Pearl Jam in Chicago: Night 1

I will open by apologizing for the long delay of getting this review to you. My trip from Indianapolis to Chicago and back began Saturday evening and ended in the wee hours Tuesday morning. I returned aching, sore, bruised, battered and absolutely spent, so my Tuesday was almost completely inactive. Add to that the Examiner publishing tool being a fickle pain in my already-throbbing back and thus the Chicago show reviews arrive on Wednesday. Special thanks to Ryan J., a fellow Hoosier from the Broad Ripple area of Indianapolis, who graced this humbled author with a free ticket to Sunday night's show. I am eternally grateful that I was blessed enough to attend both nights of a classic one-two combo.

Having attended my favorite Pearl Jam shows in Philadelphia (Camden, to be exact) and at Madison Square Garden in New York City last year, I expected the two Chicago outings to be the normal, great offering that our boys deliver every single time, but I never thought that these two shows would outdo all the rest. They did. Between the city of Chicago, the outstanding setlists, the spirit and energy of the crowds and the band being at the top of their game, Chicago I and II of 2009 will go down in my book as two of my all time favorite classic concerts, with Night II thus far ranking as the best show I have ever seen live, by any band.

I entered Night 1 with somewhat of a low level of excitement and energy due to camping in the rain the night before, getting stuck in traffic coming into Chicago from Indiana and parking in a shady area to save a few bucks. My heart still skipped beats when I thought about what was to come, but I was largely just obsessing about my car and feeling exhausted. Bad Religion was mildly entertaining, as I was familiar with such songs as their opener, "21st Century (Digital Boy)," "Infected" and "Sorrow." The band can play, and performed a tight set, but I noticed they repeated the same set and most of their remarks to the audience on both nights. Singer Greg Graffin has a wonderful voice that has aged well, but his live presentation came across almost like a lounge singer, his gesturing arms and swaying body showing off every bit of his 44 years. The band was decent, but I would take Kings of Leon or My Morning Jacket as an opener for Pearl Jam any day over Bad Religion.

Then, the wait began. The seat Ryan gave me for Night 1 was pretty stellar, being in the 100's and having a straight shot at the stage. The only downfall was that I was alone. That would be a downfall no more once the mighty Pearl Jam would take the stage. About 35 minutes after Bad Religion left the stage the piano intro began and the crowd suddenly snapped awake, a dormant creature now stirring and becoming wild with anticipation.

The lights dropped out and the United Center swarmed around me, my stomach churning, heart thumping and body full of anxious adrenaline. At that moment it felt as though the last time I had seen the band was not a mere 14 months before, but rather eons. Flashes snapped from cameras in all directions and the volume of the arena was huge and intense. Our boys strolled onto the stage, Mike McCready waving, his normal little kid demeanor following him along. Matt Cameron took to his drum set in his normal fashion, standing behind his instrument with a hand held high in the air, greeting the first United States show of the year with fervor and glee. Eddie Vedder grabbed a guitar and walked up to the mic beneath the deep blue light that accompanies all of Pearl Jam's soft and slow-building openers. The entire audience seemed to draw in our breaths at that moment, holding them in as we waited to see how the show would begin. Vedder went against usual tradition and spoke before the music began, saying, "We have a lot of emotion to get through tonight." We cheered wildly, understanding the emotional intensity intrinsic in each and every PJ show, before Vedder strummed the first notes of the show, a D chord that indicated we were going to begin our Chicago adventure to the tune of "Long Road."

The band sounded good from the very start, and while "Long Road" is a great opener, I had not heard it live since my very first Pearl Jam show, Noblesville, Indiana, June 22nd, 2003, so it was quite a joy to hear live again. Although it is not a song that the casual fan will usually recognize, the crowd responded well, if not singing along with it, then definitely getting into it. "Corduroy" might be the greatest second concert song ever and I certainly believe it to be Pearl Jam's finest. The band went right into it as "Long Road" closed and the United Center exploded into ecstatic life. It became immediately apparent during the track that the band is in fine form, and the audience followed. The clapping and jumping during "Corduroy" are intoxicating, and the high continued as the band went through stage one of the show in usual style, hitting the up-tempo rockers out of the park, such as "Why Go" and my first experience of Binaural's "Gods' Dice," then bringing it down just a bit for the chugging "Dissident." "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" gave us a beautiful first set break, and while we all know it is coming, there is something undeniably special about the entire crowd sing along of "I'm not my former!" and "I just wanna scream, 'Hellooooohhhh!'" It simply never gets old. I was especially excited after "Small Town" died down when the band gave way to "Sad," a song I have longed to hear live from the band for a while. "The Fixer" popped up after that, the live version with full crowd participation in the "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" refrain superior to the studio rendition. Like "Small Town," "Given to Fly" never fails and is always a huge one to get the audience riled up, Jammers (yes, I used that word) bouncing up and down in every direction and singing those choruses with all their might.

The emotion that Ed referred to upon first hitting the stage became more apparent as Jeff Ament took the mic and explained that an old friend that always saw Pearl Jam in Chicago was not able to attend tonight and requesting that we sing "Happy Birthday" to him. They followed it up with a gracious version of "Come Back," a song all about losing a loved one and it seemed that Jeff and his band had lost someone from the Chicago area that was very dear to them. It is wonderful and heartbreaking that this band wears its heart on its sleeve with such determination. Things like this allow the average schmo, i.e. you and I, to connect with them every time. "Even Flow" stormed through the sadness with its usual machismo and power, Mike doing his thing with a fierce tenacity. The rest of the first set was blazing and beautiful as the band made its way through "Save You," "In Hiding," "Man of the Hour" (likely another nod to Jeff's friend, the song had not been played since the wonder show of Hawaii, 2006), my first live "Insignificance" (my God), Backspacer's "Got Some" and the first set closer, a crazed "Spin the Black Circle." During the latter I took off my sweat-drenched 2008 tour shirt (with the '06 D.C. poster image on the front) and spun it around and over my head every time Eddie sang, "Spin! Spin!"

The encore break hit and one of the guys behind me said to me, "Dude, you can sit down and take a break. You definitely deserve one!" One of his friends remarked, "They should have you up in the front with your kind of energy. Wow!" What can I say? This band does something insane and magical to me. I refused to sit down, kept cheering and clapping and our boys walked back on stage.

Eddie introduced keyboardist Boom Gaspar and he hit those gorgeous notes that indicated "Love Reign O'er Me" was commencing. I heard the song at last year's Madison Square Night One show, but this version took it to newer heights. "Life Wasted" followed with audience celebration and then Ament's bass took over for another track from The Who's Quadrophenia album, "The Real Me." My first time hearing this one live, it was a damn monster, inducing lots of dancing and joy. "Alive" closed the first encore appropriately, the casual fans making a lot more noise and the whole place rocking for the fist-pumping guitar solo and outro.

For the beginning of the second encore, Eddie walked out alone and gave a little speech about Michael Jackson, discussing the sadness some have felt since his death, then noting, "although it feels like we lost him a long time ago," before playing a sorrowful version of Neil Young's lament for the lost drug addict, "The Needle and the Damage Done." The rest of the band joined Vedder on stage as he quietly played the opening melody of Michael Jackson's "Ben," before Ament and Cameron launched the classic funk of Vs.'s "Rats." I am not sure if people caught the connection between all three or did not recognize the song Eddie was playing because the audience did not react to "Ben." I am sure most of my readers are aware, but just in case anyone is not, the coda to "Rats" contains a refrain from the Michael Jackson song. Another new song from Backspacer, "Supersonic," then appeared, sounding like a mix between Pearl Jam's own "All Night," the Ramones and The Clash. Like "Long Road," I had not heard "Smile" live since my first Pearl Jam show, so it was a surprise and a pleasure to get it in the second encore. "Smile" cannot help but induce positive emotions, so it was another uplifting treat from the band. "Rearviewmirror" arrived next like a tornado, the band ripping through it, slowing down only to perform its now absolutely perfect extended jam breakdown. "Yellow Ledbetter" closed the evening out and I launched into my fast-paced walk from the arena to return to my car, all safe and sound in its spot.

Night One was a show that may have been difficult for the casual fan, but likely coaxed him or her in the long run. It must be incredible for the uninitiated to hear nearly 20,000 attendees singing along to b-sides and stuff that he or she did not even realize existed. Nobody converts the ignorant like Pearl Jam. Those who refuse to see the light may only focus on the fact that only a third of the setlist came from the band's early (most famous) era, but they ultimately lose, as the mixture of those old songs, deep album cuts, covers and brand new tracks is what makes PJ's setlists so awe-inspiring. As I prepped my girlfriend for Night II, I noted that it is amazing to consider what the band left off the setlist and did not play and how energetic and intense of a show it still was. She had never seen the band live, so that combined with the difference between each setlist anyway convinced me that Night II would be a very different animal from Night I.

Pearl Jam - 8/23/09, Chicago Setlist:

Set I: Long Road, Corduroy, Why Go, Gods' Dice, Dissident, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Sad, The Fixer, Given to Fly (Happy Birthday), Come Back, Even Flow, Save You, In Hiding, Man of the Hour, Insignificance, Got Some, Spin the Black Circle

Encore I: Love Reign O'er Me, Life Wasted, The Real Me, Alive

Encore II: The Needle and the Damage Done, (Ben)/Rats, Supersonic, Smile, Rearviewmirror, Yellow Ledbetter

Check back tomorrow for a review of Chicago II.

Check out my countdown of every single Pearl Jam song, from 160-1, here: www.examiner.com/x-3940-Indianapolis-Pop-Culture-Examiner

Read my review of Backspacer's lead single, "The Fixer," here: www.examiner.com/x-3940-Indianapolis-Pop-Culture-Examiner~y2009m7d27-Pearl-Jams-latest-gift