Pearl Jam in TO
by Oceanic on 2009-08-22Molson Amphitheatre - TorontoBelieve it or not, this was my first time seeing Pearl jam live. I was VERY excited even though I suspected the seats I'd managed to get weren't the greatest...until I got to the venue and realized that there's hardly a bad seat in the house! I was very impressed with the set up and the ease at which I was able to find my way around and what not. The beer lines were another story and paying $10 for a king can of Canadian didn't sit too well with me! Anyway, The little acoutsic set at the beginning of the show was amazing. Eddie made us proud to be Canadian when he played 2 Neil Young classics, Sugar Mountain and The Needle and the Damage Done. Stone played a somber Johnny Winter cover which sounded amazing! Too bad Ted Leo didn't make it across the border, but it was a treat to see Ed rock out with The Pharmacists. The PJ show started out rockin and the audience was totally into it for the first half hour or so. I would've enjoyed even more enthusiasm though. Come on people - how 'bout some hands in the air?! I noticed the crowd start to lose interest during Given To Fly and I noticed a lot of people having conversations during the low key numbers - some of the high energy ones too! I wish the general public had a bit more of an attention span and maybe a bit less to drink. There seemed to be a lot going on aside from what we were all there to do which was watch the band!! I didn't appreciate the distractions. I also started to consider that snide remark Billy Bob made about Canadian audiences and wondered - despite my initial outrage on hearing it - if perhaps there was a shred of truth there. I felt there could have been a lot more enthusiasm projected toward this legendary band who have worked so hard over the past 15+ years just to please us - their fans!! Ok so enough about my disappointment in the audience. Seeing this band live was like a dream - something I'd been imagining for months! I would've liked to hear more from the new album Backspacer but was happy to hear quite a few tracks that I didn't expect to. The guys have great energy and Eddie's sensitivity and general 'goodness' shines. It was exhilerating to be in the presence of greatness. The drive home to London was like coming down off of a very powerful drug.