READY TO PERFORM: Eddie Vedder, center, and Pearl Jam will perform at Mellon Arena on Friday. The group's new album has been widely portrayed as a reclamation of the big, riff-rich Pearl Jam sound

READY TO PERFORM: Eddie Vedder, center, and Pearl Jam will perform at Mellon Arena on Friday. The group's new album has been widely portrayed as a reclamation of the big, riff-rich Pearl Jam sound that dominated such albums as "Ten" and "Vs."