Concert Report

CONCERT REPORT #1

I chose to do my first concert report on Pearl Jam. The concert took place at Deer Creek the weekend after class started, so it was perfect timing to do this assignment. This was the first time I have seen Pearl, and I thought it was worthy of writing a report on.

If one has ever been a fan of Pearl Jam, they of course know that Eddie Vedder is the lead singer, and right beside him with his wicked lead guitar playing, Stone Gossard. The other guys on the strings are, Mike McCready on guitar, and Jeff Ament on bass. My favorite band player of any band is the drummer, and for Pearl Jam, this guy is Matt Cameron. He is the only unoriginal band member when they formed in 1991 and produced their first album, Ten. FYI, the original drummer for Pearl Jam was Dave Krusen.

I have always liked Pearl Jam, but was not expecting much of the show. I was not impressed by their last two albums, especially their most recent one, Binaural. But, I had always wanted to see them live, and I was still a big fan of their first four albums, so off I went to see Pearl Jam.

Their opening song was “Corduroy”, a song from their third album, Vitology. This is one of my personal favorites, because of simple reasons. I just like the words and the drums of the song. But I was not prepared for what I was about to hear. The beat of the drum bass was so deep, and the clash of the symbols was incredibly high. Every time I play this song in my car, it takes me right back, and I hear sounds and rhythms that I never heard before. I would have to say that Matt Cameron definitely made their opening act a big success.

The next song that sticks in my memory was “Betterman”, also from Vitology. The reason that this song sticks is that I really don’t like this song at all. The tempo and the words are just not to my liking. The song in general seems in general misplaced on this album. But, like any artist should do, I could tell right away that this was some how different. Why pay money to hear something that you have already paid for, and can hear any day. But anyway to get back to the point, this song sticks in my mind so well, because the tempo was given a swift kick. It was more upbeat, and Stone threw in an incredible five-minute guitar solo. I mean this solo, was just amazing. This was clearly an improvement on their studio recording- edition, and I would have to honestly have to say this was one of the best songs that I heard all night.

The very next song was probably my favorite Pearl Jam song, “Rear view Mirror”, from the their second album, Versus. This album, in my opinion is their best. It just has their most upbeat songs, but at the same time, it has their most mellow song at the very end, titled “Indifference”. Now, I know that this goes against my feelings for “Betterman”, but once you hear “Indifference”, you will understand that this song could have been put on any album, and it would fit right in. This song is just that cool. But, back to “Rear view Mirror”, the reason I like this song so much, is that it pumps me up. I would listen to this song ten times before football games in high school. I guess all I can say, is that it is my kind of song. And, of course, it was just incredible hearing live for the first time. Listening to this song for almost 7 years, but only hearing through my car speakers.

The next few songs go as follows:

From their first album Ten: Black, Garden, and Jeremy

From their second album Versus: Animal, Drop the Lease, Daughter, and Glorified G

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