Gig Review: Pearl Jam with Kings Of Leon

The gig: Pearl Jam with Kings Of Leon
The place: Rod Laver Arena
The time: 14th Nov 06 7.45pm



Kings Of Leon are kind of like The Partridge Family. Only in that the band consists of three brothers and a cousin. They opened for Pearl Jam last night with a strong rambucious 40 minute set. It was kinda let down by some newer songs that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a Michael Bolton (Ed: that's a bit harsh!) (btw, Ed: is the Editor or second opinion as it not to be confused with Ed V) record, and another one that sounded suspiciously like Interpol. The tracks from their first two albums, Youth and Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak, however, were all killer tracks. Eddie Vedder came out and banged his tamborines together furiously for the final song, Slow Night So Long.

Pearl Jam opened dangerously with an unusually furious flurry of killer tracks. Go lead into Last Exit which lead into Brain Of J which lead into World Wide Suicide. It was hard to keep up with them and seemed to be up-tempo (up-tempo for already fast tracks?) and I couldn't help feeling that although it was an unusual choice for PJ (they often start with slow tracks such as Long Road), my dancin shoes and smile were workin overtime - this marathon had strategically (if not musically) got off to a concerning start. The majority of the crowd were with the band (Ed: at a sustained pace) the whole way though, with only patches of comatose attendees. Ed even remarked at one point that the Melbourne crowds were more into it than Sydney.

They settled into a nice groove of old and new with unsurprising emphasis on the last self-titled album. These included Given To Fly, Low Light (a song i don't like, and is probably my least liked song of the night) and DTE (a choice cut). Tracks from the last album included Severed Hand, Gone and Life Wasted (ie. the crowd pleasers). Other selections included Elderly Woman..., Even Flow and Porch, Lukin (!), Not For You and Better Man - this is always a crowd pleaser and the crowd responded by singing much of the song for Ed (Ed: at Ed's request. I didn't mind it but I think it is such a classic that I would've preferred Ed to sing it rather than hearing me (I hear me do that version all the time). Another (nice) suprise inclusion was Glorified G (which i don't think i've heard live before, not sure if they play this much?). One of my few complaints (I always hav 'em) is the insistence of jams. They're pointless, and while PJ's are musically sound, they go on to long. Matt's drum solo on Even Flow was kinda cool though and then the Matt chant began. Mike was in a particularly fine pickin mood, even playing behind his head at one point. Ed reflected a light off his guitar through the crowd during one song like a kid in a school glass who had just discovered he could reflect light off his watch (Ed: personally thought this was a bit contrived) (1st opinion: back again, probably agree, as he has done this at other shows as well, ie. not a spur of the moment thing).

Encore one (Ed: but not really an encore, more a second act, at about the 1 hr mark) started off with just Ed on acoustic guitar and Boon (the Boon chant which sounds a bit like Boo was kinda weird) on organ with a really great heartfelt version of Thumbin My Way (my fav of the night - "no matter how cold the winter, there's a springtime ahead") (Ed: cheesy lyrics in anyone else's hands) . The band came back on for Last Kiss, Crazy Mary (the guy in front of us went Crazy for this) plus (of course) the finger pointing anthem, Alive.

Encore two started with Big Wave (dedicated to Aussie surfer Mark Richards), Blood and then Leash (thank god, because the three young girls behind us would have left bitterly disappointed otherwise). Apparently there was a "Drop the Leash" sign which I couldn't see. The house lights came up and the band finished with their now standard cover of The Who's Baba O'Riley plus Indifference. It's (kinda) surprising that not more people could sing along to Baba - not only is a longtime standard for PJ (heck, they finished with it and RitFW at the Myer Music Bowl back in '95) but every other film soundtrack has it (Ed: not everyone is a film buff though) (1st opnion: back again, but hello? it's the theme for CSI?). But this would have been a rare frustration on an otherwise energetic night for all (except for the dude next to me who stood in silence with his arms crossed the ENTIRE night - he must have been dancin' on the inside) (Ed: he has not been able to let go of the internalised angst!). Ed's voice sounded pretty good considering he's done over 200 gigs this year, even on the tough stuff like Blood and Lukin.

Another nice addition was the super high quality (and clearly hi-def) screens either side of the stage. So good, that you could see the sweat flying off Matt's face as he pounded the skins. Hopefully this will be for an eventual DVD (the footage, not the sweat!).