea.....right........ More like the conscience of Ticketmaster:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 That band had two...maybe three good albums. Hey, can't blame em. Even though Vedder is a fake-a*ss d*ck who knows nada, they might be the luckiest band ever. People just jock em for no reason. I'd do it to, but if my lead singer started pulling **** like that on stage I'd knock him the f*ck out and kick him in the nuts while he was down............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiggoDrill Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Originally posted by IAMBG That band had two...maybe three good albums. Hey, can't blame em. Even though Vedder is a fake-a*ss d*ck who knows nada, they might be the luckiest band ever. People just jock em for no reason. I'd do it to, but if my lead singer started pulling **** like that on stage I'd knock him the f*ck out and kick him in the nuts while he was down............... Actually, Eddie Vedder isn't fake. I live in Seattle. Eddie lives in West Seattle. My girlfriend met him when she was working at an art supply store in West Seattle. She said he's a really down-to-earth guy. He tries to lead a normal life, but some psycho stalker chick threatened to kill his wife. Now he needs a fence and a security guard. I'm not the biggest fan of Pearl Jam, but from what I've heard, he's not a fake or a poser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canyonero! Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Maybe by "fake" IAMBG was referring to Vedder changing his name from Edward Jerome Mueller to Eddie Vedder. Or maybe he meant dumping his singer (but somewhat dumpy looking) wife for a model. I don't know. I'm not sure what "fake" means in music terms anymore. Just because I don't have the same political views as someone doesn't mean I have to bash them all the time. They're freakin' entertainers for God's sake. Who cares? FWIW, Vedder has always been on the far-left of things. He appears in rallies for Ralph Nader, is involved in pro-choice campaigns, and even sings about his dislike of Bush ("Bushleaguer" on Riot Act). So if he's fake, it's not in his political motivations. He seems pretty set in his ways on those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Originally posted by Canyonero! Maybe by "fake" IAMBG was referring to Vedder changing his name from Edward Jerome Mueller to Eddie Vedder. Or maybe he meant dumping his singer (but somewhat dumpy looking) wife for a model. I don't know. I'm not sure what "fake" means in music terms anymore. Just because I don't have the same political views as someone doesn't mean I have to bash them all the time. They're freakin' entertainers for God's sake. Who cares? FWIW, Vedder has always been on the far-left of things. He appears in rallies for Ralph Nader, is involved in pro-choice campaigns, and even sings about his dislike of Bush ("Bushleaguer" on Riot Act). So if he's fake, it's not in his political motivations. He seems pretty set in his ways on those. Good point.. he has been consistant from day one on his political views... I've seen Pearl Jam live twice and during the first show I saw, he did make some anti war comments during Clinton's term directed toward Clinton. But, He did not go as far as what was reported here. The second show I saw went without any political comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Actually, the boos were for the band themselves? Pearl Jam? Didnt that fifteen minutes end years ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratoman Posted April 4, 2003 Author Share Posted April 4, 2003 Denver Fans Walk Out of Pearl Jam Show http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030404/ap_on_en_mu/war_concert_walkout_5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn X Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Originally posted by redman Pearl Jam? Didn't they used to be a rock band? :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 From Seattle huh? Well he can always go the Kurt Kobain route. Never got into Pearl Necklace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funkyalligator Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Pearl Jam is a great band and they have always been slightly political. Their fight with ticketmaster over overcharging fees is well known and they have never existed in the spotlight for long but they play great music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted April 4, 2003 Share Posted April 4, 2003 Bands shouldnt mix music and politics. However skid row shouting Ireland for the Irish before getting hit by a bottle was classic as well as Sebastian's T shirt of Aids kills fags dead. That created a riot:rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.