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By 4pm the member’s line was already stretching down Bulwer St and grasping at Lord St- probably at least 50m long and about five people wide. Some had been there since morning. The – œten club’ was allowed in 15 minutes earlier than everyone else and it turned out there was an incredibly large amount of Perth members. This should have been expected really, Australia is home to the largest Pearl Jam fan base outside of the US and Perth audiences are traditionally the largest. Most of these dedicated fans raced inside Members Equity Stadium at 4:15 and got as close to the holy grail of live shows- the stage barrier, as possible. They then held their spot for the next 7 hours, while their legs turned to jelly and their larynxes turned to silly string, reaching for those raspy Eddie Vedder high end notes. This was Pearl Jam with no seating restrictions for the first time in a long time and no one was going to go at it half hearted.

Once the doors to the general public opened at 4:30, it didn’t take long for the GA cauldrons to be bubbling with people. Booze did not seem to be anyone’s priority, a rarity for a WA show, most people’s main concern was holding their precious spot. They looked relieved when Liam, son of Neil and Eliza-Jane, daughter of Jimmy finally arrived at 5:30. This would allow some movement and blood flow through their waiting legs and feet. Liam Finn looked similar to his old man and sounded the same as well, but the similarities stopped there. He was a bit of an eccentric cat, his staggered gyrations shadowed Labour MP Peter Garret’s and his sound was more Seven Nation Army than Seven Worlds Collide- particularly when he swapped guitar for drums and blasted away like he was in a suburban garage.

Eliza-Jane Barnes contributed a soulful twist to the Kiwi’s lashings, as well as a bunch of fantastic sounds from a variety of instruments only a music graduate would know the name of. Finn’s wacky set was complete when he went sci-fi on the crowd and tuned up his theramin, before handing it to Barnes, who went equally as sci-fi while Finn cut sick on his garage kit again. He was a Kiwi with a little bit of crazy in him and it was a good thing.

Ben Harper and his new gang strolled on stage without an intro, gave a little wave and burst straight into their set. Harper critics often label him as someone full of his own self-importance, but he proves time and time again this is unfounded (remember the tune-up he gave Robbie Buck?- “You really think I would be narcissistic enough to play at my own wedding?”). He proved his critics wrong again on Saturday. This show with the Relentless 7- three young rock pups, could have easily been about him, but he made damn sure it was about the band. He played just one of his own songs- Faded, which his young band mates had probably dreamed about playing with him when they were growing up.

The rest were Relentless 7 tracks where the spotlight was taken off Harper to show the others’ talents. “They look like the Arctic Monkeys”, one punter said. Yes they were pretty damn young. Jason Mozersky shredded some fine old-fashioned blues lead and it was good to see the playing style is still alive and well in a new generation. The groove section of Jesse Ingalls and Jordan Richardson was rock solid and ensured people’s tiring feet didn’t stop tapping. Perhaps the bassist and drummer’s most important role came in keeping the all-familiar Under Pressure come Ice Ice Baby riff/beat held tightly. This has become a trademark for the group and caused just a little bit of hysteria when Eddie Vedder, in a leather jacket and sunglasses, joined them on stage for the song. Pearl Jam fans are usually Harper fans and vice versa, so for those who had, for years, been watching them perform together on bootleg vhs, dvds and you tube, this moment was a long time coming. It was only a short Ben Harper set and it no doubt disappointed those who were hoping to hear a Live From Mars collection, but it was a worthy introduction to the Relentless 7 for a Perth audience.

The stage lights dimmed and a dramatic piano score rang out over the 26,000 Daughters and Nothingmen who were now captivated. The backdrop of the stage, which had been nothing but a white sheet all night, began to flicker and the Pearl Jam lettering from Backspacer came into focus. Each letter gradually lit up, the piano score hit an ominous final chord, the crowd roared and the stage was set alight by the riff of Binaural’s Breakerfall. This lesser-known track would set the theme for the night’s incredible setlist- forgotten songs, Backspacer songs and essential songs. REM’s Michael Stipe once said of Vedder that he knows instinctively the exact moment of a song when a single hand gesture, a wave, a shift from one foot to the other, or an aquiline glance into the middle distance will create a rippled shudder across a crowd. Those lucky to be close enough to the stage on Saturday night will know Stipe is spot-on. Seeing Vedder perform from close range was a whole new Pearl Jam experience. Indescribably intense expressions appeared and disappeared from his face and he had a Jim Morrison-like fire in his eyes which firmly gripped the crowd for the show’s two and a half hours.

Mike McCready was scintillating as always. He would have to be one of the best five living guitarists in the world to see live and the show rightfully ended with him alone on stage plucking his Hendrix-inspired Yellow Ledbetter lick. Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, the band’s founding members, quietly went about business as they always do- it was worth taking the time to stop watching Vedder and McCready, to pay attention to these two. They are masterful musicians in their own right and everything they did had an enviable precision about it. Matt Cameron didn’t put a foot wrong on his kick pedal, he never does, and there isn’t much more that can be said about him. Their newest recruit Boom Gaspar, who isn’t so new these days, particularly shone on a cover of The Who’s Love Reign Over Me. “I don’t think The Who played this when they played here, but at least now you can say you’ve heard someone play it in this stadium”, Vedder said as Gaspar tore into the track’s bold piano intro.

Vedder’s red-wine-infused banter ranged from making a Britney-stimulated public service announcement that he would be lip syncing so he could have a drink and a smoke, to Luc Longley, to the Ningaloo Reef and also tp Perth’s “fuckin incredible” local music scene. He paid heed to The Fags, Mongrel Country, Cat Black, The Bible Bashers and Cal Peck and The Tramps who he had seen in the front room of The Hydey the night before.

The Backspacer songs were amazing live and a tribute to the fact the band can still make great music after nine albums. Amongst the Waves, Vedder’s newest tribute to surfing, was the best of the new songs. Its soaring power chorus sent shivers through the crowd.
Kudos went out to Nick Cave as they began playing I Am Mine, which the band messed up and had to restart. The crowd enjoyed the fact that even Pearl Jam could make mistakes sometimes. Ben Harper arrived on stage and ripped through the grungey Red Mosquito, Liam Finn arrived on stage and performed the necessary Throw Your Arms Around Me cover with Vedder. Pearl Jam’s final encore had the mouth-watering pairing of Betterman and Alive. Alive saw Vedder pace up and down the centre pathway between the two sides of the mosh like a madman during McCready’s seminal lead break. The crowd went nuts.

Pearl Jam remain at the height of the rock game and their unrivalled ability to connect with an audience makes them the best stadium act in the world. Ben Harper once said for a band to be called a great band they needed to release ten good albums. Pearl Jam have done nine and by the looks of their enthusiasm on stage they will do ten. The rest of Australia is in for a fine fuckin’ treat on this tour.

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