•
Rating:
Verona, September 16, 2006
Journey to the city of Verona:
the weather doesn't look promising, and when we wander around the city center in the afternoon, the sun is nowhere to be seen, although the rain remains suspended in the numerous clouds. Until, while waiting for the gates to open, Jupiter decides to turn on the taps and drench us thoroughly.
Scalpers selling raincoats and umbrellas appear out of nowhere...
At 8 PM, we're inside the Arena, and it's overwhelming with its archaic splendor and the mystical harmony that resides there: it is the perfect place to deeply experience music.
The opening act "My Morning Jacket" begins, and miracle! the rain stops.
The band knows what they're doing, and the soaked audience willingly gets wrapped up in the rough and bluesy atmosphere of the songs... When the band returns to dryness, the roadies work on a stage that looks like a work by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, with all the equipment well packaged and protected, and by 9 PM the stage is ready... everyone awaits the entrance of PJ, but the rain returns to dash the hope of a dry concert. Eddie Mike Stone Jeff Matt Boom begin, and it is frenzy!!!
It starts softly with Release, but the fire must flow to vaporize the water from the sky, and the PJ burn the stage with Given to Fly, Corduroy, World Wide Suicide, Do the Evolution and Severed Hand.
The water doesn't conquer the audience that screams, sings, jumps (at risk of life on the slippery seats of the arena!), and the PJ don't hold back and string together more unforgettable songs including Even Flow, Not For You, Jeremy, Better Man and Blood (!).
The first break comes, an hour has flown by, and the clouds begin to reveal a timid moon...
Time to breathe without a plastic hood on, and They are back on stage and kick off with 2 of the best tracks from the new self-titled album: Inside Job and the tender Come Back, followed by a tribute to Johnny Ramone with I Believe In Miracles. Then again Porch and Life Wasted to warm up the crowd.
Second very brief break, and they start again with Small Town in Elderly Woman... acoustic and beautiful, a small homage to Verona with a skit to the tune of My Sharona that becomes My Verona!
And then a thrilling finale: Once, Alive, Rockin' in the Free World and the stunning Yellow Ledbetter, which crowns Mike McCready as my personal hero of the evening: what magical intensity pours out from his guitar! We leave the arena wet, happy, exhausted with hearts still in turmoil from the pure and simple rock show I had the honor of attending along with twenty thousand others!
They may not be experimental, they may not invent anything new, they may no longer have the critics' favor, but guys, if you want to listen to rock, Pearl Jam live in 2006 are – still – the ultimate expression of it!
Loading comments slowly
