GREAT BAND, GOOD DOC: PEARL JAM 20

My wife and I had a little Pearl Jam film festival this weekend, watching Eddie Vedder's Water On The Road concert film, and also Pearl Jam 20, the documentary about the band by Cameron Crowe. I thought Cameron, a long time fan of the band, did a good job. It was really interesting to see Eddie, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Mike McCready talking about their entire history. Well, almost.

I kept getting hung up on the fact that none of the band's ex-drummers were mentioned until well after an hour into the film. First, Mike mentioned "Jack," referring to Jack Irons, and a few minutes later, Mike went into an explanation of the former drummers (Irons, Dave Krusen, Dave Abbruzzese and even interim drummer Matt Chamberlin). It really bothered me that none of them were interviewed for the doc.  In contrast, in the recent Foo Fighters doc, the former members got to have their say, I felt that it hurt PJ20 that the drummers were almost an afterthought to the film (ironically, as Eddie Vedder at one point says that a drummer is a band's heart). Also, longtime keyboardist Boom Gaspar was the subject of a 5 minute extra, but there was no real explanation of why Vedder thought he should be in the band, or what the band thought of him joining.   I was also interested in hearing more about the conflict in the band, when Eddie was touring in a van trying to be a "D.I.Y." as possible while the rest of the band traveled together in a bus. Mike McCready asks "Was he embarrassed by us?"  I would have liked to have heard Eddie address that. There was definitely a time where he seemed to be chasing some weird indie-rock credibility that is kind of impossible for a band whose debut album sold ten million copies. It was obvious that it was creating tension with the rest of the band: especially as Jeff and Stone had been though so much with their former bands, Green River and Mother Love Bone.

At the core of the film is Stone's desire to run the band, and Eddie's increasing influence.  McCready insinuated that Stone wasn't totally into having Jeff in Pearl Jam, Stone admitted to thinking of it as his band until Eddie Vedder took over.  I imagine Stone calls the shots in Brad, but even in Brad, the singer Shawn Smith is kind of the main guy in the group. Stone has done a solo album - which was kind of ignored. I wonder how Stone made peace with the fact that he's better in a band, and a band needs a good frontman. Meanwhile, I would have liked to have heard more from Eddie about the importance of the other guys in the band, and how he interprets his influence in the group.

I realize that the band's manager Kelly Curtis was a co-producer, and the the goal of the film was to celebrate the band as it currently exists, not necessarily to be a comprehensive documentary, and Cameron Crowe is close with the band.  Maybe a documentary like Metallica's Some Kind Of Monster went a bit too deep and provided too much information, but I feel like PJ20 didn't go far enough.

I did enjoy the doc. I loved seeing Jeff at home in Montana, and Eddie's story about meeting Jack Irons for the first time:  Jack was playing in Joe Strummer's band, Eddie worked at the venue for a show where they met, Jack later introduced Eddie to Stone and Jeff.  While telling the story, Eddie is looking a picture of he and Strummer from that show, and he muses, "It all really comes down to this picture." Of course I loved where the band talked about Neil Young's influence on them, not just musically, but career wise.

I remember in the early days of the band, I found myself annoyed at Eddie Vedder for his indie obsession, which I felt came from (among other things) Kurt Cobain slamming the band in the press.  And while I've always loved Nirvana, Cobain's comments made me lose a bit of respect for him. It was fascinating to me that Stone admitted that Eddie's decisions sometimes didn't make sense to him at the time, and sometimes took a decade to make sense, but they were the right decisions.  And also that Cobain's comments kept the band on their "best behavior" and keeps doing so to this day.  I never thought of it that way.  Those were great moments the really added weight to the doc.

I really enjoyed that Stone talked about the fans' belief in the band keeping the band alive even when they weren't sure about themselves.  I never "moved on" from the band: I've been down since almost day one (I bought Ten the day it came out, because I loved the Temple Of The Dog album, which I bought because I was a Soundgarden fan, and to a lesser extent, Mother Love Bone). If my cheers, concert attendance, purchasing of their albums on release day, was a small part of the larger group of fans that never lost faith, I'm glad. I'm also glad that the band remain a relevant force to me to this day.  I can't wait for the next album, and yes, I'm willing to forgive the flaws in this documentary.

PEARL JAM 20: THE SOUNDTRACK

I can't wait to see the Cameron Crowe-directed Pearl Jam documentary, Pearl Jam 20. But until it comes out on DVD, I'm digging the soundtrack, which was complied by Mr. Crowe, who also wrote the liner notes.

This is really a collection for the hardcore fans, it's not for beginners (although the film may turn on some new people, from what I've heard about it).

It's mostly a collection of live performances and demos.  And considering that the band has released a live recording of every concert for the second half of their career, and released exhaustive extended editions of their first three albums, there's not a ton of stuff left that we haven't heard.  BUT!

There's still a lot of great stuff here.  Probably the highlight is their version of Mother Love Bone's "Crown Of Thorns" from their tenth anniversary show (which I have on the Pearl Jam's live recording of that concert). "Alive" from the Moore Theater in Seattle from 1990 isn't great quality sound, but it's one of their first shows, and it is worth listening to. "Black" from their legendary MTV Unplugged show is amazing (they need to release that as a CD already, although many fans - myself included - have that on an unauthorized bootleg, and the DVD came with the Ten Super Deluxe reissue). Their recent performance of "Just Breathe," accompanied by a string section, on Saturday Night Live was great (although it is very similar to the single version recorded at Austin City Limits that they've released).

My favorite parts included Temple Of The Dog's "Say Hello 2 Heaven" demo, the instrumental "Times Of Trouble" demo,  Jeff Ament's acoustic demo of "Nothing As It Seems," Matt Cameron's demo "Need To Know" (which later became "The Fixer") and most of all, their performance of Neil Young's "Walk With Me" (from Le Noise) from last year's Bridge School Benefit Concert, with Neil on guitar and vocals.

What I'm really looking forward to from Pearl Jam are their live bootlegs from their recent 20th anniversary festival.  And, of course, their next album. I'd say 20 years marks the halfway point for Pearl Jam, and there aren't many bands you can say that about.

SOUNDGARDEN IN NEWARK - BETTER THAN EVER!

First off, I have to thank Jeff Garden for reaching out and offering to let me use his photos.  Follow him on Twitter. Jeff captured some really cool pictures.

About two months ago, I asked "Do You Really Want To See Soundgarden Live?" It was a review of their recently released Live On I-9 collection, made up of recordings from their final tour. I saw them twice during that era - both times on the Lollapalooza tour. Their album, Down On The Upside, was my favorite LP of the year.  But seeing them live was a total disappointment and Metallica smoked them both times. I didn't know it at the time, but Soundgarden was hurtling swiftly towards breaking up. A few years earlier, I saw them on the Superunknown tour at the Armory in New York City, which was one of the worst gigs I'd ever seen. Of course, I'd seen some good shows too - notably when they opened for Neil Young and, before that, when they opened for Voivod.

In recent years, I've seen drummer Matt Cameron with Pearl Jam, and he's always tremendous (as he always was with Soundgarden).  I've also seen Chris Cornell, both with Audioslave and on solo tours. Those shows were better than most of the Soundgarden shows I'd seen. More importantly, Chris' voice held up incredibly well at those shows, which was sometimes a problem during the Soundgarden days (you can hear it on Live On I-9).  But that's all in the past: it was his recent solo acoustic show that convinced me that I had to see Soundgarden on this reunion tour.

It may be blasphemous, but I'll say it.  I think Soundgarden is a better live band now than in the '90s.  Everyone seems pretty clean, and also, I think the guys in the band appreciate their position now, where in the '90s, there seemed to be a bit of embarrassment involved in being part of a huge band. Ben Shepherd in particular seemed to hate playing in front of large audiences (which is odd, as he joined the band after Louder Than Love, when they were already on a major label).

The concert in Newark, at the Prudential Center, was incredible.  Chris sounded great.  Guitarist Kim Thayil is still an evil genius: he is the scariest sounding guitarist this side of Tony Iommi. Matt was amazing of course. And Ben didn't seem to mind playing to a huge crowd, his bass playing was enthused and menacing.   The setlist was almost all from 1989's Louder Than Love, 1991's Badmotorfinger and 1994's Superunknown. They played one song from their 1988 SST album Ultramega OK ("Beyond The Wheel," I would have loved to hear "All Your Lies"), nothing from their SubPop era, and only two songs from their final album, 1996's Down On The Upside.

They opened with a song I was really hoping to hear: Badmotorfinger's "Searching With My Good Eye Closed." It was a great way to start, it is one of their best, even though it never was a radio hit.  Not that they ignored the hits: they went right into "Spoonman" (they also played "My Wave," "Outshined," "Rusty Cage," "Burden In My Hand," "Black Hole Sun," "Fell On Black Days" and "Blow Up The Outside World").  But they eschewed some of their more well known songs for lesser known ones, which was a nice touch (although I was bummed that they didn't play "Let Me Drown," one of my favorites). They did pulverizing versions of some of their heaviest songs, like "Hands All Over," "Superunknown," "Room A Thousand Years Wide" and their most underrated tune, "Slaves and Bulldozers." But the thing that Chris' solo tour spotlighted is that he's also a great ballad singer, and that was happening in full effect with  "The Day I Tried To Live," "Burden," "4th of July," "Black Days" and "Like Suicide," they were all incredibly soulful.

They also played "Black Rain," their "new" song from last year's career spanning collection Telephantasm, (a song I thought was kind of eh, it's an outtake from Badmotorfinger, and deserved to be an outtake). Chris mentioned that they are working on a new album, and at this point, I'm really looking forward to hearing it.  Although I haven't loved too many of Chris' songs on his post-Audioslave solo albums, I thought part of the problem was that he didn't have a Kim Thayil with him, calling him on it when he's writing beneath his abilities.  Meanwhile, Matt has developed as a songwriter with Pearl Jam (writing or co-writing "Evacuation," "You Are," "Unemployable" and "The Fixer").  Kim has been in semi-retirement, I'm sure he has some great riffs built up after all these years.  You always have to manage your expectations, but I am definitely optimistic about one of my favorite bands ever re-activating. I hope to see and hear more of Soundgarden in 2012!

(P.S. I got there too late to see the openers, Coheed & Cambria, but if you saw them, please tell me how they were in the comments).

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SEE SOUNDGARDEN LIVE?

I've been listening to Soundgarden's newly released Live on I-5 lately.  It's a collection of performances from their final tour from 1996.

I'd seen Soundgarden a number of times, starting with their Louder Than Love tour in 1990 (they were opening for Voivod, and Faith No More was first on the bill). That was probably the best Soundgarden performance I'd ever seen. I saw them open for Neil Young, Guns N Roses and headlining shows as well. I saw them on the Superunknown tour playing the New York Armory, one of the worst shows I've ever seen, mostly because it was the worst sounding venue I've ever been to.

On their last tour, also in '96, I saw them twice on Lollapalooza. They were touring for their last album, Down On The Upside, which I loved. But they just weren't that good. Ben Shepherd was looking like he'd rather be anywhere rather than playing to tens of thousands of people a night. And Chris Cornell's voice was sounding pretty awful. On record, especially on Superunknown and Down On The Upside, his vocals were incredible. Listening to him live, he was straining.  Those shows were a few months before the ones recorded here.

So, QUESTION 1: Would this really be a "live" album, or would Chris go in and doctor his vocals. Peter Gabriel did this on live recordings on the Genesis box set Archive 1967-1975, but his voice was so different all those years later, it was obvious that he'd done it, and it pissed fans off.

ANSWER: I am fairly sure that no 2011 doctoring was done. Listen to "Searching With My Good Eye Closed," he is straining, big time. His vocals on the studio version is, like, superheroic.  Live, he just couldn't cut it. He sounds similarly messy (and not in a good way) on lots of other songs.  I would love to get a live Soundgarden album from the late '80s or earlier '90s.

That leads me to my second question: given that this was the last time Chris sang many of these songs with a rock band (although he has done lots of Soundgarden with Audioslave and on his solo tours)... is this live album a terrible advertisement for their upcoming tour (many of the dates were announced earlier today)?

MY ANSWER: on its own, this live album doesn't really make a great argument to see the same band, 15 years later. We know Matt Cameron is still an amazing drummer, due to his many of years with Pearl Jam (he still is in Pearl Jam, BTW). Kim Thayil has seemed to be semi-retired since Soundgarden packed it up, but I bet he hasn't lost his serrated edge on guitar. I wonder about Ben Shepherd.  Back when he was younger, as is the case with lots of the bands of that era, he had an attitude about playing to large crowds.  All these years later, lots of those guys have had to return to their day jobs.  There have been stories that Ben wasn't in great financial shape (he clarified a bit after one magazine's sensationalistic take on his situation), I wonder if he will appreciate his good fortune now. But Chris Cornell would be the real question mark.

And you know my take on that: I saw Chris do a stunning solo acoustic show a few weeks ago, it was truly incredible. And while there is a big difference between doing a solo acoustic show and playing with Soundgarden, I think his is clean, clear and ready to rock.

So my final answer: I'm getting tickets.  I think you should also.

SOUNDGARDEN ON SPIN

Soundgarden is on the cover of the new issue of Spin. I remember years ago Spin put them on the cover with the snarky headline "Soundgarden Kills Grunge Dead." I always got the impression that Spin didn't quite approve of them: they were a bit too manly, a little too tough seeming, and Chris Cornell was a bit too "rock god." They were probably much more comfortable with Nirvana (and even moreso with Mudhoney and Dinosaur Jr.). It's weird to see them on the cover again, but I'm glad to see it.  Spin has gotten some bad press for the story's slant. They refer to bassist Ben Shepherd as being "homeless," when what he really said is that he moved out of his house that he shared with his girlfriend. He seemed more "in-between" homes than "homeless," but you know how the media likes to play this stuff! He actually responded to this on Soundgarden's new website.

Other interesting things about the story were that the band claimed that Chris Cornell's tweet announcing that "school was back in session" referred to the fact that the band were planning on reactivating thier fan club and the band was going to have an online presence, not that they were actually reuniting. Also, that the band has to work around Matt Cameron's schedule with Pearl Jam. The band's ex-manager (and Chris Cornell's ex-wife) Susan Silver, who still manages Alice In Chains, was interviewed as well, which made it seem like more than the usual puff piece.  The article hints that at least one member really could use the money (Shepherd, he kind of says it himself), and Silver points out that Cornell wanted the reunion because his solo career wasn't going anywhere. Yes, she's his ex-wife, and they had a bitter divorce, but it's a tough point to contest. But at least they're not Stone Temple Pilots - who Matt Cameron kind of made fun of towards the end of the article ("They're just painful.")

The article kind of asks, as I have on twitter, why the band have made very few announcements - two club gigs and Lollapalooza, but no tour. That's really what I want to know, when can I see the band! It's hard to imagine that this will be something that results in new music although Cornell seems to toy with the idea of recording just one new song. And it's hard to imagine that music would approach the greatness of Soundgarden. I don't think they need to record new music - Chris is in a different place now.  I just would love to see them one more time.  My favorite Soundgarden show was from maybe 1990, it was Voivod, Soundgarden and Faith No More, Soundgarden were promoting Louder Than Love, they had something to prove and they were incredible. It was the original lineup, with bassist Hiro Yamamoto. After that, I saw them at Lollapalooza, with Guns N Roses, and with Neil Young (and a headlining show at The Armory in New York City which may have been one of the worst concerts I've ever seen, mainly thanks to the venue). But they were never as good as that first time. Maybe some members fell too hard into drugs.  But I think this time around, it could be the best Soundgarden show ever.  That's what I'm hoping for, anyway.

REVIEW: PEARL JAM AT MSG 5/20 AND 5/21

People can be cynical about arena concerts, and I can understand that sentiment. Yes, there can be a big disconnect between the artist and audience, and oftentimes the thousands of fans at a large arena get herded like livestock. I get it.

But.

Some artists just figure that it's part of the deal to go along with it. You get big enough to play arenas, the lack of connection is part of what comes with the deal. But what if you got to that point because your fans felt some kind of real connection with the band (as opposed to just liking some of the band's songs). Arguably, no one has handled the problem as well as Pearl Jam (maybe Bruce Springsteen). I've seen Pearl Jam probably about 20 times since 1992 (at the Limelight!) and I've always appreciated the way they respect the fact that there are people paying to hear them perform. For a few years, they seemed to struggle with the conundrum and Eddie Vedder didn't always seem happy on stage.  I'm happy to say that it seems like he's gotten over this in the past few years.

Anyway, I was fortunate enough to see the band three times this week: once in Newark, and twice at Madison Square Garden. At one of the MSG shows, Eddie had a beam of light reflecting from his guitar into the audience. He slowly moved the guitar so that that beam of light touched every seat in the audience. It's more than just a cool looking effect, it's him acknowledging every single person in the crowd. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it's a cool gesture.

A few numbers: they played 76 songs over three nights, with only six songs being played all three nights: "Alive," "Do The Evolution," "Lukin" (although the last night featured a very different, slower verison), "The Fixer," "Unthought Known" and "Just Breathe." Quite a few rare tracks over the past two nights, including "Sweet Lew" (Jeff Ament on lead vocals!) and "Black Red Yellow" (which I'd never heard them play before), "Hunger Strike" (with Band Of Horses' Ben Bridwell on guest vocals), and lots of cool covers: The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" and "The Real Me," The Ramones' "I Believe In Mircales" and The MC5's "Kick Out The Jams."

But really, what it was about was this: they emptied the tank every night. They played great songs, and made it worth everyone's while (and money) to come more than once (which I'm sure many people did). They played the songs that hooked us in the first place, but their latest songs from last year's Backspacer showed that the band is as vital as ever ("The Fixer" isn't just one of my favorite songs, it's becomming my mantra!). I'm always amazed by how great they are. Yes, Eddie Vedder is one of the best frontmen in music. Mike McCready is one of the rock's great underrated lead guitarists, and his heroics prevent the band from descending into boring indie rock pretension (he happily runs around the stage, striking excellent poses with classic rock guitars: Fender Strats, Les Pauls, a flying V and even a double neck Gibson like what Jimmy Page used to use).  But the other guys hold it down.  Stone Gossard, as I mentioned, is a guy you would want in your band.  He plays every instrument, but is rarely flashy, is a riff playing monster, and really holds everything together. Jeff is a great bassist, he can play in any style. And PJ fans can thank god for Matt Cameron, the perfect drummer for the band. He also adds the occasional great song (like "You Are") and great backing vocals too.  I can't wait to see him back in Soundgarden later this year, but I hope he never leaves PJ. And of course touring Hammond player Boom Gaspar is a great part of the band also, giving them an even more timeless sound.

Night 2 at MSG was the last night of the US tour. Then, they have some European dates and then Matt is doing the Soundgarden tour. I think Stone is doing another Brad tour and album, and I guess Eddie will do solo shows.  But when Pearl Jam tours again, I'll be there. I want my moment in the spotlight again!

REVIEW: PEARL JAM 05/18/10 NEWARK

Last night I saw Pearl Jam for the first time in... well, in about a half year. What can I say, I love the band!

Pearl Jam have hit a stride in their career where they are a weird cross between The Grateful Dead and Bruce Springsteen.  Like The Dead, they can tour when they want to, with or without a new album, play any song from their catalog and have radically different shows every night. And like Bruce, they are at a point where they are so finely tuned that they empty the tank every show, are able to be spontaneous, and on any given night might be the best band in the world.

While this show wasn't as epic at the Halloween show in Philly, it was pretty awesome.  (To be fair, that show was, as mentioned, on Halloween, it was the final event at The Spectrum before it was to be torn down, and right across the parking lot was the final game of the World Series, between The New York Yankees and The Philadelphia Phillies. It really felt like the center of the earth that night).

The biggest surprise was a cover of "Jersey Girl" - that was when I took the above photo... you'll notice Stone Gossard is not playing guitar - instead he's rockin' the tambourine. I've seen Stone play bass and even drums (with Brad) but this was the first time I've seen him tap the tambourine. But there were other great moments with rare tracks: "Footsteps" was my highlight, but it was also great to hear "Alone" and "Brother." Also great (and kind of rare): "In Hiding" and "Whipping."

I was fortunate enough to have gotten fan club tickets for the show - which placed my wife and I in the eighth row, center, on the floor, the best tickets I have ever had for Pearl Jam, and some of my best tickets ever. I have tickets for two other PJ shows this week, at both shows we will be in the upper upper upper level. It was great to watch the band that way. Eddie Vedder has become a great band leader, when you're close, you can really see it.  I think that at one point, Stone resisted that, but now he seems OK with it.  I think that Stone is such a generous musician and a real team player.  I mean, playing tambourine on "Jersey Girl!" He kind of does what the song requires, even if it is just strumming an acoustic.  He lets Mike McCready take all the solos, but he and Jeff Ament are kind of the glue that holds the whole thing together. Of course I gotta mention Matt Cameron.  I look forward to seeing him later this year with Soundgarden, his style with Pearl Jam is so different.

If you've never seen Pearl Jam, you should make it your business to see a show. If you've never seen a rock and roll show (although if you haven't, you probably wouldn't be reading this blog), you should go see Pearl Jam. They really are as life-affirming as a rock and roll band could be.

I should mention the opening band, Band Of Horses. Their song "No One's Gonna Love You" was my second favorite song of 2008 (after only Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler"). They were really good, they remind me of The Band, and not just because of their colonial beards. And also My Morning Jacket. What is it with the beards! I don't know that I would pay to see Band Of Horses on their own, but they were a good opening act. Eddie joined them for a song, and frontman Ben Bridwell returned the favor by joining Pearl Jam for "All Along The Watchtower" (but he sort of was out of his weight class trying to rock out).

SOUNDGARDEN RETURN TO THE STAGE

On Friday night at the Showbox in Seattle, Soundgarden returned to the stage for the first time since 1998.  Rolling Stone has the setlist - it seems like it was a great show, with songs from their entire career, from their debut SubPop single "Hunted Down" to songs from their final album, the classic Down On The Upside. I can not wait to see this show. I feel like some people in the media are being dismissive of this tour, and also Faith No More's. But then again, the media seems excited about Pavement's reunion.  Talk about revenge of the nerds! Sorry, that was mean.

But anyway, I've seen Chris Cornell over the years in Soundgarden, Audioslave and on a solo tour. The last time I saw him, he was solo, and it was the best performance I'd ever seen from him (with the possible exception of a 1989 Voivod/Soundgarden/Faith No More concert). He was clean, and healthy, and it was awesome. Matt Cameron is amazing, of course, I've seen him in Pearl Jam many times over the years, including a marathon show on Halloween. I'm sure Kim Thayil is still an awesome guitarist, and hopefully Ben Shepherd has lost the attitude: out of all of them, he really seemed to dislike playing to large audiences the most. Well, I am totally psyched to see this show.

BEST OF THE 00s: PEARL JAM

Pearl Jam was one of the dominant band, if not the dominant band, of the '90s. It was their awkward childhood and adolescence as a band. And they probably produced their best music during that era: Ten, Vs.,Vitalogy and No Code. (I felt that Yield was a great album, but it saw them slipping.)

But in the '00s, they've put out a lot of great music which doesn't get its due. 2000's Binaural, produced by Tchad Blake, is probably their most underrated album. The single, "Nothing As It Seems," is a really cool song, but a willfully uncommercial pick for first single. There were some great garage rock gems there: "Breakerfall," "God's Dice" and "Evacuation." "Thin Air" is one of their sweetest songs (and was included on our wedding compilation) - I always felt that Al Green or Solomon Burke or even Willie Nelson could do a great cover. 

2002's Riot Act was kind of their mid-life crisis. Musically, it had a bit too much of an obsession (I felt) with indie rock. It was like a guy who works hard to stay in shape, but he starts slouching to appeal to indie rock fans.  It's not convincing and also unecessary.  It's interesting to me that they get so much respect from the indie rock world these days. Anyway, the album is, in my opinion, their weakest, but features two of their best songs, "I Am Mine" and "Love Boat Captain."

In 2003, they released a lovely song, "Man Of The Hour," for an equally lovely film, Tim Burton's Big Fish. That year also saw the release of Lost Dogs, a 2 CD set of non-album tracks.  The following year, they put out rearviewmirror, a 2 CD set of "greatest hits" (I had the privlege to write the record label's bio for that album). And, with that, they moved into the world of being actually independent.

On 2006's Pearl Jam, I felt that they wanted to be a "big" band again. Riot Act had a song called "Bu$hleaguer" - but it was so boring, that it didn't make much of a protest song. Even people who wanted to get behind it, couldn't.  I think they started taking cues from (maybe) The Clash and Bruce Springsteen - artists who had big messages, and wrote music appropriately so that it would reach big audiences. It was a great album, with "Life Wasted," "World Wide Suicide," "Unemployable," "Severed Hand" giving them some new anthems.  "Come Back" is maybe their sweetest song ever, if I produced Solomon Burke, I would suggest that he cover this one. I feel like that song could be a huge hit in the right hands.

Last year's Backspacer is a great album, it saw them reunite with Vs. and Vitalogy producer Brendan O'Brien.  The first single, "The Fixer," provided me with a mantra of sorts, and could be the unofficial slogan of No Expiration: "If something's old, I wanna put a little shine on it. When something's gone, I wanna fight to get it back again." "Gonna See My Friend" and "Supersonic" are great rockers as well, and "Just Breathe" is another wonderful ballad.

I also have to mention Eddie Vedder's work outside of the band: his solo debut, 2007's Into The Wild soundtrack, is classic. He's also collaborated with the Supersuckers, Neil Finn, Cat Power and former Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons. He is creating his own solo repertoire, and hopefully he feels comfortable balancing his own career with the band. Stone Gossard has done some solo stuff and some guest appearances outside of the band.  His other group, Brad, released one album - I wish they were more active. Jeff Ament released his first solo album, and reuinted with his pre-Green River hardcore band, Derranged Diction (and Stone and Jeff did a few Green River reunion things). Mike McCready did a few things with his other band The Rockfords and did some guest appearances.  Matt Cameron meanwhile did a few albums with his garage rock band Wellwater Conspiracy, an album with his jazz band Harrybu McCage and a few other things. He really did come into his own as Pearl Jam's drummer in the '00s.

But the real reason that I am including Pearl Jam in my Best of the '00s is because they really created their own path during the '00s.  Not worrying about having huge hit records (but, finally, not shying away from the possibility of doing so), and taking advantage of their position: they don't need to deal with record labels anymore. They've always been a really popular touring act, and the group they get compared to often is The Grateful Dead. (Not musicially, just the fact that they can play huge venues without radio or press).  Since 2000, they've been releasing live albums ("bootlegs") of every concert that they play (for the most part) and they offer them at fair prices. Speaking of their live shows, they are always mind-blowingly great. They have also just started to dip into their archives: in 2006, they released New Year's Eve 1992, a concert recorded while they were just blowing up at New York's Academy (they were actually opening for Keith Richards & The X-Pensive Winos, my wife was at that show). And last year they put out a pretty amazing super-deluxe reissue of Ten (in a number of different versions, I got the big kahuna).

I think that, like The Dead, Pearl Jam will be a huge touring act for decades to come. But unlike The Dead, I bet they will still be making vital relevant music.

SOUNDGARDEN: BACK IN 2010 (*NOT* A RUMOR!)

Over the summer, there were lots of rumors of a Soundgarden reunion. Kim Thayil went to one of Chris Cornell's concerts. And Kim, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron (along with Tad Doyle of Tad and Cornell's former Audioslave bandmate Tom Morello) did a three song set of Soundgarden songs on the Seattle date of Morello's Justice Tour.

But last night, Chris Cornell tweeted that "The 12 year break is over & school is back in session," and provided a link to the band's new website.

There's no other details that I know of, but I can't wait to see them live. They were actually not a great live band, especially towards the end, but the last time I saw Chris Cornell, a few summers ago, it was the best performance I'd ever seen by him. Clean and sober suits him, and I have high  hopes that Soundgarden in 2010 will be a powerful live experience. I wonder how this affects Matt Cameron's status in Pearl Jam.

PEARL JAM CLOSES THE SPECTRUM

People overuse the word "epic," but last night's Pearl Jam Halloween/last-concert-at-the-Philly-Spectrum truly was one for the ages. The above clip (not my video, I wasn't sitting that close to the stage) was from the first encore, when the band came out dressed as Devo and covered "Whip It." It was pretty classic. (Devo apparently approved: a video with a different angle from the above one, is posted at their website. On another note, this gave me a great idea for my halloween costume for next year: Devo actually sell these outfits).

I'd have to check on this, but I think it may have been their longest show ever. It was certainly one of them - I'm sure the live album will be three CDs. (all of Pearl Jam's concerts are available as live downloads or CDs through the band's website) Like Bruce Springseen 's recent concert closing down Giants Stadium, there were crazy rumors of who would show up... and like that show, there were no guests. Which is fine: they played over three hours, that's more than enough, who cares about guests (although Eddie Vedder did sing a song with opening band, Bad Religion, who were great). Eddie addressed this towards the beginning of the show, mentioning that he had heard rumors that Bruce, Neil Young, Billy Joel, Dave Matthews and Jon Bon Jovi were going to be there, and he said that, in fact, there would be no guests.

Instead, we got performances of some songs that had never, or rarely ever, been performed by the band. That included "Pilate," from Yield, "Out Of My Mind," which was the b-side of "Not For You" and which wasn't even included on the b-sides collection, Lost Dogs. Eddie explained that a fan offered a large sum of money to a worthy cause if they played it - it was only the third time they ever performed it.

Eddie strapped on a button accordion for the first ever performance of Vitalogy's "Bugs," which was better than the studio version. There was also the first ever performance of "Sweet Lew," featuring Jeff Ament on lead vocals, Eddie on backing vocals and dribbling a basketball, and Stone Gossard on bass. Stone also played bass on one of my favorites, "Smile," which featured Jeff on lead guitar. Plus there were some other rarely played songs that I love, such as "I Got ID" and the Mother Love Bone song "Crown Of Thorns."

But the show wasn't just for aficionados: they also played some of their biggest songs, including "Evenflow," "Alive," "Yellow Ledbetter," "Better Man" and "Daughter." As well as a bunch of songs from their very solid new album, including one of my favorites, "The Fixer," along with "Just Breathe" (which featured a string section) and "Got Some." I've been seeing the band for seventeen years, I've very rarely been disappointed, but this was one of the best shows I've ever seen by them. They seem like they are at the top of their game, and I hope they tour some more in 2010, I'll definitely go to see them again.

HOLY CRAP: PEARL JAM'S GUEST LIST

Pearl Jam don't really need special guests joining them onstage, they are powerful enough on thier own. That said, they've recently had some pretty awesome special guests. Ben Harper has been opening for them lately, and joining them every night for "Red Mosquito," from No Code. At Austin City Limits, Perry Farrell joined them for Jane's Addiction 's "Mountain Song." Jerry Cantrell has joined them recently for "Alive" and The MC5 's "Kick Out The Jams." But the other night in LA, Chris Cornell joined them for the Temple Of The Dog classic "Hunger Strike." Wow. What's more is that, supposedly, Soundgarden 's Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd were backstage, and they hung with Chris and Matt Cameron after the show. WOW. Earlier this year, 75% of Soundgarden reunited, but I think this is the first time the four of them have been together since the band broke up. It would be great to see them together again, although I doubt it would be a full-time thing. I wonder if Matt Cameron could balance being in both Pearl Jam and Soundgarden?

MIND-BLOWING SHOW ALERT (or, "these guys must have had some interesting conversations about Chris Cornell")

Before taking his new band Street Sweeper on the Nine Inch Nails/Jane's Addiction tour, Tom Morello is leading another of his Justice tours.  Last night, it hit Seattle in style.  Tad Doyle, formerly of Tad, performed with Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd and Matt Cameron, doing three Soundgarden songs, with Tom Morello sitting on on "Spoonman" (which he knew, because Audioslave used to perform it). Also on the bill: Steve Earle and Wayne Kramer of The MC5.  Read about it at The Seattle Weekly. The Justice tour is coming to New York, with Perry Farrell and Jerry Cantrell on the bill.  I missed that tour last time, I gotta catch it this time. 

But I wonder if "Tadgarden" will play again.  Cameron is a member of Pearl Jam, and that seems to be going really well for him, he's been in PJ longer than he was in Soundgarden. But in a recent interview, Chris Cornell said that there really wouldn't be a downside to reuniting with Soundgarden, so who knows, maybe this will prompt him to leave his more pop-oriented solo work the same way Keith Richards' rocking solo stuff lured Mick Jagger away from his more pop solo material. Although I don't know if Soundgarden can reunite without the involvement of their former manager, who is also Cornell's ex-wife. Time will tell! 

PEARL JAM PART 2: 0625/08 MSG

Our seats were just as good for night two of Pearl Jam's two night stand at Madison Square Garden. This time, instead of being behind the stage, we were in front, but a little farther away: in the 13th row. From a photographer's point of view, it's probably better to be in front, and my lovely wife had a great time taking photos: see above. I was surprised that they played quite a few of the same songs as the night before, but there were enough different songs to have made it worth it.

They opened with "Release," which was great, and other great songs that they added included "World Wide Suicide," "Severed Hand," "State Of Love And Trust," "Garden" and "Rats." "Rats" has always been one of my favorites, and I wish they'd do more funky stuff like that. "Suicide" and "Severed Hand," both from their latest album, are classic. The backup singers were once again on hand, as was CJ Ramone. One notable other guest was Ace Frehley, who joined them for Kiss' "Black Diamond." That was pretty cool: the backup singers joined for that one, Eddie Vedder actually left the stage, Mike McCready actually sang the first line (as Paul Stanley does on the original), and Matt Cameron sang lead from behind the drums (as Peter Criss did back in the day).

It's funny: back in the '90s, Pearl Jam was seen as the anti-KISS. Their look wasn't typically rock star, and they seemed against flashiness. But, watching the band jam with a member of KISS and a member of The Ramones in the same night, you realize they were equally influenced by both bands. I wonder what Gene Simmons would think? He used to bitch about Pearl Jam all the time.

I could write about how mind-blowingly great Pearl Jam were all day, but I think you kind of get it. This is a band you should see if you get the chance. And, hopefully, you'll get lots of chances. I wonder when we'll hear from them next. I know Stone Gossard's other band, Brad, have a new album coming out. I also hear that Stone is working on his second solo album. Matt has a new jazz group called Harrybu McCage, they played Bonnaroo, and they just released their debut. But, hopefully the guys will get back together for a new album in the next few months. I can't wait to hear what they'll come up with next.

PEARL JAM PART 1: 06/24/08 MSG

I'm a bit behind on my concert reporting: the last two nights I went to see Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden. Both shows ended at about 11:30 pm ET and I got home closer to 1 am.


Both shows were incredible: at the first show, we had tickets behind the stage, but they were in the 4th row, so it was actually pretty great. My lovely wife took some pretty cool pictures. The picture on the left is of course Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, and the other one is Mike McCready playing a face melting solo during "Evenflow" -- all behind his head, Hendrix-style. No disrespect to drummer Matt Cameron or keyboardist Boom Gaspar - we didn't have a great sight line to them from our seats .


They opened with a pretty rare song: "Hard To Imagine." Right there you knew it was going to be a pretty special show, it usually is when they open with something so unusual. Four songs in, they did something really unusual: they added three backing singers. One of them, Fonzi Thornton, was a guy who I knew of: he sings backup for Aretha Franklin, and has worked with tons of other people, like Luther Vandross, Chic, Debbie Harry and Mick Jagger to name just a few. I'm dying to know how Pearl Jam met up with these guys. Actually two guys and a girl. Anyway, they did a song I'd never heard before, "All Night," which was pretty cool. Later on, they returned for "Who You Are" and "W.M.A."


Another cool guest was C.J. Ramone, who joined for a cover of The Ramones' "I Believe In Miracles." But the show wasn't about guests, and Pearl Jam rocked for about 2 1/2 hours: other highlights were "Down" (a b-side), "Unemployable," "Whipping," "Present Tense," "Do The Evolution," The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me," "Spin The Black Circle," Eddie's solo performance of "No More," Victoria Williams' "Crazy Mary," "Present Tense," Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower," and the closer, "Indifference." But the show was like one long highlight. Eddie was in great spirits, and so was the rest of the band.


MSG was totally sold out, and the rafters literally shook several times during the concert. I do think Pearl Jam are well on their way to Grateful Dead/Springsteen type status: where they can tour whenever they want, whether or not they have an album, and sell out multiple nights. And not have to rely on any hits. There is no song that they "have to" play every night. Which is pretty extrodinary.


A few years ago, Eddie Vedder seemed frustrated by being in such a big band. He seemed to resent the songs from Ten, and just didn't seem to be enjoying himself. I think he's grown up a bit, and seen almost all of his early '90s peers struggling to keep their audiences. Pearl Jam still play by their own rules thanks to the loyalty of the fans, and he seems to appreciate it now.

So, to summarize, great show. But the following night was even better. I'll write about that one, and post more of Maria's pictures, tomorrow.