Entry 3 - 23 Aug 98: The Concert
At just a few minutes before the hour of five, the security guard announced the opening of the gates. "No running," says he. Yeah, right. I had already picked my spot out -- right along the front of the runway-thing. The stage was set up thusly -- the stage itself sat behind a sort of pre-stage thing. It was just like a fashion runway, around five feet tall with a fifteen-foot protrusion from the center of the stage itself. That's where I would be -- just to the left of the protrusion. Sure enough, as the gates were opened and the flood of bodies ensued, I would find myself just to the left of the runway, right on center with stage itself.
And it was there I would stay until sometime later, when Cheap Trick would finally make their way on stage. In the meantime, people surfed, a beach ball was thrown around and people yelled for "Eddddddiiiieeee" and Pearl Jam. I stuffed my backpack and poster onto the runway for safe keeping until the show began, which wasn't to be for another hour-and-a-half. Man, it was hot down there. People were fainting left and right, but luckily I had trained for just such an occasion. My days in air cadets had given me the ability to withstand long periods of standing still in hot-weather conditions, so I was in my element down in that rancid pit.
By 5:45, people had become restless and began to shout, "Bull shit! Bull shit," as if that was going to get Cheap Trick to come out any sooner. Judging from the crowded, very few people had heard of Cheap Trick, and even fewer wanted to actually see them perform. But I knew better -- mom and dad had a whole bunch of Trick vinyls back home, so I had heard 'Dream Police' and 'Surrender' before. I knew the score, and knew they'd be cool.
Throughout the wait, the security was absolutely incredible. People kept hitting the beach balls up onto the stage and runway, and they'd keep hitting them back, smiling all the while. Security guards who are actually having fun! An oxymoron?!
Given time, the beach balls lost their lustre, and something new was devised to wane the time. What could possibly be more fun than thirty-five thousand Pearl Jam fans hitting around beach balls, you ask? Why, air-filled condoms and rubber gloves, of course! Combine that with the obviously high amount of weed being smoked and... well... you get the idea.
Now, here's where the real fun began. Not long before Cheap Trick came on, someone hurriedly rushed onto the stage and snapped some pictures of the crowd I was in. Why, it was none other than the blonde-haired guitar fiend, Mike McCready! He quickly snapped up some photos and rushed backstage, but it was enough to get the crowd freaking nonetheless.
After Mike left came waves of complaints and heat strokes until Cheap Trick finally took to the stage at 6:30, fully clad in eighties-type gear and everything. I was happy to hear 'Dream Police', although it was really the only song I knew faithfully. The rest of the concert-goers were less enthused. As hard as Rick Nielson helped the crowd into the show, the only real response he got was chants of, "Eddie, Eddie!" which began when people noticed that Ed and the band were sitting off to the side. Ed-o-rama could be seen under the scaffolding to the right and the others on the left, thoroughly enjoying themselves and snapping pictures all the while. Nielson's reaction: "Eddie who?"
Cheap Trick was groovin' in the extreme. Rick was constantly tossing guitar picks into the crowd, as is his custom, and the fans loved it. He was just an amazing guitarist -- at one point, he produced a... well... a quint-guitar and began playing it like no one's business. The first four arms looked like they were ordinary six-strings, although the top one might have been a twelve. The bottom arm was fretless. It was an amazing sight to see him switch between the guitars and picks the whole while -- just amazing.
While Cheap Trick played, I helped a guy behind me set up his DAT recording equipment. We stuck the mics onto the runway in front of me and put the DAT onto the stage piping. This should be a wicked recording given the proximity to the stage, so be on the look out for a high-quality recording of the show!
Cheap Trick's set went on until around 7:40. The stage crew began to reorganize the equipment and the moment of truth had arrived. The crowd began to build up quite a bit of hysteria as me and the people surrounding me began to get smushed up against the runway. It was kind of scary, and the security guards began to haul away people who just couldn't handle it. I stuck in there, though, and I was determined to a least get a few pictures of the band up close.
At 8:00, Pearl Jam took the stage. And thus begins the chaos. The band immediately grabs their instruments and kick right into 'Corduroy', which took me totally by surprise. I thought they'd ease the crowd into the show with something like 'Release' or 'Sometimes', but what the hell, eh? 'Corduroy' rocked beyond belief, and I managed to snag myself some pics of Ed and Mike, but I don't know how well they turned out. This camera wasn't exactly at the forefront of technology as it had no flash, although it did feature a panoramic view and had been reliable in the past. We'll just have to wait and see how the pictures turned out later I guess...
With 'Corduroy' came the fear -- people started getting smashed all over the place and guards started taking the unconscious/fainting away. It was as scary as hell, and I had to get outta there. After 'Corduroy' came 'Brain Of J', and I grabbed my stuff and rode the pit. I couldn't believe that my poster survived the ordeal, but it managed fine. After being bounced around for a moment, I found myself on the runway a mere ten feet away from Ed front and center. He was busy playing 'Brain Of J', but I started dancing a bit and looked up at him, only to find that he was looking back! I smile and he kinda notices me freaking out. He smiles back and keeps right on playing! Amazing! With that, I'm escorted of the runway and my moment in the sun is over, but damned if I'll ever forget it.
After finding my way back into the crowd, I found myself a nice little patch of grass just to the right of center with a good view and nice positioning. 'Brain Of J' ran it's course and the set continued. 'Hail, Hail' would be next and I couldn't be happier. Ever since I saw the first 'Late Show With David Letterman' performance I've always wanted to see this one live. And then it dawned on me -- I was seeing it live! After it's completion I remembered my plan to copy down the setlist and grabbed my pen and paper from my combat jacket. As I'm writing out the aforementioned tunes, 'Animal' suddenly bursts from the speakers and fills the arena. People in the pit are absolutely freaking and I'm glad that I got out while I did. Some people like that kind of torture -- I don't.
After 'Animal' runs its course, Ed pauses for a moment to address the crowd. It went a little something like this:
"We made it, you made it. It looks beautiful out there, are you all right?" With that, a football is thrown up on stage, and while he is a little surprised by it, Ed still manages to catch it. The crowd goes wild as the takes it and punts it into the crowd way back, and continues on with his address. "We've been here before, yeah. Let's make it better this time. It's already better, I'm Eddie Vedder." The way he says it is sort of poetic, kind of like a little haiku or something, and again the crowd freaks out. He also mentions something about wanting to play in a smaller venue, and that next time they'll do three shows in a smaller place with just as many people packed in. Now that would be weird.
After the address comes 'Dissident', and the crowd loves it. I've never really liked this song live, but this show changed my mind. Everyone was singing! It really is something to sing along with a few ten-thousand Pearl Jam fans, and it really helped to change my mind about the song.
With 'Dissident' out of the way, Ed proceeds to announce that "I like this next one." With that, Mike begins to pluck out the first few bars of 'Given To Fly'. At first, most of the crowd is cheering and the other half is trying to figure out what the hell they're playing. I guess the casual fans didn't catch on to Yield yet, eh? Throughout the song Mike is just tearing the place up, and Matt does an excellent job on the skins. I've always like Jack's 'Given To Fly', and while Matt's isn't bad, it's not quite an Irons-equivalent.
'MFC' is next, and I'm just losing it. It's at this point that my writing on the setlist sheet becomes a mass of ink and incomprehensible musings, most of which I can't even make out. (You should see the second half's notes!) It seems to me that I'm freaking out a lot more than the people around, who from my estimation seem to be more or less casual fans. (You know, the ones who recognize all the radio tunes but are left in the dark when 'Present Tense' comes on.) I find my way to a more rambunctious group and we all go nuts together.
Up next is 'Habit', and although I'm no fan of the studio version, I must say that it is a much better experience live. During the mid-point pause, Ed cuts in with a little political statement of his own device -- "Speaking as a dumb-ass, beer drinking, propaganda-believing, missile-shooting American." The crowd is again losing it, and I'm loving it.
With 'Habit' complete, the house lights begin to dim and Ed grabs a guitar. I notice the mirrorball being lowered and know that it could mean only one thing -- 'Wishlist'. Sure enough, the opening riff of the song sifts through the Park, and lighters start going up around me. I didn't have mine with me, but I didn't care 'cause to me, it just ain't a lighter song. Besides, I knew about the mirrorball, and was busy getting my camera ready. Sure enough, just after the second verse, the lights came on. (Or was it after the first verse? I was in a state of ecstasy at the time, so I don't really remember the details.) Believe you me, not a word of lie, that mirrorball is one of the coolest things going. I won't even try to explain it to those of you who haven't seen it yet, but those who have know what I mean -- it just can't be expressed by anything in the English language.
From the serenity of 'Wishlist' we dive headfirst into 'Even Flow', the classic live Pearl Jam song. The people around me nearly drop into comas, but I manage to maintain my constitution, all the while loving every glee-soaked minute of it. From 'Even Flow' we find ourselves being led into 'Daughter', another song to which the crowd expresses their extreme bliss. By now I begin to notice that everyone is singing and happy with the classics from Ten and Vs., but not much homage is being paid to anything past Vitalogy. Oh, well, I'm enjoying it, so to hell with the rest of 'em! Tagged to 'Daughter' is a long series of Ed-type squalls and sounds, along with a 'Surrender' tag, which all you 70's/80's fans recognize as a Cheap Trick tune from days long past.
Following 'Daughter' comes 'In Hiding', and again the casual fans find themselves amiss for what to do. The hardcore know, and we all start whistling and yelling, loving it all in the extreme. From 'In Hiding' we slip into 'Jeremy', and Jeff absolutely destroys the place with aural goodness. During the "arms raised in a V" part, everyone in the whole freakin' place raises their arms -- definitely cool. When Ed's "whoo" part kicks in, everyone in the whole frigging Park does it, too, which is an amazing thing to hear considering there was 35,000 of us in attendance.
Little could prepare me for what came next: 'State Of Love And-Freakin'-Trust'! Mike is using one of Nielson's guitars for the song, a double axe shaped like a person. Yeah! I've heard so many different versions of this that it's not even funny, but this one was by far the best. Maybe it's because I was there, or maybe it really was just awesome, but whatever the reason, I don't care, and practically have to be restrained in order to keep myself from getting hurt.
Up next is the so-called "Man Trilogy." 'Nothingman' is first, complete with a thunder and lightning show on the backdrop, complimenting the song perfectly. I've always loved this song for it's arena-filling ability -- yeah, it's an anthem, but it's a slow-building, reserved kind of anthem. I guess that makes sense, eh? Next in the trilogy is 'Better Man', another radio tune the casuals can appreciate, and 'Leatherman', which everyone in the place seems to love. Halfway through, everyone stops as Matt continues to drum, and Ed turns to the crowd for a little speech.
How's the party? We were driving in today and saw the parking lot and there were a few things worth mentioning. The guy with a fucking watermelon on his head as a hat -- I'll give him an award. Canadian man of the year right there. The award for the group effort tonight in the parking lot. The fucking guys with the trailer with the couches and the chairs and cocktail table, just putting up shop in the parking lot they looked right at home. That was the most exciting thing I've seen all tour. So this song's about a bad-ass, a leatherman with a bad-ass. The people up front fuck, even in back, you're all bad-ass.
'Dead Man' is a no-show, which disappoints me somewhat, but at the same time it doesn't surprise me.
Next in the set is an absolutely mind-blowing version of 'Alive'. During one of Mike's blazing solos Ed starts to walk the stage, climbing onto the speakers and stuff on the far right to get the crowd going. He then does the same to the left, and everyone's positively starstruck. Dust is kicking up from all over the pit and you can barely see the stage. Well, at least the music is clear...
With that, the first set is done and the band retires for a moment. The crowd chants for more, and within two minutes, they return for a second set. I don't really think this was an encore, 'cause it's kind of long and well-prepared. Ed makes a little speech on the Doomsday Clock, but people don't seem to concerned until he mentions that, "We're all going to die, fuckers!" And, of course, everyone cheers. Yeah! The Apocalypse is cool! Ah, well, let 'em have their fun, right? Might as well do it before the bombs get us...
After a speech on death, only one song could possibly come next -- 'Immortality'! Yeah! I love it, and the light show is simply amazing -- strobes, flashing, the works. From 'Immortality' we are assaulted by the sonic bliss of 'Rearviewmirror', followed by a personal favorite of mine, 'Last Exit'.
Up next is 'I Got Id'. As if the one during the soundcheck wasn't enough! I simply love this song, so I'm kind of comatose at this point. You could have poked me with a sharp stick and I probably wouldn't have noticed until the next day, if you know what I mean.
'Black' is next, and everyone is in a state of euphoria. Everyone is singing along and does the chanting part at the end along with Stone and Jeff. After the song Ed thanks the crowd a couple of times and the band launches into 'Do The Evolution'. Even though the song is relatively new to a lot of people, they still love it, and the 'DTE' video on the backdrop certainly doesn't hurt the crowd's enthusiasm.
With that, the show is over, save for the encore, which, of course, is 'Yellow Ledbetter'. Everyone immediately recognizes it, even the casuals (as the radio plays it to death), and everyone makes the attempt to sing along. It is, of course, a mission in futility, but who cares, right? Mike is simply tearing the song apart as he blazes on, until finally the song is over, as is the concert. Ed remains on stage for a little while longer to thank the crowd for "inviting [them]." And with that, it's all over, and it's time to go home.
So there it is. The most amazing concert experience I'll probably ever have. Well, at least until the next tour, eh?
From the Park I make my way home. The concert ends at 10:00, and I get home around 1:00 or something. I was starving at that point, having only eaten a bit of yogurt and an Oh! Henry the whole day. I find myself a Pizza Pizza and grab myself a combo, and find my way back home via Mississauga Transit.
With my day over, I post some stuff about the show to the Internet and retire.
And thus concludes my journey into the heart of the musically supreme.
I should make a point now to inform everyone that Cable Pulse 24 of the Toronto area was on hand and videotaped a portion (or maybe all) of the show. I just watched the band play 'Animal' a moment ago, and the taping was of excellent quality. Here's hoping that we can get ahold of that tape.
And to those of you who went to the Backstreet Boys at the Molson Amphitheatre -- HA!! You and the Backstreet Boys deserve each other.
 |
|
The sixth Backstreet Boy |