LaLibre.be has published a review of Pearl Jam and Jack White’s performances at the Rock Werchter festival on Saturday. The review had criticism and praise for White and Pearl Jam. Below are translated excerpts, note that the verbiage might be slightly off since it’s a translation.
The Jack White concert did not start under the best auspices for the press photographers, embarrassed in their work because pushed away from the stage by the organization.
Grimed white makeup, a bit of Robert Smith’s haircut, dressed like an old Blink fan, Jack White has become overweight with the years – he may have wanted to hide it – but he has nothing lost of his grinta on stage. What a show saturated with energy the guy from Detroit gave.
There was the sweetest ( “The Same Boy You’ve Always Known”), the song dedicated to Trump ( “Icky Thump” ), but the audience nevertheless spent their time doing headbanging on “Hardest Button To Button “, ” I’m Slowly Turning into You ” and the best (subjectively) ” Ball and Biscuit ” without forgetting of course ” Seven Nation Army ” to finish.
The article also reviewed Pearl Jam’s performance.
Criticizing the Pearl Jam concert is not easy because there are complicated feelings to explain. Their show managed to make thousands of people jiggle, but the performance did not touch us.
Yet, with 25 years of experience on stage, the big machine that is the mythical group from Seattle gave everything for nearly two hours as if it was the last show.
It also stated:
He was unleashed on most titles: “Black” , “Porch” , “Wishlist” to name a few. The proof of his fitness here …
Eddie Vedder was happy to be there ” at the best festival in the world” . He repeated it many times, even preparing a message on a piece of paper he read in Dutch.
To bring light “in the face of growing darkness “, this former opponent of George W. Bush, proposed to record a small video for Donald Trump. Three weeks ago, he had already sung “Fuck you” to the US president after the scandal of the separation of migrant families.
This concert did not carry us because Pearl Jam never made us really vibrate, unlike the soundtrack of the film Into The Wild composed by the same Eddie Vedder we have long listened to.
Saturday night, we had a thought for our fathers who, during trips by car, we sometimes listen with a cheerful and nostalgic old CD of their youth. We are often sorry to have to tell them “it’s nice but I do not stick” . Question of generation or sensitivity?
