Wellwater Conspiracy, Pearl Jam - Key Arena, Seattle, Nov. 6, 2000
by Drew Hilling
Wellwater Conspiracy, Key Arena, Nov. 6, 2000
It started out simply enough. The shadowy figure of
Matt Cameron strode confidently toward the drumkit.
John Mcbain started tuning up. Jack Endino plugged in
his bass, and what appeared to be Dan Peters seemed to
be tinkering around on keyboards. They placed a few
odd notes here and there before launching into an
aggressive fuzz drenched rendition of Far Side of Your
Moon, easily capturing the attention of some several
thousand Pearl Jam fans streaming into the seemingly
cavernous Key Arena. Several fans on the floor jumped
up and there was a smattering of recognition
throughout the room. One thing for sure, the drummers
in the crowd sat up and took notice as Cameron took
full advantage of his enormous surroundings, bouncing
intricate rhythms around every inch of the venue. He
took vocal duties on the second number and a powerful
take on The Ending. WWC was in particularly good form
after McBain whacked his guitar back into shape
(literally) before Lucy Leave. Jack Endino took the
liberty to let us know "this is Wellwater Conspiracy"
before they eased into a subtle, groovy and
mischievous Hal McBlaine. To the crowd's delight, one
Ed Vedder then wandered onstage to sing a couple of
new tunes (Red Light/Green Light and Felicity's
Surprise according to 5h). His vocals were understated
and seemed to weave their way comfortably into the WWC
vibe. After Ed left, an unmistakable figure slinked
onto the stage. Ben Shepherd began to prowl the stage
as only he can, wringing out a phenomenal version of
Trowerchord as the band rose to match his intensity,
with John's guitar taking on an ominous tone and Matt
crushing the hell out of the kit. Ben noted "This is
Wellwater Conspiracy and this is the first song,"
before a bombastic Sleeveless that found the band
locking into the heaviest groove that I've ever heard
from them, and Ben furiously spitting out lyrics over
the relentless jam that built and built to a finale
drowning in feedback. It was short, some might call it
sweet, and it was Wellwater announcing their presence
to the world...loudly.
Pearl Jam, Key Arena, November 6, 2000
After stellar opening sets from Wellwater Conspiracy,
and a classics-mining Red Hot Chili Peppers, we all
had huge expectations for Pearl Jam's final stop on
the Binaural tour. However, none of us were expecting
the tour de force that reached out and grabbed us with
a seemingly innocent Release before throttling us with
Corduroy, Grievance, Rearviewmirror, Hail Hail, and a
perfect take on Evacuation featuring even more
otherworldly drumming from Matt Cameron. Everyone in
the band was completely, totally 100% on. There's that
certain warmth that a band can only reproduce in its
hometown, and that warmth enveloped everything they
did that night. Every note seemed to have that extra
bit of emotion, every beat seemed to have more
purpose, and everything Ed Vedder said seemed to have
more sincerity--at one point calling this "the last
show ever" before retreating to "at least for a while"
after the crowd voiced it's disapproval of the prior
sentiment. Recalling the classic TV talk show hosts
like Johnny Carson, or David Letterman, he let
everyone know we were much better than last night's
crowd (despite the fact that everyone looked awfully
familiar to me). Even Flow had to be one of the best
performances I've ever heard of that song, and was
only one of the highlights of the main set that
featured a beautifully understated Nothing As It
Seems, the mythical "man" trilogy and a venomous Not
For You. Proving that the best often comes last, (at
least last in the main set) Ed treated us to a little
Androgynous Mind tag as the shades went down in
Daughter followed by an amazing vocal call and
response play with the huge crowd (listen to the Milan
official bootleg for an example). It obviously moved
him as he danced around, threw down the microphone as
his gaze lingered on the crowd. A heartfelt dedication
to one of the Roskilde victims led off the first
encore and a poignant Off He Goes. The hometown
advantage provided a string section (featuring April
Cameron and Justine Voy) for Parting Ways. That's when
the show really soared into orbit with a blistering Go
and Once. Crazy Mary and Immortality followed.
Cameron's monstrous drum solo in Immortality provided
the perfect setup for one of the single most
impressive performances of a song I've ever heard.
They hadn't played it since the tragedy, but the pure
emotional force and unbelievable jamming on Alive just
electrified everyone in the crowd and inspired the
loudest pre-encore (encore #2)cheering I've ever
heard. Ed then treated us to a bit of ukulele Iron Man
before Soon Forget. Then he launched into a diatribe
about security and Seattle's ridiculous teen dance
laws before a huge Who one-two punch of The Kids are
Alright and Baba O'Riley, garnering yet another insane
ovation. Before the third (!) encore, Ed thanked
everyone under the sun, got all emotional, talked
about saying goodbye, thanked the crowd, and wished us
all nice lives, ensuring that rumors of this being
their last show would circulate for a while, before a
hauntingly beautiful Yellow Ledbetter. All the guys in
the band were obviously emotional, and lots of hugging
ensued while Mike McCready took us out with his
trademark Little Wing-tinged solo...
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