Pearl Jam + Ben Harper & Relentless 7 - Clark Cty. Amphitheater (Ridgefield, WA; Sept. 26, 2009)

Pearl Jam holds a special sort of significance for me, as I can trace a lot of my early musical wanderings back to Pearl Jam, grunge, and the various incarnations of alternative rock. And because of this, I’ve always held a deep desire to see them live. Especially when I see review after review detailing how well they can dominate a stage. But, my wallet hates me and I’ve always been broke when they come around, leaving me to make up the difference with bootlegs and/or some other poor excuse for my lack of attendance. Thankfully, that all changed recently, and I had my moment under the sun as Pearl Jam came roaring into the Clark County Amphitheater and I finally found a way to see show number one.

The Amphitheater’s seats were half-filled when I found my own in the 200 section, looking in at a view that wouldn’t cause your eyes to burn from squinting, but still felt fairly distant. The crowd skewed older, but still contained the long-haired-child-in-a-metal-t-shirt variety of youngster that makes you thankful that there are big brothers/sisters out there. And they all seemed happy enough when Ben Harper (backed by Relentless 7) ambled onto the stage in a western shirt and a hat that looked like a Burn To Shine-era extra.

What followed felt like that section of the Ben Harper CD where he cranks the distortion pedal up and rips into his lap steel for a while à la Hendrix. Think “So High So Low” or “Temporary Remedy.” It was loud, fuzzy, and contained a lot of social righteousness, typical Ben Harper on a microphone. And that’s not a slam on the man; I think it’s great that he wants to sing about the wrongs of the world. However, the way he does it sometimes makes it hard not to sneak in an eye-roll every once in a while. Then again, I’m a little over Ben Harper, so please take that into consideration. I just found myself feeling completely apathetic to what was going on in front of me. I wanted Ben to show me something different instead of rehashing the same formula again and again, like his old tour mate Jack Johnson. And since I didn’t see the next step, I tuned out.

The crowd completely disagreed with me though. They seemed to find this new band thrilling and made a gallon jug of noise to prove it. They wouldn’t be wrong to believe that Ben Harper was wailing and that there was a great jam in there somewhere; I guess we just wanted something different. Cheers to the people who enjoyed it.

After they left the stage, we waited and a late 30’s, super drunk bro settled in behind me, yelling out “PJ” every time the lights changed or the stage crew brought out a new instrument. His girlfriend would try to calm him down as the show went on, but she was no match for his hollers when he caught that first glimpse of Vedder, McCready, Gossard, Ament, and Cameron. The sold-out crowd—along with drunk tank McGee behind me—went wild, and we were off.

They started at a gallop, launching into the new Backspacer opener “Gonna See My Friend,” tearing through it with an abandon that let me know that I, in fact, had made a wise decision. They continued their fast pace by shooting off “Last Exit,” “Why Go” and “The Fixer” in such a rapid succession that I wondered if they had been watching Ramones DVDs backstage before they came out. It felt like they were on a mission.

The show kept going, as they unveiled the majority of the Backspacer album and even though live versions tend to transcend album versions, especially in such capable hands, I still left feeling ho-hum on the album. “Amongst the Waves” delivered and “The End” soared, but the rest of the songs kind of went into that part of the barrel where I say, “I’d listen to whatever they played.” Basically, the songs weren’t amazing, but I liked hearing them because Pearl Jam was playing them.

And this is how I felt about the first half of the show. I was enjoying myself and I saw some great numbers (including a blistering solo during “Even Flow,” where Mike McCready shamed pretty much every other guitarist while playing behind his head), but it wasn’t the epic affair that had been promised to me for most of my musical life. And the let down of not seeing something stellar was bumming me out.

But Pearl Jam knew what I wanted and saved the best for last, back-loading the encores. The first of two began with Eddie Vedder on a stool, alone and armed with an acoustic, explaining about how the next song was one of their famous fan-club only Xmas singles that the band does every year. He then invited Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker out to guest on the song “Golden State,” written by John Doe of X. And by the end, the audience was eating out of the palm of their hand and I was clapping very, very hard. The next guest artist was an obvious choice, Ben Harper. Of course, Ben Harper was coming out, but this time I was excited. Ben Harper spots with Pearl Jam always packed a punch.

So, there they were, Eddie, on his stool, Harper, on his chair, and a fired-up band. They launched into “Red Mosquito,” which slayed and, unlike earlier, Ben Harper’s crunch caused the song to blossom and open up in an entirely new way. I was expecting “Indifference,” but this was much better. Another cool part about the performance was the way the band manhandled Ben as he was walking off stage. You could see the camaraderie and the joy of having a friend out there with them on the road. Nice to see.

Then they did it. They played the song I wanted to see most. As they kicked into the frenzy that is “Go,” my hands went up in the air, my voice shot forward and I freaked out. I got giddy and moved around as the band laid it out there with the same savage aggression that the studio version holds and the song calls out for. It was great, and I felt like clawing at my head because I couldn’t be in the pit with all the others. And I know I’m about to do a quick rant, but fuck seats at rock concerts. Nothing makes me feel more disconnected than a seat or something telling me where I have to be. It is so counter-intuitive to a rock show where every person should have the freedom to make his own way in a crowd. If you’re up front you probably got there earlier or are fairly crafty. If you are in the pit, you probably chose to be there. Rant over, down with seats. And with that, the song ended and the band walked away.

When they came out again for the second encore, they were out to take names. Just look at this:

“Do The Evolution”
“Not For You”
“Black”
“Porch”
“Yellow Ledbetter” (with a Star Spangled Banner rip).

Do I actually have to say anything? This was the Pearl Jam that I had grown up with and heard raved about for years in the concert circles. This was the Pearl Jam that I wished I could afford to follow. And seriously, “Not For You” was the highlight of the show. I wanted to see “Go” more, but “Not For You” was amazing. Tension, power, angst, breakdowns, blue lights, solos, angry Vedder. It had everything. It is still the song I always come back to and I couldn’t have been happier that it was played.

I walked away giving the concert a solid B. I couldn’t forget that the first half was good, but not great, while at the same time, I couldn’t overlook that the encores were great, not good. And if you are on the fence about seeing them, go, because they are exactly what you think they are: a great rock n roll band.

Videos:

Golden State

Red Mosquito

Go

Do The Evolution

Setlist

Main set

* Gonna See My Friend
* Last Exit
* Why Go
* The Fixer
* In Hiding
* Johnny Guitar
* Green Disease
* Amongst The Waves
* Even Flow
* Off He Goes
* Unthought Known
* Daughter
* Supersonic
* Present Tense
* Got Some
* Once
* Life Wasted

Encore 1

* Golden State
* The End
* Red Mosquito
* Inside Job
* Go

Encore 2

* Do The Evolution
* Not For You(Modern Girl)
* Black
* Porch
* Yellow Ledbetter(The Star-Spangled Banner)

DOWNLOAD: Pearl Jam - Yellow Ledbetter (Live in Paris) (MP3) or Follow us for more Pearl Jam MP3s (Twitter)

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