Pearl Jam announced Monday it will headline its 20th anniversary concerts Sept. 3-4 at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wis.

Also scheduled to perform are the Strokes, Queens of the Stone Age, Mudhoney, John Doe, Joseph Arthur, Glen Hansard and Liam Finn. All bands are to play both days.

Tickets ($89 reserved, $50 lawn, plus parking and service fees) go on sale May 23 for fans in Pearl Jam’s Ten Club and at 10 a.m. June 4 to the general public. Tickets will be available at the Alpine Valley box office and through Ticketmaster. More information is available at www.pj20.com.

For more on Pearl Jam's 20th anniversary: an interview with Eddie Vedder HERE.

greg@gregkot.com

 

Pearl Jam is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with a flourish: a Cameron Crowe-directed documentary; reissues of its 1993 and ’94 albums “Vs.” and “Vitalogy”; and a forthcoming festival at an as-yet-unannounced location. 

In addition, the band is in the midst of recording sessions for a new studio album, and some members are still neck-deep in side projects – at least one involving a ukulele, of all things. That would belong to singer Eddie Vedder, whose “Ukulele Songs” solo album is due out May 31. A solo tour brings him to the Chicago Theatre on June 28-29.

"I’ve been writing and collecting songs on the ukulele for at least 10 years, so it was time to clear them out of the apartment building and make room for some new occupants,” Vedder says. “I need to make room for the bassoon record.”

Eddie Vedder on ukulele? The Pearl Jam singer has long been a devotee of an instrument that ranks pretty far down on the list of iconic rock ‘n’ roll axes. Now he’s committing his ukulele songs – both originals and covers – to a solo album and tour, which will bring him June 28 to the Chicago Theatre.

Tickets ($78) will go on sale at noon April 1 at the Chicago Theatre box office and Ticketmaster. Irish singer Glen Hansard of the Swell Season and the Frames will join Vedder on the tour.

Vedder’s “Ukulele Songs” solo album will be released May 31; the first single, “Longing to Belong,” is available digitally.

Here is the entire itinerary for Vedder’s solo tour:

June 15 Providence, RI: Providence Performing Arts Center
June 16 Boston: Wang Theatre
June 18 Hartford, CT: The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
June 21 New York: Beacon Theatre
June 22 New York: Beacon Theatre
June 25 Philadelphia: Tower Theatre
June 26 Detroit: Fox Theatre
June 28 Chicago: Chicago Theatre
July 1 St. Louis: Fox Theatre
July 2 Minneapolis: Orpheum Theatre
July 5 San Diego: Copley Symphony Hall
July 6 Long Beach, CA: Terrace Theater
July 8 Los Angeles: The Wiltern
July 9 Santa Barbara, CA.: Santa Barbara Bowl
July 11 Oakland: Paramount Theatre
July 14 Portland: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
July 15 Seattle: Benaroya Hall

greg@gregkot.com
 

Lady Gaga, who is rumored to be a headliner at Lollapalooza 2010, performs in Rosemont on January 8. (Tribune photo by Chris Sweda)

The Lollapalooza rumor mill has been buzzing for weeks, and five of the six headliners are nearing confirmation for the Aug. 6-8 festival in Grant Park, according to music-industry sources with knowledge of the negotiations: Lady Gaga, a reunited Soundgarden, Green Day, Arcade Fire and the Strokes.

Gaga, Soundgarden and Green Day were named Tuesday by the Daily Swarm, a music Web site that cited “multiple industry sources” in its report.

The Tribune has learned from its own sources that negotiations are progressing with Arcade Fire and the Strokes. The Lollapalooza lineup also will include several coveted rising bands, including Yeasayer, the xx, and Dirty Projectors, as well as veteran dance-oriented acts Cut Copy and Hot Chip, sources have confirmed.

A representative for Texas-based Lollapalooza promoters C3 Presents would not comment on any of the reports.

Gaga’s appearance wouldn’t be a big surprise, given that she first played the festival in 2007 as a virtually unknown side-stage act. She is represented by the powerful William Morris agency, whose Marc Geiger partners with C3 in presenting the annual lakefront festival.

Soundgarden’s reunion has been in the works since last year, and was confirmed Jan. 1 when singer Chris Cornell announced that “the 12-year break is over and school is back in session.” The band’s live appearances are complicated by drummer Matt Cameron’s ongoing membership in Pearl Jam; to play Lollapalooza and other tour dates, Cameron needed a “hall pass,” as one industry official called it, from Pearl Jam so he could play with Soundgarden.

Arcade Fire is expected to have a new album out this year, and played a triumphant, sun-baked set at the inaugural Grant Park Lollapalooza in 2005.

The Strokes have not toured since 2006, and singer Julian Casablancas recently released his first solo album. But the band also is working on its fourth studio album, and has already booked a couple of European festival dates.

greg@gregkot.com

Related:

Lollapalooza 2009 photos

Lady Gaga in Chicago

2010 Pitchfork lineup news

  Rating: 3 stars (out of 4)

Pearl Jam, a band known more for bombast than brevity, plays it tight, short and fast on its ninth studio album, “Backspacer” (Monkeywrench), out Tuesday. The Seattle quintet’s first self-released album after nearly two decades on major labels, it blows through 11 songs in an uncharacteristically terse 37 minutes.

Not that anyone will mistake Pearl Jam for a punk band; the group made its millions by draping a flannel shirt and heavily introspective lyrics over slow-build, lighter-waving rock straight out of the “Quadrophenia” era, back when bands like The Who and Thin Lizzy roamed the hockey rinks of the world. But the taut songwriting on “Backspacer” is a bracing reminder of a less-celebrated facet of Pearl Jam’s personality, the step-on-it-and-go attack of “Spin the Black Circle,” “Lukin” or “Do the Evolution.”

The defining thread in Pearl Jam’s songs since its 1991 debut is less sonic than spiritual; a question of heart rather than sound. They aren’t innovators so much as torch-bearers, five believers who think it’s still the classic-rock era. For their fans, it might just be.
       
After a trilogy of early grunge landmarks beginning with “Ten,” the quintet followed with three diverse but unfocused albums, as if uncertain about direction. The George W. Bush presidency got the motor revving again, and produced two pretty good, overtly political albums:  “Riot Act” (2002) and “Pearl Jam” (2006).

The back story on “Backspacer” was dominated by its delivery method. After leaving the majors, the band decided to self-release it by partnering with Target, a major chain store. The move had some fans howling “sell-out,” though the band’s first eight albums were also overseen by multinational businesses.
       
As if to demonstrate that corporate tie-ins haven’t made it grow soft, Pearl Jam knocked out “Backspacer” in no-fuss fashion with producer Brendan O’Brien. Only “Amongst the Waves” and “Unthought Unknown” aspire to join Pearl Jam flag-wavers like “Alive” or “Love Boat Captain,” and “Force of Nature” sounds like a stolidly unremarkable outtake from one of their late ‘90s albums.
       
Otherwise, the album’s tone is set by four quick opening shots to the dome: “Gonna See My Friend,” “Got Some,” “The Fixer” and “Johnny Guitar.” Matt Cameron’s drumming is the main attraction, his fills arriving at just the right instant to keep the songs rocketing along. The guitars are a thick tangle, with solos briefly shaking loose and Vedder singing like he’s cornered.
       
Music is the drug of choice. In “Friend,” a junkie looks to get clean. In “Fixer,” the dealer is a problem-solver rather than a pariah. Later, “Supersonic” offers a panacea for anyone strung out on life: “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Vedder yelps, which is exactly as profound as he needs to be.
       
Three slower, more introspective songs give the rockers context. “Speed of Sound” is sung from the perspective of a lonely barfly. “Just Breathe” is an acoustic ballad flavored with subtle strings and intimations of mortality: “Hold me till I die/Meet you on the other side.”
       
On “The End,” Vedder mines vulnerability by singing tenderly at the top of his range. “I’m here, but not much longer.” The bittersweet tone isn’t tragic. On the contrary, it’s a gentle reminder to enjoy the moment. And when the chorus of a vibrant new rocker such as “The Fixer” or “Supersonic” sweeps in, Pearl Jam does exactly that.

    greg@gregkot.com
       
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   Eddie Vedder has a way of telescoping even sprawling stadium shows into intimate moments. At Pearl Jam’s sold-out concert Sunday at the United Center, Vedder opened the second encore alone on stage with a guitar and a story.

    He related how as a 6-year-old growing up in suburban Evanston he would listen to his older siblings play records in the basement. One band in particular fascinated him – the Jackson 5. “The lead singer was only three or four years older than me,” he said, and then delivered a haunting, finger-picked version of Neil Young’s “The Needle and the Damage Done” in tribute to the late Michael Jackson.

    In a career-spanning 27-song, 2 ½-hour set, Vedder took fans from his childhood to the future, introducing three songs from the band’s forthcoming studio album, “Backspacer.” The album opens a new chapter in Pearl Jam’s career, its first independent release at a time when the music industry is racked by economic woes.

    Perhaps for that reason the band played like something more was at stake than just another sold-out concert in a career full of them. In the past, there were times when Pearl Jam’s arena-rock obsessions got the best of it; long solos and flabby improvisation aren’t the band’s strong suit. At the United Center, the Seattle quintet sprinkled its set with references to Led Zeppelin (the guitar riffs in “Given to Fly” and “In Hiding”) and The Who (overwrought covers of not one but two songs from Vedder’s sacred text, “Quadrophenia”).

    But these moments were tips of the hat to the setting, a chance for the audience to sing along. The bulk of the concert was devoted to terse, tactile assaults built on a bed of as many as three rhythm guitars. After the moody invitation to explore, “Long Road,” the tone was set emphatically by “Corduroy,” “Why Go” and the tangled guitars of Stone Gossard and Mike McCready on “God’s Dice.”

    Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament frequently huddled in front of Matt Cameron’s drum riser, as if to ensure that the rhythm would stay hard, fast and sure. Vedder punctuated the attack with leaping spins, his right hand a blur as he pummeled his guitar. His rafter-climbing days may be over, but he didn’t so much sing the songs as detonate them. The new material fit the evening’s urgent mode.

    Pearl Jam's earliest songs were embittered confessions, informed by confusion and anger. Their latest are declarations of resolve. As Vedder sang in “The Fixer,” “When something’s gone, I wanna fight to get it back again.” Sunday night was the sound of Pearl Jam getting back in the ring.    

    greg@gregkot.com

Pearl Jam set list Sunday at the United Center

1 Long Road
2 Corduroy
3 Why Go
4 God’s Dice
5 Dissident
6 Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
7 Sad
8 The Fixer
9 Given to Fly
10 Happy Birthday/Come Back
11 Even Flow
12 Save You
13 In Hiding
14 Man of the Hour
15 Insignificance
16 Got Some
17 Spin the Black Circle

First Encore
18 Love Reign O’er Me (Who cover)
19 Life Wasted
20 The Real Me (Who cover)
21 Alive

Second Encore
22 The Needle and the Damage Done (Neil Young cover)
23 Rats
24 Supersonic
25 Smile
26 Rearviewmirror
27 Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner

Photo: Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam perform at the United Center. Tribune photo by Anthony Robert La Penna.

Sponsored Link: Amazon's Pearl Jam Store

    Pearl Jam --- they will not be ignored. The Seattle quintet picked the biggest possible stage, the debut Monday of Conan O’Brien’s “Tonight Show,” to introduce a new song from their forthcoming album, “Backspacer.”

    The band did its best through most of the ‘90s to shrink from public view by boycotting Ticketmaster, refusing to make videos for MTV and declining most attempts to interview them at the height of their popularity. Celebrity and fame – it wasn’t for them, or so they suggested by playing the reluctant, media-shy rock stars.

    But Vedder and company were in full-on, look-at-us rock mode for O’Brien’s big night, part of a broader strategy that also includes (gulp) a television commercial for mega-retailer Target.

    The “Tonight Show” host gushed about “one of the greatest rock bands in the world,” and the grunge-era veterans delivered with a big, fast-paced rocker, ‘Got Some.”

    The highlights: the fat bass line laid down by Jeff Ament as a foundation for guitarists Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, plus the quick-but-explosive drum break by Matt Cameron. Vedder, a bit raspy and marble-mouthed, sang with typical passion but not much clarity. “Got some if you need it.” If nothing else, they sounded hungry and hard.

    Pearl Jam is making a ton of news this week. Manager Kelly Curtis told Billboard that the band will not be releasing “Backspacer” through traditional record-company channels in the fall. Instead it will partner with Target as an exclusive retail outlet –  though that doesn’t necessarily mean the album won’t be available in the independent record stores the band has long championed. As Curtis told Billboard:  “We wish we could tell the whole story right now, but all the deals aren't done. Target was cool enough to realize that little independent record stores are not their competition."

    In addition, the band filmed a Target commercial with director Cameron Crowe, a shocking development given the band’s longtime stance against such corporate tie-ins. But then, as Curtis pointed out, the band had been signed to one of the world’s biggest corporations, Sony, for 18 years. Still, it’s sad that the sorry state of the record business has pushed an increasing number of bands into the arms of marketing agencies that turn songs into ad slogans.

    greg@gregkot.com

Did you watch? Take our poll to rate Conan's performance. View a photo gallery of Conan through the years.

Amazon's Pearl Jam Store

    Pearl Jam added two summer North American concerts to its schedule Monday, one of which will be Aug. 23 at the United Center.

        Tickets ($68) for the show go on sale at 11 a.m. Saturday through the United Center box office and Ticketmaster. The Seattle quintet will also play Aug. 21 in Toronto.

       There is also a pre-sale for current members of Pearl Jam's Ten Club at www.pearljam.com.

       Pearl Jam last played Chicago in 2007, when it headlined Lollapalooza, a show memorable for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that remarks by singer Eddie Vedder criticizing then-President George Bush were deleted from a webcast of the performance. Promoters later said the censorship by webcaster AT&T was a “mistake.”

       The band’s only other summer concert dates are festival dates in San Francisco and Austin, Texas.

           greg@gregkot.com

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