Last night, Pearl Jam returned to South Florida (at the BB&T Center in Sunrise), twenty years since they’d played Broward County, and twenty-two since their first Miami performance (a show that included personal favorites like “Once,” and closed out with the ever-so-crowd-pleasing cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World”). It was the kick off to their 2016 North American tour, and took the audience through a gamut of emotions they’re sure to be talking about for years to come. They were not shirtless, twentysomething-year-old rising stars, stage diving and joking that the audience was all going to hell, but rather the embodiment of seasoned veterans of rock n’ roll, mature and familiar, and never once lacking in energy.
Photos from @PearlJam's tour-opening concert at @thebbtcenter: https://t.co/uKRfMlAID7. #PJSunrise #PJTour2016 pic.twitter.com/SaGktrSnaT
— Jake Cline (@jakeflorida) April 9, 2016
Realizing full well they need no introduction, the group acted as their own opening band, powering off the night with “Go,” the first single off Vs., and perfect for starting their set on the right foot. They followed this up a variety of hits and lesser-known tracks, from Nothingman (garnering sing-a-long moments from the entire, well-packed stadium) to Severed Hand. Vedder took heavy swigs from a wine bottle (or two?), occasionally stopping to make fatherly PSA’s announcing the names of young children in the stadium who were attending their very first concert, to wise cracks about the age of some of the fans in attendance, who he joked weren’t even alive when the band last visited the area. At one point, he started telling a story about brushing his teeth and being startled by an old man he saw reflect on his bathroom tile, which then turned into what sounded like a clever ad for Colgate toothpaste. It was a bit surreal, yet here we were.
Halfway through the initial set, Vedder let the crowd in on the fact that it was band member Mike McCready’s birthday. Anyone standing outside that stadium must have heard thousands of voices echoing “Happy Birthday To You” to the 51-year-old lead guitarist. Then they made another announcement: Cheap Trick’s induction into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame was happening at that very moment in New York City. The band commemorated the occasion by throwing in a short cover of “Surrender,” and followed that moment up with yet another crowd favorite: “Evenflow.
.@PearlJam playing "Surrender" at @thebbtcenter in honor of @cheaptrick #RockHall2016 induction tonight. #PJSunrise pic.twitter.com/Toep4Sk5Rw
— Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) April 9, 2016
The band wrapped up their set with the high-energy “Do The Evolution” (during which Vedder donned a Donald Drumpf–er, Trump mask) followed by the epic “Why Go?” (as if asking every single person there, ‘why the hell would you go home so soon?’). Vedder and the band proceeded to walked off stage and, after a brief pause, came right back out for their first encore (yes, that’s right–first), which included a soulful performance of “Black” that hit at the heart just as much as it did when it was first released off Ten.
It seemed obvious, to some perhaps at least, that there was something particularly scattered about Vedder during some of his talking moments, no matter how much he joked and smile. Andi it wasn’t till the second encore that the front man shared with all a personal tragedy: long time friend and fellow musician Tim “Skully” Quinlan had to, as Vedder put it, “leave the planet.” Those of you who follow along here know I’ve been going through some personal struggles with grief as of late, and listening to a choked up Vedder bare his heart was enough to elicit tears of my own. To feel grief is already such a difficult thing, but to share it with others, with a crowd so large, and a pain so fresh, was beyond moving. It didn’t add a somber tone to the rest of the evening, but rather a sense of responsibility and compassion that at this point in the night, we really were all there for the band, and not just the music.
It’s obvious that by the last few songs, the stadium owners were already getting restless to close out the night, but even two-and-a-half hours in, it felt like Pearl Jam was ready to go all night if they could. They dedicated the next song, “Light Years” to their old friend, but it felt like their goosebump-inducing performance of “Alive” was truly most fitting of all as we helped them bid farewell. And when they completed their powerful cover of The Who’s “Baba O’Reilly”, it felt like that must surely be the end of the show. But it still wasn’t.
Earlier in the evening, Vedder had taken a sign he’d seen in the audience and promised the person he’d take care of it before the show ended. As only a truly worthy performer would, he took up an acoustic guitar right after to honor the fan’s request: that he play Little Steven’s “I Am A Patriot” in honor of the fan’s son, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran who passed away in a car crash just last month by the name of Tyler Spake. And while it wasn’t clear whether this was part of the reason for Spake’s death or not, Vedder took it upon himself not only to give him condolences but to also address the very serious problem in this country and this state with how very little mental health treatment is available to our nation’s veterans.
Most of the audience had been on their toes as to whether this would be the final track of the night probably since about half-way through the first encore, which explains how the stadium was still mostly packed as the third hour of their performance approached. But it was with “Indifference” that the band finally closed out, though rest assured, that’s not what any of us felt by the time we left.
Night 1 in the books! #PJTOUR2016#PJSunrisepic.twitter.com/nrPEsb6PF3
— Pearl Jam (@PearlJam) April 9, 2016
In writing this review, I’ve been watching an old recording of the first time Pearl Jam played in Miami. It was at the Cameo Theater on South Beach, back when it wasn’t overrun with bad music and people who love waiting in lines and spending $20 a drink. You can’t see much of the crowd, but it at least appears to leave little elbow room. Dozens of hands can be seen waving in the air, and fans never lacks in energy. There are no pauses for the perfect Vine, no flashes for the Facebook selfie. Everyone’s into it, as is the band, who have the sort of energy anyone might have at the start of their career. And at around 48 minutes, you can see Eddie Vedder climb on top of a speaker, secure the laces on his boots, peel off his t-shirt, and jump into the audience, only to be quickly propped up as he crowdsurfs in a way that just doesn’t seem to happen as often these days. I wonder about what it must have been like to be in that audience, part of that world, experiencing the young, raw Seattle band that would go on to become award-winning rock legends with at least one album that’s gone platinum thirteen times.
Last night definitely wasn’t April 23rd, 1992 at the Cameo. But in a way, it was something much more grown up, and a whole lot better.
