Pearl Jam Lightning Bolt Album Review

With the release of this new Pearl Jam album, Lightning Bolt, I found myself a little bit more excited than I should have been. It was the first new album since my freshman year of high school and now I am a freshman in college. It is definitely an album that does not disappoint.

1. - Getaway - This song is such a great opener for Lightning Bolt. It is very Beatles-esque. It reminds me a lot Johnny Guitar from Backspacer and Satan's Bed from Vitalogy. There is really cool drum part during where it says "Science says we're making love like the lizards. Try and say that fossils aren't profound. Silence says we're not allowed to consider. Silence says stand up sit down you're out." The other lyric that I really like is "It's all right. I've got my own way to believe. It's okay. sometimes you find yourself being told to change your ways. There's no way, mine is mine and yours won't take its place, now make your getaway." If only I could explain how much I relate to that, then the world might have a better understanding of open minded people.  

2. - Mind Your Manners - I knew this song before all the other ones came out, as did thousand of other fans. It is one of my favorite upbeat songs on this album. My favorite part of the songs is "Try my patience, my patience tried. This world's no longer good enough. That makes me want to cry-y-y-y-y-y-y." Leave it to Eddie Vedder to use the word "metaphysically" in a song. That is such an eloquent vocabulary word. The last lyric really made me think about what Ed is trying to say to me. "Go to Heaven. That's swell. How do you like it living in Hell?" What?

3. - My Father's Son - "This gene pool don't love me" The first time I heard this song, I wanted to listen to it again. It was great. The chorus reminds me of one PJ song that I cannot quite place and the end reminds me of Brain Of J from Yield (the best Pearl Jam album ever.)

4. - Sirens - The title is obviously a metaphor for something that I have not quite figured out yet. The lyric "Let me catch my breath the breathe then reach ACROSS THE BEND" was definitely a throwback to Around The Bend on No Code. This song also sounds like something that could have been on Ed's Into The Wild soundtrack. The first time I heard this song, I cried through the part "Just to know you're safe. I am a grateful man. This light is pit, alive and I can see you clear. Oh, I could take your hand, and feel your breath for feel that someday will be over. I pull you close, so much to lose" I also really like the line "It's a fragile thing, this life we lead." During the guitar part at the end, I was in the library at school sitting in a pool of my own tears. Do not get me started on the first time I heard it live... (FYI, that was at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans. They opened with it)

5. - Lightning Bolt - I heard this song for the first time at the Wrigley Field and I instantly fell in love with it. I sang the chourus everyday and when the album finally came out, I played the crap out of this song. This song has a seductive sound to it. "She's Rock and Roll. She's lightning bolt, uncontrollable like you!" This is definitely the best title track on any album I have ever heard and it is my favorite on the album.

6. - Infallible - The guitar in this song reminds me of Rival from Binaural and All Those Yesterdays from Yield. "Somehow, it is the biggest things that keep on slipping right through our hands by thinking we're infallible. Oh, we are tempting fate instead" is super powerful. Whoever is on backup vocals, I love it! and the yeah yeah yeah at the end was the perfect pitch for Ed's voice. 

7. - Pendulum - This has been the opening song at almost every Pearl Jam show on the Lightning Bolt tour (one of the exceptions would be Voodoo in New Orleans, which was the only show I could get to on the tour. College sucks.) I love the howl at the end of "easy left me long ago." I'm in the fire, but I'm still cold" is definitely a paradox. The "ah ah ah ah ah sounded a lot like ARC from Riot Act: very tribal.

8.- Swallowed Hole - I love the guitar in the intro. It reminded me of Down and Leatherman from Lost Dogs. I love the little stutter that Ed does when he sings "I can set myself right hear and d-d-drown..." He is definitely channeling his inner "Who" (You know, The Who, the awesome band.) "Whispered songs inside the wind. Breathing in forgiveness and the chapter I've not read, turn the page." That is freaking perfect. OK. moving on. 

9. - Let The Records Play - Intro channels its inner Ten and VS. in the beginning. "Shaken, the breaking, not one for faking." has perfect internal rhyme. "The reeling is healing. He lets the records play. There's wisdom in his ways" Stone Gossard deserves a medal for writing this song because that lyric alone explains how much music helps people.

10 - Sleeping By Myself - I like the Ed version from Ukelele Songs better. "I should have known there was someone else. Now I'm alone, I always kept it to myself. Now I believe in nothing. Not today as I move myself out of your sight. Oh, I'll be sleeping by myself." If that is not sad, then I do not know what is. "What's left of me is gonna have to be free to survive" That is so freaking deep.

11. - Yellow Moon - It sounds a lot like Sirens from earlier in this album. Oddly enough, it reminds me of Rival from Binaural. Overall, this song is probably my least favorite on the album. That's all I have to say about that. (If you catch that reference, you rule.)

12. - Future Days - I heard this song at the Wrigley Field show for the first time. I cried then and I still get weepy when I hear it now. Every single lyric, is so beautiful. My favorite lyric is "All the missing crooked hearts, they may die but in us they still live on." This is definitely my favorite slow song on Lightning Bolt. 

Music Midtown 9/21-22/12

So it was finally time for Music Midtown. I would get to see my beloved Avett Brothers and my favorite Foo Fighter on Friday night and I would get to see the best band ever, Pearl Jam. If this is not a line-up of all line-ups, I do not know what is. I got there right in time for Avett. I can honestly say that they put on one of the best live shows I have ever seen and I have been to a lot of shows. They are just so damn cute. Their music can reach all audiences and there will not be one person standing still when they bust out their awesome banjo riffs and they always have a very big crowd response. They opened with The Fall and went straight into Will You Return. WYR is one of my all time favorite songs and it put a huge smile on my face and everyone around me was dancing along. After that they played:

February Seven

Paul Newman vs. The Demons (My Favorite on The Carpenter)

Laundry Room

Old Joe Clark 

January Wedding

At the Beach (they said "we are gonna go back to an album of ours called "Mignonette." The crowd cheered)

Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise (best crowd sing along of the night)

The Prettiest Thing ("We are going to play a song by a great man named David Childers)

Down with the Shine

Distraction #74

Paranoia in Bb Major

Live and Die

Go to Sleep

Winter in My Heart

Kick Drum Heart (Great crowd participation)

Encore:

Murder in the City

Talk on Indolence

After The Avett Brothers, everyone made their way to the other stage for Foo Fighters. I have listened to them "All My Life" (I'm sorry, I had to do it.) So needless to say, I was really excited about them. Dave Grohl graced the stage and screamed "WASSSSSSUUUUPPPPPP ATLANTA?!?!" and the band went straight into the song White Limo. They were loud and they were great. Then they played

All My Life

Rope

The Pretender

My Hero

Learn to Fly

Arlandria

These Days

Walk

Everybody Wants Some!! (Van Halen)

Cold Day in the Sun

Monkey Wrench

Hey, Johnny Park!

This is a Call

In the Flesh? (Pink Floyd)

Best of You

Times Like These

Dear Rosemary

Breakdown (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers)

Bad Reputation (Joan Jett came out and played this song with them.) (I had a miniature freak-out)

And then they closed with Everlong. That song got the biggest crowd response of the night and it gave me chill bumps to hear every person singing because it was so beautiful. That ended the first night and it was back to the hotel for my family and me.

The second day of Music Midtown started a little bit later in the day for me. I did not walk over until the end of Neon Trees. I heard them play Animal and that was good enough for me. I walked in the venue right as Florence + The Machine started. I listened to Lungs and Ceremonials several times and thought it was pretty good but girl singers are just not my favorite. The crowd cheered in response. She played

Only If For A Night

What The Water Gave Me

Drumming Song

Cosmic Love

Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

Spectrum

Heartlines

Lover To Lover

Shake It Out ("This is for all of your hangovers tomorrow!")

No Light, No Light

Dog Days Are Over

Closer to the end of her set, she said, "It was scary to start the show, but you made me feel so welcome!"

The crowd sang along for that last song and it was cool. Florence is a very graceful performer and, whether it is intentional or not, she dances very well. I love her accent too. After Florence was someone called Girl Talk. I had never heard of this person/group so I waited before I walked to the other stage. It was techno so I stayed on the side and waited for Pearl Jam, my favorite band. (After PJ20 last year, I had really high expectations.) I started out in the back and they came on stage and went straight into Why Go.

During this song, Molly (cousin/bff) and I could hear everyone around us singing and PJ was not loud at all. The night before, Foo was so loud I could hardly hear myself think. We looked at each other and decided we have to try our best to get in the front. So we ran as fast as we could and got into the crowd of people. The band went into Save You. We were singing our lungs out (very badly, of course). It seemed like we were the only ones that were even enjoying it. We finally made our way through the sea of people and found several die hards that were singing the not-so-popular songs. During the time of our adventure, they played

Animal

Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town

Corduroy and

Got Some.

Got Some is not really a popular song and we found this group of guys that were singing it with every ounce of energy they had. When it was over, they looked at us and said “You guys are some true fans, aren’t you?” We looked at them and said yes! Then we walked through more people and we finally made it to a spot about two rows from the front that was great. They then played

Amongst The Waves

Wishlist

Better Man

Do The Evolution

Even Flow

Know Your Rights (The Clash) (Eddie gave a short speech on exercising your right to vote. In my opinion, it was very inspiring)

Nothingman (AHHHHHH!!!) (This was definitely the best surprise of the night.) (We were in hopes of the “Man” trilogy, alas they did not play Leatherman.)

Supersonic

Jeremy

Porch

(Encore)

Crazy Mary

Given To Fly (AHHHHHHHHHH!!! One of my top five favorite songs by PJ and I got to hear it!)

The Fixer

Rearviewmirror

(Second Encore)

Unthought Known

Black
Alive
Rockin’ In The Free World (Neil Young) (Right before this song started, someone on the side told Eddie he had two minutes left. He responded and said “Well I guess we have to play this song fast. I wanna get this song in. Fuck It! I’ll pay the fine”) I laughed. This ended the festival and ironically, the closest I have ever been for Pearl Jam, was probably the less fan enthusiastic show I have ever been to. I am sorry, but it is just not possible to condense a PJ show into two hours. They played for the masses, but I am not complaining because I still got to be there. I am also glad that they were selling Pearl Jam merch on Friday night because they had the poster and I did not have to get to the show early the next day to get it. and that is a wrap. See y’all later!

Eddie Vedder and Glen Hansard 7/1/11

Fast-forward a few years from 2009 to 2011. If someone had asked me if I thought I would have ever seen Eddie Vedder solo again, I would have said no. The day my mom told me, she said “Kinsey, we are going to see Eddie Vedder in St. Louis because he is not coming anywhere closer. Oh, and it is 4th of July weekend.” I was so excited because I remembered how much fun I had at the last Eddie shows I went to. The show was at The Fox Theatre. Once again, you were not allowed to have a camera and we had to sit down. But that was ok. When we got inside, we went to our seats. We were about 15 rows back from the stage on the floor, which is a really good seat. But in that venue, there is no bad seat. Glen Hansard, from the band The Swell Season, was the opening act. I do not know any of his songs and I cannot tell you which songs he played other than the one Pearl Jam song that he played a snippet of, which was Smile. Not going to lie, that was pretty freaking cool. Then it was time for Eddie. He walked out while Waving Palms was playing in the background and the crowd went crazy. He sat down in his chair and played Can’t Keep. I was not a big fan of this song on Riot Act but it was my favorite on his newest album. It really set the mood of how this show would turn out. Then he played Sleeping By Myself, Without You, Goodbye, You’re True, Light Today, Trouble, and Sometimes. Then he played I Am Mine. My cousin and I freaked out because that is our song. Following I Am Mine, he played Thumbing My Way. I was so excited because that is one of my favorite PJ songs. I feel sorry for the two guys sitting next to us because it is not every day one goes to an Eddie Vedder concert and sits next to a 15 and 16 year old freaking out over their favorite Pearl Jam songs. After TMY, he played Driftin’, and Betterman. Betterman definitely got the crowd going. Everyone around us was dancing and singing, including my cousin and myself. Then he continued with Far Behind, Long Nights (played with Glen Hansard) and Guaranteed. After this, he played Rise. Before he actually played the song, he started talking to the sign language interpreter. He kept telling her funny, but provocative things to sign and she would do it. It made everyone would laugh. He dedicated Rise to her. After that, he played Just Breathe and dedicated it to someone he knew that was expecting a baby. When he played Just Breathe, it made me cry. That is just an emotional song for me. Then he played Elderly Woman. That song always gets the best crowd response. Then he played one of Molly’s favorite songs, Unthought Known. She slapped me in the arm because she was so excited. Then he did ARC. I was so excited and I started crying again because it is just a beautiful live song. He came back and encored with Wishlist. Of all the songs he could have played during that big moment, he played Wishlist. That is my least favorite Pearl Jam song ever. But I am not complaining. After WL, he played Immortality. Of course, he messed up the words in the beginning like he always does. This song got a good crowd response as well. Then he played several more songs with Glen Hansard. These songs were Sleepless Nights, Society, and Falling Slowly. Before the show started, Molly and I were talking about songs we wanted Eddie to play. All she wanted to hear that entire night was Last Kiss. When we checked earlier set lists, that song was nowhere to be found so we eventually forgot about it. Well, as luck would have it, the next song he played was Last freaking Kiss. If you were in the crowd that night, you probably heard the squeal of an excited 16 year old followed by a wail of pain from a 15 year old that just got slapped on the arm from too much excitement. He then played So You Wanna Be A Rock N Roll Star, Lukin, and Porch. These three songs got the crowd on their feet and the whole place was rocking out. It was awesome. Then it was time for the second encore. He came out and did Hard Sun with Glen Hansard. He walked out and came back and closed the night with Dream A Little Dream. That is one of the sweetest songs ever. This show got me excited because at some point during the show, Eddie mentioned something about The Pearl Jam 20th anniversary show. Heck yes.

Eddie Vedder Day Two Nashville 6/18/09

So it was time for night two of Eddie Vedder at the Ryman. I swear, he puts his heart into every show he does because this show was just as stellar as the first night. On the second night, my cousin and I were seven rows back from the stage. I thought I was about to cry because these seats were so close. During some points at the show, I did cry. Eddie opened with Far Behind, which is my favorite song off the Into The Wild soundtrack. Then he played Sometimes and a cover of Girl From The North Country by Bob Dylan. After that he played I Am Mine. That is of our favorite Pearl Jam songs. I feel bad for the people that had to sit by these two teenage girls freaking out over a song. We wanted to stand up so bad. But, alas, we could not. But it was the best version of that song I had ever heard, even though, at the time, I was biased because I had only heard it one time. Then he played I’m Open(!), Man Of The Hour, Dead Man, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Soon Forget, Hide Your Love Away, and Wish List. Then it was time for Lukin. He played this song super fast and for the first time that night, the crowd was on their feet. After Lukin, he went straight into Porch. Once again, the crowd was on their feet. They were so involved with all of their handclaps and singing of the lyrics that it was truly magical. This was probably, hands down, the best version of Porch I have ever heard. Then he went off for the first encore. He came back out and played Society with Jerry Hannan, Throw Your Arms Around Me, The Golden State, and Elderly Woman. He stopped and talked to us about the new Pearl Jam album. He told us it was coming along great and he was about to play us a new song from the new album. He played The End and about had me in tears because it was so beautiful. He went straight into ARC, which is the best live song I have ever heard in my life. I have heard it three times live to this day and each time is just as magical. Then he went off for his second encore and came back out to play Hard Sun. It was great, of course. So that wrapped up my two nights with Eddie Vedder at the Ryman. I wish he would come back. Only time will tell……

Eddie Vedder Day One Nashville 6/17/09

When my mother told me we were going to see Eddie Vedder, solo in Nashville, I was so excited. He was going to be there for two nights and we were originally only going for the second night. But, the night before the first show we decided to go. I love spur of the moment concerts like that. Not only was I excited about going to see Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of one of my favorite bands, I was going to see Eddie Vedder in The Ryman Auditorium. The freaking Ryman Auditorium in Downtown Nashville. One of the most important buildings in all of Nashville and Eddie Vedder was playing there. It was such an exciting moment for me to actually be there to see Eddie and to be there with some of my favorite people, my mother, my aunt, and my cousin. While we were out in the line the security stressed to us that cameras would not be tolerated. If you were caught with a camera, it would be taken away and you would be escorted out and not allowed back in. When we walked in, we were briefly searched. The extent of the search went as far as security asking us if we had a camera. Anyone could have easily lied. After the security encounter, we ran directly for the merch table to get the poster. If you were a Pearl Jam fan, you would have an understanding of why getting to the show early to get a poster is important. After we got the posters, we went to our seats and waited for the show to start. The seats in The Ryman were really cramped. I feel bad for overly tall people that have to sit in those seats. Liam Finn was the opener for this show. This was the first time I had ever heard of him and I was really impressed. His wife, Eliza Jane, was also with him. She has awesome hair. I think it is awesome that Liam is multi-instrumental and he is so cute! I do not remember many of the songs he played, but I do remember Second Chance and Plane Crash. They were just splendid. During the set change, this guy that was sitting by us asked my cousin and me how old we were and how long we had liked Pearl Jam. We both answered 13 and since we were born. He laughed and asked us our favorite songs. My cousin [Molly] answered with Better Man and Elderly Woman. I answered with Brother and Gremmie Out Of Control. Needless to say, the guy was more impressed with my answers because those Pearl Jam songs are not as popular as the ones my wonderful cousin answered with. After that lovely conversation, it was getting really close to show time. Then, the lights dimmed and the crowd roared with excitement and then Eddie graced the stage and everyone sat down…. Sitting down? At a concert? I was really confused. There ended up being appropriate times to stand up, so it got better. Eddie opened with Walking The Cow. Pearl Jam covered it a while back but they had never played it live. To this day, as a band, I still do not think they have played it. So this crowd got lucky that they got to hear it live because it would be one of the only times they would ever get to hear it (of course if you followed the tour, then you would probably hear it a few more times). After that amazing opener, he played Sometimes with a Brain Damage by Pink Floyd tag. If the crowd was not stoked yet, that definitely put them over the top. The crowd cheered. The next few songs were Trouble, Thumbing My Way, Gone, Far Behind, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Poor Girl, You’re True, Driftin’, and Hide Your Love Away (Beatles Cover). Then it was time for Better Man. Eddie told us that he was originally not going to play this song but he decided to play it Nashville Style. And he did just that. It was extremely different than any version of this song I have ever heard. As a crowd, we tried our best to follow along with him, but we failed miserably. After that he did a stellar cover of Let My Love Open The Door (Pete Townshend). Then he played Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town. During this song, I experienced one of my numerous favorite concert moments. Like I said earlier, we were sitting down at the show. During the middle of the song, this guy decided to get up and stand at the balcony rail. He had his arms in the air and was singing his heart out. The security lady kept getting in his face to try to get him to sit down, but he just kept on singing and flapping his arms in the air. (The part of the song he put his arms in the air for was “ I just wanna scream HELLO! My God it’s been too long. Never dreamed you’d return but now here you are and here I am!”). When it was time for the HELLO lyric, it sounded like we were in a church choir. We were all in unison and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard in my life. After Elderly Woman, Porch was played. For the first time that night, the crowd stood up and rocked out. Eddie made an acoustic song sound like an electric one. The crowd’s harmonies were so beautiful. When the song was over, we all clapped louder than we had the entire night. Then it was time for the first encore. He came back out and played Society with the guy that wrote it, Jerry Hannan. It was great, of course. Then he continued with a few more cover songs. He played Throw Your Arms Around Me with Liam Finn. My aunt had her moment because that is one of her favorite Pearl Jam covers. The Golden State by John Doe and Believe You Me by Bad Radio were both played as well. Then he played Wishlist and Arc. That was the first time I had ever heard ARC live and oh my gosh. It was beautiful. You have not heard the beauty in Eddie Vedder’s voice until you have heard him play ARC. After ARC was over, it was time for a second encore. Because one encore is not enough. For his second encore, he played Hard Sun with Liam Finn. That was just cool. He and Liam perform so well together. There was one day where he pulled up a little girl on stage to sing with him. I think her name was Lily. She was so excited. Hey, if that were me, I would have been excited too! I know her parents were proud, also! This night was definitely magical and it was an extremely life changing moment for me. As the kids from the movie School Of Rock say, “One great rock show can change the world.” And that is exactly what happened.