I might have thought it was all about the music, the feelings inspired by sound and the energy infiltrating my existence in its wake. What I didn’t expect was the comradery I would discover along my Vedder stalking travels.
Virginia was a girl I had connected with online over the Pearl Jam fan club forums. Laura could not fit a Thursday evening show in with her work schedule so I was trying to find an extra person to take the ticket. Some might be tempted to put the ticket on eBay and use the high demand to greatly profit off the spare seat. This is highly frowned upon in the Pearl Jam community and I would never engage in such a disrespectful activity in the first place. But more importantly, I wanted someone to experience the show with, not just sell a ticket to. And I could not have found a more appropriate fan than Virginia, who easily trumps my own enthusiasm for the music and extraverted way of displaying Eddie affection. Together we’d turn our two seat radius into a gauntlet challenge capable of sending any American gladiator packing with teeth marks and a fistful of curly black hair.
Third song in and not even two notes had escaped Eddie’s guitar when Virginia gripped my arm and tensed like a surgical patient receiving treatment without the aid of anesthesia. “This is it! Oh my god this is IT!!” I still hadn’t heard enough of the music to be able to interpret just what the hell was about to happen but soon enough I’d recognize the notes as the begging of “Hurt” as originated by Trent Reznor but performed with a style more resembling the arguably more popular version by Jonny Cash. An avid Nine Inch Nails fan myself, I was just as thrilled as I was impressed with the unlikely cover choice since this was not a song Eddie was known for playing. I’d later learn from Virginia that this was the second time he had played it in a live setting. The first time he had covered “Hurt” was during a show in America that Virginia was hoping to go to but ended up missing leaving a hole of regret having missed such an amazing cover song. I felt honoured to be a part of this rare event and the emotional ending of the song hit me particularly hard, feeling a sample of every emotion Trent must have been feeling when he wrote the lyrics, as recent family lost leveraged my emotions.
Every part of this concert was just absolutely amazing and Virginia and I were spoiled with row 7 seats. Eddies vocal veins flexed like a bodybuilder’s biceps and we could see every detailed emotion on his face as he sang and played. The sound and décor of the Palais was just as good as the Sydney State Theater giving an individual the feeling that there was no one else in the room except you and the performer.
After the show Virginia would introduce me to a whole community of people I had previously been aware of but never had the honour of being a part of. The Jammers, as they are sometimes called, are a fairly well-organized group of people bonded through their common interest of indulging in as many Pearl Jam / Eddie Vedder experiences their vacation pay will allow. I repeated names in my head in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to remember the dozens of people I was introduced to. Almost all of whom with many more stories of Vedder stalking than I could have ever had the opportunity to engage in having been robbed of the benefit of being born a decade sooner. My effort on this tour would put me in the ‘running with the big boys’ status amongst them but I immediately knew that there was no reason to be intimidated as the group of fans were some of the nicest people I had ever met. Friendships established on tour have the power to significantly alter lives including a heartwarming story of a young family relocating to Australia after a wonderful experience with the locals on a tour only a couple of years prior. They are now neighbourly amigos basking in the beautiful sun reflected off Victorian waters sharing so much more of their lives than just a concert. But as Virginia said herself, when it comes to Eddie, it is so much more than just a concert. I myself am currently writing from an exit window seat over the left wing of a plane due to land back in Melbourne so I can pay another visit to Virginia and the many others I had met before I eventually depart Australia on a semi-permanent basis. But there I go again getting ahead of myself.
After the post-show drinks we headed to her friend’s, sister’s house where we would be crashing out for the evening. This time it was the Melbourne Grand Prix weekend and even the dingy hostels were all booked up without so much as a bed available in a shared dorm. The kindness of strangers can be one of the most beautiful things and in a display of hospitality rarely received (and intensely appreciated), we crashed on some couches that were far more comfortable than the aforementioned dorm rooms. Satisfied in body, mind, and soul, I began thinking out loud; “Man I wish I was able to go to tomorrow nights show with you guys.” Virginia popped her head up from her Mac book and optimistically claimed, “I’m sure we can find you a ticket!” A few more taps on the keyboard and the word was out to the jammer community that I was in desperate need of a spare seat for Melbourne # 2, and we already had two leads on Facebook. Given the approximately 18 hours of notice and the absurdly low supply of tickets I was more than just a little impressed but maintained a healthy sense of skepticism to protect myself from devastating disappointment.
Eddie Vedder
Palais Theatre, Melbourne AU
March 24, 2011
01. Don’t Be Shy-(Cat Stevens)
02. Around The Bend
03. Hurt-(Trent Reznor){Nine Inch Nails}
04. Brain Damage-(Roger Waters){Pink Floyd}
05. Sometimes
06. I Am Mine
07. Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
08. Just Breathe (dedicated to Karrie, longtime monitor engineer, and other great moms)
09. Sleeping By Myself-(New Song)
10. Without You-(New Song)
11. No Ceiling
12. Society-(Jerry Hannan)
13. Far Behind
14. Guaranteed
15. Rise
16. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away-(Lennon, McCartney)
17. Unthought Known
18. Porch
Encore Break 1
19. Tonight You Belong To Me w/ EJ Barnes-(Rose/David)
20. You Can Close Your Eyes w/ EJ Barnes-(James Taylor)
plays 3 seconds of “I Got You”-(Tim Finn/Neil Finn){Split Enz}
21. The Golden State w/ EJ Barnes-(John Doe)
22. Betterman
23. Wishlist
24. Dead Man
25. The End
26. Arc (partial-stopped because of technical glitch)
27. Immortality
28. Better Days
Encore Break 2
29. Rockin’ In The Free World w/ EJ Barnes, Jimmy Barnes & Cecilia Herbert-(Neil Young)
20. Hard Sun w/ EJ Barnes & Cecilia Herbert-(Gordon Peterson)
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