Fan or not, attempt to see Pearl Jam this tour
I saw them Friday night in Cleveland and they were ON. Completely amazing. You will get a really solid performance guaranteed.
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Seattle band performs in 'even flow'
04/26/03
John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic
Pearl Jam has a history of memorable performances in these parts.
We got our first good look at the Seattle band in 1991, when it opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Music Hall and Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder ended up in the mosh pit. The following year, the group went from headlining Peabody's DownUnder to making the best of a muddy Lollapalooza a few months later at Blossom Music Center.
Fans still talk about those gigs.
And they won't soon forget Pearl Jam's concert last night at Gund Arena, either.
The band got its groove on with "Can't Keep," a moody, midtempo tune from its latest album, "Riot Act."
Pearl Jam was firing on all pistons by the second number, "Corduroy." "Can't buy what I want because it's . . . peace!" the 38-year-old Vedder sang, tweaking the lyrics in light of current events. His trembling yet powerful voice reached every corner of the packed arena.
He was ably accompanied by guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, bass player Jeff Ament and drummer Matt Cameron.
"Even Flow," complete with a blistering solo by McCready, got the grunge nostalgia flowing as freely as the wine Vedder swigged throughout the show. Ditto "Jeremy" and "Alive," two other flannel-flying anthems from the band's 1991 debut, "Ten," which sold 11 million copies.
For Pearl Jam, those multiplatinum days are gone. But these guys haven't lost their edge - and they're not content merely to coast on past glories.
If anything, they've become more punk over the years. "Save You," "Do the Evolution" and other lively rockers were delivered with energetic abandon.
Keyboardist Boom Gaspar sat in on several numbers, including the exotic "I Am Mine" and "Love Boat Captain." The latter tune made effective use of dynamics and found Vedder quoting the Beatles: "All you need is love."
The band shifted gears for the lilting, folk-tinged "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town." "Thumbing My Way" was another mellow highlight.
Two hours after the show started, Pearl Jam was still going strong. An extended set of encores got under way with "You Are," a pulsating new song, and built to a climax with dramatic renditions of "Animal" and "Black," as well as impassioned covers of Steven Van Zandt's "I Am a Patriot," the Police's "Driven to Tears" and "Sonic Reducer" by Cleveland's Dead Boys.
Nirvana is no more. Neither are Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.
So let's hear it for Pearl Jam. They've outlived the rest of the grunge pack without losing any of their fire.
If you're kicking yourself for missing this concert - well, you should be. But take heart: Pearl Jam is selling "bootleg" CDs of every show on this tour on its Web site: www.pearljam.com.
Opening act Sparta featured former members of emo-rock darlings At the Drive In, including singer-guitarist Jim Ward.
Mixing hypnotic, elegiac hooks with noisy outbursts, the quintet from El Paso, Texas, got the gathering throng's attention without stealing Pearl Jam's thunder.
http://www.cleveland.com/entertainm....ssf?/base/entertainment/1051349961308050.xml
I'm so proud of you!!! I love all those songs! Actually, I love the album YIELD. Its my favorite PJ album! 
Not PLEBA! I don't even visit that scary place! 
on which ones exactly. All I gotta say here is that Eddie nailed Joe Strummer to a freakin "T". 
in that cover.
PJ!!
That's a short show (as far as PJ is concerned).
