LAST year the Seattle band Pearl Jam celebrated their 20-year anniversary with the release of the Cameron Crowe directed film Pearl Jam Twenty.

Further to this came the announcement they would kick off their European tour with two shows in Manchester at the MEN Arena, as well as headlining the Saturday night at the Isle of Wight Festival.

Like many, I’d been disappointed to learn that once again the band had chosen to minimise their UK shows. I’ve never been a huge fan, but would have liked the option to see them closer to home at some point.

So, this time I made the effort to make it to the first Manchester gig, hoping it would be worth it.

Tonight’s pre-show buzz and the entrance of Eddie Vedder (vocals), Stone Gossard (guitar), Jeff Ament (bass), Mike McCready (guitar) and Matt Cameron (drums) into the 21,000 capacity arena, clearly defines that Pearl Jam were never really a grunge band.

The reception is huge; the adulation is palpable, as they emerge like the classic rock masters, from whom they draw much of their influence.

Set opener Release from the massive debut album Ten, now one of the highest-selling rock albums of all time, is performed in near darkness, before they launch into Do The Evolution.”

Eddie Vedder is quite sublime in presence, performance and vocal ability.

His appearance is distinguished, his hair a little shorter than in his youth, with facial hair giving him the look of an ageing rock star.

"How are you doing?" he asks, sincerely. "It's a question we ask of you as a collective, but we mean it individually."

The response comes from an audience completely in awe, a notably remarkable bond.

Video screens show the band in grainy black and white, as they rifle through a 150-minute set which covers the breadth of their career.

The Fixer from the latest album Backspacer released 2009, fits in seamlessly with classic tracks like Small Town, Even Flow, Nothingman and main set closer Why Go.

Pilate is played tonight, apparently for the first time in Europe since June 20, 2000, exactly twelve years ago.

And the Buzzcock’s cover Why Can’t I Touch It? is performed for the first time ever.

Vedder may no longer take death-defying stage dives off lighting rigs, but the energy still surges through him and the rest of the band.

The entire performance shows one of the most influential outfits of the 90s, still totally in love with their own music, which in turn clearly means an awful lot to the many thousands of people here tonight.

The band returns for two encores, totalling an additional hour to the main set.

Within this time the audience is treated to, amongst others, the beautiful acoustic Just Breathe, and the outstanding favourite of many Jeremy.

When Vedder acknowledges the recent fatal accident involving Radiohead’s drum tech, you can hear a pin drop.

This is followed by the epic Alive and the classic Neil Young cover Rockin’ In The Free World, before the mammoth show is over.

It would have been easier to only have to travel to Birmingham.

But should Pearl Jam only play the same dates next time around, I’ll be there.

If you’ve never seen them, I suggest you do the same.