This past weekend was a lot of fun. I never get out of town aside from the random trip to nearby cities like Baltimore, Columbus, or Cleveland, and with all of my friends scattered across the country I never see them. Fortunately, I was able to engineer a little trip to help with both things (with a little planning research from Megan).

College Station
For a whopping $7 more per ticket, we were able to fly direct into the smallest airport I’ve ever seen…in College Station! Davis picked us up and we proceeded to check out what College Station had to offer. We eased into the A&M nightlife by going to a place we actually have in Pittsburgh: The Fox & Hound. After Davis and Kathleen crushed us in some shuffleboard, we hit up a place called Los Cucos Mexican Café for some dinner. While the meal was typical of most “authentic” Mexican joints, the fried chicken fajita stuffed avocado makes it a place that I’ll probably beg Davis to take me next time I’m in the area…even if the place smelled like lime-based cleanser.

We enjoyed the surprisingly lame bar scene for a Thursday (wtf?), but still had a good time. The drinks are really cheap and the girl/guy ratio was actually impressive, and a far cry from Pittsburgh. I can see why Davis wanted to go back to school in a warm climate. One irony that I noticed was how a lot of the girls I saw weren’t overly tan. Why is it that girls in Pittsburgh – a place known for its lack of sunshine – think it’s okay to be ridiculously tan, while girls in a place like Texas just go natural?

Unfortunately, we only had one day in College Station, so Davis took us to Rudy’s Bar-B-Q the next day for lunch and we toured A&M’s campus. It’s a pretty nice campus, but doesn’t win any awards in the architecture category. In a place where everything is already brown and weather-beaten, A&M’s conservative beige buildings just made me shake my head. We did get to see the Aggie Bonfire Memorial, which was really nice…and one of the few areas where the grass was green.

Davis explains the backstory to Megan…

After the tour, we headed back to the airport to pick up our sweet rental car: a Kia Rondooooooooooo. I really hope I never have to drive a car like that again. While it got us to Dallas, it definitely made us look like some dorky family traveling from Florida (the plates on the rental).

Dallas
We arrived around 6:30 in Dallas, where I immediately felt inferior in all aspects of life. First, we get to Chris and Garrett’s house…which was most definitely nicer than any home I’ll ever own…and more impeccably decorated at that. We then proceeded to go to some upscale steakhouse called Nick & Sam’s. While the food was good, I clearly, and predictably, did not come dressed for the occasion. Fortunately, we were still allowed in, but I was definitely the only person in that restaurant sporting an AE hoodie – a necessary article since the weather during our stay was in the 40’s. Thank god Chris paid, because my broke ass couldn’t have even purchased the appetizers. Ha ha.

That was as far as our pretentious journey took us, as the rest of the weekend remained low-key, but fun. We spent a lot of time eating (surprise, right?). I really liked Cyclone Anaya’s. They have really good chili queso…like good enough to crave. The ribs are also really good. I’d recommend both and will be back there the next time I go to Dallas.

Trece Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Lounge was amazing, too. We kept calling it Mexican food’s answer to Piccolo Forno of Italian food. It was really good. I was a little worried walking in there, though, as every car that was parked outside cost a minimum of $125k. It was pretty ridiculous.

After that, I took on a journey completely new to me…we went to a lesbian bar in the “gayborhood”. It was actually a lot of fun as the bar lacked the meatheads and tramps usually crowding your typical straight bars. We just shot pool and downed a fair amount of beer, but had a great time. We were clearly the only straight people there, but it was a blast. It was a totally fun and different experience to be so entrenched in the “alternative” lifestyle. It really magnified how stupid other people’s intolerance is toward the gay community.

Pens > Stars
Anyway, on Sunday, we got to go to the Pens/Stars game. Of course, that was after a delicious breakfast buffet that included enchiladas and fried cheesecake. Ugh. We drove by the grassy knoll on the way to American Airlines Arena and saw where Kennedy was assassinated. It was kind of eerie to see a place that you’re so familiar with from TV and school. There are two x’s on the ground to represent where the two shots hit Kennedy. Crazy.

Although, maybe not as crazy as the giant Chili’s blimp that floated around the arena before the game…

The game was awesome, though. The arena is really nice, but felt like a shopping mall as you walked around the concourses. The fans were vocal and peaceful, but quickly died off to reveal a rather large contingent of Pens fans after the Penguins took control of the game and skated off with a much-needed 4-1 victory.

Malkin scores the 4th…

Overall, the trip was a lot of fun. While there are a ton of places I’d love to find time to visit, I’m totally up for another trip to Texas. Both places were a lot of fun, and it was great to see some old friends while meeting a bunch of new ones. Until next time, y’all…

Last night was our second competitive match of bowling, and overall we did pretty well. We took 2 of our 3 games, and everyone bowled fairly well. I came out feeling really fresh thanks to my arm healing up and dodgeball being cancelled Tuesday (thank you, bad weather gods!). My practice shots were really strong, so I figured I was going to have a good night.

While I actually did end up with my highest series of the season (537), I definitely bowled my worst league game in a long time when I rolled a 129 in game two. With me hitting my foot on an easy spare in the ninth, I summed up the type of game where nothing was going right. For us to lose by 8 pins was just funny. Had I made any of the 5 easy spares that I left out there, we would’ve swept the series for the second straight week…and I probably would’ve had a chance at league high series, as well as a chance to improve my odds of catching the league high average. Oh well. At least that game kept our team average a little more realistic for our next match.

My other two games were solid – 201 and 207 – but I need to stop having that one bad game that characterizes my short bowling history. Luckily, we have another 5 weeks for me to put down a strong 3-game series. With Meadows continuing to improve, and Megan and Sam’s consistency, we should have a good chance to finish with a good record. We’ll see…

Nine-Dash Heroes (Week 3):
Will – 201, 129, 207 (170)
Megan – 119, 94, 103 (111)
Samantha – 131, 144, 130 (133)
Meadows – 159, 175, 183 (167)

Thanks to Wesler for hooking me up with the above photo (L to R – Mundis, Wesler, Me, Davis, Evans, Joe Bad!).

More things from this get-together that I’m thankful for:

1. Thanks to H-Kan (Steph) for the usual good service.
2. Thanks for the memories, asshole Steelers fans at Primanti’s! For a moment, I feared death by bland cole slaw and processed meats simply because I had a Ravens coat on.
3. Thanks to Tony Romo and the Cowboys for playing like arse against the Ravens and providing us inspiration for our own little rendition of Take Me Home (Country Roads) by John Denver.
4. Thanks to Hoover, Sheila, Bud, Byrne, Beau, Hill, Matt and Angela Wells, Wesler, Alan, Melissa, Evans, and Mundis for traveling into the ‘burgh for the Scotty D reunion.
5. Thanks to Davis’ doctors for not botching his surgery and allowing him to recover, lose tons of weight, and become a pimp who’s still sick on the kit despite not playing in over a year.
6. Thanks to Meadows for the cigars and liquor, post-Primanti’s incident.
7. Thanks to Dimar for the extra room.
8. And a special thanks to the shittiness of Johnstown for bringing all of us together in misery and forging a great group of friends…and inspiring some good tunes.

One thing is for certain: It’s a damn shame that that entire group in the photo will rarely be together again (barring a West Coast reunion – where we can add Mr. Reed to the mix), but it was a great couple of days, and it reminded me of how awesome Pittsburgh used to be.

I’m sorry that I live in Pittsburgh, and that my blog seems to be turning into a “how much I hate this town during football season” blog. I just realized that 5 of my last 9 posts revolved around something Steelers, and only one of them was a positive post. I actually like this town, and even respect the Steelers, but the longer I endure this town’s less-than-subtle obsession with their team, the more insanity I see and experience. It’s just so blog-worthy, I guess.

Anyway, our bowling league actually started last Thursday, and it went pretty well. I bowled poorly considering how well I’ve been bowling at Arsenal, but it might actually work out since my average isn’t so high that it’s going to kill our team. In fact, Sam and Megan bowled averages consistent with their regular average, while Joe and I had off nights – and I swear we didn’t sandbag. I finished my night with a 158 average, which is probably 20-30 pins below what my typical average has been. It’s the 4th best average in our Thursday night league, but I’d prefer to push for kingpin of our league. I don’t think there’s any Davis-quality bowlers in it – even though last session’s Kingpin is in our league – so if I can figure out the lanes, I should be able to pull my average up quickly. I’d love to at least finish top 2…after all, it’s just PSL bowling. The main issue I’m going to have is that there’s a league right before ours, so the lanes are already broken down pretty significantly. The oil’s there, but it’s all spotty, or pushed to the back. I just don’t have the experience to read the lanes yet, and since my ball likes to react later, it’s hard to not have it slide out at the back. Since I know Davis has nothing better to do…he can expect more random bowling tip text questions on Thursdays around 9. Ha ha.

Our first real game is next week, and I look forward to improving.

Nine-Dash Heroes (Week 1):
Will – 169, 146, 160 (158)
Megan – 131, 114, 88 (111)
Samantha – 127, 143, 107 (125)
Meadows – 144, 135, 151 (143)

With a new PSL bowling season fast approaching, I made it my goal to get back into the groove on the lanes – whatever groove I ever had, that is. I’ve gone bowling about 6 times since I quit my “serious” league back in September, and fortunately, I’ve been steadily improving each time. I’m starting to consistently pick up my spares, especially right side spares, which is a huge factor in my average continuing to improve. With Megan and Meadows picking up their own shiny new equipment, and Samantha bowling with consistency, we should do pretty well this year.

Anyway, last night was ridiculous. I bowled the best game of my life. My first game was unreal (for me, at least) as I began with a 6-7-10 split. I took out the 6-10, and settled for a 9. Then a slight miracle happened…I struck out. 11 consecutive strikes closed out a new high game for me (279). John, the Arsenal manager who was watching, recommended that I throw an extra ball before I started the next game to see if I could hit 12 in a row, so I tossed a 12th ball down the lane. It was the first ball that I missed the pocket with, but in all of it’s Brooklyn glory, all of the pins kindly fell for me. I’m not sure if I’ll ever throw 12 strikes in a row again, but it was exciting. It’s sort of depressing to think that I might never top that game unless I roll a 300, but I’m still pumped for the new league to begin.

“Nine-dash Heroes” – our team name inspired by one of Davis’ many nicknames – hits the lanes January 15th. Here’s to a fun season, and hopefully our third consecutive PSL championship season (summer kickball, fall softball, winter bowling?).

With the Steelers and Ravens playing Monday night, Megan grabbed some tickets for the Citizen Cope show, and that became my Sunday night excursion. The show was at the Carnegie Library of Homestead Music Hall. The quaint 1,022-seat venue was a pretty cool little venue that would be perfect for any solo show – which was what was on the menu for my Sunday – a Citizen Cope acoustic show.

While I’m not a huge Cope fan, I attribute my lack of fandom to not having a lot of his music (not that there’s much). I do have one of his albums, The Clarence Greenwood Recordings, and it’s pretty decent. I absolutely his song, Sideways, but I always thought that a lot of his songs run together and don’t really change pace too much, which tends to give his music that “every song sounds the same” reputation with me. Of course, I’m going to revisit some of it now, after the show because there were definitely some great songs in the mix.

Anyway, the show was decent. He played for about an hour-and-a-half, but it was more than enough for me. As previously stated, a lot of Cope’s songs are pretty slow and simple, which are sometimes fine, but I felt like the show ran at a snails pace at times. He wasn’t really a vibrant performer and didn’t engage the crowd very much. He more or less stood up there with minimal movement, strummed simply structured songs, and sang. While his voice was actually excellent and many of his songs are really good, the idea of him putting on a solo acoustic show should’ve really been reserved for a place like Club Café in the Southside, as he didn’t even sell out the music hall.

While it may sound like I’m bashing the whole thing, Cope just sort of gets a bad grade because the last show that I saw was Eddie Vedder’s solo shows in Chicago and because I’m not really all that into Cope. Granted, Vedder’s been a big time front man for almost two decades and made his reputation from swinging from lighting rigs and being sort of a spaz (albeit 500x less than Iggie Pop), but Cope just didn’t captivate the crowd. He was as stiff as a board, and while the music was excellent, he just made me feel like he didn’t want to be up there, or that he was uncomfortable. Of course, in watching him online with his band, he’s really not much more of an entertainer, but at least with a band there’s more interest going on. Despite some quality songwriting and great voice, his minimalist skills on guitar, his lack of energy in both song and body language, and his nearly non-existent crowd interactions just made me feel like doing solo acoustic gigs aren’t his thing. Again, this is a highly skewed viewpoint thanks to Mr. Eddie Vedder’s captivating performances a month before. I think I just had high expectations of walking away a bigger fan than when I walked into the show – similar to how I felt after I saw G. Love and Special Sauce at Lollapalooza two years ago.

Regardless, I don’t think I would rush to see another solo acoustic Citizen Cope show any time soon. I’d definitely give his whole band a shot, though, and I’m going to pick up the rest of his music because there are definitely some gems in the mix.

AE sponsored it’s first music festival this past weekend, and I have to say it was pretty cool. While, personally, I didn’t have a huge desire to see most of the bands, the concept was great and the crowds showed up 10,000 strong.

Friday night was pretty decent, as I was able to catch NASA, The Black Keys, and The Roots. NASA was a decent duo of DJs, but I just can’t get into people spinning in the daylight. They had some random stuff going on during their set – like a dude dancing around in an ape suit, and two chicks covered in green paint with silver dresses go-go dancing the whole time. Why? I have no idea. Vibe-wise, I just didn’t get into it, but they’re probably awesome…if that’s your thing.

The Black Keys drew a pretty big crowd, and the people that I had gone to the show with were big fans, so I gave them a try. Later, after I picked up their latest CD, I decided they were pretty decent, but seeing them live left a lot to be desired…for me, at least. Granted, it’s just two guys – a guitarist/vocalist and a drummer – but they were sloppy. I could barely hear the vocals, and in the end, I think I’m just over the whole lo-fi garage rock for the time being. Their latest CD, though, is really tight (the first half, at least). It’s probably Danger Mouse’s production that I like the most, but the fact that it’s not sloppy and I can hear vocals makes the CD way better than seeing them live. You wouldn’t even think the singer could sing if you only saw them in a live setting.

The Roots – in their self-proclaimed “legendary” way – absolutely rocked. Of course, I’m a pretty big fan, but I can’t count the number of times that I heard people talking up The Roots performance. Whether you love or hate hip-hop, The Roots will earn nearly anyone’s respect. There was more talent in that band than nearly every band combined for the festival, and it shows. From the seemingly endless, yet ingeniously extended, “You Got Me”, to the random cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song”, The Roots owned NAMU.

Day two was okay, but I spent the morning volunteering as staff for the festival. That part was pretty fun as I met numerous people from AE who I had never met before (all of which were really cool people), while I also had a view of the free college band stage. After over 4 hours of listening to college bands, I wasn’t very inspired, but I thought that AE’s idea of giving these young bands an opportunity to get in on the festival while gaining some decent exposure was pretty cool. Hopefully some of the bands make it somewhere with their stuff. Some of the bands, I’d prefer to never hear again.

After working until about 3, I basically roamed the festival, drank a bit, and hung out with friends. The only performances that I was interested in seeing the rest of the night was Bob Dylan – solely for the sake of being able to say, “I saw Bob Dylan” – and Gnarls Barkley. I came back to the festival to watch Gnarls and it wasn’t bad. The sound quality was great, the band was phenomenal, and Cee-Lo is a really good singer in his own way. To see Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo on the stage together is such a strange marriage of musical characters, but it works…very well. I still give the edge to The Roots, though.

After Gnarls, I met up with Joe and Megan at Steph’s house, which was conveniently located right next to the festival. There, we were able to avoid paying $7 for a beer, take a break from standing in the hot sun surrounded my thousands of people, and enjoy the music quite clearly from inside the apartment. I had very little interest in seeing the other bands live, so listening in a cozy environment was perfect. Although, I do wonder if I’ll ever get my water bottle back from Steph. Ha.

We then all took a stroll down to catch the old amazing songwriting, awful-voiced, Bob Dylan and he didn’t disappoint or surprise me at all. As you would expect, I couldn’t understand more than about 10 words he said the whole time, and the nostalgia I should’ve felt never really caught on. Dylan essentially didn’t move the whole time, and I’ll never know if he was even a real person on stage since no one was allowed to take photos or video of the legend himself. All-in-all, I felt pretty let down by the whole Dylan experience, but oh well. I saw Bob Dylan!

The festival was a pretty big success, and I loved being able to take part in the first of what should be many NAMU festivals (AE plans on doing this thing every year). I’m definitely excited for the potential of this thing. For the time being, you can relive it at the 77E website.

I went to the Pirates game on Friday and Saturday night – Friday for bobblehead night, and Saturday on a whim. While the Pirates lost both games to the Padres, it’s always nice to get out and catch a game.

Unfortunately, Friday night’s game left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. Not for the Pirates as a team, but for ticket ushers and the PNC Park policy towards tickets. I’ve come to accept the craptastic qualities of the Pirates, but PNC Park deserves better guest relations for such a beautiful ballpark.

We have a group of 8 who purchased tickets for the bobblehead package – tickets to all 9 bobblehead giveaway nights – in the upper deck. On Friday, around the top of the 6th inning, Meadows and I decided to take a walk down to Manny’s BBQ on the walk behind center field. We took the escalators down, ate some awesome pulled pork sandwiches, and proceeded to head back to our seats where Nathaniel was waiting with our bobbleheads. When we arrived at the escalators, we realized that both sides were now going down (this must happen at the bottom of the 7th inning every game), so we saw a PNC Park employee and asked if it would be okay just to wait it out in the seats closest to the escalator as our friend was up there with our stuff and we didn’t want to miss the end of the game walking up the rotunda. That guy said it would be fine, so we proceed to sit in the last row of section 133, which is the section along the 3rd base line, lower level, closest to the foul pole (aka, not the most enviable seats).

Before we even get into the row, this old usher comes up to us, and asks for our tickets. We begin to tell him why we wanted to sit there and we’re greeted with a quick, “if you don’t have tickets here, you can’t sit here”. I ask why? What does it matter, it’s the 8th inning? He just continues to give us attitude and kick us out of his completely empty (no exaggeration) section. He tells us to take it up with guest relations, so we do. Guest relations tries to be understanding and offers us tickets in the lower level so we don’t have to go back up via the rotunda. We thank them and take the tickets, but still end up standing by the escalator waiting for Nathaniel anyway. As we’re watching the final innings from our spot behind section 133 (where you can stand, but not sit), we watch as the old usher systematically kicks anyone out who tries to sit in his section…even people who had better tickets and just sat there on their way out of the stadium.

Now, guest relations was correct in telling us that the usher was doing his job, and that stadium policy states that you can only sit in the seat that you have a ticket for. That’s understandable, but under the circumstances, I think it’s ridiculous, and the usher’s inability to be a reasonable human being made me want to punch him in the face (not a reasonable solution).

Let’s think about this. PNC Park is almost always empty. We have one of the lowest, if not the lowest attendance averages in Major League Baseball. His section was completely empty – seriously, not a single person was sitting there. It was the bottom of the 8th inning with the Pirates down, and hardly threatening to extend the game – meaning we were only going to be sitting in those seats for an inning-and-a-half barring a miracle. We were sitting in his section solely because we had to wait for Nathaniel and it was the most convenient location next to the escalators, which were only going down. With an inning-and-a-half remaining, a walk up the rotunda might’ve been long enough for the game to end and us miss the whole thing aside from watching as we walked up…or we could’ve walked halfway around the stadium to find the elevators, but I don’t know where those are other than the other side of the stadium. Of course, if Nathaniel decides to leave early, we’re stuck on either the rotunda or walking to find elevators. Either way, we would’ve missed more of the game, and most likely had to immediately leave once we reached our seats, so why was the usher such a chump?

I could see if the Pirates were drawing Yankees, or Cubs-sized crowds every game, and seats were at a premium. I could see if his section was full of people and he knew that the seats we were going to sit in were taken. I could see if it was the 1st, or heck, even the 5th inning, where we were going to be taking a real advantage of the seats. I could also understand if the escalators were working both ways. None of those scenarios were occurring, though. We didn’t have a real desire to sit in his section and just wanted to go back to our seats, but it wasn’t reasonable. It was convenient to meet up with Nathaniel to receive our bobbleheads, we didn’t want to miss the end of the game, and we were sitting in an empty section that an employee of the park said would be fine. Yet we’re greeted like we don’t matter.

The reality is that we, as ticket holders and purchasers, pay for his livelihood. PNC Park signs his checks, but the fans make those funds available, and yet this guy doesn’t look at the situation with an understanding mind. He didn’t care that another employee said it would be fine. He didn’t care that we couldn’t get back to our seats. He didn’t care that we’re always spending money, whether $5 or $35 to attend games on a regular basis. He doesn’t care if we drove from San Diego to see the Padres win. For PNC Park to be such sticklers about who sits where is ridiculous considering how few people actually decide to sit in the stadium at all. If no one is sitting in a seat, and it’s the end of the game, who cares?

Last year, in the last two quarters of the Colts/Ravens game and M&T Bank Stadium, when the rain and blowout score caused the majority of the crowd to leave, I walked down to the lower levels right behind the endzone. No one said a word despite me standing right next to the ushers and security guys. Why? Well, because it doesn’t matter to them. I’m just taking someone’s seat who left, maintaining the responsibility of the ushers and security – not increasing it – and I’m not sitting in a seat that’s taken. The whole ordeal was just ridiculous. If the escalators are only going down after the 7th, there’s absolutely no reason why fans shouldn’t be able to sit in the lower levels…especially at PNC Park.

As mentioned in my previous post, there was a donut eating contest Friday sponsored by the new Dunkin Donuts in Market Square. I knew about the contest, but I didn’t register as I wasn’t really into the idea of downing whole donuts before going to the baseball game…especially without any idea of how the contest was structured.

Of course, my desire to compete grew as Joe Meadows and I arrived and were told that the contest involved downing munchkins instead of whole donuts, and that each person had two boxes of 25 munchkins in front of them. I mean, munchkins are delicious and easy to consume, so the task didn’t seem as daunting as the concept of crushing huge glazed donuts. Plus we were initially told that each contestant had 2 minutes per round (2) to consume as many munchkins as possible, leading to me to think that I could probably down at least one box of 25 donuts per round.

Unfortunately, the contest was a pre-registration only event, so Meadows and I opted to cheer for some people we knew, and some we didn’t. We cheered particularly hard for some dude who went with the nickname “The Boston Creamer” simply because of his awesome nickname, with Joe chanting “Boston”, followed by me chanting “Creamer”. The fact that we had a large group of observers chanting with us was hilarious, but not as funny as the fact that The Boston Creamer didn’t even make it to the second round after only consuming 12 donuts. Just like in pro sports, I always seem to cheer for the average team.

It was a small competition, but there were two competitive eaters who managed to show up and crush every one else. The guy who won ate 28 in the first round, and 29 in the final round, which was a lot more than anyone else in either round. He went by “The Lord of the Wings”. We talked to the other competitive eater, and he said the guy who won had eaten 122 wings in another contest, so knowing that he only consumed 28 and 29 munchkins, makes me think that my early estimates of 25 per round were a little high – especially after we found out that the contestants only had one minute per round instead of two.

With my donut eating inspiration in full swing, I ended up going to Dunkin Donuts and pounding 32, not timed, just to get a feel for it. I felt like sugary hell afterwards, but I might compete if they have the contest next year. I’ll need to train hard since I’m more of a non-stop eater at a steady pace, not a 29-donuts-per-minute kind of guy. Oh, and munchkins are not as good as I remember them being. That might just be a post-Krispy Kreme mentality, though.

Regardless, Joe and I made the news with our intense cheering. Unfortunately, they only show us during the countdown, but you can hear Joe’s loud commentary throughout. The Boston Creamer chants would’ve been much more enjoyable. Check it out here.

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…