Some digits you may or may not have added up after witnessing—or regrettably only hearing about—one or both of this week’s legend-building Pearl Jam shows:
0 Beers allowed in KeyArena’s bowl. Signs at all lower-level entrances proclaimed the venue’s dryness. The irony of this wasn’t lost on Eddie Vedder. Between encores on night two, he pointed out that when the Key was actually used as a sports arena, alcohol could be consumed anywhere. He recalled being in the audience for a Paul McCartney show, frustrated that the authorities apparently worried that alcohol and “All You Need is Love” was a dangerous combo.
1 Cigarettes lit and quickly puffed by Vedder during an extended PJ jam each night. Also the number of songs played from the band’s early ’00s Binaural (“Insignificance”) and Riot Act (“Save You”) records.
2 Eyes exposed on both nights by the normally bespectacled Stone Gossard. The guitarist’s usual tight haircut was also eschewed for a late-’80s Steve Turner-style shaggy ‘do. Check the cover of Mudhoney’s Superfuzz Bigmuff. Yeah, just like that.
4 Guest players joining the band for the gorgeous, anti-rock Backspacer songs “Just Breathe” (see video!) and “The End” (the Octava String Quartet, featuring drummer Matt Cameron’s wife April on viola) and on its cover of the Who’s “The Real Me” (the Syncopated Taint Horn Quartet). Both nights. Also the number of songs played from Vitalogy (“Spin the Black,” “Not For You,” “Corduroy,” “Better Man”) and Yield (“Faithfull,” “No Way,” “Given to Fly,” “Do the Evolution”), combining both night’s sets.
5 Songs, counting both shows, played from No Code (“Hail, Hail,” “Off He Goes,” “Sometimes,” “In My Tree,” “Present Tense”), Ten (“Even Flow,” “Why Go,” “Black,” “Porch,” “Alive”), and the self-titled “Avocado” record (“Life Wasted,” “World Wide Suicide,” “Comatose,” “Unemployable,” “Inside Job”).
6 Ditto for the band’s second record, Vs.: “Go,” “Elderly Woman,” “Indifference,” “Rearviewmirror,” “Dissident,” and “Daughter.”
8 The King County Council district that County Executive hopeful Dow Constantine represents. During an encore break, Vedder related a phone call he’d recently received from former Nirvana bassist and current politico/coastal DJ Krist Novoselic; the towering activist urged PJ’s frontman to support Constantine instead of opponent Susan Hutchison. Vedder’s endorsement was wholehearted. His inevitable political chatter—limited to night one—was amusing.
8:55 Time the band kicked things off both nights, to the freaking second.
9 Dollars for a beer at the Key. Which you can’t take beyond the concourse, of course. Also the number of Backspacer tracks (of 11) played between both nights. (“Gonna See My Friend,” “Got Some,” “The Fixer,” “Johnny Guitar,” “Just Breathe,” “Amongst the Waves,” “Unthought Known,” “Supersonic,” “The End.”) All but “Supersonic,” played “OTO” (one time only) as “Supersonics” (the late basketball team), with special nostalgic lyrics, come on night one.
10 Dollars for a chintzy pack of PJ stickers at the merch table. Easy Street stickers are still free, right?
18 Years since Pearl Jam’s inception, with no end in sight. “You know we’ll see you again,” Vedder said after the band bowed goodbye on night two.
27 Songs performed each night. Wow.
33 1/3 RPMs of 10″ and 12″ vinyl LPs, exalted on night two in “Spin the Black Circle,” which Vedder dedicated to Matt Vaughan, owner of Seattle’s Easy Street Records.
35 Dollars for a PJ t-shirt. I must be old, or the economy is worse than I thought. Tour shirts used to be $20, right?
50 Shows the band has now played in Seattle. Vedder quipped the number was nowhere near Mudhoney’s total, but commendable nevertheless.
95 Dollars for a limited edition PJ zip-up hoodie. Okay, this is probably what a lot of kids make flipping burgers or selling cheap imported big-box crap during a two week pay period.
120 Approximate minutes of each show. That’s a lot of excellent music. One wonders how hard it’ll be to write setlists in another 18 years.
98116 Zip code of West Seattle’s Easy Street location, which Vedder hailed as his “favorite record store in Seattle” between songs on night one.
? Days until Pearl Jam plays a Seattle venue again. With evidence mounting that we’ll see a Backspacer-outtakes EP within six months, here’s hoping it’s in the double- or low triple-digits.
God, I hate seeing shows in this place. The beer policy is really, really stupid. Instead of taking the overpriced beer back to your seat and sipping, you pretty much have to guzzle it right at the stand. And exactly how does this makes sense for alcohol control?
The concrete corridors are depressing, and the sound’s typically crap.