We were fortunate enough to make it down to Philadelphia for the final event at the Philly Spectrum on Saturday – a three-and-a-half hour marathon Pearl Jam concert that I won’t soon forget. Witnessing a show like last night’s killed any remorse I had for missing the first three shows of their four-show stand at the legendary Broad Street venue. The Rocky music lead-in that the band came out to was the perfect introduction to a match that was about to go until the final bell, leaving both fighters – the band and the fans – completely drained.

A show on Halloween night, paired with the World Series being in town and knowing that it was the last event in the Spectrum gave us more than enough optimism for something different. With a new album worth of material to play, I knew I’d hear some songs that I had never heard live before, but Pearl Jam really threw a couple of punches that none of us expected. After the one encore, Pearl Jam acknowledged Halloween by coming out onto the stage dressed as Devo and playing Whip It. I guess the Devo shirt that Eddie was wearing earlier in the night foreshadowed the moment, but seriously, who would’ve expected such a funny sight. The cover was actually really good, but I don’t think my laughter subsided until about halfway through the song. Great moment.

Another surprise was when Eddie took the stage…which an accordion. Pretty much anyone who owns, or owned, Vitalogy knew what was coming. While Bugs isn’t exactly the song that you get excited about hearing for the quality, it’s surprise inclusion in the set helped set the night apart from the twenty-plus shows I’d attended. Of course, two surprises aren’t really that crazy at a Pearl Jam show, so to make the night even more unique, the band played Sweet Lew for the first time, Out of My Mind for only the third time, and songs like Pilate, Crown of Thorns, Rats, and Satan’s Bed; all of which are the antitheses of the Cordoroys and Even Flows heard show after show.

The band was clearly having a blast on stage and just when you thought the show was coming close to an end, they kept going…and going…and going…until the confetti shot up into the air and the balloons dropped from the rafters. Of course, even that didn’t represent the end. While I could go a lifetime without hearing Yellow Ledbetter send us home, closing the Spectrum with a song that signaled the beginning of so many events at the soon-to-be-demolished venue – The Star-Spangled Banner – seemed fitting.

All-in-all, the only show that I can confidently say rivaled this one was State College in ’03. I’ll call it a split decision.

Much to my surprise, Pearl Jam’s latest album, Backspacer, arrived in my work mailbox yesterday. After listening to it practically non-stop since I picked it up nearly 24 hours ago, I’m ready to critique it…I think.

Overall, I like the album. There are some songs that were complete misses for me, but most of the songs were good to simply awesome. I’m not going to break it down song-by-song, necessarily, because I’m not deep enough into it really be fair in that approach, but the easiest way to summarize this album is that it’s probably the most refreshing dose of Pearl Jam since Yield.

Unlike the masses, I’ve enjoyed all of Pearl Jam’s albums over the last 10 years, but this album has such a rejuvenated vibe to it. Maybe it’s a lack of political overtones that littered many of the songs from the last couple of albums, leaving room for Ed & Co. to write songs focusing on the introspective storytelling that helped build their early albums. Maybe I should write to Obama thanking him for winning the election, so we could have a freshly-focused PJ album.

Anyway, I’ve heard a lot about the first 3 songs being one the most in-your-face starts they’ve ever thrown at the listener…I’m not sure I agree with that, but it’s a very catchy, fast-paced introduction to get the listener to continue through the experience. Got Some and The Fixer will satisfy the mainstream immediately. Gonna See My Friend – which opens the album is a solid rocker, but I would place it below nearly every previous album opener they’ve put out, fast-paced or slow. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad song by any means, and it definitely gives you a good idea of what you’re in for over the next 36-and-a-half minutes, but it’s not going to blow you away.

I’m not really into Johnny Guitar, but maybe because it’s sandwiched between the easy-to-enjoy The Fixer and the first song that blew me away on the album, Just Breathe. Just Breathe has Into the Wild all over it, but I’m glad it made it’s way onto this album, or any album. It’s a simple love song…and simply beautiful.

Then you enter this heavy-reverbed and grand chorus-soaked two-song set of Amongst the Waves and Unthought Known, which are nice and reminiscent of Yield-era PJ. Easy to enjoy, and impossible to hate, but I’m still trying to figure out if they’re going to leave a mark.

One pleasant surprise for me was how much I liked Supersonic after not really “getting it” when I saw it live in Chicago. Part of it was unfamiliarity, and part of it was it not seeming tight, but on the CD, I absolutely love it. It’s like a mini tribute to the Ramones, with an awesome groove breakdown in the middle. One of my favorite songs on the albums, and I can guarantee a lot of people are going to be getting pulled over for speeding while listening to this one.

Speed of Sound is the biggest miss on the record for me. The demo that Pearl Jam released seemed so much more fitting for the lyrics. For those who didn’t get the demo, this might seem okay, but my liking for this song was sucked out the minute the faster tempo drums kicked in. Too forced and entirely out of place. It sort of kicks off the downside of the album for me, as Force of Nature and The End – both lauded in the PJ community – haven’t resonated with me at that level. Good, but nothing amazing. Maybe they’ll grow on me…

In the end, while this album won’t touch my top 10 all-time, it was definitely worth the money, and the enjoyable parts definitely outweigh the few parts that I could’ve done without. It’s challenging enough that you’ll want to listen to it more than once to get acquainted with, but it’s also easy to digest. Like wine…it’s good and easy to drink, but better when you get deeper into it…unfortunately, most people don’t have that much dedication.

7/10

On my way out to Chicago, I was thinking about how my excitement levels for going to Pearl Jam shows had fallen off a bit. I wasn’t looking forward to fighting my way through the merchandise lines to snag a poster, I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with all of the obnoxious super fans (yes, there are MUCH crazier fans than Mundis and I), and I hadn’t really been listening to too much PJ in the lead-up to the trip. I was feeling like going to the shows had become more of a tradition than something truly exciting. After night two, though, I was reminded of why we travel all over the place to see these guys play.

Night one was a really good show, albeit a bit shorter than usual (about 2 hours and 15 minutes). It was Megan’s first PJ show, and Mundis won the ticket lottery – landing him in the tenth row – so it was a pretty exciting night from the beginning. We even checked out the pre-party down the road from the United Center, which was a lot less irritating than we thought it would be. The setlist included some songs that I had never heard live before (Needle and the Damage Done, The Fixer, Got Some, The Real Me, Supersonic), which is one of those things we always hope for in going to the shows. I think their new songs, The Fixer and Got Some are awesome live. They’re so full of energy and the crowd really responded well to both. I’m reserving my judgment of Supersonic until I get to hear it on the album. It just didn’t sound tight live…or maybe I just need to hear it to get used to it. Other than that, the show was a nice reminder of why I’ve spent so much time and money going to see them. The experience is worth it. Jeff also had us sing happy birthday to a friend of his who had passed away, which provided a lot of insight into his poster design for that night. We weren’t thrilled about the design until we learned more about the meaning behind it…the appreciation is much deeper now. Regardless, night one was a really nice show, and it left me excited for night two.

Night two was destined to be better than night one. Why? Well…because on my way to grab food and do some shopping we ran into Jeff Ament. I typically don’t bother famous people when I see them, and I didn’t want to bother Jeff, but I had to at least say hi. With Jeff being essentially the only person that Mundis would want to meet (Mundis was being a tourist and visiting the Field Museum instead), it would’ve been rude to not say anything. Jeff was totally cool with us interrupting his shopping excursion and kindly let me get a photo with him. We thanked him for an awesome show the night before, and moved along. I was nervous as hell, so I didn’t really know what to say, but it was nice of him to be so chill.

Then the show ended up being one of the best, if not the best show I’ve seen them play in the 22 times I’ve seen them. The first set was hands down the best I can remember. It had a very vintage PJ feel, with nothing but raw energy carrying the band. You could see that the band was having a blast on stage. While they didn’t play anything that I hadn’t heard before, there were 21 different songs from night one. Even songs that we’re typically sick of hearing were really good…almost like a fresh start. Better Man and Daughter were finally exciting to hear again. I can only hope that when PJ puts the bootlegs on sale, that it sounds as good as the show we thought we experienced. It was amazing. It was also cool to get a poster by the same artist who designed the Backspacer album art – Tom Tomorrow.

On my way out of the United Center on Monday, all I could do was think about how floored I was and how much fun the shows were. Getting posters wasn’t a problem, the crowds were awesome, the set lists were great, and the performances were amazing. It’s exactly what I needed to get me pumped for Halloween…when I’ll be traveling to Philly to see Pearl Jam rock the Spectrum!

Making stuff like this easier to come by…

With Pearl Jam’s announcement of their concert poster pre-sale to all 10 Club fan members who’ve already purchased fan club tickets, my enjoyment of their shows has already improved before hearing a single song. The following text from Mundis pretty much sums up my feelings…

“U know this poster pre-sale kinda takes out the whole ‘figure out when to get to the venue, get in line, wait forever, get inside, get somewhat nauseous, find a stand, get crushed, get ur balls off my ass, stop breathing on my head, you’re stepping on my foot, I smell body odor, does this dude beside me take showers, do I have enough cash, you just rubbed your boobs on my elbow, here take my place, get a wristband maybe, wait in line after the show, hey that fucker has two wristbands somehow, get your poster finally’ fun feeling out of it. Ya know?”

Yes…yes, I do know, Jason.

We took a little trip down to Baltimore this week, with our original goal being the procurement of an Adam Jones bobblehead from the O’s/Mets game. Naturally, Eddie Vedder decided it would be a good week to schedule some solo shows at the Lyric Opera House, too. Add in some bowling, a trip to the National Aquarium, and a drive up to York to visit Kree, and you’ve got one of those fun vacations that leave you completely drained.

Eddie Vedder kills the Lyric

While Mundis and I failed to land tickets to both Sunday and Monday’s shows, we did get to go to the second night…and it was awesome. Mundis initially thought that Monday’s show was better than both of the Chicago shows, and he very well could be right. The crowd was much better than the Chicago crowds, which could be a big part of our reasoning. While there were still the constant requests for songs, it was nowhere near as obnoxious as the drunken morons that ruined the crowds at the Auditorium shows in Chicago. Even the large guy who smelled like cheese sitting next to me couldn’t ruin such a good show.

As usual, Vedder was on. The Lyric, as a venue, simply made his voice sound that much better, too. He refrained from playing a lot of the songs that I hate hearing, and played a few that we didn’t hear when we were in Chicago last year. It was essentially the same exact concept as in Chicago, but with a varied playlist – same opening act, same backdrops, same stage set, etc., so there really isn’t much to add to our experience. Liam Finn was entertaining, and we even got to briefly meet him after his set. Nice guy…too bad Vedder going on cut our time together short.

If you haven’t seen Vedder solo, get a ticket…that is, if he ever tours solo again. I’m willing to say that I’ve enjoyed his solo shows more than nearly every Pearl Jam show that I’ve seen. Maybe it’s the jaded Pearl Jam fan in me…maybe it’s the intimate setting…who knows. He’s just so much clearer, and much more musically powerful, when he’s not fighting the noise around him. His personality opens up a bit more, and he’s a lot more entertaining than you would think if you had only seen him front Pearl Jam. It’s really all about the emotion shining through, though. Despite all of the drinking and smoking, he can still use his voice to carry a room like very few people.

National Aquarium

Fortunately, we had a day to waste in Baltimore between the Vedder show and the O’s game, so I used the random Tuesday to finally get back to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I hadn’t been there since I was in high school, and I could never work out a way to get back…until now.

It was more or less exactly the way I remembered it, though, so it was fun…juuuuuuust not nearly as much fun as it was when I was a kid. I was also a little bummed that some of the sharks weren’t in the tanks…no hammerheads or threshers – the sharks were always my favorite. Fortunately the jellyfish exhibit, which happened to be the last thing we saw, was awesome! I can say that jellyfish officially freak me the hell out, but they’re wild to see in a closed environment. The price of admission seems a bit high, but it was still worth it, even if just for the nostalgia.

A night at Camden Yards

The original purpose of the trip was to take a trip to Camden Yards to see the Orioles, and more importantly, pick up the Adam Jones bobblehead (which is frickin’ awesome, btw). It was awesome to be at an Orioles game again. Fortunately, we had seats covered by the upper deck, so watching the O’s beat the Mets in the rain with Mundis, my Dad, and Megan went smoothly. We also got to see Matt Wieters’ first career home run! I’m 2-0 when attending O’s games the last two years…maybe I should go more often.

Mundis flew into Chicago and met up with me for what’s quickly becoming our semi-annual, spend-more-money-that-you-have vacation to see something Pearl Jam related. Where seeing Pearl Jam has sort of become more habit than anything for me, the opportunity to see Eddie Vedder solo brought up feelings of both excitement and apprehension. I was excited for the chance to see Eddie play, not just because of the rarity of such an intimate gig with a rock “legend”, but also because I really wanted to hear some of the Into the Wild soundtrack – which happens to be excellent.

Of course, I wasn’t sure how well Ed would carry a show alone. Would he be able to captivate me for two-plus hours, or would I get tired of the singer-songwriter vibe? Would the setlist be interesting, or would I have spent money only to hear Betterman, Last Kiss, and Corduroy on acoustic? There was also the question of Ed’s voice. The guy has pipes, but years of touring, smoking, and drinking have definitely worn on his baritone and his ability to hold the high notes he so easily reached 10 years ago. Could he actually sing for two-plus hours over two consecutive nights?

Well, after two nights in Vedder’s semi-hometown of Chicago, any reservations I might’ve had coming into the shows were completely gone. I actually think that Ed was better alone than he is with Pearl Jam. That’s not to say that I’d see Ed 20+ times because Pearl Jam shows are awesome, but the whole experience was so damn good that I was left with a better impression of Ed and his talent from his solo shows than I ever was from seeing a Pearl Jam show.

First, the voice. Vedder’s voice is ridiculously good, and in an intimate setting like The Auditorium Theater, the subtleties and range are impossible to overlook. No longer was there a rockin’ band mixed in to support and/or drown out his voice. When the accompaniment is limited to one guitar, the voice needs to take control…and control it did. No longer did Ed have to scream and growl in the prototypical rock style. He could simply croon and let the songs live on their own. He sang with clarity that really undermined the mumbling reputation he’s often mocked for.

The setlists were ridiculous and held many surprises. In two nights we heard many songs from Into the Wild and various Pearl Jam tunes, but some of my favorites were the cover songs. Hurt was covered in more of the Johnny Cash version and is one of those songs I wish I could have to listen to over and over. There were random covers like Pete Townshend’s Let My Love Open the Door, Trouble by Cat Stevens, Blackbird by The Beatles, The Who’s Can’t Explain, and Dylan’s Masters of War. The covers just added such a surprising twist to the show. While I’ve heard Trouble and Masters of War live a handful of times, songs like Blackbird and Can’t Explain came totally out of left field and blew me away with their looseness and Ed’s willingness to try new material. Some were better than others, but for me, the fact that I got to hear something new, albeit a cover song, come out of Ed’s mouth was refreshing. I’m sure Mundis would agree.

My other two favorites, and I mean clear-cut favorites, were the performances of Arc and Society. Arc was a song from Riot Act that Ed had only sung a few times before, and was dedicated to the 9 fans who had died at the Roskilde Festival a few years back. Using a loop machine, Vedder laid down various layers of chants (9, I think) – all free flowing and full of dynamics starting with a very low chant and growing in pitch. Once the layers are looped it’s just this huge, beautiful sound. It was amazing. I had only seen him do it once before in Boston, but to see him do it two nights in a row was incredible and seriously blew me away. I’m not sure if another song even came close to affecting me like that one. Society is my favorite song of the the Into the Wild soundtrack, and it was performed both nights with Liam Finn doing backup vocals. Combined, their voices took that song to a new level.

Speaking of Liam Finn…I have no idea how I felt about his opening act, but I will say that A) his voice is really, really good and similar to his father’s, and B) Liam is a really talented musician. His solo show involved drums, loop machines, noise, and a backup singer/percussionist. I still haven’t picked up his solo album, but I plan on doing that at some point. He’s a hell of a musician and I think there’s a lot more to come from him. It was also cool to see him join Ed on drums for Hard Sun, as well.

As if a great show wasn’t good enough, I got to see the Stanley Cup thanks to Brett Lebda and Chris Chelios bringing it to the show, and we got to see Sean Penn come out for the second night’s performance of Hard Sun. The real treat, though was listening to Vedder’s banter between songs and his exchanges with the crowd. When people were still calling out unsolicited requests and Vedder said something along the lines of, “hey, can you give me a break from being a human jukebox and stop trying to shove quarters into my ass”, I had to laugh. He also went on a mini rant about how he has a setlist and he wasn’t going to take requests from “amateurs” after he’s been making setlists for “some band you might’ve heard of” for the past 17 or 18 years. It was great. You could tell that after 10 shows or whatever it was, that he had grown tired of the loudmouthed, self-important fans who couldn’t sit down and shut up during the show. He often asked the crowd to stop talking during the storytelling parts for the sake of the people who paid to sit in the gallery seats, making it a point to tell a story of how his very first concert ever was at The Auditorium in the very last row of the gallery, and how those seats are “really uncomfortable”. He also told the crowd this whole story about how he met Cubs legend Ernie Banks, and Ernie asked him to write a song for the Cubs before busting out the song All the Way, a really decent song that could work for just about any perpetually failing team with some slight lyric modifications. Mundis and I were sort of annoyed that even when Ed writes a stupid song for the Cubs, it’s really good. I’m sure it’ll be playing around Wrigleyville for the next 100 years of failure.

Anyway, Ed’s ability to engage the crowd with great storytelling and witty remarks made the experience a memorable one. For the first time, it felt like we were really getting to know who Eddie Vedder was, and it sort of took him down from that invisible pedestal that many people put him on and made you think he was just like the rest of us…just with more talent…and money. It was excellent and I would recommend seeing him to anyone I know, fan or not. The show was well set up, Ed didn’t drink at all so he didn’t screw up very much, and the banter was excellent…as well as the surprising setlists. While I hated spending money on the tickets, the experience was definitely worth it, and I’d go again in a heartbeat.

The ONLY bummer about the whole two nights was the crowd (well, and the 3 posters at $35 each). It was a typical, drunken moron PJ crowd, despite the intimate venue and show offering. Most of the people seemed more interested in getting their next beer, talking to their friends, and screaming out requests and the typical, “I love you, Eddie”. I guess these are the fans who were disappointed that Ed didn’t play everything off of the greatest hits album. The only thing that made the girl spilling beer on Mundis’ head a forgettable moment was the girl who threw her phone up on stage. She hopped up on stage to get it, and instead of grabbing it and running back to the crowd, she tried to run up to Ed. That security guard removed her insanely fast. So fast, in fact, that Ed didn’t even see it happen. The whole crowd thing was just so obnoxious, but thankfully, the show trumped the idiocy surrounding us. Thanks, Ed.

PUMP (the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project) has been putting together “Stay & Play Fridays” all summer long in Market Square, which consists of live music, curbside beer vendors, and other fun activities – like a Dunkin Donuts-sponsored donut eating contest, for example.

Since I was going to be walking over to the Pirates game around 7, I figured I would utilize our early-out Fridays at work to just head across the bridge to Market Square around 5 to see Ten (Pittsburgh’s Pearl Jam tribute band), grab a few beers, watch the donut eating contest, and walk back across the bridge for the Buccos game. The plan went smoothly, and the night ended up being a lot of fun.

First, Ten. I’ve been reluctant to go see this band because I knew that it would be really annoying to see a tribute band for a band that I can still go see live…and a band that I’ve seen 20 times…and a band that owns live performance as much as any band out there. Plus, I had met the singer on the way back from a Cleveland PJ show in 2006, and I knew any dude with a voice like his was going to really have to reach into his fake vocals bag to mimic Vedder’s baritone – one of my biggest pet peeves. Dude, if you don’t have a deep voice, just sing the song with your voice, please. I have no problem with someone playing a Pearl Jam song – hell, we do – but I don’t use a fake Vedder voice. I use my voice with some Vedder inflection…big difference.

Of course, I’ve never seen a tribute band, so I didn’t realize that “tribute” meant…do everything exactly the same. The singer’s attempt at being Eddie Vedder was distractingly annoying – from the side-to-side hop/dance, to the way he held the microphone, this guy proved that he was a little too obsessed with Vedder and Ed’s stage antics. I’m surprised he didn’t climb something and jump into the large, but sparse crowd hoping for a crowd surfing moment during a solo, ala Evenflow or Porch, circa 1992. Of course, most of the people at this free performance wouldn’t even notice the singer’s vain attempts to be Vedder.

I will give the band credit for a few things, though. For the casual Pearl Jam fan, Ten rocks. The band is really tight and talented – which confuses me as to why they’re playing other people’s music. They incorporated a fairly long drum solo into one song, and the guitar solos were pretty good. For the bigger fan, Ten broke out some more rare cuts, like Lukin and Hunger Strike – which they actually pulled off well with the keyboardist rocking Cornell’s screaming vocal lines quite nicely. I might add that he looked like he stepped directly out of the early 90’s.

If you don’t look at the band, and just listen, the experience is good. I just can’t get over the singer trying to be Eddie. I actually felt embarrassed for him getting in front of people and trying to be someone else.

Of course, I always struggle with the concept of cover bands, and now tribute bands. You will never, ever, be Pearl Jam, Ten. You will never leave a musical imprint as a cover band or tribute band. Also, why go out and be a tribute band for a band that I can still see? I just saw Pearl Jam a month ago, so there’s no value in seeing another band try to be Pearl Jam. I definitely wouldn’t spend any money to see them. The crowds aren’t into it – which is one thing that really makes seeing PJ work – and they’re not offering me anything new. The only saving graces are that they’re at least covering music I enjoy, and the band is seriously musically talented. Also, the sound quality/mix was decent.

So, if you’re a casual fan and don’t care if you ever see the real deal, Ten’s your cheap solution, and worth the admission price. If you’re a serious fan, just wait until Pearl Jam’s new album and go see them. The authenticity is worth the money, as well as the crowd. Or better yet, go see Eddie Vedder in a town near you on his small solo tour. I’m sure you’ll run into Ten’s singer there while he’s taking notes…shake head…roll eyes back…raise brow…hold mic with left hand and hang your head down like your hanging from a cliff and looking down while shaking your head like you don’t know how you got up there…write my own amazing songs…use fake deep voice to compensate for not having a comparably deep voice…

I know 20 is an arbitrary number to semi-celebrate or reflect on, but I figured after seeing Pearl Jam 20 times now, I could post my PJ facts to show my small world that yes, it definitely is a bit ridiculous. Also, if you’re wondering, every time I drop any money on seeing Pearl Jam (or any band for that matter), Cake’s “How Do You Afford Your Rock’N'Roll Lifestyle” plays on a continuous loop in my head.

It’s always been worth it, though, despite my displeasure with the majority of Pearl Jam’s fans. The sporadic trip to Massachusetts, the trip to Canada with Mundis with no plans on where to stay, and the subsequent food poisoning I endured…all worth it. The only bad experience that I’m still not happy about…the moron who splashed piss on my leg during the last Pittsburgh show. I sincerely hope he got a DUI on his drive home for ruining the whole experience for us…tool.

Anyway, here’s the rundown of my live Pearl Jam experience:

8 years of shows
16 venues
2 countries
7 states
1 district
1 province
2 time zones
19 posters
11 opening bands
133 different songs
7 – average number of songs that I had never heard live before played at each show
576 total songs played
29 – average number of songs during show
9 different songs tagged onto the end of Daughter

How many bands do you know that are going to play an average of 29 songs per show with such variety? There are definitely “better” bands, but very few are comparable as a live band, and very few vary their set lists night after night.

For a random reference, here’s a list of the songs that I’ve heard the most, followed by the amount of times played. It’s no surprise that I wish a moratorium on the majority of these songs. I think Mundis would agree…

Corduroy (17)
Even Flow (17)
Better Man (16)
Do the Evolution (16)
Given to Fly (15)
Daughter (14)
Yellow Ledbetter (14)
Elderly Woman (13)
Alive (13)
Black (12)
Rearviewmirror (12)

So, I am finally recovering from a very long weekend of driving and waiting in lines – both of which I really don’t see myself doing in the near future – to see Pearl Jam.

Show 1
On Thursday morning, I hopped in the .:R for the all-to-familiar ride to York to meet Mundis so we could carpool to the first show in Camden. We were making good time until we started second-guessing our original routes to dodge traffic. Now, we had left with plenty of time to see Pearl Jam take the stage, but Mundis and I have an urgency in making sure we don’t miss out on the concert posters, and our navigation errors set us back well past when the gates opened. This usually means that you’re not going to get a poster, so we reserved ourselves to the eBay search after the show. Fortunately, Eddie Vedder decided the poster flippers needed to be halted a bit, and a new system for purchasing posters went into effect during this mini-tour. Now when you purchase a poster, you receive a wrist band that you must bring back to the stand that you originally purchased the poster from after the show. The wrist band is then cut off and you receive your poster. It seems like a pain, but when you arrive an hour after the gates open, you really appreciate the thought put into not allowing people to purchase multiple posters for themselves (primarily to sell). We were very fortunate to get our posters for night one.

The show, though, was the real surprise. While I think PJ typically puts on a show that would rival any rock performance around, Thursday’s show was a real treat. It wasn’t the most amazing show I’ve ever seen, but it’s was definitely a great one – especially for those of us who have seen the band a number of times. After the semi-rare, though increasingly less obscure “Hard to Imagine”, PJ went all out energy for the rest of the show. While there were some mellow songs mixed in, the show maintained its high tempo until the end. After a sick version of The Who’s “Love Reign O’er Me”, and experiencing a great crowd, all of the hassles, lines, and traffic were quickly forgotten. It’s a shame we had to drive home and get ready to do it again the next night.

I’d also like to add that for all the grief PJ and other musicians get for standing up on stage and putting their thoughts out there regarding politics, the war, etc., Ed’s speech on Thursday was probably the clearest view into the real emotion that drives some artists. Before playing “No More”, Eddie talked in a way that was real. Sometimes, he can definitely go off and get too…well…political, which I don’t really care for (even if I usually agree), but on Thursday, his speech was from the heart, and just added so much emotion to the song. “Maybe it’s because I’m sleeping a mile away from the fucking Liberty Bell…”

His dedication of “Light Years” to Tim Russert and his family was also a nice touch. Anyway…

Show 2
Night two was much smoother all-around. The ride was easy despite the traffic. We arrived early, met up with some friends to tailgate, and went in around 6:45 to get our poster wristbands. After that, Mundis and I just took in the sounds of Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. They weren’t bad, but I thought they were a little too loud and muddy to really give the band a fair shake, so we left our seats and chilled in the lawn until PJ came on. After a great night one, we were both pretty skeptical about what night 2 would bring. Pearl Jam doesn’t usually play a lot of the same songs during a two-night stand, so with a lot of surprising moves pulled out on night one, we sort of knew that night two wouldn’t have the same surprise factor.

While the show was good, I have to admit it didn’t move me like night one. One good thing, though, was that PJ only played 7 songs from the night before. The bad news? It was probably the shortest show I’ve ever seen them play despite them playing one more song than the night before. The crowd also was a far cry from the crowd from night one – surprising to me since it was a Friday.

After taking a wrong road out of Camden, we hit up Wawa for a late dinner…and another 3 am arrival at Mr. Mundis’ humble abode.

Show 3
The next day, I met up with Kim, who flew in from Pittsburgh to go to the DC show. We decided to head down on Saturday and just hang out near the arena to avoid another day of traffic and stress on the road. I hadn’t really been in DC for any extended amount of time since I was a little kid, so it was nice to be somewhere unfamiliar for a few days. We just grabbed some food and brews and hung out for a while. The next day was the show, and I needed to rest up big time.

Sunday went pretty smoothly, as I was able to get my tickets, meet up with Mundis, and get our posters with little difficulty. The show was really good, but they definitely played quite a bit of the same stuff from the Thursday night set list, albeit a little cleaner and a lot longer (any 30+ song night is going to be nice). I have to wait for the bootleg to come out, but Sunday’s version of “Black” was absolutely beautiful and moving. The whole night had a very sad vibe to it, and one look at the set list basically confirms it. Of course, that feeling was pretty juxtaposed with the next to last song – a surprising first-timer for me, but not-so-phenomenal attempt at “All Along the Watchtower – which got the place jumping after PJ ripped the Verizon Center down all night with moody tunes of heartbreak.

The crowd was pretty good, and the venue wasn’t too bad. My only complaints were that I didn’t sit with Mundis, my seats were on the floor and not really close at all, and there was only one place to eat after the show – Clyde’s (good food and service at midnight, though!).

All in all, the weekend was great. It might just be me, but Pearl Jam is a band that really makes the travel, the lines, and the hassle of dealing with idiot fans, worth it. The varied set lists, the long shows, the masses singing in unison…it’s a beautiful experience, and one that I wish I was experiencing tonight and tomorrow at Madison Square Garden. As it is, I’m going to live vicariously through Mundis, Missy, and Audra – who are going to MSG for the both shows…and who I also now hate with a passion. Ha ha.

Until next time…

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have an affinity for Pearl Jam. When the bandwagon had to cut down on the amount of passengers it could hold back in the No Code era of 1996, I decided I wanted to jump on…and jump on I did.

I have been riding with the current wave of PJ fans for about 10 years or so. I guess I was always a fan since I had Ten on cassette and my second CD ever was Vs., but around 1994, I began listening to more reggae, ska, and hip-hop, and really sort of ignored the whole grunge thing for the most part. Then when I was about 17, after wearing out all of my other CDs, I decided to listen to something that I hadn’t listened to in a long time – Vs. It was amazing. The lyrics were great, the emotion, everything. It blew my mind. I then started getting everything I could listen to by the band because I didn’t want to think that I missed everything if it was this good…which, for the most part, it was.

I went to my first PJ show in 2000 in Virginia Beach. Since then, I’ve traveling to Cleveland, London (ON), Kitchener (ON), Boston, Houston, Virginia, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Reading, Camden, Hershey, East Rutherford, State College, and Chicago, blowing my money on gas, lodging, and the must-have tour posters – limited number, well-designed, unique, screen-printed, and specific to each show. That’s not too crazy since I’ve met far more insane fans, but the simple fact is that they’re the one band that I’ve really put any effort into seeing and supporting over the years. I’m cool with it, too, because I feel like they’ve continually provided me with great music since the beginning, but I’m just starting to hate them. Not really, but they always seem to find a way to get my money with neat stuff.

Just today, I logged into MySpace and saw that they now have a book of their tour posters for sale. As a designer, I had to buy it for the fact that within that book contained immeasurable amounts of inspiration. As a fan, well, it’s a must-have as much as the posters themselves. Considering that so many fans stand in line for hours just to rush the merch stand when the gates open to get their hands on a single poster, and that the posters go for ridiculously high prices online, a book commemorating all of these great posters seems like a great idea for PJ to make another killing from us fans. Damn you, you capitalist f*cks. Ha.

At the end of the day, they got me for the signed/numbered copy. I love you guys for being a great rock band, but I do hate you for taking all of my money. At least my stock pile of merchandise pales in comparison to Mundis’.

Now I can’t wait to get that damn book.