| Pearl Jam show wows London crowd |
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| Written by Presswire.com | |
| Friday, 21 April 2006 | |
The five-piece band led by front man Eddie Vedder played most of their new album, entitled ‘Pearl Jam’, and dubbed ‘Avocado’ by fans, to euphoric fans in their first European show for six years. The band were in high spirits, with all members on form and Vedder wise-cracking between songs, even wishing the Queen a happy birthday. The packed-out-to-capacity Astoria saw fans singing along to classics such as ‘Better Man’ (see video - 109Mb), though they could be forgiven for their unfamiliarity with the newer material, much of which remains available only on illegal file sharing sites.  Vedder: 'London is a shaft of light' Previously the atheist, Vedder told fans before playing ‘Marker in the Sand’: “This one’s about God, and what people are doing here in his name, that they shouldn’t be.” ‘Man of the Hour’ (see video - 51Mb) was a rare solo performance by Vedder, who took time out to pass wine around to fans as Ament, Gossard and McCready rocked out on a remixed ‘Porch’ and ‘Alive’ (see video - 90Mb). ‘Comatose’ (see video - 72Mb) saw a return to the rasping vocals of Vs' ‘Blood’, with Vedder warning: “Ok, I had to leave this until last because I’m not good to sing much else after this”. The choice of the 2,000 capacity venue in London’s Charing Cross Road delighted and disappointed fans as allocated tickets sold out within 20 minutes of going on sale on 31 March. Tickets were immediately available on eBay at over 10 times their face value. Further compounding the issue, officials at the Mean Fiddler Astoria said some 50 blank tickets had earlier been stolen from its box office and reprinted by counterfeiters, who sold them at between £100 to £400 per ticket. The show began later than anticipated as every ticket was checked against a list of the stolen tickets, possibly cutting the band’s set short. Fans who had travelled from as far away as Germany and had bought tickets from eBay, unofficial internet agencies or touts outside the venue were refused entry and had their tickets seized. Pearl Jam will record a performance of some of their new material on the BBC’s Later… with Jools Holland on Tuesday 25th and a session on Radio One. They will return to the UK to headline the Reading and Leeds festivals in August.
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