We traveled north of the 49th parallel to the capital of Manitoba to take in the plaid rock phenomenon Pearl Jam in its current Canadian tour. Polite sell-out of over 13,000 using floor seating and 270 degrees of the arena. Not a seat hopper or glowstick in sight.
Pearl Jam pegged the whinnies last night with a solid rock show -- on all sixteen cylinders. Mr. Vedder has a loose, ethereal form of communication with his band and struck just the right vibe at just the right times throughout the 160+ minute show.
Winnipeg is a hardscrabble city lost in thousands of miles of vast lakes and prairie stretched between Saskatchewan and Ontario. Winnipeg is due north of Fargo on the Red River with over 700,000 souls who live five months each year below freezing. You can get there from MSP in 65 minutes. In the old days, $20 US bought a twelve pack of canadian ale and $20CAD in change, but now it buys a cab ride into downtown Winnipeg, proud of its labor heritage, hard forgotten work, and inevitable role as a place to stop in the middle of nowhere. In other words, Pearl Jam loves the idea of Winnipeg.
Pearl Jam is Mr. Eddie Vedder on frontman and spinal strumming; Mike McCready on lead guitar, including a 18 string dual neck; Stone Gossard, graduate of Seattle's The Northwest School (for Fortunate Children with Progressive Parents), on rhythm guitar and blue surfboard; Montana native Jeff Ament on bass including electric standup; moonlighting Matt Cameron on the big kit; and cool guy Boome Gaspar on organ and keys.
The flannel friendly Whinnys and Pegs loved it. Music calls out to youths who have the fortune to be brought into the world in the winds of Manitoba. Winnipeg is large enough to have radio stations and Pearl Jam last played the Peg in 2005 -- so the music is not obscure to the natives.
Some 6000footdrop.com readers were surprised in July when we suggested that Eddie Vedder is the greatest living American vocalist. Pearl Jam flirts not with Phish's musicality and listening opportunities, but, within its own genre, Pearl Jam certainly can claim king of the hill.
Here is Mudhoney earning nice try points warming up the seats while the pjs skated the concourses. Not certain what genre Pearl Jam is, but it can't be grunge if that's what Mudhoney is.
Mudhoney Set: Close to Noise (with yelling); I Feel Bad, I Feel Worse (with yelling); Sweet Penny (with yelling); Try to Get Out and Yell; I'm Gonna Yell Again; Pass the Flag (with yelling); Get Your On's On (with feedback); Axl Rose Tears His Hamstring (with yelling); I've Got to Fight the Law (with yelling and a soft ending); Rivers of Blood (with scratching); Licking the Line (had that big hit feel); I've Been Thinking of You (with acid gargling); Killing Children with a Knife (all members yelling.)
Pearl Jam had the entire house on its feet the entire show. Pearl Jam has sold quite a few discs and tapes over the past twenty years in Manitoba. Very nice to see an entire adult audience up and dancing without the stair-blocking seat-hopping blind-pushing eight-men-in-four-seats togetherness-antics of other talented bands' patrons (regrettably, speared bill is a feature to beware at all rock shows, regardless of genre.)
Set I:
Technician plays Rearview Mirror riff before Set I.
Why Go?: Freeze-dried.
Animal: Mr. Vedder occasionally does a Tim Lincecum move.
All Night: Boom Gaspar joins; sounds like warming up a Q-400.
Corduroy: "Live from Winnipeg Its Saturday night!" Mr. Vedder takes being silly seriously.
Arms Aloft: This song has discernible lyrics.
Amongst the Waves: Avacadoy. Let's go swimming in Lake Winnipeg -- its larger than Delaware! Plus -- want to win a bar bet? Is wheaty Manitoba landlocked? Nope: Manitoba has a saltwater border on Hudson Bay -- Winnipeg to Rotterdam by canoe.
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town: This is why you come to the Pearl Jam concert -- "hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away..." heard in the streets after the show.
Wishlist: "I wish I was Canadian," Mr. Vedder is serious even when sentimental.
Daughter: 13,000 sing-along all the way along.
The Fixer: Barbequed jello and bean appreciation. Powerful.
Green Disease: With the yah yah yahs.
Evenflow: Almost melodious or lyrical.
I Got Id: "I wrote this one with Neil Young and only later did I realize the chorus was 'Cinnamon Girl'." With Cinnamon Girl tease.
Down: Homley tomley feelings.
Ole: What's that you say? More power.
Unknown Thought: Does Pearl Jam play opera houses?
Once: A few get rubber legs, but not Mr. Vedder!
Set II:
Inside Job: With doubleneck guitar
Just Breathe: Dont ask her. With crowd on "Go Jets Go" and Mr. Vedder improvising a "Go Jets Go" diddy in response, training the band on it in real time and stopping only briefly to pour wine and jot it down in his show notes.
Present Tense: Pearl Jam has its own radio station that can be heard from New Brunswick to Manitoba.
Comatose: With the woo woo woos. Pipery.
Porch: Mr. Vedder goes into the crowd jesus style and touches people lightly who touch him lightly. Everyone is saved except the people outside.
E:
Search and Destroy: With Mudhoney dudes on The Stooges' punk outtake dedicated to Eddie's new nephew.
Crazy Mary: Take it down, pass it around, except in Manitoba where they respect the no smoking indoors law even though they're all packing heat.
Alive: With the house lights coming on.
Rockin in the Free World: Mr. Vedder thanks Manitoba-raised Neil Young without reading his footnote that Mr. Young is not in attendance. Neil would have been proud: red, white and blue or not.
Indifference: With Ament on standup bass. Pearl Jam is a real rock band for sure.
So thanks Winnipeg for the 30 hours we spent in your environs. Good luck with mother nature this winter.
See you at Return for Forever!