Pearl Jam mock Britney Spears

WAtoday.com.au

IN SYNCH: Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder.

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Pearl Jam kicked off their Australian tour with a slick performance in Perth which gave the crowd a taste of the band's newest offerings whilst rocking out all the old favourites.

The week after Britney Spears started her Australian tour at the Burswood Dome with a concert big on lip synching and short on audience interaction, Eddie Vedder demonstrated just how a real, charismatic and talented musician conducts a gig.

Vedder, referring to the Spears controversy, jokingly told the 30,000 strong crowd at Member's Equity Stadium last night that he would also be lip-synching - and according to the new rules being looked at where musicians would have to make audiences aware of any such illusions, he would do the right thing and confess this to the fans.

But rather than pretending to sing so that he could rock some dance moves and perform multiple costume changes, Vedder joked he'd be lip-synching so he could down some good wine and have a smoke.

It turned out the only time Vedder's lips moved without producing the strong and sexy vocals that have helped make Pearl Jam one of the biggest bands in the world, was when he turned the microphone towards the crowd and let them take over the singing of the much-loved band's old classics, like Daughter, Alive and Better Man.

Vedder, who spent Friday night hanging out at the Hyde Park Hotel, told the crowd that Perth's local music scene was amazing, naming bands Cal Peck and The Trams and The Fags ones to watch.

He said Western Australia was among the band's favourite stops, with other band members tackling the waves at Scarborough Beach before the gig.

Introducing the latest hit, The Fixer, Vedder dedicated the tune to Luc Longley, who Vedder joined in 2003 to campaign to save Ningaloo Reef.

Vedder, whose latest activism centres on the closure of Guantanamo Bay, congratulated Western Australia on making the right decision for the environment.

It was a night to remember, with the band playing an almost two-and-a-half hour set that impressed the long term fans who loved every minute of it.

Walking into the stadium was like going back in time, with bad 90's fashion everywhere.  It was as though 1996 exploded inside, with ugg boots, double denim outfits, mullets and plenty more best left back in the decade where the band really went off coming out to play.

Supports Ben Harper and Liam Finn returned to the stage for fabulous performances alongside Vedder.

Pearl Jam remain a class act, showing off new album Backspacer and the tunes that were some of the 90's biggest smash hits.