I went to the Pearl Jam gig in Berlin. It happened in a parc called Wuhlheide in the Kindl-Bühne. Apparently the venue has a capacity of 17000 people.
And it was good indeed! The first thing that got my attention is that Pearl Jam played songs from Riot Act (Save You, Green Disease) which they didn’t do in Antwerpen. Or maybe I missed something in the excitement. Also, Eddie gave two speeches read from paper in German: one was about the good weather, which was just unnaturally perfect; and one was for his friend from the Ramones, to which he dedicated a song.
The crowd was great. As expected: much better than in Belgium! More bouncing and shaking, more singing like it should.. Eddie actually said the public in Wuhlheide was better than the Italians. It’s on tape, go check it out!
About the venue: I was stunned seeing it! The only thing that could get organized better is the entrance, but for the rest, once inside you have everything. You got also lots of space and free toilets (you can donate 20 cents, which I did). Vegetarian food too, and fruit. Lots of beer of course with the typical German way of asking like 1 EUR so you give your plastic cup back (keeps it clean!).
Great night for me. Seeing the crowd from a top of the arena go along on Daughter.. it’s quite an experience indeed. Pearl Jam is the best rock band there is right now (don’t try to discuss it!). No commercials, no big news about it and all concerts sold out in a few minutes. It’s quite spectacular that a low profile band just gets it done every time and keeps it simple in their sets.
Lets hope for a next tour in Europe!