Pearl Jam Concert Review from the Spectrum 10.30.2009
The Spectrum has been a Philadelphia sports/concert staple for over 40 years. It has hosted Stanley Cups, NBA Finals, and countless of special concert moment (The Van Halen Panama video for starters). The place has a lot of history, but it is no longer making the powers to be the money they need. The Wachovia Center has taken over all the duties the dusty, crumbling, rat infested Spectrum used to carry.
The place is just awful for sound, with Jimmy Page saying "it is the Black hold of Calcutta for sound." He's right, the reverb if you are sitting anywhere other than the first five rows is piercing. None of that will matter after tonight as Halloween night will see the final show at the Spectrum by Seattle's own Pearl Jam. But I haven't seen the Halloween show, yet. I did see the show last night on October 30, 2009.
Bad Religion opened the show and I have seen them several times on the Warped Tour where they were great. But as great as the Pearl Jam crowd is to openers, the big stage and the lack of interaction seemed to make Bad Religion feel lackluster. I have seen 5,000 punk kids moshing and singing every word of their songs and the band jumping around and really interacting with the Warped crowd. The crowd really didn't get into until Eddie came out and sang a song with Bad Religion. Sadly that was toward the end of the set.
Pearl Jam hit the stage at 9:00 pm on the dot and played until 11:45. They had a main set and two encores and a stripped down stage design. There was no backdrop allowing for full viewing from the seats behind the stage. The band came out firing too, blistering through Gonna See My Friend, The Fixer, In My Tree, and Given to Fly. Stone and McCready were whipping familiar riffs on their guitars. They were trading off guitar punches like a Evander Hollyfield...and someone he fought other than Mike Tyson. Matt Cameron and Jeff Ament are a powerful rhythm section and the two hardest working men on stage.
It is absolutely clear that this band feeds off the energy of the crowd and their fans. The fan experience for Pearl Jam is unlike any other band out there. My concert ticket hookup had set me up in the fan club section alongside the stage. I have seen Pearl Jam five times before tonight, but never managed to sit in the fan club section. Everyone knows one another and couldn't have been more friendly. It was amazing how 22,000 people made this show feel like I was seeing it with my best friends that I had known for years. Each Ten Club member around me were not even from the tristate area. Most were from New York, Connecticut, and parts south (Tennessee, Alabama) and one guy flew in from Minnesota. Pearl Jam's fans travel from all over to support this band and the band is truly appreciative of this.
The band played a few hits, but this night focused on some real rarities that even I, as self-proclaimed hardcore Pearl Jam fan, didn't recognize. Footsteps is the song that comes to mind immediately, an obscure B-side from Lost Dogs. I wasn't as familiar as I would have liked to have been with the new album Backspacer, but I was apparently the only one as the fans around me sang every word.
A touching moment during the show came when Eddie explained about a woman from Hawaii who had been in a horrific car accident. They dedicated Just Breathe, from Backspacer, to her and offered her the chance to sit alongside the stage as their special guest. Another highlight was the use of a string quartet during Jeremy. It added a new dimension to a Pearl Jam classic.
The band played a solid two hours and forty-five minutes for a total of 31 songs. That is absolutely amazing. To give you some perspective on that, Metallica played a few days ago and only played 18 songs. U2 played a few days ago and played 22 songs.
You are not going to get an opportunity to see Pearl Jam close down the legendary Spectrum because the show is sold out. But should Pearl Jam come to a city anywhere near you, go and see them. I forgot a camera, so you are stuck with my iPhone camera shots. I will try and get a camera in tonight.
Setlist:
Gonna See My Friend
The Fixer
In My Tree
Given to Fly
Tremor Christ
Untitled
MFC
Hold Me
Unthought Known
In Hiding
Deep
Habit
Cropduster
Off He Goes
Force of Nature
Present Tense
Got Some
Do the Evolution
Encore 1:
Just Breathe
Parting Ways
Jeremy
Breath
Light Years
Rearview Mirror
Encore 2:
Whipping
Crazy Mary (Victoria Williams cover)
Footsteps
Once
Alive
Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys cover)
Baba O'Riley (Who cover)
The place is just awful for sound, with Jimmy Page saying "it is the Black hold of Calcutta for sound." He's right, the reverb if you are sitting anywhere other than the first five rows is piercing. None of that will matter after tonight as Halloween night will see the final show at the Spectrum by Seattle's own Pearl Jam. But I haven't seen the Halloween show, yet. I did see the show last night on October 30, 2009.
Bad Religion opened the show and I have seen them several times on the Warped Tour where they were great. But as great as the Pearl Jam crowd is to openers, the big stage and the lack of interaction seemed to make Bad Religion feel lackluster. I have seen 5,000 punk kids moshing and singing every word of their songs and the band jumping around and really interacting with the Warped crowd. The crowd really didn't get into until Eddie came out and sang a song with Bad Religion. Sadly that was toward the end of the set.
Pearl Jam hit the stage at 9:00 pm on the dot and played until 11:45. They had a main set and two encores and a stripped down stage design. There was no backdrop allowing for full viewing from the seats behind the stage. The band came out firing too, blistering through Gonna See My Friend, The Fixer, In My Tree, and Given to Fly. Stone and McCready were whipping familiar riffs on their guitars. They were trading off guitar punches like a Evander Hollyfield...and someone he fought other than Mike Tyson. Matt Cameron and Jeff Ament are a powerful rhythm section and the two hardest working men on stage.
It is absolutely clear that this band feeds off the energy of the crowd and their fans. The fan experience for Pearl Jam is unlike any other band out there. My concert ticket hookup had set me up in the fan club section alongside the stage. I have seen Pearl Jam five times before tonight, but never managed to sit in the fan club section. Everyone knows one another and couldn't have been more friendly. It was amazing how 22,000 people made this show feel like I was seeing it with my best friends that I had known for years. Each Ten Club member around me were not even from the tristate area. Most were from New York, Connecticut, and parts south (Tennessee, Alabama) and one guy flew in from Minnesota. Pearl Jam's fans travel from all over to support this band and the band is truly appreciative of this.
The band played a few hits, but this night focused on some real rarities that even I, as self-proclaimed hardcore Pearl Jam fan, didn't recognize. Footsteps is the song that comes to mind immediately, an obscure B-side from Lost Dogs. I wasn't as familiar as I would have liked to have been with the new album Backspacer, but I was apparently the only one as the fans around me sang every word.
A touching moment during the show came when Eddie explained about a woman from Hawaii who had been in a horrific car accident. They dedicated Just Breathe, from Backspacer, to her and offered her the chance to sit alongside the stage as their special guest. Another highlight was the use of a string quartet during Jeremy. It added a new dimension to a Pearl Jam classic.
The band played a solid two hours and forty-five minutes for a total of 31 songs. That is absolutely amazing. To give you some perspective on that, Metallica played a few days ago and only played 18 songs. U2 played a few days ago and played 22 songs.
You are not going to get an opportunity to see Pearl Jam close down the legendary Spectrum because the show is sold out. But should Pearl Jam come to a city anywhere near you, go and see them. I forgot a camera, so you are stuck with my iPhone camera shots. I will try and get a camera in tonight.
Setlist:
Gonna See My Friend
The Fixer
In My Tree
Given to Fly
Tremor Christ
Untitled
MFC
Hold Me
Unthought Known
In Hiding
Deep
Habit
Cropduster
Off He Goes
Force of Nature
Present Tense
Got Some
Do the Evolution
Encore 1:
Just Breathe
Parting Ways
Jeremy
Breath
Light Years
Rearview Mirror
Encore 2:
Whipping
Crazy Mary (Victoria Williams cover)
Footsteps
Once
Alive
Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys cover)
Baba O'Riley (Who cover)
Who cares about this overratted 90's band! Their music is lame reclcled pop-rock. People say Eddie Vedder is "among the greatest artists of the twentieth century." This is quite possibly the stupidest comment ever printed. Pearl Jam sucks! I will never understand why people glorify this band as being so great. Pearl Jam has barely had two hits off their last three albums. Just consider the disappointing new single. Three albums of horrible music, hardly good enough to be played on the radio! Wow, Vedder must be a musical genius! Pearl Jam are rock gods! I don't freakin' think so! If having one good album (Ten), and two mediocre albums (Vs and Vitalogy) entitles Pearl Jam to have "legendary" status, I guess we can compare U2 with Beethoven!
I just said they put on a great show, not that they were "legendary."
The Spectrum (the building they played in), I called legendary.
I am confused as to who classified them as legendary, certainly not my feelings.
I am writing about this show for a college course and I was wondering if you could remember who sponsored the concert. Thanks!
The 4 PJ shows at the Spectrum were amazing! Halloween night they played 41 songs in 3.5 hours! I thought the spectrum had the best sound for an indoor arena that I have ever heard! And I've been to 30 concerts just this year!
Cannot wait for some PJ shows in my neck if the woods (TN), hopefully next year!!
www.igriza.com
And to the "Cubs fan"
yes, pearl jam is legendary. Eddie V is one if the greatest. sorry your goal in life is to hate.
I can't believe I missed this concert. I just love Pearl Jam and with The Bad Religion in their opening it must have been an awesome concert.
They do great, hard work and raise TONS of money for very deserving charities. What's not to like?