Pearl Jam @ United Center (5/17/2006)

Allow this writer to speak from the first person for this particular review…

I was just ten years old when Pearl Jam’s first album Ten was released. Up to that point music had always been a part of my life but it hadn’t yet become my life. When Pearl Jam began its rise as one of the biggest rock bands in the world I began to listen more closely…but I kept missing the shows. I had my chances to see Pearl Jam in 1994 at the old Chicago Stadium (tickets became available at the last minute but I had no ride) and then the following year at Soldier Field (the same day as a family BBQ). It wasn’t until the 1998 show at the United Center—the sports arena that replaced Chicago Stadium—that I was able to finally see the band in concert.

Pearl Jam’s back-to-back nights at the United Center (5/16 & 5/17) marked the first time since 1994 that the band extended its stay in Chicago. The mini-residency in Chicago must have felt like being back in Seattle for the band. Grey skies, on-and-off rain, hail, brisk winds and very little sun blanketed Chicago. It was just the seventh show on the first leg of the band’s world tour in support of its latest self-titled album Pearl Jam (J Records), an album that debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts.

It would seem a new page has been turned in Pearl Jam’s career. The band split ways with Epic Records after having spent over 15 years there and supplying multi-platinum albums for the label. Instead of re-signing with Epic, the Seattle-based quintet opted for J Records, a subsidiary label under the RCA Music Group umbrella. Industry giant Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, created the relatively young J Records in 2000. The 74-year-old Davis has often been criticized for having less of a music ear and more of a business ear. Simply put, he’s made a career of discovering the blandest music that could be easily packaged and processed for the consumer. He was greatly responsible for Carlos Santana’s comeback album Supernatural (1999). Had he been in the studio with George Martin and the Beatles in 1966 while making Revolver, he probably would have told the band to be less experimental with their sound and record songs that were more like “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” So, why would Pearl Jam associate itself with a man more interested in sculpting the careers of American Idol winners? Business.

It wasn’t a question if the band’s two United Center shows would sell out, but how fast they might sell. Clive Davis certainly doesn’t have to convince people to come out to a Pearl Jam show, but he might have had a hand in securing a deal with Ticketmaster to provide the option to purchase the new album along with your concert ticket. Hmmm? In the current issue of Chicago Innerview, I wrote a concert write-up on the band’s Chicago dates. Just as people have a right to question their elected officials, fans have every right to question the artist they have invested time and money in. My $15.99 may not have provided a roof over Eddie Vedder’s head or a new Gibson SG double-neck guitar to satisfy the Jimmy Page fan within Mike McCready but it definitely hasn’t hurt the end of the year figures. I did something I never did before, either among friends or in print—I criticized the band.

The point I tried to make was that I felt Pearl Jam had gone as far as the guitar-bass-drums formula could take it and that change was needed. “It’s easy to meet expectations when it comes to stadium rock,” I said in the article. “The question is whether or not Pearl Jam has unknowingly slipped into the corner of aging rock band fighting the keep the fire alive.”

The double-album Live At Benaroya Hall was a breath of fresh air. Released in 2004, the album captures the band’s mostly all-acoustic show on October 22, 2003 at a Seattle symphony hall. Pearl Jam toyed with the idea of incorporating an acoustic set into its shows during the 2003 tour for Riot Act. One such show took place in Mansfield, MA on July 11, 2003 when the band made the first half of the show a 12-song acoustic set. Couldn’t the band take a break from the arenas and pick up the acoustic guitars instead of giving fans the rock show they’ve come to expect from the band? Wouldn’t the band performing acoustically make for a more interesting show at this point in its career? Well, I guess not.

So, when I walked into the United Center for Wednesday night’s performance, I was a little nervous. I found the new album, Pearl Jam, to be musically lazy after I purchased it weeks prior to the concert. From the band’s hit single “World Wide Suicide” to “Gone,” there’s not one song that doesn’t feel as if it were written during sleep. Some critics declared the album a return to form, harking back to the days of Ten. But to a band that has been more focused on moving forward than recycling itself, wouldn’t these reviews be cause for concern?

I stood in the photo pit has the band ripped into 3 straight songs off the new album (“Severed Hand,” “World Wide Suicide,” “Life Wasted”). Guitarist Stone Gossard showed some teeth as he attacked the riffs behind “Life Wasted.” The whole band stormed the audience with a level of force it lacked the last time it was under the United Center roof in 2003. Then as I moved to my seat I watched a band that clearly knew it was going to have an amazing night.

“So, this is Chicago. Night Two,” said Vedder to the roaring audience. “This was the night we were looking forward to.”

During “1/2 Full,” Vedder took his guitar and transformed it into a spotlight as he angled the guitar to reflect the stage lights onto the crowd. Along with “I Am Mine,” Pearl Jam gave these two Riot Act songs new life, beefed up with a crushing sound. Although the energy was there for new songs like “Inside Job” and “Marker In The Sand,” what came across was how these songs ranked slightly below their predecessors. If anything, the latest material that Pearl Jam brought to the stage worked better there than on record; it’s the old “Better live than on the album” criticism. The pace never deteriorated, but the crowd’s allegiance would sort of pause until the next song. It was almost like the crowd was politely saying to the new material, “Yeah, good song, guys. By any chance is ‘Brain Of J’ next?”

Saying it was a transcendent night might be stretching it a bit, but Pearl Jam made me eat my words with the show they put on. As Vedder picked the opening notes to “Betterman,” the crowd sang in unison the song’s intro, the verse and chorus filling up every corner of the United Center. I stood there and smiled because I realized how special little moments like that are at a concert of this size.

As the first encore began, Pearl Jam delivered a couple of gems like the haunting “Footsteps” and possibly the best version of “Alive” I’ve ever heard the band perform. The outro to “Alive” has often fueled some fantastic jams by the band with McCready test-driving new guitar solos. But the outro became the song’s climax and the crowd recognized the moment. On every beat drummer Matt Cameron slammed on his snare drum, the fans thrust their fists as one while shouting “Yeah!” The arena lights would brightly flash on cue with the crowd’s actions. It was a sea of fists rising to the air. Vedder, who was facing the back of the stage, turned and laughed at what had been going on behind him. Suddenly the showman became the fan as he stepped up to his microphone to follow the crowd’s lead by throwing his fist into the air.

Surprises weren’t limited to the setlist. Fans were treated to a fun rendition of the Wayne Cochran song “Last Kiss,” which the band made popular as a single for the benefit album No Boundaries (1999). Vedder managed to sneak his way to the soundboard area near the back of the arena and sing from the station. The delay between his voice and the band back on the stage was noticeable, but they managed to keep the song together. “We like to play this one for special occasions,” said Vedder before the band unveiled the Mother Love Bone song “Crown Of Thorns,” a song Vedder admitted Pearl Jam had never performed at previous shows in Chicago.

In what have become standard closing numbers to a Pearl Jam show, Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World” and “Yellow Ledbetter” put the final touches on a night that lived up to the band’s stage reputation and set me straight about the band trying to keep the musical fire burning. Vedder, the Evanston native, would still lose himself in his apelike go-go dancing; McCready and Gossard are still a formidable guitar duo; and Cameron and bassist Jeff Ament maintain their rhythm section dominance. Keyboardist Boom Kasper had a more limited role this time around than on the 2003 tour, but his contributions never went unnoticed.

So, where was I wrong?

After Wednesday’s performance, I’m left to wonder if Pearl Jam’s brilliance on stage is reason enough for the band to go on being an unstoppable monster rock band or if I’m being selfish in hoping that one of my favorite bands takes the chance to do something different with its show. Can a Pearl Jam show ever become typical?

I’ll still stand by my opinion about Pearl Jam, but I have to appreciate the fact that after all these years Pearl Jam can still walk onto a stage and release a sound that won’t ever be replicated again.

All Photos By: Chris Castaneda