The Pixies and Pearl Jam Tribute Neil Young in Powerful Hyde Park Sets

Written by Sophie Aurélia Young

Photos by Aggie Anthimidou Photography

Friday 8th July saw Pearl Jam play the first of two nights headlining the Old Oak Stage at BST Hyde Park and both they and support act The Pixies included a Neil Young song in their sets.

Pixies:
In the glare of the afternoon sun, the Pixies played a raw and dynamic set comprising a whopping 18 songs as they primed the crowd for headliners Pearl Jam. A fun and energetic performance, their varied set saw them perform crowd-pullers such as “Where Is My Mind?” And “Here Comes Your Man”, as well as fitting covers including “Winterlong” by Neil Young, and The Jesus And Mary Chain’s “Head On”.

The band hasn’t been quite the same since the departure of legendary bassist Kim Deal in 2013, however Argentine-American Paz Lenchantin has auspiciously reinvigorated the band with her first-class bass playing and captivating look. It was great to see these rockers letting their hair down and still playing with vitality and vigour.

 

 

Pearl Jam:
The 90s Grunge legends had the audience in the palm of their hands from the moment frontman Eddie Vedder bounded onto the Great Oak Stage, opening the set with the soulful “Better Man”.

The energy was immense right from the get go, with Jeff Ament holding down the rhythm section with intricate harmonies on his fretless bass, whilst Eddie moved like a ball of fire, free-running off the stage monitors between verses.

Eddie seemed genuinely emotional as he addressed the crowd. Between swigs from a bottle of wine he kept at the front of the stage, there were heartfelt musings and tales of the band’s time in London in the 90s, as well as much deeper comments besmirching gun manufacturers following recent mass shootings in America.

Eddie introduced their sixth song “Quick Escape” with a blunt message: “This song is about leaving the planet and going to Mars because we fucked this one up”. Mike McCready’s guitar riffs were psychedelic with Hendrix-style reverb, complimented by the hypnotic kaleidoscopic imagery projected on either side of the stage. The crowd joined in with the chant of “no future” as they segued into the refrain of “God Save The Queen” by the Sex Pistols.

The sun’s golden hour fell over Hyde Park as the band moved into “Retrograde”, from the critically acclaimed 2020 album “Gigaton”. Vedder had the crowd awestruck, as the song’s powerful lyrics focusing on climate change and crisis of leadership had us completely absorbed.

Exuberance soared through the park as the band began the 1991 superhit “Even Flow”. Vedder ran from each end of the stage to connect with the audience on either side, whilst McCready shredded on his battered Fender behind his head during the bluesy guitar solo. “Daughter” from the album Vs. (1993) and a cover of P.i.L.’s “Public Image” were welcome additions to the set.

The encore commenced with a guest appearance from Simon Townshend (younger brother of The Who guitarist Pete Townshend). He joined Vedder to perform his own song “I’m The Answer”, which Townshend originally released in ’83. Townshend held down the entire song on his 12 string acoustic, whilst his sensitive voice was a perfect contrast to Vedder’s huskier lead vocals.

Jeff Ament brought out his 12 string bass to play the earnest and poignant “Jeremy”. McCready and Ament faced each other, playing in a perfect symphony whilst Vedder performed the majority of the song with his eyes closed as he absorbed himself in the tragic story of “Jeremy”. Vedder stated “I don’t wanna offend anyone who’s seen us in London… or anywhere else… but this is the best crowd we’ve ever had” as the band moved into the seminal “Alive”. The volume at which the audience sang the chorus reminded us all that Pearl Jam truly deserve their place on this stage in front of 65,000 people. McCready’s guitars were impeccable, whilst Vedder still had as much, if not seemingly more energy than he had at the start of the set 2 hours before.

As the night drew to a close, tennis legend John McEnroe joined the BST stage once again (he guested with the Eagles last month) for a cover of Neil Young’s “Keep On Rocking In The Free World”, a song Pearl Jam first covered in 1992. The political yet free-spirited nature of the song was a perfect fit to conclude the night’s proceedings.

Sadly there was one particular song missed off the night’s set list: “Black”, which is in my opinion Pearl Jam’s strongest song. I certainly wasn’t the only one to be disappointed that it was missed off the set, as many audience members called out the song title as the band took their final bows and walked off stage. Nevertheless, Eddie Vedder and company gave us a night to remember, and undeniably left us wanting more…

 

Setlist:
1. Better Man
2. Low Light
3. Breath
4. Mind Your Manners
5. Save You
6. Quick Escape
7. In Hiding
8. Retrograde
9. Light Years
10. Even Flow
11. Unthought Known
12. Daughter / W.M.A
13. Superblood Wolfmoon
14. Given To Fly
15. Public Image
16. Once
17. Porch
18. I’m The Answer (guest: Simon Townshend)
19. Jeremy
20. Indifference
21. Alive
22. Rockin’ In The Free World (guest: John McEnroe)