Fans Get Punk Pearl Jam Bonus At Concert

Molson Amphitheatre

Toronto, ON

on Aug 21 2009

Ian Gormely (CHARTattack)

08/24/2009 4:07pm

Pearl Jam have taken a lot of flack from detractors for their "band of the people" stances over the course of their neatly two-decade career. Be it their refusal to do interviews, make videos or their ill-fated squabble with Ticketmaster, cynical backlash has dogged them.

But those in attendance at the Molson Ampitheatre in Toronto on Friday night — no doubt already converts to the cause — experienced the Seattle rockers' dedication to their fans firsthand.

Opener Ted Leo got held up at the border, but instead of simply making their fans wait until the group hit the stage at 9 p.m., the grunge gods treated the half-empty amphitheatre to a series of impromptu jams and covers.

Eddie Vedder took the stage solo and performed Neil Young's "Sugar Mountain" and "The Needle And The Damage Done" to rapturous applause. He then introduced guitarist Mike McCready, who played a pair of his own songs. Next up was Stone Gossard, who delivered a subdued version of the Johnny Thunders classic "You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory," before Vedder returned to the stage for the rarely played "Bee Girl."

Leo's band The Pharmacists — who did make it into the country — were given their time to shine as they ripped through four tunes, including a cover of The Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop," before McCready and Vedder took the stage once again to deliver a blazing take on The Stooges' "Raw Power."

Given such an unorthodox and rousing opening, it seemed the band would have to up the ante for their "official" headlining set.

After a 45-minute break the full band took the stage and launched into deep cut "Of The Girl," then seamlessly segued into "Corduroy." Seemingly inspired by the barrage of punk covers hammered out during the opening set, the band worked their way through many of the rockers in their catalogue, pulling heavily from Yield and the recently reissued landmark Ten. New single "The Fixer," with its "yeah, yeah, yeah" singalong chorus went over well, as did "Got Some," the only other new tune the band played.

Although he long ago ceased scaling lighting rigs, Vedder was in a playful mood, performing a lot of back bends and jumping over speakers throughout the gig. Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament were locked in together while drummer Matt Cameron has proven himself to be the lynch pin to the band's lean and muscular live sound. But it was McCready who really put on a show, displaying guitar histrionics as he ripped through solo after solo over the course of the two hour- plus set.

The band ended the night late, going over curfew with two encores that included "Black," "Porch" and crowd favourite "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town." Typical of this unusual gig, they opted not to end their set with "Yellow Ledbetter" and instead gave the crowd "Rockin' In The Free World," another "Uncle Neil" cover.

Friday night's show certainly excluded as many hits as it included — "Jeremy," "World Wide Suicide" and anything from Vs. (save "Elderly Woman...") were noticeably absent.

But by giving the crowd such an inspired, heartfelt performance filled with surprises, Pearl Jam proved their continued presence as both artists and entertainers.