Aaron Polk has been in a lot of bands. Now, he resurrects them.

Here is what happened when I went to hear Alive: A Tribute to Pearl Jam.

The show opened with a band called Sky Chief. They were six guys dressed like Boston Tea Party Indians, and one guy in a Pittsburgh Pirates hat (this was before they traded Freddy Sanchez). Anyway, the band was psychedelic, yet driven. Hence their “high rank…”

After Sky Chief was done, Polk’s Pearl Jam squad took the stage. (His band members vary with the set.)

The plaid-wearing guitar guy talked first. “Hey!” he said. “Who’s drunk?!”

About eight people cheered, and they were all lying, except for one dude who’d had too much Zyrtec.

Guitar guy cut to the chase. “Look,” he said, “we’re waiting on two people who are taking a piss.”

Sweet, I thought. I like a band that is prepared.

I didn’t know how prepared they were, though, until I heard them play. Alive started with “Animal,” and you could tell they were interested in doing Pearl Jam justice, and not remaking it with a salsa beat. I immediately started dancing like an idiot. (It’s the only way I know.)

Next was “World Wide Suicide.” The band did not juggle fruit … but they did rock!

OK, OK. The rest of the set went like this. (If you’re not singing just from reading the titles, you have no soul…)

1. •“Even Flow”
   

2. •“State of Love and Trust”
   

3. •“Dissident”
   

4. •“Better Man”
   

5. •“Alive”
   

6. •“Why Go”
   

7. •“Porch”
   

At this point, the band paused to make a special announcement for one of the guys at the show. “Hey,” they said. “It’s some dude’s birthday.”

So I bought some dude a drink. He seemed confused.

1. •“Daughter”
   

2. •“Given to Fly”
   

3. •“Garden”
   

4. •“Jeremy” (I think some people thought a radio was on…)
   

5. •“Once”
   

6. •“Corduroy”
   

7. •“Leash”
   

8. •“Rearviewmirror”
   

And after that, I lost track. But it sounded awesome, ’cause I was making out with a cute guy. Songs always sound awesome when you are making out with a cute guy.

Regardless of what song Alive was playing, however, the band was, well, alive! Aaron Polk showed that he could open the Eddie Vedder School of Interpretive Dance. And the drummer started the show a round sorta guy, but he left looking like Ed Norton.

Alive sounded like Pearl Jam, but they also had a lot of fun. So “Alive” was a really fitting name for this Pearl Jam band.1

One thing Alive did to really cement the experience was the “WMA reprise.” Polk made sure to start singing “WMA” during the ends of instrumental solos. And while I never would have expected it, “WMA” sounded great with “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer!” 2

Seriously, though – I am about to get all My So-Called Life on this column, because I realized during the Alive show that I had never before heard any of these songs live.

Like, I grew up being crazy about Pearl Jam. Vs. was the first CD I ever owned (a present for my fifteenth birthday).

While my junior high/high school years were great for music, they were bad for freedom. My parents were unlikely to let me go to the mailbox, let alone a concert. My idea of rebelling was sneaking into the basement to watch MTV’s 120 Minutes!

So, while this was Alive in concert, it was still my first chance to belt Pearl Jam tunes in a public place where I should NOT have been singing. The guys in the control booth in front of me sought medical attention over it.

Aaron Polk and company perform again on August 20 with their own take on Smashing Pumpkins. Go, and wear the ZERO!

1 “Black” would not have been a fitting name.