Pearl Jam!
[Okay, you might be sick of me talking about them, so I'll promise I'll stop ... well, *after* this post ...]
I was privileged (thanks again for the surprise invite from Jon M, my college roommate 20 years ago at LVC in Funk 213 [and, in a moment of kismet related to this "reunion", we realized that our seats were in the 213 section of the arena] to have attended the sold out show in that city (the first time they visited in their 23 year history) on Sunday night, and it did not disappoint (which was expected, of course). It was nearly three hours for nearly three dozen songs (many from the latest release 'Lightning Bolt', to which I've been counting down for the last ten weeks in my P Jam Jam series [click the link from the labels on the right]), all performed under a set design that, at first glance, seemed to be a good number of bug-zappers, but that really worked in a transforming way once they did their magic and went up and down and changed colors and served as an item from which Eddie could swing out over the crowd.
Of course, that crowd was encouraged to rock along with the band for multiple songs, and most everyone did (except the couples here and there where clearly one party was dragged along by the other and was dealing with the experience on behalf of their partner [I don't know why their love wasn't strong enough that the one should just stay at home and let a real fan buy the seat?]). One of many memorable moments came when Eddie pulled a fan out of the back of the arena whom he had noticed at the very beginning of the show (when, from the stage, he warned "the guy in the yellow shirt in the back" to "pace himself") and got him to the stage for the finale to play tambourine beside man.
The moment of catharsis that only Pearl Jam can provide came just before that finale, when all the lights came on in the arena, and everyone sang "Alive", one to another. Because although many of us couldn't personally relate to the specifics in the lyrics of that song, we all could triumphantly admit, that despite whatever trauma we'd been through individually, as a collective body, at exactly that very moment, with the lights up so that we could look into each others' eyes if we so chose, we all, strangers and friends alike, were individuals who were most definitely "still alive (yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah)". Like the Native American in the classic pollution commercial, it may be that a single tear rolled down my cheek at that moment, although, if asked, I'd have said that it must have just been irritation from the sweet sweet smelling smoke that wafted up through the crowd every so often.
As Eddie said from the stage that night referencing the loss of Lou Reed earlier that day, "music heals". Amen, brother Eddie, amen.
LOCAL REVIEW OF THE BALTIMORE CONCERT I ATTENDED:
http://blogs.citypaper.com/noise/index.php/2013/10/live-review-pearl-jam-at-the-baltimore-arena/
PROFESSIONAL PICS FROM THE BALTIMORE CONCERT:
http://photos.citypaper.com/index.php/pearl-jam-at-the-baltimore-arena-in-photos/#1
NOT OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW THE AD OF WHICH I SPEAK?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7OHG7tHrNM
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