Pearl Jam rocks, no political knocks

By MICHAEL D. CLARK
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

Eddie Vedder, left, and Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard play the season opening concert at The Woodlands Pavilion, April 6.


The stage was set for a showdown Sunday, the first night of the concert season at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

On one side was Pearl Jam, former ambassadors of grunge, who have grown into a rock 'n' roll jam band and occasional political activists in the past 12 years. With them were a nation of 20- and 30-somethings who have moved from mosh pit to voting bloc while mellowing into adulthood.

On the other side was a faction -- torn between love of Pearl Jam's music and loyalty to President George W. Bush -- ready to shout down singer Eddie Vedder at the first sign of antiwar sentiment.

Six nights earlier in Denver, during the opening show of Pearl Jam's first North American tour in three years, the group put Houston fans on alert. During a spoken-word rant called Bush-leaguer, Vedder noted his position on war in Iraq by impaling a mask of Bush on a mike stand.

That demonstration prompted a smattering of boos and a few dozen early exits. Two nights later in Oklahoma City, Vedder re-spun the story, saying that 11,972 people stayed, cheered and applauded.

In The Woodlands, pre-concert chatter was dominated by what statement might be made in a place that both Bush and Vedder once called home (the latter lived in Houston briefly as a toddler).

"People thought that we were coming to Houston to stir up some trouble," said Vedder midway through the concert. "It's crazy. It just doesn't feel like the United States of America."

The comment drew shouts from a vocal minority, though it was hard to tell if the negativity was directed at Vedder or the war. Clear Channel Entertainment reported no requests for refunds from the crowd of approximately 11,500.

Vedder peppered his politics with humor for the rest of the 22-song set. He appeared on stage for the second encore wearing a mask of Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates. Gently placing it on a mike stand (careful not to impale it), he tenderly sang Soon Forget, a ukulele nursery rhyme about the parallels between greed and loneliness, to the rubber likeness.

Those caught up in the side drama missed a unique set by Pearl Jam. It was a show for die-hard fans who live for the rarities. The radio fan, however, might have gone away disappointed.

The two-hour-plus performance featured many songs from the new CD Riot Act, including covers of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Fortunate Son and Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World with opening she-rockers Sleater-Kinney, and no sign of career-making hits Alive and Jeremy.

Pearl Jam no longer spins out the hits to excite the crowd the easy way. They are now sound technicians, who never offer the same set list twice, and build their momentum and mood off the precise placement of songs.

Vedder, who at 38 could be mistaken for Val Kilmer, is still the emotional leader of Pearl Jam. Guitarists Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, however, are the musical pile drivers.

New songs Can't Keep and I Am Mine create space for McCready's extended string jams in the middle bridge or building coda. This free-form flow makes the frustration of the vocal-dominated Do the Evolution or the chorus burst of Rearviewmirror seem that much more throttling.

Some will gripe that only five songs (Even Flow, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter ... , Rearviewmirror, Black and Go) were culled from Pearl Jam's first two, highly commercial releases. To go to this show and expect more, however, would be as foolhardy as expecting a rock 'n' roll band not to rail for peace.