After fairly recently announcing a short summer tour, Pearl Jam stopped at Tampa, FL's Amalie Arena on April 11, 2016, for their first bay area show in nearly a decade. What seems to be a busy year for them started off rather great, as demonstrated by the sold out crowd of over 18,000 Monday night. The band, as well as their landmark, "Ten" album, turned 25 this year, and the wait for a Tampa show was a long time coming. Eddie Vedder sold out two solo shows at Clearwater's Ruth Eckerd Hall a few years ago, yet Tampa (and Florida in general for that matter) never served as a frequent stop for the Seattle-based rock band.
The fairly mixed capacity crowd was completely engrossed for the full three-hour set that included sparse intermissions for encores, with no opening band. Not that they would even need one. At times, Peal Jam shows can be considered somewhat of a nuisance for more general based fans. Set lists vary with every single show, and there is absolutely no guarantee that they will play "Jeremy," "Daughter," "Even Flow," or "Alive." Luckily for me, all of those gems were played that night in a 30 song set that included deep cuts from their expansive ten album catalogue, as well as the stable hits and rock anthems that will forever be their legacy. As they continue to sell out arenas well after most of their 90's era, pioneers remain largely unable to do so.
The man at the center stage, of course, is Eddie Vedder. I've been to many concerts that were put on from a more theatrical perspective (Alice Cooper and Motley Crue), as well as artists such as Bob Dylan and the Counting Crows, who opt to leave the music as the sole focal point of attraction. Pearl Jam fit more into the latter with some minor deviations. Eddie showcased his usual mantra of storytelling and political statements, yet initiated what is perhaps the greatest form of audience interaction that I have seen at any show I've been to. He ran through the audience on the general admission floor at one point, and would address audience members directly and the arena as a whole on a very personal level. In other words, he did not feel like a rock God enigma that is completely distanced from anything his audience can relate to.
Equally deserving of recognition would be Pearl Jam's bassist Jeff Ament, who proved to be as much of a powerhouse as the frontman. I was spellbound as he carelessly dove into the audience to crowd surf, and his opening chords for "Jeremy" gave an eerie echo to a raucous crowd who took every moment to scream when a recognizable tune could be deciphered at first play. While I do not mind a band mixing up their setlist, I do think there needs to be some caution put into it. For a three hour show, it can be difficult to sit through relatively obscure songs once the band hits their twentieth or so tune, and then starts an encore. This is a minor complaint at most, as most fans seemed to take in every moment that these guys were on stage, even while the arena lights came on long after 11:00 p.m.
