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this is waaay overdue. i was supposed to get down to writing up my report on the pearl jam perth gig by monday but i fucked up. so, on my behalf, i’m terribly sorry about the delay. i haven’t got any real good photos or sounds from the gig but i’ll tell you this. it was amazing.

the tour poster for perth

it wasn’t exactly the best PJ show in terms of set lists but with the catalogue they have, they have strength in diversity. and you can bet their songs have way more depth that the disposable pop or rock garbage that’s out there these days passing of as pop or rock. in fact, i was thinking that to consider pearl jam has beens on the come back trail with a solid new 9th album, is to greatly underestimate this band that never left us.

i can give you a run-down of the night but i think these articles do it better than i could:-

(i) in WA Today with Dalie Pepper had this to say on the 15th of november at page 1 and page 2, and again on the 17th of november with this on eddie giving the local bands a great big shout out.

(ii) in the NZ news site, Scoop with this little brief.

(iii) in Perth Now, with a handy rundown of proceedings, which also has a great picture of the gig plastered at the top of the article.

the setlist for the night started off with breakerfall, why go, corduroy, gonna see my friend, elderly woman behind the counter in a small town, amongst the waves, even flow, pilate, unthought known, daughter/w.m.a, big wave, force of nature, i am mine, grievance, garden, the fixer, save you. then for the 1st encore, we had… just breathe, red mosquito, love reign o’er me, whipping, got some, do the evolution. with their 2nd encore, they did… throw your arms around me, given to fly, better man/save it for later, alive and finally…… yellow ledbetter.

what i then realised, and had confirmed was that the band probably knew a few things that they weren’t letting on and that is, their best asset was their live act. after the earlier heydey years… they did settle into decent albums, which didn’t quite push the envelope, but still had pretty good tunes. so with the new one, backspacer, i suspect they too realised this and pushed for songs that translate really fucking well live.

each of the songs they played from the backspacer album really sound as if they were not made to be heard on an ipod or player…  they were made for it to be heard live… and i’ll tell you this, the songs have got more charisma live… so, my recommendation is that if you can see them live next year, make sure you do because britney deserved the flailing she got at the pearl jam gig.

eddie can still rip his vocals and mike can still run around the entire stage while cleaning up the floor with a wild solo… jeff and matt are really rocksteady, and stone… stone cold motherfucker just does his shit. and boom… BOOM, BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM…. he’s the bomb. his piano solo for the start of love reign o’er me was beautiful.

special mention has to go to the fellas, in no particular order, for the following:-

(i) love reign o’er me, was simply amazing…. when eddie bellowed the title line, each time… the lights went berserk and shone on us this amazing white light that nearly blinded us and made me feel like there was this religious experience happening… wtf, it was amazing… the following vid is alright but what happened at perth was spiritual, the vid below did not have the lightshow… phwoar…!!!!

(ii) yellow ledbetter, can somebody please make this the national anthem?!! everyone around me thought the gig was over after the flood lights came on towards the end of alive… i got me new gig mates and they were ready to leave…. and said, “no you fucking don’t, mate… stone’s just put on his acoustic guitar and that only means one thing…!!! YELLOW fucking LEDBETTER!!!! ahhhhh!”… this one is from argentina last year….

and if you want to sing along check this out… it’s not perfect but it’s close….

(iii) why go… had one of the best mike solos i’ve heard in ages…. it was on the ball, in the zone… and amazingly refreshed…. i think the wipeouts he had scarborough gave him the push…. to really let it all out… and for eddie to jab at mike for it before they started with “amongst the waves”… funny as hell…

ben harper's set

(iv) the fixer…. in tribute to luc longley and the peoples activism to saving the ningaloo reefs, was an apt moment and really put people in the mood for the song… it was a good song made great by the sentiment it evoked.   that we can all make a difference in someone else’s life if they’d really “fight to get it back again…”

ben and eddie... =)

(v) fuck…. the 7 footer IS luc longley… it just goes to show that there’s life after basketball. much respect. to him. to them. and to the ningaloo reefs.

(vii) britney bashing…. she deserved it. you don’t do a comeback and act like a fucking idiot. no one deserves a second chance if they don’t make the effort to step up. some small minute part in my would really like her to succeed but her apathy really doesn’t win her any favours…

(vi) my only little ickle gripe was that there was no “state of love and trust”. was soo hoping they play it. but when you play for 2 and a half hours hard and fast with so much humour and interaction, i can’t find fault and i lapped every minute of it…

(vii) the other thing was eddie joining ben during ben’s set with relentless 7, to sing queen’s under pressure… it was so outrageous and OTT… eddie with his leather jacket and shades… and the both of them pulling off the song… you cannot help but wonder if they’d do radio ga-ga… =)

(viii) even flow, alive and the stuff from mookie blaylock’s 1st album… (am i going to get in trouble for this? lol…), they’re all as potent as the first time i heard them… in the early 90s. i know a lot of people (reviewers, actually) slag off brendan’s redux version of it… but think about it… the redux versions are closer to how the band does it live…. and the way it sounds…. the big reverb-y sounds from the original album never really carried on live… so there is a big plus lurking around…

pearl jam ticket

(ix) on alive…. during mike’s final solo…. we went crazy as he ran round the front and round the back of the stage and amps…. from end to end playing the solo…. it was funny and awesome at the same time… the last bit we were moshing and headbanging and jumping from side to side… uh… i think i was the only one but i was going to get my money’s worth man….

(x) eddie pointed out to this kid who turned out to be 12 years old… the parents proudly carried him up for the crowd to see and would you believe it… the entire stadium gushed…

so i guess that was it. it was satisfying. on a personal note, i did wish i managed to get PJ and Ben Harper to autograph my PJ:Live at the Garden DVD…. that was, from the get go a longshot, but it sure made it fun to dream this big rock n’ roll pilgrimage. after getting steve diggle to autograph it… i really felt like a kid all over again.  it was fun. i met the merchandising bigwig at my gate entrance… this dude, christopher… claims to have been in malaysia twice before.  scary dude with horned rimmed glasses….

i walked back to the backpacker’s lodge all by myself and stopped off for a doner kebab… where a few other jamheads decided to park themselves… all grinning ear to ear… memo to self, next year, i’ll check out the dates and go for another one.

i’m also rather curious why they never made it back to singapore at the very least…? but you know… you can’t wait for mohamed to move the mountain… you just got to fight to get it back again.

Tags: azmyl yunor, backspacer, buzzcocks, immagine in cornice, live at the garden, member's equity stadium, pearl jam, perth, riot act, ten c club, the who