i'll put their jam on my toast any day

This evening I had the pleasure attending a Pearl Jam concert. This was my sixth time seeing them; and just like the wine that Eddie Vedder drinks straight out of the bottle on stage, I think it just gets better as time goes on. Kings of Leon opened for them, so not only was I able to see one of my all-time favorite bands, but I saw one of my new favorite bands at the same show. It was absolutely incredible - only one thing was missing, really, but I won't get into that. I am still reeling from the experience, and have very little to say, actually, but somehow feel like sharing the experience. So the following is merely the set-list for the show, lined with marginal notes/lyrics/etc.

First off: Kings of Leon. amazing. They played Fans (my favorite) and On Call (which I think sounded even better live) amongst a few other wonderful tunes. Some of which were new. They did not play Charmer, which both Dave and I were desperately hoping they would, but still, we couldn't complain. They were great.

Main Act:

Sometimes - "Seek my part. Devote myself. My small self... like a book amongst the many on a shelf. Sometimes I know. Sometimes I rise. Sometimes I fall. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I cringe. Sometimes I live. Sometimes I walk. Sometimes I kneel. Sometimes I speak of nothing at all. Sometimes I reach to myself. Dear God." It was a brilliant opening: calming but laced with anticipatory awesomeness.

Corduroy - During this little ditty Eddie changed the lyrics from "can't buy what I want because it's free" to "can't buy what I want because PEACE IS FREE" And I remembered why I loved him. He also danced all over the place, which didn't end after this song. He danced a lot tonight. It was great.

Why Go - Any song off 'Ten' will elicit great appreciation from the crowd and this was no exception. I loved watching the crowd's hands flow up and down during this one.

Severed Hand - I'm pretty sure this song is about dropping acid or something, but it's still great.

Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town - Before this song Eddie said (more or less verbatim): "I thought we were in Tampa, but doesn't the name of this place include something about St. Petersburg? And look, there's a Canadian flag (points to back). Where the fuck are we?"

Marker In The Sand - "There is a sickness, a sickness coming over me. Like watching freedom, being sucked straight out to sea. And the solution? Well, from me far would let it be. But the delusion is feeling dangerous to me."

Light Years - "With heavy breath, awakened regrets, back pages and days alone that could have been spent together. But we were miles apart. Every inch between us becomes light years now. And wherever you've gone, and wherever we might go, it don't seem fair. You seemed to like it here. Your light's reflected now, reflected from afar: we were but stones, your light made us stars"

Down - Just an all-around fun song.

Wishlist - "I wish I was the souvenir you kept your house key on. I wish I was the pedal break that you depended on. I wish I was the verb 'to trust' and I never let you down." Beautiful, as always, plus he changed the lyrics and said "I wish I was the sight of 50 million Floridian's hands upraised and open towards the sky." which was great, especially because everyone had their hands up as the lights danced across the crowd.

Given To Fly - He dedicated this song to his favorite baseball player who was in the audience. There was a great story involved, but I won't be sharing that.

Daughter - They DID NOT go into a cover song here, which kind of disappointed me, because they always do. C'est la vie.

Even Flow - Crowd pleaser. Eddie left the stage for like 5 minutes and let the rest of the band go crazy. McCready went nuts. It was cool.

Present Tense - It makes much more sense to live in the present tense

Insignificance - Charlie asked that I call him during this if they played it. I did. He texted me shortly afterwards. It said: that was better than sex. He might have been right.

Better Man - Classic.

Do The Evolution - I saw them perform this at Madison Square Garden and afterwards Eddie came out and told the crowd that the stage was bumping up and down during the song and that it "scared the shit out of them", and then said he was just informed that the stage only shook like that for three other people: Greatful Dead, Iron Maiden, and Bruce Springsteen. And then said "And we're really happy to be a part of that crowd." So it was pretty hard to top that one, but it was good anyway.

ENCORE BREAK 1 - I went to the bathroom, and spoke briefly to Mr. Cory Lovell and Ms. Sara Yousif, which was cool in and of itself.

Nothingman - "Somethings when spoken can't be taken back"

Black - "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life. I know you'll be a star; in somebody else's sky. Why oh why can't it be mine?" I've heard this song a million times, but still gets me every time.

Life Wasted -They kicked it up on this one. It was great. The lights were amazing.

Porch - By far the best performance of Porch I have ever seen.

ENCORE BREAK 2 - I sat down for the first time... for about 2 minutes.

You've Got To Hide Your Love Away - Eddie came out by himself and played a beatles cover. First he mentioned something political. Some dude in front of me was very, VERY angry, he was flipping off the stage with both hands. I laughed. Poor bastard. But then again I liked what he said. Politics are funny that way. "Gather 'round all you clowns, let me hear you say: HEY! you've got to hide your love away."

Alive - All the house lights went up for these last two songs. It was surreal. You could watch everyone in the entire stadium dance around with Pearl Jam. Hah. I was in all my glory.

Yellow Ledbetter - Since this song differs so much every time they play it in terms of lyrical content and attitude/overall tone, I have a hard time explaining it, except to say it was a beautiful ending. I am including two youtube videos of the performance, for your viewing pleasure. A mix between these two versions is somewhere where they landed this evening.

The first is from their show at Madison Square Garden, which I already explained that I was at, and which is also on DVD, and also which I highly recommend you watch, unless you've ever been over to my house, because in that case I have probably already forced you to watch it.



And the second is them playing the song with a crying fan on stage. Eddie is sitting down, holding her hand, singing the song. It's beautiful. You can see the compassion. I love it. This is why I love Eddie Vedder. I think he'd hold my hand if I was crying.



"Cheers. We love you. Peace. Be Good to one another. Muah! Goodnight. Goodbye."

What a great night.