Vedder ventures into the wild, without a band, and connects with Berkeley crowdhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... ertainmentWith an Academy Award-nominated soundtrack far removed from the dense electric rock of his band Pearl Jam, songwriter Eddie Vedder took his first tentative steps toward galvanizing that solo career with a theater-date tour around California that played Monday at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Auditorium.
So earnest it almost hurts, Vedder sampled his "Into the Wild" soundtrack, some Pearl Jam songs, favorites from the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and others, in a sprawling, accomplished two-and-a-half-hour concert for an exuberant crowd that gobbled up the precious tickets as soon as they went on sale. Billed as his first solo tour, it is an act he has previously tried out before Bay Area audiences at acoustic performances for Neil Young's annual Bridge School benefits at Shoreline Amphitheatre.
He ambled out, sat on a stool and bent over an electric guitar to sing "Walking the Cow," a song written by Texas "outsider" songwriter Daniel Johnston, and didn't look up until he'd finished three songs. "I'm going to connect a lot of dots up here tonight," he told the reverent, raucous crowd.
Purposefully, carefully, Vedder worked his way through a program drawn from deliberately different areas of his work. He featured his guitar playing - something he doesn't get to do a lot in his rock band - decorating his strumming with Gypsy flourishes and sudden, little percussive belches. Slowly he opened up under the spotlight, warming to the task and allowing the fervent audience - Pearl Jam was one of the few rock bands of the '90s to attract that kind of fanatical followers - to shout out greetings he vaguely, respectfully acknowledged.
Vedder knows his audience. He could recollect in detail watching punk rockers Fugazi - and this was an audience that gave a roar of recognition to Fugazi, but barely tittered at the mention of folksinger Phil Ochs - at the defunct University Avenue nitery, Berkeley Square, where he met Tim Armstrong of Berkeley ska-punkers Rancid, name-checking Armstrong's original group (Operation Ivy) and mentioning an obscure set of records released from the Berkeley punk club, 924 Gilman Street.
He not only featured a segment devoted to songs from his Academy Award-nominated soundtrack - "Ahh, just something else to clean," he countered to someone from the crowd hollering he should have won the Oscar - but he also brought out Marin County songwriter Jerry Hannan at the encore to sing Hannan's "Society" from the soundtrack. "Wild" director Sean Penn was in the audience.
Vedder played electric ukulele and banjo. He also used a pair of microphones to make vocal loops that created an eerie wall of his own vocals to end the first set of encores. His own material leans toward an intense, droning style, using ringing chords to build rising choruses. When he applied his trademark vocal style to more melodic pieces, such as "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," he toed the edge of caricature.
His low-key manner and self-effacing instincts put him at ease with the audience, and Vedder is very much a performer who never entirely strips away his shyness. In the end, he wins over the audience with cozy intimacy that doesn't seem forced or practiced partly because he so clearly isn't entirely comfortable.
"I never went to school and I'm not used to being on campus," he said. "I'm not used to being around people smarter than me."
He chuckled at his own remark. "That's sort of evil, if you think about what I just said," he added.
Vedder wants to melt away the distinction between him and his audience. His songs stand on strong moral values, not just the obvious, preachy songs such as "No More," but even the more imagistic, evocative pieces. He may be a serious-to-the-point-of-somber, somewhat humorless young man, but he is desperately trying to communicate ideas to his audience.
Almost alone among the '90s rock bands, Pearl Jam kept a devoted following intrigued with the band after the hits. While there is no denying the contributions of his bandmates in the challenging rock outfit, it was Vedder and his sensitive, passionate persona - thinking man to slackers - that stood at the center of the band's appeal. If he wants to take this sly, personable solo act on the road, Vedder will find lots of interest.
Eddie Vedder delivers a Pearl of a solo show in Berkeleyhttp://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_8850187?source=rssEddie Vedder is best known for his intense performances fronting Pearl Jam. Yet, on his first-ever solo tour, the poster boy for moody alternative rock is showing a drastically different side to his personality.
On Monday, during the first half of a two-night stand at Berkeley's Zellerbach Auditorium, the 43-year-old singer was charming, personable and — no joke — downright funny. In one instance, he even showed the type of comedic timing that a professional funnyman would admire.
"I like to keep my personal politics private," he said, barely keeping a straight face.
At that moment, two stagehands carrying a gigantic Barack Obama sign paraded across the stage. That bit went over extremely well with the Berkeley crowd (go figure) and was a pleasant change of pace for a man often criticized for preaching heavy-handed messages.
It was the rare chance to see the superstar perform in this kind of intimate and informal setting that made Monday's gig such a treat for fans. What he actually played — mainly a mix of relative obscurities from his songbook, selections off of the acclaimed "Into the Wild" soundtrack and an assortment of covers — wasn't nearly as important as how he played it.
Vedder took the stage around 9 p.m., opening the show with a nice cover of Daniel Johnston's "Walking the Cow," and for the next two hours he acted as if he was just playing whatever came to mind in front of a small gathering of friends in his living room. Alone beneath the bright lights, he simply sat on a stool and belted out such songs as "Around the Bend," "I am Mine" and "Dead Man Walking." He performed on a variety of electric and acoustic instruments, including guitar, banjo and ukulele, and he proved more than competent on each set of strings. Vedder's guitar work, in particular, matches his forceful vocal approach — it's powerfully rhythmic and emphatic to the extreme. His strumming arm fires like a piston, whether or not that technique actually serves the song. Indeed, Vedder seems be trying to compensate for his missing Pearl Jam buddies with each stroke across the strings.
Making music, however, is only half of what's expected during these stripped-down, semi-acoustic solo shows. The other part is the between-songs banter, during which the stars use the intimate occasions to tell jokes and stories. Vedder started out slow in this regard, seeming a little bit uncomfortable in the setting, but warmed up to the role as the night progressed.
Besides the rehearsed Obama bit, Vedder also drew big laughs with the story that followed the "Into the Wild" track "Guaranteed." Many expected that the Golden Globe-winning tune would be a surefire bet come this year's Academy Awards. Yet, voters thought otherwise. Thus, Vedder pointed out, "Guaranteed" did not get to join the illustrious musical company of such past-Oscar nominees as "Ghost Busters." "That song I just played you is not as good as `Ghost Busters,'" Vedder smirked. "But I'm going to keep trying." As the main set drew to a close, Vedder began piling on the cover songs and delivered thrilling versions of the Beatles' "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" and a pair of Cat Stevens' numbers, "Trouble" and "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out." He closed the main set with the Pearl Jam favorite "Porch" and then returned to perform six songs during two highly enjoyable encore segments.
This solo tour is just a temporary gig for Vedder — he'll reunite with Pearl Jam for a batch of shows later in the year. Yet, his showing in Berkeley was impressive enough to make one hope that he'll make this routine part of his regular arsenal.
