As I’ve previously explained Pearl Jam have been a favourite band of mine since the heady days of grade ten in 1993. I’ve seen them five times over three Australian tours and on Tuesday night I added a sixth concert to that list.

But first, how Pearl Jam’s fans have changed. Waiting out the front of Rod Laver Arena for Billybob to arrive J, The and I crowd spotted. We saw business suits, couples with young kids, teenage girls who looked like they’d come to see Nelly Furtado, young adults in the young twenties whose folks had tagged along, and only a couple of grubby yoof dressed in the grunge costume. In fact, looking around the crowd after the support act we noted that there was an overwhelming amount of pastel colour — like an Industrie clothing store showroom — and an almost complete lack of black. Back in the ’90s, we reflected, you’d get beaten up for showing up to a Pearl Jam concert in anything but a pair of ripped jeans, black t-shirt and flannel over-shirt.

However, forgetting the crowd’s fashion choices it was, without a shadow of a doubt, easily the best concert of the six I’ve seen. Last time around in 2003 the band were touring an ordinary album, Eddie Vedder was drunk, forgetful and sloppy, and the band seemed to be lacking spark and killing time until retirement. On Tuesday they were invigorated, musically tight, and a true rock and roll spectacle. Eddie was at the peak of his singing form, Mike McCready let rip with some truly outstanding four minute guitar solos (including Even Flow’s solo from behind his head), Jeff Ament was bouncing across the stage like a teenager, and the band effortlessly punched out the kind of energy and anger that was reminiscent of their early years.

And just take a look at this setlist:

Go, Last Exit, Brain Of J., World Wide Suicide, Given To Fly, Severed Hand, Low Light, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Gone, Do The Evolution, Even Flow, Lukin, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Life Wasted, Better Man, Glorified G, Porch

Encore 1: Thumbing My Way, Last Kiss, Crazy Mary, Alive
Encore 2: Big Wave, Blood, Leash, Baba O’Riley, Indifference

Anybody who follows Pearl Jam setlists and knows a thing or two about their catalogue will nod appreciatively at the first few songs. The boys normally kick off their shows with a quiet tune (eg. Release, Elderly Woman) before launching into a rocker, but they launched this show with the blistering first track from Vs., the blistering first track from Vitalogy, and the blistering first track from Yield. Had they said “goodnight” and walked from the stage right there I would’ve gone home a happy man, still tingling from the opening trio. But they forged onwards into the single from their latest, self-titled, album before playing the only disappointment of the night: Given To Fly. That tune is serviceable on the record but has never really worked for me live. The rest of the main set was outstanding, especially the surprise inclusion of Glorified G which had J, The dancing like a maniac (read: me) in the aisle.

The encores were frantic affairs with house lights on for the most part. Crazy Mary was haunting and Last Kiss was like mass karaoke. Alive saw Eddie and Jeff work the stage like men possessed and the crowd duly went wild. In the second encore Leash was a total surprise and I screamed along like I used to while cruising the mean streets of Brisbane in my Mini with The Wayno in grade twelve. By the time the last chords of Indifference faded away I was spent. Walking zombie-like from the venue we didn’t speak, needing only to exchange knowing looks. J, The and I were sore and tired from dancing. Billybob was sore and tired from maintaining a look of determined concentration. Billybob doesn’t dance in public, you see. I don’t think I even saw him sway or clap along. He says he liked the concert but I knew he was thinking, “They were no Nickelback.”

Until next time around, then. Anybody up for an east coast tour?