Eddie Veder and Pearl Jam

Live in The Point Depot Dublin, June 1, 2000

Returning to the Point Theatre on June 1st for their first gig in Ireland in almost four years Pearl Jam's lead singer Eddie Veder reminded us they had made two albums since they last visited the Emerald Isle. "That's what we did", added Veder, "how 'bout you? What did you do? You all grew up. You all became a bunch of thieves. You broke out of prison just so you could come here. Now you have a taste of freedom ... here's to your new found freedom." His cheek surfaced again when dedicating "Off He Goes" to the music scene in Donegal. All six of them. (see note ** below)

The show started off in a strong but somber mood with "Sometimes". The band then picked up the tempo with "Breakerfall" and "Grievance" from their new album 'Binaural'. Throughout the concert the band provided a nice mix of songs from all six of their albums. The packed crowd at the Point kept the energy flowing, especially on songs like "Alive" and "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town." Ed treated the crowd to a nice little anecdote just before the end of their set. To sum it up, Veder once told a very long story to his friend. After a while his friend interrupted and asked, "So what's the point?" That's when Veder replied, "It's a great place to play in Dublin". Sounds like some of that Irish wit rubbed off on him.

At the start of the encore Veder told the crowd, "If you're not goin', we're not going". And they certainly didn't go anywhere for a while. They treated the crowd to a rare performance of "Garden" from their debut album 'Ten'. The group then concluded the night with "Black", another classic song from 'Ten', while Eddie Veder treated the crowd to some stage diving to add a a fantastic finish to a great concert.

James Healy

** Editor's Note: In July 2002 CLUAS got an email from a Pearl Jam fan ('Kearnsey') which provided the following explanation behind Eddie Veder's comment regarding the Donegal Music scene: "Before the show Eddie came out in to the crowd with a hooded top, but no one regonised him except about 6 fans from Donegal. He spoke with them for a while and when he was leaving he asked them would they like to make a request. They chose 'Off he goes' which he dedicated to them during the concert."