Pearl Jam and Kings of Leon June 11 at Cruzan Amphitheatre
The first thing I did after getting home from this concert that kicked off Pearl Jam's summer tour was log on to Pearljam.com and buy the CDs of the show. The band was outstanding, displaying all the raw muscle for which it has become known. But despite scorching versions of classics such as "Glorified G" and "Dissident" (as well as great live rarities such as "Who You Are" and "Low Light"), it was the muted encore, featuring Eddie Vedder solo on acoustic guitar singing his heartfelt antiwar tune "No More War" that really stayed with me. Of course, right after that, the band slammed home a smoking version of "Alive," followed by "Yellow Ledbetter" and the Jimi Hendrix version of "The Star Spangled Banner." So while we got a little teary with acoustic Eddie, we left riding high. And those CDs have barely left my home CD changer since I giddily pulled them from the mailbox. (Dan Sweeney)
