As my friend Dan was saying before the show (while high-fiving anyone that came within a 100 yard radius to our car) “Are You Ready”?  The band definitely raised their game tonight and played 33 songs which is almost comparable to their all time longest set from Massachusetts in 2003.  Tonight’s show also helped give more context to the night before.  If the first night was about the history and what made the band, tonight was about what the band did once they were all together.  All of their popular tracks were displayed from the newer (The Fixer, Just Breathe, Given to Fly) to the old (Alive, Jeremy, Even Flow etc).  It also felt more cohesive as a single show than last night which left with a bit of a cliff hanger leading in to tonight.  The band had no reason not to do something on their last night.

There was a lot more focus on the middle albums of No Code, Yield and Vitalogy which I was really pleased with since those happen to be my favorite era of the band – spanning from ’94 to about ’98.  Nothingman and Leatherman combined with Betterman from the night before completed the “man” trilogy.  Red Mosquito, Habit (with Liam Finn) and Smile (with Glen Hansard) really showed off how strong the songs from No Code can stand next to older Ten and Vs tracks that more people know.  I definitely think anyone there will be going back or discovering those albums after hearing how they can be played live.

Chris Cornell came out again for 4 more Temple of the Dog songs: Hunger Strike, Call Me a Dog, All Night Thing and Reach Down.  Chris was much better on both Hunger Stroke and Reach Down which were the only repeats of the whole night from the previous night.  I had forgotten how good some of the Temple of the Dog songs are and this weekend played a very large tribute to Temple thanks to Chris.

A lot of congrats and thank you’s were throw around by the band and all the guests that played with them.  Eddie referenced Brendan O’Brien as a “7th member of the band”, Matt Cameron was thanked for keeping the band going after they rotated through 3 former drummers in their early days.  Chris Cornell wished them a happy birthday and gave hugs to everyone on stage before leaving.

The ending of the show brought a lot of nostalgia for me with Sonic Reducer, Rockin in the Free World and Yellow Ledbetter.  My high school band did Sonic Reducer and Rockin in the Free World fairly regularly and I think RiTFW was the best song we were ever able to somewhat pull off as a bunch of 16 year olds making noise in a basement.  Brett, my friend who came from New York for the show is about the only other person that I’ve met who knew who The Dead Boys were and our conversation around that band immediately earned my trust in his music tastes.  There was a lot to be thankful for making the trip from New York.  The band seemed very relaxed and at home with all their friends to support and celebrate what a milestone staying together for 20 years can be.  I feel a little weird to be reflecting on the band so much the last few days since I always look forward to what they will do and not what they’ve already done.  Rumor is they are working on new material for next year to put out a follow up to Backspacer.  I’m really looking forward to digging through some bootlegs in the next few months to feed my nostalgia but I look even more forward to what’s yet to come.

To give some background I’m back home in Wisconsin for the long weekend to see two epic nights of Pearl Jam at Alpine Valley. I lucked out in that with all the places in the world that PJ could have picked to play they happened to pick where I first saw them in 1998 and 45 minutes away from where I grew up. It was a rainy day so we didn’t take off for the concert until about 2pm and was forced to tailgate inside the car with some New Glaurus Spotted Cow and Cheese Curds before heading in to catch Mudhoney, Queens of the Stone Age, The Strokes and finally Pearl Jam. The Strokes put on a great show and I’m really glad they are making music again. They played a lot of old stuff which brought me back to hanging out with Chris Polley when we DJ’d college radio together. Eddie came out to sing a song with The Strokes and tease everyone at what was coming.

Opening

They started off with “Release” which is one of their most common openers. Great song and the lyrics hold special meaning for Dave and I having lost our fathers. In My Tree from No Code was particularly good and slightly different than previous tours where they’ve played it. Matt Cameron seems to be going back to the drum fills that Jack Irons perfectly put down on both the No Code and Yield albums.  Matt is an amazing drummer but I was slightly hoping that maybe Jack would make an appearance for a few of his best songs, like In My Tree. I was also really happy to finally hear “Who We Are”, the single from No Code which has eluded me in all the live shows I’ve seen to so far. Push Me, Pull Me – from Yield – is a great song and a bit of a rarity live but I don’t feel like the band has ever able to do it justice live compared to the album. Breath was played and reminded me of how rare that song use to be live before everyone campaigned with signs a few tours ago and they play it much more regularly. Between Breath and State of Love and Trust they definitely gave good homage to their early work. Betterman is always great live with Eddie giving the entire first verse to the crowd and with all the fan club members it was the loudest I’ve heard a crowd sing that song. Eddie gave a nice speech about how important music was to all of them and how passionately they pursued it early on even when others discouraged them or told them would never amount to much. That lead directly in to “Life Wasted (Reprise)” from the Avocado album and the full version of “Life Wasted” which brought the energy up quite a bit. Then things started to get really interesting..

Mother Love Bone / Temple of the Dog Reunion

Eddie introduced Chris Cornell and gave him the reigns for 4 songs: Stardog Champion, Say Hello 2 Heaven, Reach Down and Hunger Strike. It was amazing.  The crowd didn’t seem as in to it but its great that more people can hear those tracks. Andy Wood and the events in Mother Love Bone lead to the formation of Pearl Jam so it’s only fitting that they be recognized in a show playing tribute to the history of the band. I’m not as big of a Love Bone fan as compared to others but Eddie and Cornell nailed their duet on Hunger Strike and dedicating Say Hello 2 Heaven to Andy which was very moving.  It was a once in a lifetime experience to see these songs performed.

Abrupt Ending

I was surprised after Chris left the stage that Pearl Jam only put on 3 more songs: Love Reign O’er Me, Porch, and Kicking Out the Jams (which Mark Arm from Mudhoney did great on with Eddie). At 28 songs (and two bottles of wine for Eddie) it was a shorter set than most expected and dipped in to a lot of history for the band but didn’t really cover the breadth of what the band can do.  It even felt like they were dragging towards the end a bit.  That leads me to think that tomorrow night we’re in for a marathon full of surprise guests and songs from all albums.

Final Thoughts

The show was good, but did not top my favorite which is still the last from 2010 when they played Madison Square Garden. That will be a tough concert to beat with the slow version of Lukin, Black Red Yellow, Sweet Lew and sitting in the very front by winning the fan club ticket lottery. I did feel like tonight was more of a tribute to their roots with Mother Love Bone and people that gave them inspiration. Rumors are flying that Neil Young (who I did see walking around on side stage), Pete Townsend and others are at Alpine and could be potential candidates for songs tomorrow night. My gut would tell me we’re in for at least a 30-something set list tomorrow and some really crazy collaborations (Fucking Up or Rockin the Free World with Neil Young, Baba O’Reiley with Pete?). I’m a little disappointed that the band was as conservative as they were for the first night but I still would not want to be any other place in the world these two nights.

• 12 Concerts I’ve been to over the last 13 years
• 14 Years since I’ve joined the fan club
• 340 songs seen live
• Corduroy and Even Flow are the songs I’ve seen most
• Yellow Ledbetter is the most common closer

And what I hope to hear over the next 2 nights

Inside Job
Alone
U
Fatal
Hard to Imagine
Footsteps
Driftin’
Let Me Sleep
Dirty Frank
Bee Girl
Who You Are
Around the Bend
Come Back
Can’t Keep
Glorified G