RNDM AT THE MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG

RNDM's show was interesting on many levels. For one, I hadn’t really heard much of the band’s music. Generally I will listen to a group a lot the week I’m getting ready to see them perform. But the week of the show was the week after Sandy, and I had no power in my house, and hadn’t had the chance to upload their music to my iPod.

Actually, I think I only had one single; the album came out that week, but I was preoccupied and was living by flashlight;  going to iTunes wasn’t really on my mind. So it was the rare experience of going to see an artist whose music I was almost completely unfamiliar with.  Of course that happens at festivals or with opening acts, but I can't think of many times where I went to a show to see a band and really didn't know much of their music.

I should mention that I did buy their album at the show – I’ve listened to it often and I like it a lot. I thought RNDM was really great. They often wear masks in their press shots; I almost wish they kept them on, because people should hear them on their own terms. For better or worse, something that Jeff Ament is involved in will always be filed under “Pearl Jam side project.” There are benefits to that, to be sure, but I think this band can find its own audience, which doesn’t necessarily have to be a subset of the Ten Club (I think Brad has found a following like that as well).

 Anyway, the truth is, a band’s audience is often focused on the lead singer. And RNDM singer/guitarist Joseph Arthur has his own audience already. I’m familiar with his song “In The Sun,” and I am a big fan of his other band, Fistful Of Mercy. He’s a great singer and songwriter, I think he’s one or two hits away from playing places like Radio City Music Hall. I can’t say enough about drummer Richard Stuverud. He’s a wild man, and his joy at playing is infectious. He and Jeff have a tight bond: they’ve played together in Three Fish and Tres Mtns (who I hope we haven’t seen the last of) before RNDM. He’s a powerful drummer, the show kicks ass because of him. And Jeff? Well, it’s his band, but he seems to enjoy keeping it democratic. Everyone knows what’s on the back of his baseball card.  

Still, when you see RNDM on stage, in their photos and in their videos, you can see that he enjoys having a visual element that simply wouldn’t be welcome in his other band. He gets his Primus and Beastie Boys on, giving the band a strong visual identity; they even all have the same haircut (watch them sit under the scissors in the video for "Modern Times"). So, anyway, without knowing really much of the music at all (although they did one song that mashed up The Clash’s “The Magnificent Seven” with something else), I though it was great. I know that Pearl Jam are taking about a year off so Matt Cameron can return to Soundgarden (who I also will be writing about soon), I wonder if we’ll see any more RNDM in 2013. Not that Jeff asked what *I* would like to see him do. But I’d love to see a “magnificent four” tour – with Jeff, Richard, Joseph and Dug Pinnick, where they played RNDM and Tres Mtns songs. Hell, bring Joseph’s other bandmates – Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison of Fistful, along with their violinist Jessy Greene – and just call it “Magnificent Seven.” And this time, play the whole song!

BRAD AT NYC'S GRAMERCY THEATER 6/23/12

photo credit: Maria Ives 

You can’t call Brad a “side-project” anymore, they’ve been around for almost 20 years.  They’re a band… a funky band and a great one. Singer/multi-instrumentalist Shawn Smith, drummer Regan Hagar and guitarist Stone Gossard have been together for a long time, and they play like it (even though there are sometimes long breaks between albums).  They now feature bassist Keith Lowe and are often accompanied by multi-instrumentalist/singer Happy Chichester. 

When Brad first came out, Pearl Jam were the biggest, hottest band in the world, and I guess it was annoying to Stone and the other guys that people were showing up to their gigs hoping to hear Pearl Jam. That has, thankfully, faded.  And maintaining that they are their own thing has definitely paid off.  While Shawn Smith is the focal point of the group (he’s one of the greatest singers around), people go to see the band.  Everyone has their favorite songs, and favorite periods. I know: they skipped some of my favorite tunes! 

They opened with “Waters Deep,” a song that they gave away for free on their website, and went into a set that drew from their five album catalog.  For me, the highlight was “Every Whisper,” from their last album, Best Friends? (I wish they’d played “Bless Me Father” from that album as well, but I was lucky enough to film them performing it a few years ago). Two other highlights were their most rocking songs from their second album, Interiors, “Secret Girl” and “Sweet Al George.”

Photo Credit: Maria Ives 

But their most popular album is still their debut, Shame (indeed, when I posted to my Facebook page that I was at a Brad show, a friend immediately commented that Shame is one of her favorite albums ever).  I was totally stoked that they drew heavily from it towards the end of the show, playing “20^th Century,” “Buttercup” and “Screen.”

There were some great covers also: Shawn sat at the keyboard by himself for a solo segment, where he played Mother Love Bone’s “Crown Of Thorns,” and Prince’s “Purple Rain.”*  That was incredible, and a good reminder that Shawn has his own solo career, which is worth following as well.   As a band, they performed Neil Young’s amazing “Don’t Cry” (from his Freedom album).

photo credit: Maria Ives 

I don’t know what it takes to keep Brad on the road. I'm sure there's lots of scheduling issues involved, and I know it's not cheap to get them out there.  I know last time they toured they got a break when Band Of Horses offered them an opening spot (I’d have to think that they’d blow them away nightly). So, here’s hoping they get the break they need, because twenty years in, more people need to see this incredible band. I know they're reissuing their catalog this year, so it's the perfect time for people who have been missing out to get into this band.  Trust me, you'll dig it! 

*In a funny sidenote, I once filmed an interview with champion surfer Kelly Slater guest DJ-ing on Pearl Jam Radio, where he described going to see Brad and Shawn performing “ a couple of Prince songs.”   I tweeted the video once, and Shawn tweeted back at me that he only played one – “Purple Rain” – but he was flattered that Slater thought the rest of the songs were by Prince.  

EDDIE VEDDER - WATER ON THE ROAD

I just watched the live concert film from Eddie Vedder's first big solo tour, Water On The Road. I caught this tour, and it was amazing.  This film is a great snapshot of the tour, but it's more: there's great extra footage - backstage, at Eddie's home in Hawaii, scenes with fans - beautifully shot by directors Christoph Green and Brendan Canty. You might recognize Canty's name - he played drums in Fugazi. And he gets out from behind the camera to provide the most exciting part of the film: he gets on drums to back Eddie for a cover of "All Along The Watchtower" (it's actually in the bonus features).

But the entire film was great.  I think Eddie put a lot of thought into the presentation of the show, and it paid off.  Everything from the song selection to the stage set worked.  The setlist drew from the Into The Wild soundtrack, with Pearl Jam  tunes and Bob Dylan covers ("Watchtower," "Girl From The North Country," "Forever Young").  The set itself had a pretty cool look, with a sky blue background, a pair of wings, and towards the end of the show, Eddie and his guests Liam Finn and Sleater-Kinney alumni Corin Tucker are wearing lab coats and playing in dried ice during "Hard Sun."

My highlights included Eddie and Tucker, backstage, recording a cover of X's "Golden State," all the Into The Wild songs, Eddie at home doing Pearl Jam's new classic "Unthought Known" and the Dylan covers. I hope that Pearl Jam keep rocking for a long time, but I'm glad Eddie now has a parallel career that acknowledges PJ's legacy but isn't dependent on it. I feel that this film makes a good argument for that (and by the way, so did his last tour for Ukulele Songs, which I saw earlier this year).

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.

NIRVANA, PEARL JAM AND R.E.M.

There's a lot of nostalgia around '90s music these days. Pearl Jam is celebrating their 20th anniversary via a documentary film directed by Cameron Crowe, the accompanying book and soundtrack and their recent two day festival.  Nirvana, meanwhile, are releasing various versions of the 20th anniversary edition of their breakthrough album, Nevermind.

I always thought that the sort of clash between the bands was silly, and never felt the need to choose between them.  That said, when Kurt Cobain complained about Pearl Jam being "corporate rock" in Rolling Stone (the issue where he wore the "corporate magazines still suck" t-shirt on the cover), I found that a bit annoying. Sure, Ten was slick sounding... but so was Nevermind. (And Geffen had Andy Wallace remix the album after they turned down producer Butch Vig's original mix... which will be available in the super-deluxe version of the reissue).

Nirvana was more abrasive, and Pearl Jam was more inclusive. Nevermind kicked down doors and changed music overnight, Pearl Jam took a bit longer to find their audience (despite the fact that their music is more accessible).  Nirvana was always more credible, Pearl Jam easier to make fun of.  I never cared about any of that.

Nirvana left behind a pretty untouchable -- but small -- body of work. Three albums, lots of singles and B-sides, and great live shows (I never saw them in concert). Kurt Cobain is in the "27" club with Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison and (I guess) Winehouse. We never saw him get old, Nirvana never fell off, it's all perfectly preserved in our memories, and I guess there's something about that that people romanticize.

As a 40-something, I have a much greater appreciation for what Pearl Jam has done. They've stuck it out. They're not pretending to be 20-somethings, they're not pretending to be anything they're not. They're grown men and they write songs from that perspective.  Has everything they've ever done lived up to the promise of Ten, Vs. and Vitalogy?  No. But that's how life is: everything doesn't always come out great, but you keep going. And you hit upon some brilliant moments during the ride.

That's kind of what Rob Sheffield wrote about today on Rolling Stone, when discussing R.E.M.'s breakup.  He said "People love to complain that R.E.M. should have broken up when Bill Berry quit in 1997, to preserve their legacy in a pristine state. Except this misses the fundamental point of R.E.M., which is that rock and roll is something you do, something that's part of your real sloppy life, rather than a fleeting phase. They decided not to be a 'go out in a blaze of glory' band like The Smiths or Husker Du, and they also decided not to be a 'blaze gloriously and then kinda fade out so everybody assumes you broke up even though maybe you officially didn't' kind of band, like Echo and the Bunnymen or The Jesus and Mary Chain. They decided to be a 'run it into the ground' band, plowing ahead whether they had the wind at their backs or not."  I disagree with Mr. Sheffield a bit, as I loved R.E.M.'s 2008 album Accelerate, but generally speaking, the wind has not been at their backs since Bill left.

The wind hasn't always been at Pearl Jam's backs either, and at points, it seemed to be blowing directly at them. I'm glad they stuck it out, and keep sticking it out. It would have been easy to call it a day: none of these guys need the money at this point. And I would admit that not all of their albums seem as inspired as their early ones.  But parts of Backspacer mean as much to me as anything they've ever done. "The Fixer" is like my mantra.  "Unthought Known," "Just Breathe" and "Amongst The Waves" move me as much as anything they've done before.  I'm glad they stuck around long enough to make that album, and I can't wait to hear what the next one is like.

EDDIE VEDDER - UKULELE SONGS

I've had some time to digest Eddie Vedder's latest solo album, Ukulele Songs. I really dig it.  Is it a classic?  I don't know - I need some more time on that one.  But I have to say, I didn't know if his first record, the Into The Wild soundtrack was a classic when it first came out. When he played those songs in concert, though, some of them held up to some of the Pearl Jam classics that he performed.

Of course, the singer of an incredibly successful rock band doing an album of songs written and performed on the uke could be seen as a bit indulgent.  I get that, but Eddie has earned the right to do whatever he wants.  For me, the real deal is, are the songs good?  They are.  And does it seem different from his day job?  Definitely. I think it's a really good album that makes a great argument that Eddie Vedder has a legitimate solo career that can run parallel to Pearl Jam (and long may they run).

NEIL YOUNG AND DAVE GROHL "COLLABORATE"

Without much fanfare, a new version of Neil Young's "Sign Of Love" from last year's Le Noise has been released as a single on iTunes. It's a slightly different take of song, with Dave Grohl on drums.  If you have the album or are familiar with it, you'll recall that there's no drums on the album - it is a true solo album, it's all Neil on vocals, guitar and keyboards, with producer Daniel Lanois and his guys adding some effects.  I liked the concept of the album (although I wish some of the songs were stronger), but Dave Grohl's drums add some muscle to the song.

This is the second re-imagining of a Le Noise track: right after the album came out, Pearl Jam covered "Walk With Me" at the Bridge School Benefit, with Neil joining them on guitar and vocals.  It sounded cool as a band song.   There are lots of bootleg videos you can see one here. It reminds me of how cool it is when Neil and Pearl Jam play together. I hope that one of these days, they do a U.S. tour together.

EDDIE VEDDER IN CONNECTICUT: AMAZING

Tonight, I saw the third show of Eddie Vedder's solo tour at The Mortensen Hall in Connecticut.  He's touring for his second solo album, Ukelele Songs.  This show made a great argument for the man having parallel careers: one with Pearl Jam and one on his own.  The show was divided fairly evenly between his first solo album Into The Wild, Ukelele Songs and Pearl Jam stuff. Ed did spend a lot of time on the uke, but also played acoustic and electric guitar and even a bit of mandolin.

He kicked off with a bunch of cuts from Ukelele Songs, including his uke-d up version of Pearl Jam's "Can't Keep."  I will review that album in a later post, but I will say that I happen to like it a lot. The title is not false advertising: the album is mostly Ed on uke, and it's  lovely.  Most of the songs are less than three minutes, some less than two, but the songs are solid. 

But back to the show itself: predictably, the Pearl Jam songs got a huge reaction: once he played "Sometimes," people were going crazy.  I think their latest album, Backspacer, has aged really well, and he did great versions of some of the songs, including "Just Breathe," "Speed Of Sound" and "Unthought Known ." One of his most emotional performances was "Better Man."  He mentioned performing that song onstage with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, and instead of a guitar solo, Clarence Clemons played a sax solo. (I was at that show, it was at the end of the Vote For Change tour).  Eddie didn't know, however, that Clarence had died earlier that evening, until his tech came out and told him.  When he went into the song (a much different version that Pearl Jam's), it was pretty heavy. He didn't play any Bruce songs though. It would have been cathartic if he did: and he actually covered two the other night ("Dead Man Walking" and "Open All Night.") But still, it was a great show. 

Speaking of aging well, his first solo album, 2007's Into The Wild soundtrack, gets a great reaction and the songs hold up to Pearl Jam's.  He played most of the record, and some of those songs, like "Hard Sun," "Far Behind" and "Guaranteed" are classics. 

I always get nervous when a singer from a band that I like starts to do solo stuff, but in Eddie's case, I think doing the solo acoustic (and ukelele) stuff probably recharges his batteries to go back to playing with the band, and I know they're doing a short tour later this summer, including a 2 day festival celebrating their 20th anniversary as a band. But taken on its own merits, his solo career is developing into it's own thing. Hopefully he will do both for a long time. 

Glen Hansard opened: he's from the band The Frames, also The Swell Season and he starred in the film Once. He was really good, and he joined Eddie for a few songs: you can tell that they have a cool bond (as Eddie did with his opener on his last tour, Liam Finn). 

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: LOLLAPALOOZA TURNS 20

Longtime No Expiration readers know that once a week (usually on Wednesday morning at 9 am ET) I go on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick on SiriusXM's OutQ channel. This week, we  moved my day to Friday. You can listen even if you aren't a subscriber: get a free online trial subscription here.

Last week, Perry Farrell announced this year's Lollapalooza festival, and it turns out that this year the franchise turns 20 (although it was dormant for a few of those years).  Some of my favorite bands ever have played the festival (check out a fun timeline here) and so I figured I'd talk about what a few of them are doing tomorrow.

Of course, I have to talk about Perry's group, Lollapalooza's first headliners, Jane's Addiction. When I last wrote about them, they'd released a live DVD from one of their last shows from their reunion tour, their only one to feature original bassist Eric Avery. By the time the DVD came out, Duff McKagan replaced him, and had already left the band. Dave Sitek from TV On The Radio played bass on the album, he also co-wrote songs and co-produced. But he's not in the band, and now it looks like they're back with Chris Chaney, who played with them in the early '00s.  Their next album, The Great Escape Artist, comes out in August, and the first song, "End To The Lies," is out now.  I don't know if I dig it yet.

I have yet to write about the great Pearl Jam box set, which includes remastered versions of Vs. and Vitalogy (both with bonus tracks), a live album recorded April 12, 1994 at the Orpheum in Boston and (on cassette!) a copy of the radio show they did when Vitalogy came out, which featured performances by them, as well as Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Mad Season and The Fastbacks.  I'll write more about that later.

Tres Mts, who I wrote about last night - that's the supergroup featuring Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament and Mike McCready, King's X frontman Doug Pinnick and Fastback Richard Stuverud.

Eddie Vedder, meanwhile, releases his second solo album, Ukelele Songs, later this month, and I have the first song, "Longing To Belong."

The Beastie Boys released Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 this week, I haven't gotten mine in the mail yet.  What up, Amazon? I will certainly write about it after I get it.  I know people want to know about it: a post I did in late 2009 is one of my most popular posts lately.

Green Day just released a live album, Awesome As Fuck. Check out my cousin Kyle's guest review.

The new live Soundgarden compilation, Live On I-5, which I just wrote about.

And Tom Morello's latest song as The Nightwatchman, "Union Town," which makes me proud to be a fan. Dig the video, and get the Union Town EP when it comes out digitally next week. The Nightwatchman's next full length, World Wide Rebel Songs, comes out later this summer.

AMENT + PINNICK + STUVERUD (+McCREADY) = TRES MTS

I have been waiting for a long time for this album! For years, I'd heard that Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam and Doug Pinnick from King's X were doing some sort of project together. Well, that project is Tres Mts and it's out now.  The band also features Fastbacks drummer Richard Stuverud (who also played with Jeff in the band Three Fish and on Jeff's solo album 2008's Tone).

I think the album was recorded at Jeff's place in Montana, and a lot of it sounds like it was created out of some pretty rockin' jams. At some point, they realized that the songs needed lyrics to become songs.  A lot of it has that "jammy" sound - not in a "jam band" way, but it sounds like they were just rocking out in the studio and hammered the jams into actual songs. Mike McCready plays a lot of lead guitar on the album - Doug Pinnick plays most of the guitar on the album, but he's mainly a (great) bass player.  When it was time for some face-melting solos, Jeff knew who to call!

What does it sound like? I guess a bit like if Doug sang for Pearl Jam. It's heavy rock, it's soul, it's psychedelic.  Not much of a punk rock influence, and no indie rock pretensions.

One song that stands out is "God Told Me." The context: King's X were a Christian band when they started out. Not like Christian metal, and they weren't playing revivals or anything, but they had a Christian message in their lyrics, and they didn't have a problem with discussing it. Years later, Doug came out as a gay man, and also as an agnostic, although on this song, he seems to have come to terms with God, if not with organized religion. It's pretty heavy.

Another great one: "She's My New Song," which reminds me a bit of Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly." I had the great privilege, the great pleasure, of filming the band when they were at the SiriusXM studios recently. It meant to world to me to film a band with members of two of my favorite groups, Pearl Jam and King's X.

I dig the album, it's pretty rockin'.  I'm not putting it on a level with King's X or Pearl Jam, but it is my favorite thing Jeff has done outside of Pearl Jam since Temple Of The Dog, and it's my favorite thing Doug has done outside of King's X.  I'd love to see a full-on show live (when they played NYC, I had tickets... and then realized my cousin Bat Mitzvah - in Ohio! - was that day, oops!), and I hope they do another album. I've been using the album to run to, and it works great.  But I've also listened to it while just hanging out in the house.  Watching them perform, you wouldn't have known that they hadn't played together too much, they were really tight and knocked out three songs in like ten minutes. They seemed to work so well together, and seemed to enjoy it, so hopefully we'll hear more from them in the future.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: SOCIAL D, GREGG ALLMAN, CAKE

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning, I am a guest contributor to the SiriusXM OutQ show The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick (co-hosted by Keith Price). Every week I talk about music and this week, I've got some great stuff to discuss.  I usually go on at at 9 am ET, but tomorrow I'll be on at 9:25, I'm being pre-empted for Miss America, believe it or not. Larry was nice enough to invite me to sit in on that, but I'm more than twice her age, so I'll pass!

First off is the new Social Distortion album, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. Mike Ness makes you wait a long time inbetween albums, but in my mind, it's worth it. I've never felt let down, by either Social D's albums or his solo records. However long it takes him to make them is fine with me.

Gregg Allman's first solo album in over 15 years, Low Country Blues, is also worth the wait. Very different from an Allman Brothers Band album, the record sees him teaming up with "Him Again," the great producer T-Bone Burnett. They make an amazing team, and they've produced an excellent album. I love it.

I've been a Cake fan since 1994: I remember seeing them at The Mercury Lounge in NYC in maybe 1994 or 1995. I had no idea that they'd get as big as they did, but I think they have that... thing ... that makes a band become a "cult" band. They have a career and most of the country don't even know who they are. It's a beautiful thing. They don't have anything to do with trends, they totally do their own thing, and I really admire them. But I'm a fan because of their great songs. I didn't love their last album, but the new one, Showroom Of Compassion, is growing on me, and I'm told it's the #1 album in the country this week!

The Jayhawks are a great "Americana" band, and they are reissuing what are arguably their two best albums, 1992's Hollywood Town Hall and 1995's Tomorrow The Green Grass this week. The latter has "Blue," which is a perfect song if there ever was one. These guys should have been bigger than they were. The band has recently reunited with their principal singer/songwriters Marc Olson and Gary Louris, and have a new album coming out this year. But both of these reissues are really worth your time and money, especially if you don't have them yet (but the bonus tracks make it worth it, even if you do).

Finally, this week Pearl Jam release their second live album, Live On Ten Legs. Although given the fact that they've released "official bootlegs" of pretty much every concert they've done for the past decade, I don't really see the point - it would have been cooler if they put all their rare covers or one-off guest spots on the album. I don't really need more versions of "Jeremy" and "Rearviewmirror" as much as I like those songs.  I have like 20 official bootlegs!  It does have one very cool rarity: a cover of the Public Image Ltd song "Public Image." Which I bought on iTunes. But if you don't have any live Pearl Jam stuff, you're missing out, and this would be a great place to start.

HALLOWEEN ROCKS: DEVO

Not every Halloween costume has to be scary monster or goth stuff - you can also dress like Devo! And the band make it easy for you: you can order the classic Devo uniform (or their newer blue and white version) right on their website! In fact, I think that's what the members of Pearl Jam did last Halloween (when they played a Halloween concert at the Philadelphia Spectrum, they came out for an encore dressed as Devo and covered "Whip It"). See the video below.

But don't be the person dressed as Devo without knowing their music!  If you don't have any Devo in your collection, pick up the 1990 Greatest Hits collection.  If you want to go a bit deeper, try: 1978's Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, 1979's Duty Now For The Future, or 1980's Freedom Of Choice. Or give their latest album a try, Something For Everyone, which came out earlier this year (particularly if you're going to use their new uniform, you should know their new music, don't be a poseur!).

Anyway, check out Pearl Jam dressed as Devo, covering "Whip It":

GASLIGHT ANTHEM VIDEOS: PEARL JAM COVER, ACOUSTIC ORIGINAL

This week, The Gaslight Anthem released their new album, American Slang. It seems like this is their moment.  I read that they recently sold out a gig at New York's Irving Plaza, and thier next NYC date will be headlining Radio City Music Hall. Frontman Brian Fallon also appears on a track on Bruce Springsteen's upcoming live DVD, London Calling. The band is actually from New Jersey, and have gotten the Bruce comparassions a lot, which is tough to live with, but at least it means that people have a high opinion of them.  Anyway,  I bought the new album today, so I have to listen to it a bit before I have anything to say.  For now, I'll post thier cover of Pearl Jam's classic "State Of Love And Trust" from Jimmy Fallon's show, and Brian Fallon (no relation) doing a solo acoutic version of the title track from the SIRIUS XM studios.

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).

MIKE MCCREADY COVERS NEIL YOUNG

Found this video on YouTube thanks to the great Neil Young fansite Thrasher's Wheat. Mike McCready of Pearl Jam covering Neil's great Freedom-era song "Too Far Gone" from the Seattle Hootenanny for Haiti last month. Mike, as well as the other Pearl Jam guys, did a brief stint as Neil's backing band on his brief tour to promote Mirror Ball. But check it out: Mike's the only Pearl Jam guy never to do lead vocals (although he does sing a little bit at the beginning of their cover of "Black Diamond" by KISS) but he's a pretty good singer!

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, BRENDAN O'BRIEN

Brendan O'Brien has produced some of my favorite artists, so I'm glad he got the Grammy for Producer of the Year. Some of the recent albums he produced: Bruce Springsteen's Working On A Dream, Pearl Jam's Backspacer, AC/DC's Black Ice, Killswitch Engage's self-titled record and Mastodon's Crack The Skye. I thought T-Bone Burnett would have also been a good choice, but so was Brendan.

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.

WHO WERE DEAD MOON?

You may not have heard of Dead Moon, but if you've seen Pearl Jam in concert, you know one of their songs, "It's OK." Often during "Daughter," Eddie Vedder goes into that song. Last weekend when I saw Pearl Jam, I saw someone with a sign saying "It's OK," and I wondered about Dead Moon. I'd heard of Dead Moon, but I never actually listened to them. I decided to check them out tonight - I looked for them on iTunes, and all there was, was a live album from 2004, Live At The Casbah. It's pretty loud, rocking garage punk. I may have to find some of their stuff from the late '80s/early '90s.

Oddly enough, today I read on Vice that two of Dead Moon's former members, singer/guitarist Fred Cole, and bassist Toddy Cole (they are married) have a new band (basically Dead Moon with a different drummer) called Pierced Arrows. That seems like a good choice for an opening act for Pearl Jam in 2010.

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.