Photos by Randall Vasquez.
Legendary Rock band Pearl Jam returned to Toronto on May 12th for there 14th show in Toronto; “Our first time playing Toronto in October of 1991 we played 7 songs that night. So tonight were gonna play 9, at least maybe 10, 11, 12, 20…” and they then played 33 songs. I am sure there are more ways to describe this show than this, but I’m saying that this show was f****** incredible.
The show began around 8:45pm as it took what felt like forever for people to filter into the arena. There was such an energy of excitement and happiness in the room before the band even went on, in a sense it was almost comforting. When the band took the stage, it was just absolutely insane. The entire audience was cheering and clapping for an extended period of time; there was such a strong appreciation. It gave me such a feeling almost similar to when people are hooting and hollering during the National Anthem right before a Chicago Blackhawks game; it was crazy.
The band got right to it opening with “Go”, the opening track from their 1993 album “Vs.” This is definitely one of their heavier tracks, which I really enjoyed as an opener because it got the crowd even more excited.They then dedicated their 6th track “Evacuation”, to Firefighters and Lifesavers because of the Fort McMurray tragedy. Vedder went on to explain that the band had decided to donate some profit from the Toronto shows to the occurrence in Alberta, which is amazing. Eddie Vedder is probably one of the most outspoken and passionate artists that I have ever seen live. Pearl Jam is most definitely one of the best concerts that I have ever seen, because they have so much passion to be there doing what they are doing. It really blew my mind that Vedder had more energy than half of the artists that I have seen live, and are less than half his age. Its great to see a band that has been around for such an extended period of time, and still enjoy it just as much as they always have. At one point Vedder forgot the chorus and had to start over but he had such a comical and accurate explanation: “The thing about vinyl records is that sometimes they skip”, then went onto play the song. It was cool to see him make light of this situation.
Throughout the show their were several amazing guitar solo’s, hooks, and breakdowns. My favourite guitar solo was during “Even Flow”- that entire presentation absolutely blew my mind. Mike Mcready played the best guitar solo I have ever seen live in my entire life. Everything was so spot on and distinct, he even played the guitar behind his head while being in the crowd, and if you weren’t looking you would never know that he was basically crowd surfing. The only critique I really would have about “Even Flow” was that, it was very rushed. I feel that Vedder is so used to playing the song and perhaps doesn’t even enjoy it, or at least that’s the vibe I received. The tempo was rushed and it felt like he was just trying to get through it, aside from Mcready’s hook at the end of the song. Otherwise, still a well done performance.
“Let Me Sleep” was a beautifully done performance. Acoustics were extremely distinct and guitar was very defined, and the emotion was portrayed so well overall. Also, drum’s were done perfectly soft and not overdone, nor underdone.
I had such an appreciation for the band’s interaction with the crowd throughout the show. They would often give the microphone to fans and let them take over, and would acknowledge the entire arena as much as they could, including the seats that were behind the stage.
Before ukulele track “Soon Forget”, Vedder went on to explain that this song was about “a wealthy guy who’s a miserable fuck and made you feel embarrassed to be a human when you saw what he did with his good fortune. This was more of a general theory but now I realize that it’s exactly about Donald Trump”, which everyone got a laugh out of.
My favourite performances were “Mind Your Manners”, their cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb”, and “Black” of course. All songs were done ever so perfectly with perfect instrumentals, amazing emotion and vocals, and a large amount of crowd appreciation. I am so appreciative for being able to attend this show, and I will most definitely see them again if I have a chance.
