Pearl Jam, headed to MSG, is still important

Then there was one.

That golden age of grunge is gone, along with two of its biggest stars, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Alice in Chains' Layne Staley. But one band from the era is doing just fine. To prove it, Pearl Jam is playing two nights at Madison Square Garden.

The group, known for its '90s anthems as much for its fights with MTV and Ticketmaster, released the well-received and rocking-as-ever "Backspacer" album - the Seattle band's ninth - last fall.

So let's welcome the band - singer Eddie Vedder, guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, bassist Jeff Ament and drummer Matt Cameron - to its last American shows before heading to Europe. Dust off your old flannel and take a look at why Pearl Jam is still important: 

1. Tree lovers

In March, the group donated $210,000 to the Cascade Land Conservancy to offset carbon emissions from the group's 2009 tour. The money will plant 33 acres in the Puget Sound area with native foliage. 

2. Eddie is Team CoCo

Not only was Pearl Jam the first musical guest on his short-lived "Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien," but at the April 19 Seattle stop of CoCo's Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour, Vedder serenaded the funnyman for his 47th birthday. Included in the three-song set, Vedder played ukulele on John Lennon's "Oh Yoko," changing the words to "Oh CoCo." 

3. Sharing is caring

PJ has been offering official bootlegs of its shows for years, but a few weeks ago, Pearl Jam Radio launched at pearljam.com. You can listen to a stream of rare live and studio tracks - and purchase the songs if you like what you hear. 

4. On the "Fringe"

Guitarist Mike McCready composed the score to a recent episode of Fox's sci-fi show "Fringe." The episode, "Northwest Passage," aired May 6 and was shot, of course, in the Pacific Northwest. "It was a good coincidence," McCready told Entertainment Weekly.

5. Soapbox Eddie

Before letting loose with its early anthem, "Daughter," Vedder took a few seconds at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on May 1 to let British Petroleum have it. "Send your sons and daughters, BP, to clean up your -- mess," he told the crowd. 

WHO Pearl Jam

WHEN | WHERE 7:30 Thursday and Friday night, Madison Square Garden

INFO $79 through Ticketmaster, 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com, or choose your seat on the secondary market here.

SETLIST

Pearl Jam is constantly changing its sets; here's what the band played in Hartford, Conn., on May 15:

"Unthought Known"

"Corduroy"

"Do the Evolution"

"Got Some"

"Severed Hand"

"Dissident"

"Low Light"

"Amongst the Waves"

"Even Flow"

"Nothingman"

"Johnny Guitar"

"I Got Id"

"Jeremy"

"Daughter / W.M.A."

"Satan's Bed"

"Lukin"

"Gonna See My Friend"

ENCORE 1

"Just Breathe"

"Speed of Sound"

"State of Love and Trust"

"Ain't Talkin 'Bout Love"

"Porch"

ENCORE 2

"The Fixer"

"Crazy Mary"

"Alive"

"Indifference"

"All Along the Watchtower"

What critics say

"Vedder's performance reaffirmed the claim made by the band's most recent album, 'Backspacer': that the Seattle statesmen are ready to seethe and snarl and stomp like it's the Clinton years all over again."

- Chris Richards, Washington Post

"You never got the impression that he [Vedder] and his bandmates were merely going through the motions, not even when they revisited 'Corduroy,' 'Even Flow,' 'Daughter' and other calling-card numbers for the umpteenth time."

- John Soeder, The Plain Dealer

"The thrills came early and often. After getting their bearings with the opening cover of The Byrds' 'So You Want to Be a Rock 'n Roll Star' . . . they beefed up a raging 'Even Flow' with bonus guitar solos."

- Keith Spera, The Times-Picayune