This one was a dream come true. it also was maybe the most expensive concert I’ve ever paid for. Tix were around $130 a piece…for the cheap seats! Still I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to see one of my favorite bands, and also one of the last remaining grunge bands around.
When I was in high school I never really got into Pearl Jam. I always thought they were kind of cheesy. Maybe thats because my timeline involved bands like Nickleback and Creed? Anyways, that all changed when I formed the first band I was in, Po’ brothers. I was 21 and kind of a mess. I was living at my friends house down on Allentown road and bought a kegerator. I’m pretty sure I was just cruising on credit cards and beer and playing lots and lots of music. It was around that time me and Collin started hanging out all the time and one of the first bands we both got into together was Pearl Jam.
We used to make fun of the way he sung but also genuinely got completely into every facet of the music. Still to this day “Corduroy” is my favorite Pearl Jam song and it relates directly back to these times in my life. Lots of parties in the garage, lots of empty kegs, and lots of guitar playing were had to this song (among other things I’m not going to write on the internet). Anyways, I’ll quit my preamble by simply saying this music is a timestamp for me so my expectations were very high.
Alyssa and I met up with Paige and Jake at his house to have a few prefunk beers before the show. We decided to leave super early because we were afraid the line would be insanely long. I’d been to Safeco before to see Tom Petty and the line was insane, we figured Pearl Jam would be worse.
Luckily for us we were wrong! We showed up and pretty much walked right in. I have no idea how that worked the way it did but I’m not going to question it. The merch lines were a different story though and went on for what seemed like miles. I really wanted a poster to remember the show by but my patience is notoriously low and there’s just no way I could force myself to sit in a sweaty line for an hour or more. Long story short, we made our way to our seats and took a quick pic before hand
The show started off with 2 songs I’m not really into “Oceans” and “Footsteps”. They’re both slower so I can see why they started off with them. It was also kind of a cool atmosphere with how the night was just beginning. It kind of put a calming but anxious mood to the whole show. I was on the edge of my seat absorbing it in as best as I could (from miles away). The backdrop of the stage was amazing with these lights raising and lowering in the background. It was cool, I wish I could explain the feeling I had watching it but the closest I can say is that it was a feeling of “togetherness”. The kind of feeling I’ve only ever had at a Grateful Dead or Dave Matthews show. It’s how you know you’re surrounded by tons of people who are into the same thing.
Next song up was Nothing Man and thats a song I know all the words to and am super into. This is where it kind of kickstarted with me. I had had a few beers and was enjoying singing along. The next couple of songs were super rocking and eventually they got to Corduroy. I was extremely excited, I can’t even tell ya. It was better than I could imagine. I was just surprised with how much all the members were running around the stage and getting into these more rocking songs. I mean I knew Pearl Jam put on a hell of a show, and I know it’s nothing like when they were younger, but still I was impressed.
To be honest I could ramble on about the rest of the set but I’m just not going to. It would take me longer than it’s honestly worth. Each song was amazing, with some clear highlights jumping out like Daughter, Better Man, and Even Flow.
Eventually towards the end of the set is where things got real interesting. Eddie came out with an acoustic and covered Tom Petty “I Won’t Back Down”. It was amazing seeing everyones lights out and the quality of his voice. You could tell Tom meant a lot to him and apparently he had been at the same SafeCo field show I was at to see Tom last time he was in Seattle. This part of the show really stuck out to me.
After this they went into even a string of other cool covers. “Crown of Thorns” by Mother Love Bone was a huge surprise and probably a historic once in a lifetime rendition. I remember looking at Alyssa like I’d seen a ghost. I couldn’t believe what we were witnessing.
After that amazing song they went into some cameo appearances and covers. They at one point brought out Kim Thayil from Soundgarden and Mark Arm from Mudhoney. Eddie was pretty drunk at this point and told a long winded story about how his younger brother liked Mark Arm better than him. Mark Arm came out and simply said “Awkward..” It was pretty hilarious. They then covered some Iggy Pop and MC-5 which was of course amazing.
At this point the concert had probably went on for 3 hours. The stadium turned the lights on but Pearl Jam kept playing. Like I said, Eddie was wasted and honestly sounds like Ozzy up on stage. I was confounded as to how he could still sing like he was, cause it sounded perfect. Alyssa was kind of bummed at how wasted he was but she admitted he sounded perfect singing.
They closed the night with a cover of Baba O’Reilly, which I thought was really cool since The Who is Eddie’s favorite band, and the last song was Yellow Ledbetter which Mike McCready of course killed. It was the perfect ending of the night or me. That song brings me back to being 11 or 12 and riding in the truck with my favorite uncle Troy. Since he went on to become and alcoholic and leave his family…the song brings me back to a better, happier time. Just the sound of the first few chords gives me almost instant happiness. Like I said, it was the perfect ending.
Afterwards we made our way out into the throng of people and waited for a good hour or so for a ride home, but I gotta say, it was the best concert I’ve been to all year and probably top 5 concerts I’ve ever been to in my life. All in all a great, great time and money well spent. Below is a video I snagged of their cover of Mother Love Bone. Enjoy!