This column also ran across the Citadel Broadcasting Rock Websites in a slightly different form and with a few more pictures. 

Pearl Jam at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, 9/4/11. Copyright 2011: Robert D. Mathers

There’s A Light

I am sitting in my office, in Manhattan staring at the rain which has been pouring down all day.  I last saw steady, driving rain was days ago in a valley in Wisconsin.  I can see frustrated New Yorkers running and pushing their way to the next place they have to go.  No one is really taking in the scene or stopping to talk to the person next to them. The sound of the city is completely different than the tones that filled the air this past weekend in East Troy.  While there is a rhythm here, there was harmony at Alpine Valley.

How do you reflect on a career of a band that is twenty years young?  If you are Pearl Jam, you team up with Cameron Crowe and give him your archived footage so he can make a documentary film.  Then you invite twelve other bands, your old neighbor and 37,000 of your friends to a two day party in the middle of America.

The Waiting Drove Me Mad

We had been waiting for this weekend for months.  My friend, a devotee of the sun and Pearl Jam, said that she had never wanted the summer to end so fast before. So, with August finally behind us, we gathered our little group and headed west.

One of the most impressive things about Pearl Jam is their back office operation and how they treat their loyal followers.  The day before the show, Ten Club members were able to go to the venue and pick up their tickets, negating any wait the next day and allowing us to go right into Alpine Valley through a special entrance.

After the ticket pickup we headed to a special pre-party hosted by the Wishlist Foundation, a Pearl Jam umbrella charity organization.  Anticipation for the festival hit a fever pitch as fans from all over the world gathered to swap stories of shows past and share tips on how to survive 24 hours of some of the best rock on the planet.

Get It Now

The sun was shining as we awoke and made our way from Lake Geneva into the parking lot of Alpine Valley Music Theatre for Day 1 of PJ20. By the time we approached the first side stage to catch The Young Evils, thunder rumbled in the distance.  Thirty minutes later, as the venue was one quarter filled with people,  Star Anna and The Laughing Dogs took the stage and the heavens opened.  With the festival just underway, it seemed that no one minded the rain, especially when Mike McCready joined one of his favorite bands for a few tunes.

The layout of Alpine Valley is perfect for a festival of this size.  They had two side stages, a rich lawn and a pavilion with an awesome Pearl Jam museum.  Ten Club members had a spot on the top of a hill, where we could watch both side stages, play bean bag toss, charge our cell phones and just chill.  Of course on this day, sitting under a roof came in handy as the rain poured down pretty much the entire day.

Side stage bands at festivals, in my past experience, usually draw small crowds, but Joseph Arthur, David Garza and Jason Lytle had people packed 150 deep, at least.  Then, with a small break in the rain, one of the scions of Rock and Roll royalty took the stage.  Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison, led his band TheNewNo2 through a set that kept us warm and rocking.

The incredible Glen Hansard (who did an impromptu version of Burt Bacharach’s “Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head”), followed by Liam Finn (also a rock scion via Crowded House) and John Doe played to an ever swelling crowd as people poured through the front gates.

By the time evening approached, we switched our vantage point in the Ten Club area and focused on the main stage to watch Mudhoney perform.  As the sun set, Queens of The Stone Age and The Strokes laid the gunpowder that would later be ignited by Pearl Jam.

A full nine hours after the festival opened, the sun down and with a light wind blowing the rain, the lights dimmed.  First we heard guitars start slowly, then a low moan, then drums, then bass and then… “I see the world/feel the chill/which way to go….On a rocking horse of time/I see the birds in the rain..”  the opening words to “Release Me,” the final track from the album that started it all, over twenty years ago filled the air.

From there it was an amazing set list full of deep cuts and a few covers.  We watched a band that had been together for two decades and still had fun playing together.  We watched a band that loves music and surrounds themselves with like minded artists.  Liam Finn, Glen Hansard and John Doe joined in for “Who You Are” and later Julian Casablancas of The Strokes and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age traded vocals with Eddie Vedder on “Not For You” and “In The Moonlight.”  The guest appearances continued with Dhani Harrison playing guitar on “State of Love and Trust” and Liam Finn singing on “Education.”

After twenty songs, Pearl Jam came back for an encore of sorts.  Eddie Vedder told us that “music keeps you going.  At least that worked for us.” He then brought out Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and left him to perform a few Mother Love Bone and Temple of The Dog songs. Then, when it looked like Cornell might not give up the mic, Eddie returned and for the first time in years, we heard the original voices on “Hunger Strike.”

The night ended with two great covers of songs by The Who and MC5.

As the lights started to come up, Eddie told the faithful, “We thought we’d be a passionate band, an informative band.  We never thought we’d be a party band until today… let’s do this again tomorrow.  We’ll see you in the afternoon.”

With soaked clothes and tired voiced we retreated from the venue to rest up for one more day of PJ20.

Arms Wide Open

On Day Two of PJ20, the side stage bands, who were very appreciative that they had good crowds during the previous days deluge of rain, were so ecstatic that they could actually see the faces before them, they played with renewed vigor.  The clear skies helped make their sets livelier, heavier and contained more stories.

It was also a day when some more members of Pearl Jam decided to see what the view from the side stage was like.  Mike McCready came back out to play with Star Anna and Eddie Vedder sat in on drums for some of Liam Finn’s set.

In the middle of the afternoon, during Glen Hansard’s heartfelt set, the clouds broke and we saw blue sky.  Glen remarked, “I know a great song about the sun coming out… maybe someone can sing it with me?”  We thought we might see Dhani Harrison perform one his father’s tunes, but that was not to be.  We did hear a great story about how Glen was asked to play on Eddie’s Ukulele Songs.  Hansard then invited “his new friend, Eddie Vedder” to join him on his hit “Falling Slowly.”

Following Glen’s set, Vedder was not quite done playing around and joined John Doe for the final performance of the side stage.

As with the previous day, Mudhoney re-ignited the crowd and Eddie came out with Queens of The Stone Age to play cowbell on “Little Sister.”

Just after 9pm, Pearl Jam took the main stage once again, opening with a song they first played before a crowd in February of 1991: “Wash.” Day Two’s setlist contained songs more familiar to the passive Pearl Jam fans and like the night before the band brought side stage friends to help out on a few numbers.  Notable guest appearances included Glen Hansard, David Garza and Joseph Arthur on “All Night” and Julian Casablancas on “Red Mosquito.”

Eddie told us a story of how he and Stone Gossard were invited to a Bob Dylan tribute in the mid-90s.  They were invited by “Uncle Neil,” teasing the crowd that we’d see *Neil Young *with his adopted rock children at PJ20, but that wish would remain a fantasy.  Eddie went on to talk about, “meeting this well spoken kid” at the Dylan tribute.  ”I got to meet him again a few years ago and he’s asked us to play on a song that we wouldn’t have played if he hadn’t asked…” from there Dhani Harrison came out and joined Pearl Jam on “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter in A Small Town.”  It was as if we were witnessing a cosmic connection of three generations of the best, most meaningful, insightful and beautiful music that rock can be, as it cut through the clutter of the material world.

After we came down a bit and raised our arms in a “V” as we sang along to “Jeremy,” Vedder started the first encore with a song he wrote that day.  He explained that doing PJ20, “…doesn’t make us feel old, it feels like a rebirth, a new beginning.”  As of press time, the song has no published title but has a great set of lyrics that seems to sum up where Pearl Jam has been and where it’s going, “Never thought we could / so glad we made it ‘til when it all got good…”

Eddie was even more talkative during Day Two. Changing the setlist the band came up with back stage, Vedder goaded Stone Gossard into playing his composition, “No Way,” before they tore up a cover of Public Image’s “Public Image,” and then Eddie praised America’s independent record store owners as he launched into “Spin The Black Circle.”

The second encore started with Eddie introducing his “former neighbor” for night two of Chris Cornell and the Temple Of The Dog reunion.  As an aside, Cornell appeared to be channeling Jeff Bebe (you get 50 cool points for getting that reference).

After going back to Ten with “Alive,” Pearl Jam brought out every artist who performed at PJ20 for an extended, tambourines thrown into the crowd rendition of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World.”  The show could have ended there, but then Mike McCready, Matt Cameron, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Boom Gasper and Eddie came back for “Yellow Ledbetter” which evolved into everyone but Mike McCready leaving the stage.  Mike, in a nod to another Seattle guitar god, played “The Star Spangled Banner” to close the show.

Better Loud Than Too Late

Two days of solid music, with Pearl Jam performing over six hours of it alone, is a great deal to process and I am sure it will take all of us who were there many weeks to do so.  There were no reports of arrests, fights or people getting too out of control.  For me, this was more than just a concert, it was a cultural event celebrating music that we don’t get to hear on the radio too much anymore.  It was not a chance to relive the 90’s, but to enjoy some of the most talented artists making music today, as they did what they love to do.

If you were at PJ20, then you understand what I’ve described.  If you weren’t and want to catch a glimpse of the history of Pearl Jam, I invite you to pick up a copy of the PJ20 film soundtrack, now available for pre-order at PearlJam.com or iTunes.  The Cameron Crowe film goes into limited release on September 23 and will air on PBS stations in October.