[REVIEW] Pearl Jam Twenty Festival in Alpine Valley

 The rolling pastures of Wisconsin played home to over 30,000 Pearl Jam superfans over Labor Day weekend, where those devoted enough to fly to the middle of nowhere for their favorite band were witness to a historical, unforgettable set of performances from Queens of the Stone Age, The Strokes, Mudhoney, Liam Finn, Glen Hansard and many more – including an extremely rare onstage reunion of Temple of the Dog.

Chris Cornell reunited "Temple Of The Dog"

 While the first night's set leaned heavily on rarities, the Seattle veterans threw Sunday's packed crowd into a frenzy by hitting hard with favorites from the early days -- "Alive," "Even Flow," "Jeremy" and "Black" (all from 1991's "Ten"), 1993's "Daughter" with a special tag of Dead Moon's "It's Ok," -- to post-millennial gems. 2009's "The Fixer" was a crowd riler, and 2002's "Love Boat Captain," a song written after PJ's own concert-death tragedy in 2000, was played "with love and support" for the bands and families affected by the recent stage collapses in Indiana and at Belgium's Pukkelpop festival.

Josh Homme from Queens Of The Stone Age joins Eddie Vedder on stage

Mudhoney and Pearl Jam "Kick Out The Jams"

But the guests spots throughout the three-encore night made it special as well. When else might you catch Chris Cornell turning Pearl Jam into Temple of the Dog and rocking "Reach Down" with a backup choir of Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard, Dhani Harrison, David Garza and Liam Finn? And collaboration had already been afoot earlier as not only did Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Mike McCready play during Joseph Arthur's set and Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme sat in for The Strokes' "New York City Cops," Eddie Vedder dueted during the sets of Liam Finn (singing AND drumming), John Doe (for a sweet version of Doe's "Golden State"),  Glen Hansard ("Falling Slowly") and the Strokes ("Juicebox") in the bright cool sunshine of summer's unofficial last weekend.

Julian Casablancas and Eddie Vedder

Marking 20 years of Pearl Jam, "doesn't make us feel old," frontman Eddie Vedder announced halfway through the night. "It feels like a rebirth, a new beginning." And to prove it, he performed a song he'd somehow written in the mere 14 hours between leaving the stage Saturday and showing up Sunday. The emotional, as-yet-untitled acoustic ballad, seemed to capture Pearl Jam's two decades of hard-earned vitality with lyrics that included, "to be so in love with life as we are now / never thought we could / so glad we made it 'til when it all got good."

[PHOTO & VIDEO] Pearl Jam Twenty Festival in Alpine Valley

Setlist – Night 1:
Release
Arms Aloft (Joe Strummer cover)
Do the Evolution
Got Some
In My Tree
Faithful
Who You Are
Push Me, Pull Me
Setting Forth
Not for You (w/ Julian Casablancas)
In the Moonlight (w/ Josh Homme)
Deep
Help Help
Breath
Education (w/ Liam Finn)
Once
State of Love and Trust (w/ Dhani Harrison)
Better Man
Wasted Reprise
Life Wasted
Encore 1:
Rearviewmirror
Stardog Champion (Mother Love Bone cover) (w/ Chris Cornell)
Say Hello 2 Heaven (w/ Chris Cornell)
Reach Down (w/ Chris Cornell)
Hunger Strike (w/ Chris Cornell)
Love Reign O’er Me (The Who cover)
Porch
Encore 2:
Kick Out the Jams (MC5 cover) (w/ Mudhoney)

Setlist – Night 2:
Wash
The Fixer
Severed Hand
All Night
Given to Fly
Pilate
Love Boat Captain
Habit
Even Flow (w/ Liam Finn)
Daughter/It’s Ok
Leatherman
Red Mosquito (w/ Julian Casablancas)
Satan’s Bed
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town (w/ Dhani Harrison)
Unthought Known
New World (w/ John Doe)
Black
Jeremy
Encore 1:
New Song
Just Breathe
Nothingman
No Way
Smile (w/ Glen Hansard)
Spin the Black Circle
Encore 2:
Hunger Strike (w/ Chris Cornell)
Call Me a Dog (w/ Chris Cornell)
All Night Thing (w/ Chris Cornell)
Reach Down (w/ Chris Cornell)
Sonic Reducer (w/ Mudhoney)
Alive
Rockin in the Free World (Neil Young cover)
Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner

Tags: Alpine Valley, Pearl Jam, PJ20, Review