Pearl Jam is in a good place right now, says Gossard

The summer of 2006 has put Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard in an especially upbeat mood.

"I think we're in a great place right now," Gossard said by phone this week before the group's third San Francisco show at the Bill Graham Civic Arena.

"You never know how many days you have on the planet, you never know what's going to happen in the future. But we can be happy about what's going on right now. I'm optimistic about the future. We're going to make more records that are going to be cool and see more parts of the world and get involved in more issues we think are important."

Pearl Jam's current self-titled album, its first for Clive Davis' J Records, received some of the best reviews of the band's career. Setting aside the experimentation and moody introspection of its recent past, the band embraced a hard-rocking sound that comes straight from the heart.

"World Wide Suicide," the album's first single, was the highest-charting, fastest-rising single in the band's 16-year history. Its success helped build momentum for a North American tour that concludes this weekend with a pair of homecoming concerts at The Gorge. Each show will be "an evening with" Pearl Jam, sans opening act. But a brother-and-sister duo, Devereaux, perform at the Plaza Stage.

"We just feel so fortunate to have all this great energy in the room every night," Gossard said.

"I think we all feel that we're connected with each other and that we're feeling strong and have a great sense of camaraderie. And I think when that happens, we can go out and do something pretty special. That's what's going on right now. Some nights we really get it going on stage. I couldn't be happier with what's happening in the band and how people have been feeling and how the crowds have been."

Throughout the tour, Pearl Jam has donated $2 per ticket from each show to the Vitalogy Foundation, the band's charitable organization. Half of the money generated in each city has gone to a local grass-roots non-profit group, while the other half has been set aside for future giving.

But at The Gorge, all of the money from the $2-a-ticket allocation will be divided among three Seattle organizations -- the Vera Project, ArtsCorps and 826 Seattle, an organization that provides students from 6 to 18 with free access to writing workshops, publishing projects and one-on-one tutoring. The two concerts could raise more than $80,000.

Pearl Jam has established a long and admirable record of charitable giving. Earlier this month, the group pledged to donate $100,000 to nine organizations focusing on renewable energy, climate change and other environmental causes as part of its Carbon Portfolio Strategy. The campaign is designed to offset the carbon emissions and environmental damage that results from touring.

"It started after we began reflecting on our own business and how we'd like to see the world. Our hope is that the business would operate as responsibly and thoughtfully as possible," Gossard said.

Tonight at Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, the band will perform a sold-out benefit for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. Guitarist Mike McCready, who suffers from Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel condition, has performed a number of benefits for the Northwest chapter of the CCFA. But this will be the first to feature the entire band.

So what's next on the charitable front for Pearl Jam?

"I don't know how we can possibly have more things that we're involved with," Gossard said with a laugh. "It seems almost insane at this point."

"But it's very exciting because it all seems very natural. We've been working on a lot of this stuff for a long time. And it just continues."

This weekend's concerts mark the second summer in a row that Pearl Jam has played at The Gorge.

"It's a beautiful place. We love playing there," Gossard said. "We're awed by the cliffs and the beauty of that area, the Columbia River and the Eastern Washington landscape."

Is there a more giving band?

as am i

they donated them to charity.

stone is awesome

they donated them to charity.