Pearl Jam - A Family (Re)Union

Setlist 

1- Interstellar Overdrive 

2- Corduroy 

3- Why Go 

4- Given To Fly 

5- Brain Of J. 

6- Amongst The Waves 

7- Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town 

8- In Hiding 

9- Even Flow 

10- World Wide Suicide 

11- Rats 

12- Lukin 

13- Not For You 

14- Better Things 

15- Nothingman 

16- The Fixer 

17-Do The Evolution 

 18- Last Kiss 

19- Just Breathe 

20- Comatose 

21- Unthought Known 

22- Porch

 23- Smile 

24- Green Disease

25- Love Reign O'er Me

26- Black 

27- Rockin' In The Free World 

28- Indifference 

 This is my fifth attempt at writing a review of the Pearl Jam show in Amsterdam on June 26th, 2012. The problem with the previous four efforts wasn't putting in to words how good the show was. Nor was it trying to capture what seeing this incredible band means to so many fans, old and new. The problem, if you can call it that, has been trying not to ramble on about the whole 30 hour experience we encountered in Amsterdam. And I failed. Miserably. So if you are expecting a quick appraisal of the 150 minutes or so that Pearl Jam played I suggest you give up now. I'm just going to waffle on about the Pearl Jam experience of that day rather than just the gig itself. I hope that anyone who has travelled to see this band will stick with it and can understand exactly where I'm coming from with this blog.

It was always going to be special. That goes without saying, this is Pearl Jam afterall. Every show I've seen has been special because that is what Pearl Jam do - they give each show something new, something different to ensure that every person in attendance gets "their moment". I remember reading something Bruce Springsteen said years ago about his live performances. He said he always leaves everything out there on stage each night because at each show there will be someone who has spent a month's salary to be there and he must ensure that that one person doesn't walk away disappointed. I don't think any band playing today carries this torch more than Pearl Jam. So when my countdown to Amsterdam began at 183 days (check my Twitter feed, I did start the countdown 6 months prior to the show) I knew it was going to be an experience that would never be forgotten.

I travelled out to Amsterdam with a friend from a gaming forum I frequent. Paul (@PS_FreNZee) had seen PJ once before, at The O2 Arena in 09 with me. He was the only person I had spent time with out of the Amsterdam group. We'd arranged to meet Sandro and Siobhan on the morning of the show as they had been out there for several days already. They were to be our tour guides and escorts in this strange city. Over the weekend they had met up with Sean, Kendal and Marlane from Houston who had flown in just for this one show (no more proof needed of the drawing power of Pearl Jam) so we all met up outside a little Irish bar - it was closed but their free wifi was very much appreciated. It's never easy to be dumped amongst complete strangers but the ease with which everyone got on immediately still surprises me. We travelled down to the Ziggo Dome on the Metro, a fifteen minute journey and by time we arrived I felt as though I had known these people months rather than the 45 minutes or so I had been in their company. It's a weird one to explain to people who don't know Pearl Jam and their fans but it's almost like meeting a long lost or distant relative for the first time. You know nothing about them but the blood tie (or PJ in this case) almost assures you of an affinity. Time and again this has been the case at every PJ show I've attended but none more so than in Amsterdam. I don't know if it was because we were all alien to Amsterdam and finding ourselves in the same boat but, for me at least, it instantly felt like some kind of bond was formed. It may just be me, as I've not asked the others, but I'd guess that to a greater or lesser extent, they'd agree. Or I'm gonna look like an asshole once they read this.

The seven of us spent an hour or so in the vacinity of the arena, chatting about what the others had got up to over the weekend (what happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam. Right, Sandro?), shows we've seen, songs we wanna here and general nonsense. Paul and I had to leave around 1400 to go find our hotel and check in. We said our goodbyes and arranged to meet near the arena once we had picked up our Ten Club wrist bands.

We got back to the arena around 1545 and met up with the others at, to quote Siobhan "the round thing by the middle bit near the orange chairs" and decided to join in the beer drinking, or "killkenny" as Sean was known to call it. The setting was perfect - sat outside on a gloriously warm and sunny day, great company, wifi, beers and the cafe bar we were sat outside started playing a selection of Pearl Jam songs to complete the setting. Around 5pm we headed to the venue for early access.

I guess this is where I should really start to mention the show, it is the reason we were all there afterall. Before the show I was talking to Sandro about what songs we want to see that night. One of the two songs I wanted was In Hiding, a song that had only been played to a live audience 71 times in the 14 years since it was released on Yield, so I wasn't holding my breath. Track 8 that night was In Hiding. I thought I was going to pass out. What had already been a great day and a really impressive start to the show, went to a whole new level once I heard Stone start that riff. 8 songs in and I had already got three songs I had never seen live before. The show was brewing for me. They threw Rats in to the set fairly early on and there was quite a few people around who were pleased to hear this as it is another rare gem. Here is another example of the extraordinary force that is Pearl Jam live. It was only the 48th time the song had been played live since its release in 1993. Paul was attending just his second PJ show and he had now see this song on both occasions, yet there were fans who had seen countless gigs and never got this song before that night.

The middle section of the main set had some real thunder- Even Flow, World Wide Suicide and Lukin packed a hell of a punch before they slowed the pace, without losing any of the intensity we expect, with a fantastic rendition of Not For You. Then we got the gem that every fan who attends a show waits for. A premiere. For those of us lucky enough to be present that night we got the first live play of the fan club single Better Things by The Kinks. Time and again Pearl Jam find songs to cover that sound and feel like a PJ song and this was no exception. Ed sounded great and although it sounded a little loose in places, a new PJ cover had been added to the arsenal for future live shows.

The encore started with Last Kiss and Just Breathe. Two songs that seem to bring a lot of flak in the band's direction. Personally, I think they are great songs and really give the audience something to sing along to and I'm glad I got them both. Two more first plays for me. Comatose followed and then came one of their finest hours. Unthought Known is right up there among the best tracks this band have ever put out for our consumption but it's in a live setting where this track comes alive. The way it builds is perfect. Mike's understated guitar strangles the life out of the riff and you'd be hard pushed to finder a song that can capture everything that Ed is as a vocalist and lyricist.

I'm not going to recall every song for you. Most, if not all, of you have seen the songs before so you won't need me to tell you what they are like. Hell, you've probably seen them played more than me. It was a stunning set. Probably not the best set I've seen from them as the O2 Arena show in London in 2009 was really special but that's an irrelevance. They still deliver like no other band. They still surprise. They obviously still love doing what they do, you need only take a look at how much Mike puts in to each show to understand that they play every set like its the most important thing in the world. Watch Jeff getting the chance to play lead on Smile to see the pure joy they still get from jamming together. Priceless.

I'll wrap this up by saying I was gutted to miss night 2 in Amsterdam. I was watching the set come through on Twitter as I was travelling home. In PJ circles it's being called their greatest set ever and I wish I could have been there. However, I wouldn't trade the experience of 26/06 for the 27/06 for any money in the world. What makes a Pearl Jan show special is the family coming together and if I traded 26 for 27 I wouldn't have shared it with Siobhan, Kendal, Sean and Marlane. That's a price I wouldn't want to pay. I spent the best day imaginable with them, including Sandro and Paul and that is what the experience is all about.

Thanks for the memories, ladies and gents. Here's to plenty more of them together