Thursday, June 14, 2012

3

Pearl Jam's performance at Atlanta's Fox Theater on April 3, 1994 is considered by many to be the best show they ever played. It wasn't one of my primary examples because a) it takes place after the band's early, so-happy-to-be-playing-music ecstatic freak-out phase and because b) because there's no video of it.

The show took place during one of the band's darker phases. They were overwhelmed by the crush of their outrageous fame, furious at the culture industry's exploitation of their music and its intrusion into their private lives. And that fury is present in every almost every moment of the show. The band is loose and expansive and totally ripping. Vedder is in a frenzy of anger and maybe even grief. It's kind of stunning actually. Check out their rendition of "Blood", off of Vs.:

 
And here's "Porch":

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