Pearl Jam – Marlay Park – Live Review
by Killian Laher

Marlay Park, Dublin

Pearl Jam’s first visit to Ireland in 14 years has seen them receive something of a negative reaction, accusations of price scalping and forgetting their battles with Ticketmaster in the 1990s, with expensive ticket prices, Golden Circles etc.  Having said that, value was provided by the high calibre support acts.  First up were the Murder Capital, who tore into their set from the opener Feeling Fades.  Singer James McGovern has all the moves of a much bigger ‘rock star’ and plenty of charisma.  The song features a midsection which shouldn’t work at all, with McGovern roaring “la la lala lalala” over and over, but he pulls it off.  Playing a mixture of songs from their two albums, For Everything glowered impressively with pounding drums, guitars and bells to the forefront on Ethel.  Rounding off their set with Don’t Cling To Life, they managed the early support slot with aplomb.

Richard Ashcroft was up next and he played a set packed with nostalgia, leaning heavily on The Verve’s Urban Hymns, opening up with Space and Time.  The almost thirty-year-old On Your Own was dusted off while Break The Night With Colour nodded to his solo career.  The audience sang along with everything, and they weren’t disappointed as he dedicated The Drugs Don’t Work to Van Morrison and Ian Brown, before finishing their set with Bitter Sweet Symphony.  The songs sounded just fine in the sunshine, bringing a smile to many in the audience.

Anticipation was high for headliners Pearl Jam, and they started with a cathartic version of Release.  It was a risky number to open with, a slow buildup leading to a massive midsong climax but singer Eddie Vedder hit the notes with no difficulty.  The band played plenty of songs from their 1990s heyday, such as Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town and Corduroy.  Newer songs from the recent Dark Matter album didn’t send the masses fleeing to the bar, the crowd lapped up Scared of Fear and the jangly Wreckage.

Pearl Jam have a history of standing up against injustice, and Vedder spoke out in support of the protest earlier in the day relating to the Natasha O’Brien verdict.  But by and large, the band appeared to be having a whale of a time on stage, lead guitarist Mike McCready was given plenty of opportunity to show off his impressive technique. The hairs stood up on the back of many necks as they played favourites Daughter, Jeremy and Porch.  A lengthy encore featured neither Vedder solo on ukelele, nor Glen Hansard jumping up on stage to join the band (he was unavailable), limiting the self-indulgence to a solo version of Warren Zevon’s Keep Me In Your Heart.  To be fair it was dedicated to the late Sinead O’Connor and Shane McGowan.  The band barrelled through Not For You, Why Go and Do The Evolution in an encore which was expertly paced.  They briefly calmed proceedings with Setting Sun which exploded into life halfway through before finishing with Alive and their cover of Neil Young’s Rockin’ In The Free World.

Setlist

Release
Low Light
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
Corduroy
Given to Fly
Scared of Fear
Eruption – (Van Halen cover) (Mike McCready solo instrumental)
React, Respond
Wreckage
Wishlist
Even Flow
Dark Matter
Daughter (included a snippet of “Suggestion” by Fugazi)
Jeremy
Upper Hand
Better Man (included a snippet of “Save It for Later” by The English Beat)
Black (dedicated to a young fan who passed away a few days earlier)
Porch

Encore
Keep Me in Your Heart (Warren Zevon cover) (dedicated to Shane MacGowan and Sinéad O’Connor)
Not for You (included a snippet of “Modern Girl” by Sleater-Kinney)
Why Go
Do the Evolution
Setting Sun
Alive
Rockin’ in the Free World – (Neil Young cover)