Pearl Jam offers no pretense, just power

By GINA VIVINETTO

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 14, 2000

TAMPA -- Pearl Jam gave the sellout crowd at the Ice Palace exactly what it wanted Saturday: tight, no-frills rock. With no fancy backdrops or pyrotechnics, the band, once the reigning kings of rock in the early 1990s, delivered its garage-style grunge with precision and passion.

Lead singer Eddie Vedder, dressed in light jeans and jacket, sported more facial hair than we're used to. Vedder's down-to-earth look cannot mask his sheer rock "starability." He's one of the most dynamic frontpersons to ever grace a stage. Even with guitar strapped to his shoulder, Vedder barks and growls, winces and warbles through an array of emotions.

Guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready showed they're still capable of the grand heroics of Ten. Hits such as Evenflow and Jeremy were punctuated by the duo's wailing riffs. McCready's sizzling solo on the unpolished Corduroy gave the song even more vigor live. Material from the band's most recent album, Binaural, is far murkier and unfussy. Jeff Ament's brooding bass on Nothing As It Seems amplified that song's ominous feel. Drummer Matt Cameron, formerly of fellow Seattle band Soundgarden, pummeled through Evacuation, a song he wrote.

Vedder unstrapped the guitar for Last Exit and reminded fans how mesmerizing he can be even when just standing in front of the mike. Twitching his head, shaking his curly locks, subtly pursing his lips and closing his eyes, Vedder can convey complex emotions as emphatically as he can angst. While his four bandmates jam, the singer bounces on his toes, gathers his thoughts, snapping his fingers. When it's time again to sing, Vedder grabs the mike and bursts.Vedder strummed guitar again on Better Man, which he sang softly for several verses before the band jumped in. Daughter turned into a jazzy jam with Vedder mumbling some grunge-scat. He then coaxed the audience to sing Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall (Pt.II) with him while he "flipped off" the teachers who would not "leave those kids alone."

Vedder drank from a bottle of red wine, offering sips to fans at stage right. Though the outspoken singer kept his views to himself -- he did not address the June tragedy in Denmark where nine fans died after being crushed at a Pearl Jam concert -- he mentioned the band had played a pro-choice benefit in Pensacola.

Opening act Sonic Youth gave Tampa a taste of downtown New York noise rock. Stalwarts of experimental music for twenty years, the quartet played a few pop "hits," including Kool Thing with bassist Kim Gordon -- who now mostly plays guitar -- abandoning her instrument to jump and kick as she sang.

Band members, all now in their 40s except for drummer Steve Shelley -- a young-un' in his 30s -- played an energetic 40-minute set. Guitarists Thurston Moore, who is Gordon's husband, and Lee Ranaldo held their instruments in front of their amplifiers and above their heads eliciting feedback that caterwauled between gorgeous and grating.

Material from the band's latest album, NYC Ghost and Flowers, is some of its most avant garde. The sprawling title track featured Ranaldo espousing Beat-style poetry over guitars and Steve Shelley's polyrhythmic drumming with mallets. The hodge podge proceeded to build before erupting into delicious chaos at the song's end.