The concert Eddie Vedder called “one of the greatest ever”
Every band will have to go through a discussion of hanging it up at some point. No artist is meant to ascend into the musical heavens from the stage, so it’s healthy to realise when it’s time to bow out gracefully or if they still have something creative left in the tank. While Pearl Jam hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down on their studio output, Eddie Vedder admitted that The Band set a high bar for live performance with their farewell concert, The Last Waltz.
Then again, The Band didn’t really need to break up when they did. They were still among one of the greatest Americana acts despite being 80% Canadian, and their ability to work off each other as a group was still rock solid. Still, there had come a point where they had reached the end of the line, and it turned out that Martin Scorsese was the perfect choice to document their final show.
While the idea of inviting everyone for one last ride through your classics sounds bittersweet, no one would know it for the footage. Compared to other artists who have their physical health catch up with them before they take in the moment, The Last Waltz seems to represent a giant jam session amongst friends rather than something too serious.
Even the guest appearances have their own charm to them. This is definitely The Band’s moment to shine, but having Neil Young and Eric Clapton turn up wasn’t a case of them trying to outshine their musical brethren. If anything, it was a tip of the hat to the group for the inspiration over the years, with ‘Slowhand’ in particular saying that he had wanted to ditch Cream if it meant performing with them.
Vedder certainly has a much more intense approach to the stage than Robbie Robertson had, but when talking about the group getting old and playing their 20th-anniversary show, he still felt The Band raised the bar for them, saying, “It’ll probably all come together last minute. I don’t want to make it seem like any crazy, big deal. It should just be a natural thing. The Last Waltz is great, one of the greatest things ever, but it had that impact because it was the last gig.”
That rustic Americana sound might not be immediately evident in Pearl Jam’s work, but Vedder does have more than a few tricks up his sleeve in his solo career. Listening to his laid-back album Ukulele Songs, Vedder developed that same tender-hearted taste for songwriting, almost like Robertson’s work is offsetting his neverending infatuation with Pete Townshend.
And Vedder has to be thinking about when Pearl Jam will give their final wave goodbye. As of late, he thought that there were only a few more records left in the group, so perhaps a final gig on the same level as The Last Waltz could be in the works in the future, no doubt directed by the group’s longtime friend, Cameron Crowe.
But that’s a far-off dream at this point, and Pearl Jam simply isn’t at that stage where they’ve said all they wanted to see. Each record has been their attempt to outdo what they had already done, and with each new song, Vedder is still aiming to be the best frontman that he can be.
