Written by DCist Contributor E.K. Eckert.

DCist’s angst-ridden inner teenager was summoned last night to the Verizon Center to party with the only grunge band from the mid-90s to have managed to avoid heroin overdoses and general disintegration. Pearl Jam, in short, rocked. Opening with “Release,” an atmospheric track off their first album Ten, Eddie Vedder’s iconic voice soared through the indoor stadium and never sounded better.

After such a soothing opening, they jumped right into two harder, more punk-inspired songs off their new self-titled album, Pearl Jam, “World Wide Suicide” and “Severed Hand.” Both songs were delivered with a gusto that we rarely see in bands half their age. DCist’s only complaints at this point was the distracting and anachronistic laser show that was a little too mid-90s pseudo futuristic movie-esque (think Hackers). However, much to our pleasure, the light show was toned down as the band moved into some of their more well-known songs, including an excellent “Corduroy,” and an intense rendition of “Animal.”

Having a fan following that apparently rivals that of the Grateful Dead, Pearl Jam utilized effectively its audience. In such songs as “Do the Evolution,” just about the entire floor audience (i.e., the fan club seats) raised up their arms and eerily chanted at specific points in the song. We hear that U2’s shows are a near-religious experience, but to the average, unsophisticated Pearl Jam fan, this seemed almost cult-like…and we liked it.