Pearl Jam rocks in Hartford
HARTFORD - The break in a weeklong gospel rain couldn't have come at a better time. While skies over the New England Dodge Music Center weren't exactly clear on Saturday night, the rain held off long enough for Pearl Jam to unleash a two-hour music fest in relatively dry conditions.
Local fans couldn't have been more excited about the Pearl Jam appearance in a city they once vowed to never play again, after a 1998 concert at the same venue ended with tear gas and police in riot gear.
It didn't rain, there were no riots, Pearl Jam rocked and that makes for a good unofficial start to the summer concert season.
Lasers shot out from the stage as Eddie Vedder and company ripped through an opening string that included the band's latest single, the hell-fired "Worldwide Suicide."
Through the early 90s, when loud music was the thing, Pearl Jam was the thing of things, and despite a relatively low profile of late the band continues to inspire its legion of fans.
Watching Vedder perform, marrying his sullen angst with swigs from what appeared to be a wine bottle, and throwing in occasional rock star poses, it is easy to see how Pearl Jam remains a viable rock entity 15 years into the breech, and it is just as easy to imagine them as a significant rock draw five or ten years from now and beyond.
Within the 24-song set, the band included "Life Wasted," "Animal," "Do The Evolution (as part of the second encore), and "Black."
Standing solo on the stage, Vedder stroked the guitar riff that begins "Better Man," and then acquiesced to the crowd as thousands sang the first verse and chorus. Even when the band filled in behind him and Vedder took back the vocal lead, the audience overwhelmed him.
Guitarist Mike McCready took the lead and moved the tempo of the song up dramatically, the whole sequence turning out to be more cathartic than maybe was intended.
"Turn on the lights so I can see you out in the back," said Vedder, referring to the contingent on the lawn. "I'm going to try and play this and reach back there to you."
Vedder completed the dedication and launched into "I Got Id."
After a searing run through "Even Flow," Vedder referred to McCready's work with chronic illness awareness (the guitarist himself suffers from Crohn's Disease), and announced that proceeds from the concert were going to the local Advocacy for Patients With Chronic Illness, Inc.
"You should have seen her face when we gave her the check," he told the audience. "You would have been very proud and you should be."
The band closed the set with "Rearview Mirror," and returned for two encores, including the climactic "I'm Alive." Vedder introduced the band as a makeshift political cabinet, referring to himself as "the outed CIA agent who has all your phone numbers. I'll call you all tomorrow to see if you enjoyed the show."
My Morning Jacket opened the concert with a 45-minute set.
par El Nino » Dim Mai 14, 2006 4:40 pm 
Jeremy est né le 28.04.06 et Fanny le 17.07.09 
