So, let’s get this out of the way right off the bat- I’m not a music critic, I just read too much Chuck Klosterman. Tuesday night I went out to see Pearl Jam [Why Pearl Jam Matters Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3] and Band of Horses in Newark, NJ. Apparently, the concert almost didn’t happen due to inclement weather, so, between that and the fact that this was the show sandwiched between a huge Greenwich Saturday Show and a gigantic two night (tonight and Friday) stint at Madison Square Garden, I was worried the bands would be a bit off and the show a let down. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the show.
Band of Horses opened and got an hour set. Naturally, this being Jersey and always on the cutting edge, most of the fans hung out in the hallways of the arena. The alt-country band, reminiscent of Neil Young, was clearly amped up, as May 18 was the debut of their new album Infinite Arms and you could really feel their energy, particularly in lead singer Ben Bridwell. Unfortunately for this show, Bridwell just doesn’t have the voice for an arena show. His smaller vocals get a bit lost in a big arena. Still, when you tour with Pearl Jam, big arena’s will happen, and Band of Horses is surely due the increased notoriety, particularly for the excellent 2007 Album, Cease to Begin. The energy and music were top notch, but too strongly contrasted with the general malaise of the crowd who didn’t know them, and the more personal vocals of Bridwell. These were particularly notable as Eddie Vedder sang the final song of Band of Horses set with them with a palpable difference.
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After about a half-hour, Pearl Jam came on, and suddenly the house was packed. There was apparently no need to worry about energy, as the entire band has phenomenal stage presence and played for a full two and a half hours. The band struck a great rhythm for the night, generally going from a reasonably popular song to two or three newer tunes, back to another popular tune, turning the show into essentially mostly “Backspacer” with a nice sprinkling of “Rearviewmirror” (this being Pearl Jam, we, of course, got some random “Yield” B-Sides and the like). The timing of these were impeccable, as every time the crowd went into any kind of lull with the newer music, a radio friendly newer tune like “Unthought Known,” “Got Some” and “The Fixer” would lead into a huge hit like “Even Flow” or “Alive.” Generally, the dearth of the classics for a band out twenty years would kill a crowd, but the sheer fun of the songs on the newest album is almost never found in a band that’s been around for this long, and that joy of performing that the entire band embodied, these guys really do seem to like one another, infected the crowd, leaving everyone on their feet for the entire show.
I am hardly the first to suggest that Eddie Vedder may fancy himself the modern day Bob Dylan. This entire show put that concept into a far different focus. Vedder seems more comfortable as a rock star, not a faux-folk or experimental musician, than he ever has before. He still puts his heart into his performance, but that performance was less challenging than it might have been in the past, however logical that may be for a big arena show. This was not a personal show; do not go in expecting “Moves Your Heart” Eddie Vedder or “Makes You Think” Eddie Vedder – this is balls to the wall, rock star Vedder, embracing what Pearl Jam hasn’t really been since “Vs.” Even the gorgeous melody “Just Breathe” was played almost with more of a joie de vivre than the heartbreaking, personal beauty of the studio release. With this, it was perhaps fitting that Pearl Jam closed with a Bob Dylan song, “All Along the Watchtower,” yet performed in the far more up beat, radio friendly manner of Jimi Hendrix. Just like everyone seemed to cover Dylan in his time, our generation’s Bob Dylan seems to now to be doing his own covers of his music.
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