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Vital Pearl Jam refuses to become irrelevant

Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 3, 2006 at midnight

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Pearl Jam is at the point in its career where 90 percent of bands phone it in, both on disc and in concert; they become hopelessly irrelevant.

But this is all about beating the odds. More than a decade and a half into its career, Pearl Jam is not just intact but flourishing, releasing one of its finest albums and shaking fans to the core with a too-short but transcendent set at the Pepsi Center on Sunday night.

It's a brilliant concert pairing. Pearl Jam has teamed up with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers for part of the latter's summer tour; tonight is the last night the two will play together. It combines two groups known for the best songwriting in the modern rock era and two bands that play with a sixth sense about where each musician is going.

Most opening bands don't get anywhere near the 90 minutes Pearl Jam took to thoroughly invigorate the crowd, but some fans are disappointed that they're unable to do the longer sets they're used to.

Opening with a searing version of its new antiwar single World Wide Suicide, Pearl Jam decided to make up for the shorter show with a stunning set list. Bee Girl, a rarity from years ago, showed up among huge greatest hits, including the closing killer trio of Corduroy, Better Man and Black with Heartbreaker Benmont Tench sitting in on keyboards.

The tight playing comes from being intact from the start as a band (though a rotating drummer's seat was eventually filled perfectly by Matt Cameron). All are amazing players, but guitarist Mike McCready gets special props for going from an adequate guitarist to an inspiring one, with solos worthy of some of the best players in rock 'n' roll.

The new album, simply titled Pearl Jam, is global and personal at the same time. What few selections were played had fans singing along like the hits did; one regrets that great tracks such as Life Wasted and Gone couldn't be included.

The encore had a crowd sing-along on Alive and the return of Tench, this time with Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell, for a pounding yet lithe version of The Byrds' So You Wanna Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star.

It's likely the most talented lineup of musicians this crowd has seen on a stage ever - and it was about to get better with the second half of the show.

Pearl Jam

• When and where: Sunday night, Pepsi Center

• Grade: A

• Of note: Pearl Jam is on a double bill with Tom Petty; the final show is tonight, with tickets still available. Petty's set started too late for print deadlines; a full review is available now at RockyMountainNews.com and will be in Tuesday's print edition.

Mark Brown is the popular music critic. or 303-892-2674.