All Acoustic Set List: Sometimes, Small Town, Corduroy (new version), Off He Goes, Nothingman, Daughter/The Real Me/Noise of Carpet, Footsteps, Porch (new version), Around the Bend

Pearl Jam at Neil Young's 1996 Bridge School Benefit
by: SFG228@aol.com

The autumn sun hung over the horizon when Pearl Jam took the stage for the second show of Neil Young's 1996 Bridge School Benefit. Saturday they played after dark, but because it was Sunday, everyone started a couple of hours earlier, which meant daylight for all but Mr. Young himself.

The opening notes of "Sometimes" cut through the cool fall air as a cheer went up from the crowd. The crowd was definitely mellower than Saturday, but enthusiastic nevertheless. Eddie noodled around with the opening D-C-G progression of "Elderly Woman" like he does sometimes before starting the vocal. Once he broke into the familiar opening verse, the crowd cheered loudly. Many sang along softly to this tune that Ed identified the night before as having been written "in the hills up north." (PJ wrote and recorded most of the second album in Marin County, about 60 miles north of Mountain View.) Eddie slowed the song down tonight, and his voice had a sadder, more melancholy tinge than the studio or other live versions, especially during the final "hearts and thoughts they fade...fade away" lines.

Next was the amazing new version of "Corduroy," where the vocal melody on the verses is somewhat changed, and the chorus is now sung over minor chords with different vocal stylings. Gone is the anger of the Vitalogy days, replaced with a weary resignation in Ed's voice, especailly when he sings "Everything has changed, absolutely nothing's changed...take my hand, not my picture, spill my tincture..." Just an amazing reinterpretation of his own song.

No Code masterpiece "Off He Goes" followed, sounding pretty similar to the version on the record, with nice lead fills by Mike, except when Eddie said the surrounding b.s. has grown, he really stressed the "that has grown" part. After Ed commented about what a beautiful setting it was for the band to play a few songs, we heard a passionate version of the rarely-played "Nothingman." Curiously, "from each corner of a shared prison cell" was changed to "across a prison cell," which had been done Saturday night as well. This may be a trivial oversight, but a female friend I was with who holds the song near and dear to her heart, due, unfortunately to its relevence to her own past, seemed troubled that the words were changed, so...?

Anyway, a fairly standard version of the crowd-pleasing "Daughter" came next, with a segue this night into "Can You See The Real Me?" Stone's simple yet wrenching riff then began a rather emotional version of "Footsteps" that moved even the many in attendance who were not familiar with the song (including the inevitable confused folks asking "hey, isn't this a Temple of The Dog song?")

So far, however, all the Pearl Jam songs played Sunday had been heard the previous night, unlike the '94 shows when only "Black," "Daughter" and "Elderly Woman..." were played each night and the rest of the sets were quite different. This changed when Eddie introduced the next song simply saying "this one goes like this," and an amazing version of "Porch" followed, with a much funkier beat and feel supplied by Jack and Jeff. The crowd enjoyed yet another "new version" of an old fave.

After thanking Neil for giving them the chance to play and commenting on how the Bridge School does so much for kids with M.S., Eddie introduced No Code's closer "Around The Bend," a nice way to end a great set. And with a simple "thank you," the band walked off the stage as darkness fell.