CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE.

Pearl Jam have always positioned themselves as the people’s band, picking their battles against ticketing monopolies and having their say on various causes. Musically they seemed to have, as most bands do, a mid-career slump from Binaural through to their self-titled – œavocado’ album.

Experiencing a kind of renaissance, they hit back this year looking trim and fit, to release their strongest set of songs in years with Backspacer. In line with the connection they have with their fans, the band have taken heed of their audience’s passive response to the sixth, seventh and eighth albums and structured a set for this tour that is weighted almost perfectly across nearly all of their albums.

Liam Finn had the task of warming up a crowd already drowning in sweat in the sweltering 40-degree Sydney heat. With just himself, Eliza-Jane, a guitar, drum kit and loop pedals, he played a set that showed how much he has learnt from his dad but also added a large dose of his own personality and quirks. Using guitar and drum loops is a clever string to his bow as he maintained the attention and focus of the audience with his dashes between instruments, all the while maintaining that pitch-perfect voice he has inherited. Long Way To Go from his debut was a standout, with its infectious marriage of melody and cascading rhythms.

Ben Harper didn’t fare quite so well with his new outfit The Relentless 7. Their name is appropriate in that it describes their – œblues rock by numbers’ approach. They hit a good riff or groove and bled it dry; killing the spark that first ignited the song. Sure, they were great musicians and Harper’s playing on his Weissenborn guitar was as beautiful as ever, but there was no sense of dynamic or personality coming from the stage. Harper was uncommunicative with the crowd and the only passionate roar from came when he brought Eddie Vedder out for a cover of Queen and Bowie’s Under Pressure. It was an inoffensive yet uninspiring set from Harper.

Cue sunset and still high temperatures, Pearl Jam took to the stage to a hero’s welcome. The seated punters rose to their feet and with arms aloft they forgot about the heat and danced to two hours of classic Pearl Jam songs. It’s amazing how many Pearl Jam fans dance like your aunt at a wedding.

Signalling they were still celebrating the 15th anniversary of their debut Ten, they opened with a raging version of Why Go and proceeded to play a further 4 songs from that landmark album that still remains their strongest record. From there it was a non stop journey through the singles Given To Fly, Do The Evolution, Even Flow, Dissident and their most recent The Fixer.

It was some of the other album tracks though that proved to be the highlights of the night with Elderly Woman… being the first crowd sing along; tens of thousands of voices raised in unison with the words “I just want to scream, hello.”

Midway through the night, Pearl Jam unleashed their biggest song – Even Flow – and reminded the stadium just how good Mike McCready is as a guitarist. His wah-driven solo was as epic as they come, with notes sustained and a look of hunger in his eyes. Throughout the night he proved to be the most magnetic of the musicians – other than the consummate frontman Vedder of course.

Other moments of magic were the glorious State of Love And Trust from the Singles soundtrack and a slow, swirling and moody Garden, one of the underrated gems from Ten. Ben Harper joined the band for Red Mosquito and a stellar duet with Vedder on the meditative and soulful Indifference. With Jeff Ament on upright bass and Boom Gaspar on keyboards, it was a beautifully rendered reprieve from the more bombastic moments of the show.

The one slight disappointment of the show was Vedder’s hoarse voice, which worsened in the back quarter of the set and meant they had to ditch the planned second encore of Daughter, Alive, Better Man and Once. They instead opted for a trio of covers with Liam Finn returning to the stage for Hunters & Collectors’ Throw Your Arms Around Me, Victoria Williams’ Crazy Mary and closing the show with Neil Young’s anthemic Rockin’ In A Free World.

Once again Pearl Jam didn’t disappoint their biggest fan base outside the USA. Even with some of their best known songs being replaced at the end of the set, it was a highly entertaining show with a few surprises thrown into the mix.

Aside from the pitiful light show, they showed they can fill a stadium and reach out to all corners, embracing their fans rather than just performing to them. Pearl Jam proved they are still a vital and compelling live rock band, still in the game with nothing to prove, but still wanting to.