Review: Pearl Jam does something it hadn’t done in over 25 years
"We've got some friends here," Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder said. "And I already feel that that includes all of you."
The Pearl Jam guys are definite road warriors, having logged in well over a thousand shows during a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career that stretches back to 1990.
Yet, that certainly hasn’t translated to many appearances in California’s capital city over the decades.
“In 30-plus years, we’ve only said these words like three times: Good evening, Sacramento,” vocalist Eddie Vedder remarked near the start of the band’s concert on Monday night at the Golden 1 Center. “I didn’t know that it’s been that rare.”
Not only has a Pearl Jam show in Sacramento been rare, it’s also been something that hasn’t happened in a really, really long time. Indeed, Bill Clinton was President the last time the group played inside the city limits, way back in 1998 at the old Arco Arena. (Although Pearl Jam did play in the general area in 2000 — at the what’s now called the Toyota Amphitheatre in Marysville.)
“Thank you for your patience,” Vedder said to the full house of fans. “We appreciate you and your faith.”
The band then rewarded the audience for its patience and faith — having waited more than a quarter of a century since the last Pearl Jam gig in Sacramento — by delivering a spellbinding 2 1/2 hour show that married classic tracks with material from its very well-received new album, “Dark Matter.”
In other words, those who plan to catch Pearl Jam when it headlines the BottleRock Napa Valley festival over Labor Day Weekend should be very excited indeed.
The band kicked began Monday’s show in rather subdued fashion, appearing in silhouette on a mostly dark stage and softly rumbling through “Pendulum” from 2013’s “Lightning Bolt.” From there, the group — which consists of Vedder, guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, bassist Jeff Ament and drummer Matt Cameron — creeped right over to the 1996 “No Code” cut “I’m Open.”
Both of those numbers were being played for the first time on this Dark Matters World Tour, nicely illustrating just how greatly the Seattle band changes up the setlist from show to show. Sure, the tour is only a little more than a week old — having kicked off in Vancouver on May 4 (possibly with lots of people dressed in “Star Wars” outfits in attendance) — but it’s still mighty impressive to note that eight of the 24 selections performed on Monday were tour debuts.
The absolute highlight of the first portion of the night — and, arguably, the entire show — came with the third number, “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town,” which proved to be one of those transcendent moments that can define a concert in your memory for years to come. The 1993 “Vs.” song is certainly on the very short list of Pearl Jam’s best, as well as one of the finest rock songs released in all of the ’90s, yet the version played on Monday seemed to reach an even higher level than usual, propelled by a band and a city who were coming together for the first time in ages.
“I just want to scream hello!” Vedder sang as if his life depended on it, as the words were pushed ever higher by the thousands of passionate accompanying vocalists in the crowd. “My God it’s been so long, never dreamed you’d return. But now here you are and here I am.”
It was an absolute love fest between the city and the band, led by a gushing Vedder, who pointed out that the group knew several people in the crowd.
“We’ve got some friends here,” he said. “And I already feel that that includes all of you.”
Yet, it’s important to note that Vedder and Sacramento haven’t always been besties. Indeed, he once drew headlines for blasting the city during a 2013 show in Oklahoma City, where Vedder’s beloved Seattle Supersonics relocated and began playing basketball as the Thunder in 2008. Instead of taking his anger out on the OKC folks, however, the hoops-loving singer swung at the people of Sacramento, who had successfully blocked their NBA franchise — the Kings — from possibly moving to Seattle. It was all incredibly petty and childish — and very 21st century sports fan — as Vedder decided to make it personal.
“When you think about it, and if you’ve been to Sacramento, they’re already kind of (expletive),” Vedder was quoted as saying.
But those bad vibes are long gone, apparently, as Vedder and company continued to rock the Golden 1 Center — which, ironically, is operated by those same Sacramento Kings — with such new album offerings as “React, Respond,” “Running” and “Scared of Fear.”
The group used the opportunity to showcase eight of the 11 songs from “Dark Matter,” and, without exception, this new material held up very well among the classics.
McCready, as per usual, was worth the price of admission on his own merit, burning through some of the hottest guitar leads one will find in all of rock. And just when you think he can’t possibly get more amazing on the frets, he hoists the guitar behind his head and blindly powers through the amazing lead on “Even Flow,” one of a half-dozen numbers played from the band’s game-changing debut, 1991’s “Ten.”
The group finished up the 90-minute-plus main set with the anthem “Better Man” and then returned to play almost another hour’s worth of music during an encore that really could have passed for a second set.
McCready again was at the forefront, powering through epic leads on “Black” and “Alive.” And Vedder seemed to be having the time of his life as he led the crowd in one sing-along after another.
“Sacramento!” Vedder shouted out to the packed arena. “Thank you very much for bringing it tonight.”
Setlist:
1. “Pendulum”
2. “I’m Open”
3. “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town”
4. “Faithfull”
5. “Scared of Fear”
6. “React, Respond”
7. “Wreckage”
8. “Dark Matter”
9. “Garden”
10. “Lukin”
11. “Corduroy”
12. “Dance of the Clairvoyants”
13. “Even Flow”
14. “Upper Hand”
15. “Waiting for Stevie”
16. “Running”
17. “Light Years”
18. “Better Man”
Encore:
19. “Picture in a Frame”
20. “Jeremy”
21. “Black”
22. “Do the Evolution”
23. “Alive”
24. “Porch”
25. “Setting Sun”