PEARL JAM – MARVELL STADIUM – MELBOURNE – 16.11.2024
Review: Craig Eriksson. Photos: Jason Rosewarne.
Melbourne, the wait is finally over! It’s been 10 long years since the world’s favourite grunge legends Pearl Jam last played in Australia at the final Big Day Out festival back in 2014. Tonight they showed Melburnians that they haven’t lost any of their energy or appeal as they played to a massive crowd at Marvel Stadium.
The Seattle grunge rockers are currently on their 2024 Dark Matter World Tour and tickets to their shows have been selling like wildfire, with everyone trying to be part of this history-making show.
Home grown Aussie punk rockers Cosmic Psychos kick started the evening and were the perfect opener getting the crowd in a jovial mood with their yob rock classics like Nice Day To Go To The Pub (crowd laughing and singing along … have a beer, schnitzel, some chips, beetroot at the rubbery dub); Fuckwit City; Pub; Dead In A Ditch; Lost Cause and David Lee Roth. I love this band and noted they had fill-in drummer BC Michaels from another great Aussie punk band, Dune Rats play with the Psychos tonight.
US alt-rockers Pixies were on next and kept attendees in high spirits. They wasted no time launching straight into some of their most popular songs at the beginning of their set such as Where Is My Mind? & Here Comes Your Man. This hooked in the crowd and had everyone singing along right from the get go. I had seen Pixies play an intimate exclusive sideshow the previous night in a small venue at The Croxton and here they are less than 24 hours later playing to a massive sold out stadium crowd and they absolutely nailed it. Again they kept the hits rolling with no interruption as they smashed out 14-songs including – Monkey Gone to Heaven; Debaser; Gouge Away; The Vegas Suite; Wave of Mutilation; Hey. They finished their 14-song set with The Jesus and Mary Chain cover Head On.
As the stadium continued to fill, you felt the temperature rising on this hot balmy Melbourne evening as fans waited with anticipation for Pearl Jam to emerge. No words can truly describe the vibe of this sea of fans, with (53,000+) packed into Marvel tonight. Eddie Vedder described it best – “Holy Fuck! It’s a big one”.
Pearl Jam came out and Vedder first and foremost asks the crowd if everyone is ok as it’s an absolute scorcher. He says: “Don’t think I’m getting all nostalgic by wearing shorts, but its f*ckin’ hot!” (laughs) then tells punters to look after each other and enjoy the night.
I first saw Pearl Jam almost 30 years ago back in 1995 and have seen them multiple times over the years. What I found remarkable is the band are still match fit and at the top of their game, playing a two and a quarter hour show in 30-degree heat. They were all so youthful and energetic on stage as they delivered a stellar show. PJ remain one of the best live acts I’ve ever seen and tonight’s show re-confirmed this.
Vedder really engages and connects well with their fans during the show and you can see he has remained humble and does not take his fame or the band’ s success for granted.
Vedder paid tribute to each band member during the show –
- Eddie Vedder – Lead Vocals/Guitar
- Stone Gossard – Rhythm Guitar
- Mike McCready – Lead Guitar
- Jeff Ament – Bass Guitar
- Matt Cameron – Drums (also has played with Soundgarden)
- Boom Gaspar – Tour keyboardist
It is clearly evident that PJ are all brilliant musicians that engage and play incredibly tight together as a band and they all look like they’re having so much fun on stage.
Vedder’s towering voice still remains as strong, rich and youthful as it did 30 years ago. He still manages to deliver the rousing ballads with perfect clarity and his voice soars during their high intensity songs. Gossard and Ament play driving grooves and McCready on lead guitar played some impressive, savage guitar solos that would make Eddie Van Halen proud. He even did a VH cover of ERUPTION. Cameron’s drumming style is known for his open drum sound, use of odd time signatures and atypical hi-hat openings, keeping a straight 4-4 groove until the turnaround, where he adds a beat skip.
The stage had 3 giant screens and the back drop graphics were amazing, displaying a combination of Australian scenery, the band and massive crowd. Vedder engaged well with fans and pointed out several young fans that were at their first gig. He later got them up on stage during the encore. One fan held up a huge sign and he said to the fan in a very courteous and respectful manner that if they put down the sign so the people behind them can see the show, that he will let them get a selfie with him at the end of the concert. Vedder kept to his word and caught up with that fan at the show’s end.
PJ played 26-songs providing fans with an equally balanced mix of old and new songs. They played several songs from their brand new album Dark Matter (2024) – REACT, RESPOND; DARK MATTER and WRECKAGE. Vedder briefly referenced the recent US election and Trump’s re-election as President leading into the song Wreckage.
Much to the delight of the PJ faithful, they played 5 tracks from their TEN (1991) album that had the crowd singing so loud that you could see Vedder was overwhelmed and embracing every minute of it – EVEN FLOW; WHY GO; ALIVE; PORCH and crowd-favourite and sing-a-long JEREMY.
Other crowd favourites were – CORDUROY; PORCH: STATE OF LOVE AND TRUST; DO THE EVOLUTION and BETTER MAN would have blown the roof off the stadium had it not been open due to the beautiful hot evening. The noticeable omissions for fans were Black and Daughter.
Throughout the show, Vedder voiced words of hope and encouragement, expressing to fans that life is full of challenges and uncertainties but it’s certainly worth living and to stay strong and positive. Hold on to hope and use our actions in such a way to make a positive world. Half way through the show, Vedder talked about his charity and support to a cause close to his heart – EBRP (Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Program) that are dedicated to finding a cure for EB. Vedder invited former-AFL football legend Jonathan Brown on to the stage, who is the Australian ambassador for EBRP and is a strong advocate for families living with the condition.
The encore consisted of 8 songs with Vedder coming out and playing an acoustic version of JUST BREATHE. During the encore, Vedder requested the lights to be turned on during the last 3 songs ALIVE; Neil Young cover ROCKIN’ IN THE FREE WORLD and concluding with YELLOW LEDBETTER. Seeing the mountainous legion of fans lit up was indescribable and gave me goosebumps.
Overall, I felt like I had been part of something very special tonight. If you have the opportunity to see PJ while they’re in Australia, this is a concert not to be missed. I loved the show so much, I’m going again on Monday night.
SET LIST: (26 songs)
Why Go
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
Given to Fly
Hail, Hail
Corduroy
React, Respond
Dark Matter
Eruption (Van Halen cover)
Wreckage
Garden
Even Flow
In My Tree
Running
Jeremy
Wishlist
Not For You
Mind Your Manners
Porch
Encore:
Just Breathe
Inside Job
Do the Evolution
Better Man
State of Love and Trust
Alive
Rockin in the Free World (Neil Young cover)
Yellow Ledbetter
