Date: Fri 11-Oct-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A11

Quick Words:

Pearl-Jam-Meadows-concert

Full Text:

(rev Pearl Jam concert at Meadows, 10/11/96)

Concert Review-

Excellent Pearl Jam Concert Marred By Bad Judgement

BY SHANNON HICKS

HARTFORD - Honestly, if you watched the Pearl Jam concert last week in

Hartford from within the pavilion at the Meadows Music Theatre, there was no

clue anything was wrong. Of course, seeing a group of nearly two dozen

Hartford police officers running up to the lawn area through pavilion walkways

about 90 minutes into the show, something should have rung a mental bell that

said "Hey, what's up with that?"

Because of poor planning, and quite possibly a case of someone's head being on

quite a power trip these days, nearly thirty people were arrested before,

during and after an otherwise scrapbook-worthy concert by the rock band Pearl

Jam.

According to a bulletin sent out from the Meadows Music Theatre the afternoon

prior to the October 2 concert, the members of Pearl Jam had decided against

using video screens provided by the venue to broadcast the Wednesday evening

concert out to the lawn seating area. The Meadows release also reminded every

newspaper, radio and television station that received the announcement that

the concert was indeed sold out, which was in turn told to all

listeners/viewers/readers within reach... in other words, don't bother coming

if you don't have a ticket because we don't have anything to sell you.

It was a good move by the venue to send out the bulletin. The venue's

management took every precaution in anticipating large crowds for Wednesday's

performance. But what no one was prepared for - least of all the 22,000-plus

ticket holders who had tickets allowing them access only to the general

admission "lawn" area of the theatre - was how angry such a large crowd would

become once it became known there would be no video screenings of the

performance.

The thing with the lawn section at the Meadows, a gently sloping area of grass

which can accommodate up to 22,500 people for a sold out concert, is that with

such a distance between the lawn area and the stage inside the pavilion, it is

very difficult for an audience member in the lawn to see anything going on

onstage.

The decision to not use the video screens was not made, or announced, until

Tuesday, the night before the concert. Most people did not know of the

decision until they arrived on-site for the concert.

The concert itself was magnificent. Pearl Jam is a frontrunner in the whole

"grunge" rock music sound, a leader in "alternative" music before the term

became a household word. Pearl Jam was alternative while Chelsea Clinton was

taking her first steps around the White House with Mom and Dad. The band,

along with the now-defunct Nirvana, is probably the most well-known "Seattle

band" in the world.

One of the most anticipated tours of the year, New England's eyes were focused

on Connecticut, one of only eleven cities in the country to be granted a visit

by the band, who had never been to Connecticut prior to last week's concert. A

show in Maine the week earlier was the only other New England appearance on

the 11-date tour.

Lead singer Eddie Vedder wasted very little time with chit-chat for much of

the show. With four studio albums, plus the B-side singles and singles from

film soundtracks (including "State of Love and Trust," a popular song,

performed Wednesday, from the Singles soundtrack), there is ample material for

the band to fill a show with.

For two hours, Vedder and the rest of the band played back-to-back singles,

with first album singles like "Even Flow," "Black" and "Jeremy" still played,

as full of life as ever, amid newer releases including cuts from Vs ("Elderly

Woman Behind the Counter...," "Daughter") and Vitalogy ("Better Man," "Not For

You").

The band's new album, No Code , for which this tour supports - although Pearl

Jam is certainly a band at this point in its career that could tour without a

new album to push - was released August 27. It entered the Billboard Top 200

Albums chart at No 1 on September 1 and has already spawned two

heavily-rotated singles, "Who You Are" and "Hail Hail." Both were heard

Wednesday night, along with much of the new album.

Since 1990, when Seattle band Mookie Blaylock changed its name to Pearl Jam,

the band has won a number of American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards

(four in 1993 alone) and a Grammy Award; made secret appearances near its home

base and released a few fan club-only singles; set Soundscan records with

album releases ( Vs entered the charts at #1 with debut week sales of 950,378

copies sold, including 350,000 within the first 24 hours of release); and

possibly most notably, has battled with ticket agency TicketMaster for what

the band sees as "unjust service fees being charged by TicketMaster."

Along the way, Pearl Jam, with its lead singer one of the most recognizable

faces in the world and the band as a whole one of the strongest musical powers

around, has become one of those bands that gets nearly anything it asks for.

If the band wants photographers and reporters at a show, it will set a limit

on how many of each will be allowed in to a show. If it wants just fan club

members, this happens, too.

And if, for some reason, the members of the band decide the world will come to

an end if a video screen is used to project its image out to the masses of

people who have paid for the privilege of seeing this band in its first-ever

Connecticut performance, then video screens are not going to be used at a

Pearl Jam show.

The band knows how to rock a house, but it still needs to learn how to open

the door for their fans to come in a lit.