Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder spoke out against the war in Iraq and in support of troops during the band's North American tour opener in Denver, Col., last week.
Scripps Howard News Service reporter Mark Brown wrote on Wednesday that dozens of angry fans walked out.
The Daily News obtained an audio copy of the show to hear crowd reactions and verify Vedder's statements.
While Vedder related a conversation with a Vietnam veteran who had strong doubts about the war in Iraq, someone in the crowd (though it is not audible on the recording) yelled, "Shut up."
"Did someone just say shut up?" Vedder asked. Boos erupted.
"I don't know if you heard about this thing -- it's called freedom of speech, man. It's worth thinking about it because it's going away. In the last year of being able to use it, we're sure as [expletive] going to use it and I'm not going to apologize," Vedder said to cheers and applause.
During the encore, Vedder said, "Just to clarify ... we support the troops. We're just confused about how wanting to bring them back safely all of a sudden becomes non-support. ... They're not the ones who make the foreign policy. They're just doing their jobs." Again, cheers followed.
A few songs later, Vedder reportedly donned a President Bush mask and performed the anti-Bush song "Bushleaguer." According to Brown, Vedder then "impaled" (mounted) the mask on a microphone stand, swung the stand in the air, smashed it to the stage and stomped on it.
That did happen, but no boos are audible on the recording of the show. Sure, audio can be manipulated -- but quotes can be too.
Although Vedder's opinion and Pearl Jam's performance drew cheers from the crowd of 12,000, Brown chose to write about the angry fans who walked out during the encore, complaining that Vedder went too far.
The reporter managed to quote only two angry fans -- one of which, Keith Zimmerman, has been quoted ad nauseum throughout the media. Brown did not include quotes from fans who had no objections, which from the sound of it was the majority. The band responded promptly.
"There were close to 12,000 people at the April 1 Denver show. It's possible two dozen left during the encore, but it was not noticeable amongst the 11,976 who were loudly applauding and enjoying the evening's music," the band said in a published statement. "It just made a better headline to report otherwise."
Brown did not note that concert-goers often leave during encores just to beat traffic.
Pearl Jam has been political (and obviously liberal) since its debut. Vedder's actions are protected by the First Amendment, regardless of whether he was onstage or not, and regardless of who agrees. The least the reporter could do is be more accurate.
In the band's statement, Pearl Jam pointed out that Brown never mentioned the angry fans in his review of the concert for the Rocky Mountain News entitled "Pearl Jam Show Will Make a Great CD." Pearl Jam has been releasing "bootleg" CDs of every show on its tour.
So don't take our word for it.
If you believe Mr. Brown's story about a mass walkout, perhaps you'll believe his review of the show and listen for yourself.
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