TORONTO -- Toronto fans of Pearl Jam got double their pleasure last night at the Air Canada Centre.
Not only did they get to see the band in action over the course of two hours and 10 minutes, but mere months from now they'll be able to hear the entire show on disc when the Seattle rockers release their recording of the concert as one of 46 live bootlegs from their North American tour.
Who else has the itch to produce a 'pearl gem?'
Pearl Jam's massive release schedule began late last month when 25 live bootlegs from their European tour hit stores.
And last night's loud, sold-out crowd of 20,000 sounded pretty jazzed about the fact that they were being taped even if the group took some time to really get going.
Singer Eddie Vedder, dressed casually and sporting a beard these days, initially strode onto the stripped-down stage with little fanfare and waved to the audience before launching into the low-key Sometimes.
The energy finally picked up with older favourites Animal and Dissident, although it didn't really kick into high gear until Daughter and Betterman, which both recalled a happier, headier time in Pearl Jam's decade-long career.
"It's great to be here," Vedder said after recalling the last time Pearl Jam played in the Toronto-area at Molson Park in the summer of 1998.
"Is this (place) named after a beer too?"
Still, last night's concert fell short of the group's Molson Park outing which saw them whip the audience into a frenzy from the opening note and never really let up.
Given the recent tragedy during Pearl Jam's European tour, which saw nine fans killed on June 30 at the Roskilde Festival, it's understandable the band would be in a more restrained mode these days.
But given they have consistently delivered some of the best live rock shows of the '90s, let's hope they find their footing again soon.
Final leg of tour
The fivesome -- rounded out by guitarists Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, bassist Jeff Ament and drummer Matt Cameron -- cranked up the second and final leg of their North American tour on Wednesday night in Montreal.
Last night, they certainly sounded tight as they played about a half-dozen new songs from this year's somber and folk-leaning studio release, Binaural.
But it was only towards the end of the evening that Vedder -- who could later be seen taking swigs out of what appeared to be a bottle of red wine -- really came alive.
As the band roared through Do The Evolution -- during the first of two encores -- Vedder showed major signs of life as he jumped up in the air and fell to his knees before punching over his mic stand.
And when introducing the equally exciting followup, Wishlist, Vedder explained the latest findings by renowned physicist Stephen Hawking showing there are still 1,000 years of life left on earth.
"I'm trying to figure out what that means?" said Vedder."Do we go f---ing nuts for the next 1,000 years or are we careful who we vote for?"
By way of an answer, the crowd went ballastic over the last song of the first encore, a spirited cover of The Who's Baba O' Riley, which saw them on their feet and clapping for the entire length of the tune.
JAM! Rating: 4.5 out of 5
