A Weekend Review Special Edition – Pearl Jam Live in Concert: Sat., May 15, 2010 at the XL Center

Click HERE to view the set list!

By Chris Moore:

It is far too easy to sit down the day after a concert experience and glorify the memory of the past night.

What follows is, to the best of my ability, devoid of exaggeration.

Band of Horses opened the night with a solid forty-five minute set.  I enjoyed listening to their songs; it was all Band-style rock and vocals, if a little less rough-shod than Robertson, Helm, and company would have preferred.  Ben Bridwell and his band sufficiently caught my interest for their new album, Infinite Arms, which will be released this coming Tuesday.

This all being acknowledged, they are no Pearl Jam.

The majority of ticket-holders apparently agreed, as more than three quarters of the seats went unfilled until about ten minutes before the headliners came onstage.  By the time Matt Cameron, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder took the stage, nearly every seat in the house was filled, including the majority of seats to the side of and behind the stage.

And when a band can fill seats with people willing to stare at their backs for most of the concert, that’s saying something.

Even from my vantage point at Vedder’s nine o’clock high up in the second to last row of the XL (nee Civic) Center in Hartford, CT, the show was a phenomenal experience, although it didn’t begin that way.  For some reason, the sound was softer and muddier than it should have been for the first several songs.

I had a nightmarish vision of having to listen to thousands of half-drunken Pearl Jam fans sing the hits while one of the greatest rock bands of all time labored away below me, in my vision but outside my hearing.  For the first four songs or so, this fear was realized as I had to struggle to hear Vedder’s baritone amidst shouting fans who clearly knew the words every bit as well as he did — and wanted to lend their vocals.  Even McCready and Gossard’s guitar work was buried, only Ament’s bass and Cameron’s stellar drumming standing out clearly the entire evening.  In between songs, Vedder sounded like he was speaking into a drive-thru speaker in a foreign language.

Then, like someone flipped a switch, Vedder’s voice suddenly came through loud and clear and the instruments all fell into place into the mix.  From this point on, the concert was pure energy and utter perfection.

This was a concert to compete with the best concert experiences of my lifetime (and admittedly limited experience).  There was all the instrumental prowess of Bob Dylan’s band with an ability to translate studio tracks to live performances that rivals — and perhaps surpasses — that of bands like America and Wilco.  The set list was among the most well-balanced I’ve seen, up there with Brian Wilson’s recent concerts which regularly and beautifully draw from throughout his storied career.  My only complaint concerning the set list — and I am most certainly going to be alone on this one — is its dismissal of Binaural (2000) and Riot Act (2002), which boast some of my favorite tracks in their catalog.

In the course of more than two hours of pure rock fury, the band played the first seven tracks of last year’s Backspacer, folding these new songs into their repetoire like they’ve been playing them for a decade.  I’m at a loss to name just one that stood out — I think “Got Some” first because I love it, but “The Fixer” was heart-pounding, catchy madness, and by the time “Johnny Guitar” rolled out, it was like Vedder and company had been unleashed.  In the first encore, they played a breath-taking version of the ninth track, “Speed of Sound,” noting that they hadn’t really played it before, at least not to their liking.  Gossard’s acoustic work was just right, and I can honestly assert that this was better than the album version.

This is not to say that the veteran Pearl Jam fans went unappeased, as Ten (1991), Vs. (1993), and Vitalogy (1994) were all well-represented.  Hits like “Even Flow,” “Alive,” and “Jeremy” were received as full-audience sing-a-longs, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear my favorite deep track on Ten, “Porch,” in all its angry glory.  “Daughter” and, less predictably, “Dissident” were played, but it wasn’t until their transcendent take on “Indifference” that I was blown away.  This was their second to last performance of the evening, with the lights up and the audience clapping for the entire song.  I’m proud to say I was one of the few that didn’t taper off in the middle, and even though I questioned if I was supposed to stop and my arms were screaming for me to relax, I wouldn’t have for the world.

Although Vitalogy is among my least favorite albums in the Pearl Jam catalog, it certainly has some of the best material they have ever released.  When they kicked off “Corduroy,” the crowd responded with the same sort of energetic approval I’ve rarely seen, the same as when Dylan finally reaches for a harmonica these days.  I was again pleasantly surprised to hear them roll into my favorite Vitalogy deep track, “Satan’s Bed.”  There’s something poignant about the in-your-face defiance of typical American indicators of success and image in this song, heard most clearly in the vocals and instrumental stop on the line “I’ll never suck Satan’s dick.”  Before “Nothingman,” Vedder dedicated the song to a young couple holding hands that he had seen on a street corner before the show, noting how profound that sort of affection is, as though it’s all they need in the world for all their days to come.  He referred to “Nothingman” as a cautionary tale to those who would forgo or forget the importance of love.

Another of my favorites, Yield (1998) alum “Do the Evolution,” was played, but it was admittedly overshadowed by their beautiful delivery of “Low Light,” one of my girlfriend Nicole’s favorites (her night was complete, as she had been hoping for “Johnny Guitar” and this one).

The night all wrapped up with a second encore closing cover of Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” a la Hendrix, a song and an arrangement that Dylan uses often in his own encores to this day.

The music was brilliantly performed, the energy in the filled-to-capacity XL Center was unsurpassed, and even from the nosebleeds, it was clear that this was a concert that I will always remember as one of the best I’ve ever seen.  That I almost considered saving the money and not going to see Pearl Jam is beyond embarrassing; two decades later, they are one of the most impressive live bands going, most likely due the the fact that they are truly a band.  As much as Vedder’s personality and stage presence drives their image, each member of the band contributes to the writing of the songs and has an integral part of their sound.

As if to remind us of the fact that he prefers to share the spotlight, Vedder rode out the instrumental portion of “Porch” by using the reflection from his electric guitar, held above his head, to shine a beacon on each and every portion of the stadium, momentarily blinding each fan with brilliance — a literal gesture, and a fitting metaphor for the evening.

“I Am Mine” (Pearl Jam Cover)

For Pearl Jam chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to a very special edition of the Laptop Sessions.  This is Chris Moore writing for the first Monday — the first day, for that matter — of June.  And June 1st is a special day for entertainment, as this is the date of the very first Tonight Show hosted by Conan O’Brien on NBC.  As I type this, I’m watching the beginning of the episode and loving every moment.  For me, Conan is the ultimate late show host, and I truly hope that he will establish himself as a primary late show host in the minds and hearts of viewers throughout the nation.  I wasn’t sure what to expect tonight, as I haven’t watched an episode of Late Night for years.

I haven’t been disappointed.

As I’m watching the first segment with Conan’s “run to California,” his opening monologue, and his “tram tour” video, I’m remembering why his late night show was one of my favorite reasons to stay up past midnight in college.  Well, that and late night Burger King chicken fries and burgers, of course.

My song choice tonight is directly inspired by Conan’s first night on the Tonight Show.  His first musical guest — a band which he said he was delighted “to the bone marrow” about — is Pearl Jam.  Thus, although I was planning to record and post the first Relient K Laptop Session, I decided instead to record a Pearl Jam song.

As a special treat (I hope), I’ve recorded a Relient K song to tide you over until I can get back to the one I wanted to record.  In fact, this is probably for the best, as I started to work out the chords for “At Least We Made It This Far” and found that all online sources for Relient K chords were terribly inaccurate.  So, I’ll keep working on that one and get back to it soon.

Tonight’s session is my cover song version of Pearl Jam’s “I Am Mine” from their 2002 album Riot Act.  The first single off the record, “I Am Mine” is a great track that tackles existential issues.  My favorite line is “I know I was born and I know that I’ll die; the in between is mine.”  What a great line.  When I’m stressed out, I sing this line in my head to remind myself that I’m in control of my life, at least to a certain degree.

Although I like the music and vocals on this song, to be fair, it is not perfect.  Case in point: I’m not so crazy about the line “The oceans are full because everyone’s crying.”  There’s something about that line that cheapens the overall impact for me, kind of like the line “It sucks to grow up” turned Jim off to the Ben Folds song “Still Fighting It.”

Regardless, this is a great song, and I worked very hard to do my absolute best to record an enjoyable cover session for you.

I can’t believe that I actually stayed up late enough to watch the entire Tonight Show, but here I am.  This leaves two truths:

1)  I will be setting at least a couple extra alarms for tomorrow morning.

2) I got to see not only the Will Ferrell interview, but I’m about to watch the Pearl Jam performance, which is supposed to feature material from their new album.  Can’t wait!

So, that’s it for me tonight.  I wish you a great week, and hope you’ll come back to enjoy new videos all throughout the week.

See you next session!

“Just Breathe” (Pearl Jam Cover)

For Pearl Jam chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to an all-new week of cover songs at the best acoustic cover song music video blog in the universe — guaranteed, or your money back!

I guess the guilt falls to me for breaking the Beatles marathon…

It’s been a blast reviewing Beatles albums, recording Fab Four covers, and watching the Traveling Acai Berrys’ and Jeff’s renditions, but now it’s time for me to inject a little fresh music into the timeline of the Laptop Sessions.

“Just Breathe” is track five from the new Pearl Jam album Backspacer, and is truly a perfect fit for the Laptop Sessions format.  The studio version is primarily Eddie Vedder singing and playing acoustic guitar, so it only took memorizing the words and transcribing the chords.  As usual, I started online and found a site with chords and lyrics that were almost right.

Well, “almost right” doesn’t fly around here.

The middle is NOT comprised of C and F chords; that “C” simply didn’t sound quite right.  It should be Am instead of C.  In addition, there were some minor lyrical inaccuracies — “all” instead of “are,” “save” instead of “take,” etc.  The person who transcribed the song included a personal note about the song at the bottom, and he seemed like a really nice guy who truly loved this song.  And he made figuring out this song much easier than if I had simply started on my own.

But that’s what we at the Laptop Sessions pride ourselves about — our commitment to performing songs as faithfully as possible, cross-checking our facts to be certain what we write is accurate, and always knowing when a song has already been recorded as a session.

Oh, right.  About that last one…

I need to apologize to Jeff for recording “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” as though he had never recorded it.  The funny part is that, when I went back and read his post later, I clearly remembered reading it.  I recalled his mention of Eddie Vedder (whose music I barely knew and wasn’t enthusiastic about at the time), and I remembered being intrigued by his “Semaphore” reference.  Apparently, flag semaphore is a system of symbols for conveying information through waving flags or bare hands.  Although photographer Robert Freeman had the idea to have John, Paul, George, and Ringo spell out “HELP” in semaphore, they decided on a different arrangement — “NUJV”– that was more aesthetically pleasing as the cover art for Help!

Going back to the song of the day, I should acknowledge that I originally planned to record “The End,” and I practiced it a number of times with that intention in mind.  In fact, a former student of mine emailed me with the idea of recording it, so I was reluctant to admit to myself that the chorus is just too far out of my range.  I still posted the chords and lyrics, though, so others might be able to enjoy learning and playing it.  Guest session, anyone?

As I was preparing for my session last week, I had been listening back to some of my recent sessions and realized something.  Since I moved from the Fusco-Moore Experience to my current apartment, I have never worn the same shirt twice while recording a music video.  Here’s a quick retrospective:

July 13 – Bob Dylan Together Through Life t-shirt (thanks again, Fusc!)

July 20 – Vermont t-shirt (thanks, Mom & Dad!)

August 4 – plaid, western-looking collared shirt

August 4 (second video) – Dodge Charger t-shirt (thanks, Jim!)

August 11 – tan and blue striped collared shirt

August 17 – blue and white striped collared shirt

August 23 – 40th Anniversary 1969 Mets t-shirt (thank you, CitiField!)

August 31 – Abbey Road t-shirt from London (thanks, Nicole!)

September 28 -black Bass fishing t-shirt

Today marks my tenth video, and thus it is my tenth shirt.  My goal is to never wear the same shirt twice.  Even though I’m running out of t-shirts, we are heading into winter, so my long sleeve shirts will be featured soon.  When spring comes, it should get interesting.  I wonder if I can fit into Nicole’s shirts…

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my video.  This completes my recent Pearl Jam run, adding both a full album review and a one-sentence review of Backspacer, chords & lyrics to three songs, and now a full Laptop Sessions post.

Aside from an ever-increasing stack of grading on my desk at school, life has been hectic but good recently. I’ve been really excited about the music on my iPod and in my car this past month.  After going through quite the dry spell during the summer — Third Eye Blind and Sister Hazel, anyone? — the Arctic Monkeys and Pearl Jam have added some excitement to my “Albums- 2009” playlist.  In addition, my birthday weekend has been pretty laid back, but a lot of fun.  I heard from just about all my closest friends, and Jaime even came up from New York to visit on Sunday and give me the beautifully designed “Chris Moore Birthday Bash!” mix CD!  I’m itching to start tweeting about the FYE gift card that Mike got me, Nicole bought me (among other awesome items ranging from practical to academic to entertaining) a book of essays about Bob Dylan written by scholars, I got a text message from Alb that brought me back to our summer of video gaming, and I’m officially, finally having breakfast next week with one of my dearest friends who I haven’t seen for over a year.  Good stuff all around.

See you next session!

“Society” (Eddie Vedder Cover – Song by Jerry Hannan)

For Eddie Vedder chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to the first installment in a fresh new week of brand new material at the Laptop Sessions, the best cover song music video website in the universe!

I was FINALLY able to find the Into Thin Air soundtrack on sale — thank you, Best Buy — so I’ve been listening to it all week.  Although I have discovered several other songs that I like very much, Eddie Vedder’s cover version of Jerry Hannan’s “Society” is still my favorite track on the album.  It was very disappointing for me to discover that it is a cover, but it’s such a great track that I have to stifle my desire for original material, at least temporarily.

I first heard this track from my friends and colleagues Dan and Larry over the summer as we played some music of our own.  At the time, I had not yet immersed myself in Pearl Jam, but I was immediately drawn to Vedder’s simple but powerful vocals on this track.  Apparently, as they told me, Vedder had contributed eleven songs (9 originals and 2 covers) to the soundtrack of the film Into Thin Air, based on Jon Krakauer’s book of the same name.  Although some of the songs are very short and there are two tracks without lyrics, the Into Thin Air soundtrack is essentially an Eddie Vedder solo album — his first full length solo project since he began singing with the other members of Pearl Jam.

Whether you’re a Pearl Jam fan or not, I think everyone here at the Laptop Sessions will be able to appreciate this great acoustic tune.  It was a pleasure to record, from beginning to end.  In fact, I ended up with several early takes that I could have settled for, but kept playing and playing until I arrived at this version, which I felt was most loyal to the original version.  (Well, maybe not the original version — rather, the Eddie Vedder version of the Jerry Hannan original.  Although, Hannan provided background vocals and guitars for this track, so it’s closer to an original than your average cover.)  When I finished recording, I had the sort of sadness I always get when I’ve figured out a song and yet, the recording being finished, don’t have any real reason to keep playing it.

The bright side here is that I’ll get to play it a little bit today during school, as I’m bringing my guitar in to practice for our big Writing Club / Creative Writing open mic night.  This is the first time (at least since I’ve been at the school) that the Writing Club has teamed with the Creative Writing classes to put on the open mic.  The result?  To begin with, we’re in the theater instead of the cafeteria and it promises to draw a more significant crowd.  The only downside — and it’s a significant downside, if only for me — is that the show runs from 6 to 10pm…  This Thursday.  And Thursdays mean baseball, fast food, and wrestling with my friends.  We had originally scheduled the show for a Friday — which I was excited about — but there was a scheduling conflict and the best available day for everyone else was Thursday.

Either way, it’s only one week and it’s for a good cause.  With some luck, I’ll be able to catch the second half of wrestling.  If not, there’s always the iTunes download if I hear I’ve missed a great episode (as last week’s was!).  Until next Monday, I hope you have a great week.  Don’t forget that you’ve got at least two things to look forward to: Jim Fusco Tuesday and Jeff Copperthite’s “Thumpin’ Thursday.”

See you next session!