Last night, I attended the Pearl Jam concert at the Air Canada Centre. It was the first of two back-to-back shows. I was seated to the left of the stage, on the Mike McCready side, 19 rows ups. Here are my thoughts on yet another great show.
My Morning Jacket - During the last Toronto Pearl Jam concert, Ed came out at 19:30 for an acoustic number before the opening band hit the stage. We were ready at 19:30 for a repeat performance, but it was not to be. Instead, we jumped right into My Morning Jacket, an outfit from Kentucky that wasn't half bad. They were part Lynyrd Skynyrd and part The Who with a little Rush thrown in the mix to fulfill Cancon requirements. I wasn't familiar with My Morning Jacket before their set last night, but I enjoyed their performance. Needless to say, my expectations weren't particularly high and I wasn't there to see My Morning Jacket.
The Show - This tour is in support of Pearl Jam's new album, ingeniously titled Pearl Jam. It was a very fresh start with four new songs to kick things off. There were seven new songs in total, with highlights being the great opener "Severed Hand" and the sweet as hell balled "Come Back", played during the first encore. In addition to the new stuff, we were blessed with plenty of the concert staples we've come to expect. You'll find the complete setlist on my Pearl Jam page. "Betterman" was electric, "Courdoroy" was it's typical energetic self, "Do The Evolution" was head-banging and "Porch" started acoustic before exploding into pure mania.
The New Tradition - Eddie is well aware it's our other national anthem, so he once again blessed the crowd with "Rocking in the Free World", Neil Young's classic rocker. Bono wasn't there to join him like last time, but it was full of energy and the perfect next-to-last tune on a great night. The last tune, as is to be expected, was "Yellow Ledbetter".
It seems this is becoming the new Toronto tradition with Pearl Jam. "Rocking in the Free World" followed by the closing "Yellow Ledbetter", both with the house lights on and everyone singling along at the top of their lungs in sweet, sweet approval.
Here are pictures I took of the show. I can't wait to do it all again tonight.
