Pearl Jam closed out the second night of a two show stint at the completely sold out Madison Square Garden joining special guests Cheap Trick with “Surrender” then later with Sting and “Driven to Tears”. The band played a heavy dose of their debut album and the rollicking Garden party had the building shaking with the suspended bridges high above the stage bouncing. Nosebleed seats for this hot ticket went for up to $400 a pair and the rabid crowd got its money’s worth. There was an urgency to the performance that proved that rock is not dead (yet).
Eddie Vedder provided some political comments during the performance and played on. Bruce Springsteen, on the other hand, recently canceled a concert in the Carolinas to make a point. Besides the fact Bruce Springsteen took money out of working people’s pockets who could have worked their minimum wage jobs that night and make a couple of bucks, Bruce cost others planning on attending time, and possibly money, on the canceled concert. He is entitled to his opinion but if Bruce does not live in that state, and he apparently has no dog in the fight, couldn’t he have just expressed his views like Vedder and played the show? Was it a calculated ploy to remain relevant perhaps as Springsteen plods toward schtick for an aging audience base? What next? Will he advocate government sanctioned gender reassignment to get a rise from his formerly working class audience? Free government castration! Glory Days?
Thank you Pearl Jam and
God Bless America !
Long Live Rock
and Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World
Rock on!
GQ
