June 12, 2008 Tampa, FL
PEARL JAM
It was a fabulous show. Pearl Jam came to the St. Pete Times Forum a couple of months ago and played with conviction, passion, a collective enthusiasm and, at just the right moments, a sense of fun.
That show is available via PJ's Bootleg 2008 program, which makes each concert available in its entirety in three formats: double CD ($16.98, which comes in a cardboard slipcase made of recycled materials), mp3 ($9.99) and FLAC (a higher quality download, $14.99). The sound, while not blessed with the quality of an officially released live album, is more than adequate — about on par with a very good board tape.
So the question becomes: The show was great? Is the recording?
In a word: Yes.
While June 12, 2008 Tampa, FL, the CD (in my case), can't possibly duplicate the being-there experience, it's a valuable memento that effectively confirms what I already knew: PJ brought its A-game. (The disc also allows for repeated and detailed listening obviously not possible in real-time.)
I've heard dozens of board tapes and am routinely surprised at how the vocals, which can sound so good from the audience, are flawed, sometimes noticeably off key. So it's fairly remarkable that Eddie Vedder stays so consistently in the pocket (except for the very occasional flub-up) and deftly works the continuum between controlled and unhinged. I've said this more than once: Vedder's the rock best singer of his generation, and this concert document only bolsters that point.
And, at 23 songs, Tampa, FL, is a reminder of just how deep and rich the Pearl Jam catalog is.
Highlights? Pretty much all of it. 4 stars —Eric Snider
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Nudge It up a Notch
STEVE CROPPER & FELIX CAVALIERE
(Stax)
A dream meeting on paper. Cropper — house guitarist, engineer and A&R man for Stax Records in its heyday — mans his axe. Cavaliere, titan of blue-eyed soul as the lead singer of the Rascals, takes the mic and keyboards. Add bass and drums, stir and presto — instantly classic pop-R&B. Well, yes and no. The first three tunes are tremendous — sublime blue-eyed soul that could've made the grade when the Rascals reigned in the '60s. They range from the slinky funk of "One of Those Days" to the luminescent bounce of "Without You." Cavaliere has not lost the innate soulfulness, the pleading quality, which made his bones four decades ago. Cropper is, as always, a consummate rhythm guitarist. Then comes a riffy instrumental, "Full Moon Tonight" and we're reminded why Cropper never forged a rep as a lead guitarist. Five vocal tracks and three instrumentals ensue. The vocal tunes range from solid ("Impossible") to dreadful ("Make the Time Go Faster," featuring an extremely ill-advised rap by Cavaliere), while the instrumentals all struggle to get out of neutral. 3 stars —ES
Donkey
CSS
(Sub Pop)
"If you are my friend, you can sharpen my things with your teeth," chirps CSS frontwoman Lovefoxxx on the dirty synth dance number "Let's Reggae All Night." Is the lyric gibberish? A sly sexual innuendo? Who knows? Ultimately, it's one of those lines that's impossible to define but nonetheless grabs your attention. Donkey is full of 'em. ("Kiss you in the photo booth/ Duct tape you to my roof," goes the chorus to "Believe/Achieve.") That's what keeps CSS, a quintet from São Paulo, Brazil, afloat in the flooded field of retro electro-pop, a genre reliant on incessant, lo-fi plastic rhythms that purposely recall early MTV-era post-punk. CSS became critics' darlings two summers ago with its full-length debut Cansei de Ser Sexy (Portuguese for "Tired of Being Sexy"). Donkey plays like a formulaic sequel, but, y'know, with a fresh batch of memorable lines. 3 stars —Wade Tatangelo
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2008.