Politics drip subtly from Pearl Jam set

Sunday April 13, 2003
By Keith Spera
Music writer

Pearl Jam, like the Dixie Chicks, has felt the sting of anti-antiwar protest.
When Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder manhandled a Bush mask during the pointed song, "Bushleaguer" at a Denver concert April 1, several dozen of the 12,000 attendees walked out. Headlines cast the incident as a massive backlash against Vedder's actions; the band later felt compelled to issue a clarifying statement.
But Tuesday night, in front of 5,000 fans at the UNO Lakefront Arena, the Bush mask was nowhere in sight, and the band did not play "Bushleaguer." But Vedder made his point, if more subtly.
In "Don't Drive Me," he sang of an SUV that "guzzles gas that's paid for in blood." In the second encore, he howled The Clash's "Know Your Rights," with the facetious lyric, "You have the right to freedom of speech unless, of course, you're actually dumb enough to try it." Opening act Sleater-Kinney then joined Pearl Jam for a ragged-but-right cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son," the Vietnam-era protest song that notes no "senator's son" is sent into battle.
Vedder remains a compelling frontman even when not grandstanding. He often grasped the microphone stand, fully investing himself and his dramatic baritone in the lyric at hand. But the weight of the world does not seem to weigh as heavily on him as it once did.
The Pearl Jam set list changes nightly, facilitating an organic interaction between the musicians. Clown prince guitarist Mike McCready, the band's Joe Walsh equivalent, mugged for fans, teased out the opening riff of "Sweet Home Alabama," and laid down extended, sweet-toned solos in "Cropduster," "Small Town" and elsewhere in the show.
The unassuming Stone Gossard went about the workmanlike business of constructing rhythm guitar parts and bluesy leads. Jeff Ament's supple work on an electric upright bass anchored "Daughter." Former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron's playing was loose, but should have pushed harder.
The epic 30-song set unfolded in peaks and valleys. Sturdy favorites "Even Flow," "Wishlist," "Crazy Mary" and "Small Town" still packed a punch; the lift-off in "Given to Fly" was especially invigorated. But over seven studio albums and intermittent singles, the Pearl Jam repertoire has accumulated some unremarkable anthems. At times momentum flagged, only to rebound on the strength of Vedder and company's sustained belief in who they are and what they do.