Set List: Long Road, Last Exit, Animal, Spin the Black Circle, Hail Hail, In My Tree, Corduroy, Lukin, Not For You, Jeremy, Better Man, Red Mosquito, Black, SOLAT, Habit, RVM, Immortality, Alive, Porch. Gloria Steinem speech on voting. 1st Encore: Who You Are, Even Flow, Whipping, I Got Id w/Brendan O'Brien on bass, Leaving Here, Daughter/Real Me/Noise of Carpet, Yellow Ledbetter

Pearl Jam Charlotte Concert
by: Mark Morris

Being an over 40 parental-type unit, my wife and I took our 14 year old daughter and her friend to see what I consider to be the best rock 'n roll band since The Doors (I'll pause a second here to allow everyone to stop laughing but if you get the chance, listen to Morrison's Hotel to see what I mean). Anyway, we got there pretty early, Katie and Jill went off on their own and we settled down about twenty or thirty feet way from the stage. There was a rather large area cordoned off right in front of the stage so Debbie and I figured that was the mosh pit we'd heard so much about. Little did we know...

Fastbacks were alright I guess...and the crowd was starting to build. Ben Harper was really quite good-a very pleasant surprise. It was after their first or second song that we figured we were actually in the mosh pit. A new experience for Debbie and I, to say the least. Nothing we couldn't handle though as we're in pretty good shape for a couple of old farts.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's SHOWTIME. Everyone starts screaming EDDIE...EDDIE. It makes me wonder-don't they realize how outstanding every member of this band is? Long Road starts and the crowd goes ballistic. The surfers start rolling...the music hits you with such force it almost takes your breath away. Last Exit then Animal and things start to get pretty radical. The crowd surge from behind us is outrageous. I start to think about The Who in Cincy back in '74-a bunch of people fucking DIED there! Glad I'm not claustrophobic. Spin The Black Circle...this swirling shit the crowd is doing has us at 45 degree angles but at least we're still vertical. Then Debbie goes down after tripping over a plywood box covering the power cables and I have to get pretty damn physical to keep her from getting stomped. The people around us must've thought the old bastard has gone crazy. They finally get the idea and move back from her long enough for her to get back on her feet. Thanks Eddie for advising the crowd to stop that shit. Things settle down and you can tell the band is hittin' their groove. Fanfuckingtastic! They're working their ass off for us. The songs attack the senses-you can FEEL them down in the soul where few bands are able to venture. My face actually hurts from smiling so much.

Eddie asks the crowd to take three steps back to relieve the intense crowding and it's a little easier to breathe. Jeremy...Habit...Alive and the surfers are careening toward and away from us every 15-20 seconds. I'll never understand one thing about moshing. What's the deal with everyone trying to take the surfers SHOES. That's pretty fucking low as far as I'm concerned.... Black is just so beautiful..."How quick the sun can drop away-and now my bitter hands cradle broken glass of what was everything....." Pearl Jam launch into Porch.."All the bills go by..." and the whole crowd starts jumpin up and down in unison. Eddie literally growls "There ain't gonna be any middle anymore..." This is the essence of rock and roll - the power of anger and rebellion totally unleashed. No other musical style or art form has that kind of pure, unadulterated power...

The band takes a break and Gloria Steinem takes the stage and talks about the right to vote and the ability of people to actually make a difference by voting. Nowhere in the U.S. is this more important than here in NC, what with that dickhead Jesse Helms "representing" the people of NC. The band cranks it back up and I wonder where they get the stamina to do this for a whole show, let alone a whole tour. Who You Are blends into Even Flow and I'm literally transported to Rock and Roll nirvana (sounds cheesy but it's the damn truth) ...Jeff's extraordinary bass foundation with Mike and Stone's guitars winding up and down intertwined with Jack's precision percussion and Eddie's soaring vocals on Even Flow are an aural masterpiece. Folks, it just doesn't get any better than this and I've seen most of the first/second generation of rock and roll icons to know what I'm talking about.

By the time they close things out with Ledbetter I realize I'll probably never experience anything like this again...ever.

The cuts and bruises from the pit have faded but the memories of this show never will. THANK YOU GUYS for not only the fantastic show but also for coming to this part of the country and not charging 50-100 dollars for the privilege of seing you'all live. You touch people's lives in ways you can never imagine. May the energy that guides you keep every one of you healthy, safe and above all happy.

Peace,
Mark, Debbie and Katie Morris

Show review, Charlotte, NC 10/2/96
by: Richard Jackson

I'm sorry, but words cannot explain what happened at that concert. The best I can do is say it was incredible.

I got there 4 hours before opening band showtime and got a place right behind the "official mosh pit." My place was front-row, center, 25 feet from stage. I was in Heaven. Fastbacks and the second band were O.K., but I just wanted to see PJ. However, relentless deadbeats squashed me against the barricade 10 minutes before they came out. One very stoned individual told me, "I don't give a F how long you've been here. General F-ing admission means if I can get to the front, I will." He proceeded to shove me against the barricade. I fought this insanity for about 15 minutes, but when trying to breathe became a real struggle I bailed out over the barricade. I was covered with scratches and bruises for the next week. At first I was heartbroken to lose my position, but I was able to get surprisingly close again by working my way through the throng. From this account, I would like to say (and I think Eddie would agree with me) that we should stop moshing and enjoy the music peacefully. No one should die at a concert. Security should remove those who use physical exertion to make others' concert experience unpleasant. Eddie asked the crowd several times to calm down, and once even made everyone take 2 steps back. It worked!

Now about the concert -- amazing. A feeling permeated everyone present that they were partaking in something really special. Long Road was a great introduction. Everyone was instantly taken by the smooth, harmonious melodies. Then it was so awesome when Eddie said he thought we were ready to jam and burst into a 100% effort on Animal. The arena exploded in an elated, yet controlled frenzy. The band proceeded with a seemingly perfect conglomeration of the best works from all of their albums. I was afraid they would do all No Code stuff and only one or two of the old favorites. Another thing I'll never forget was the following transition between songs. Eddie had just twisted our emotions with heart-wrenching Black and he said, "that was a song about love. This song is also about love ... and trust," as the band instantly took the cue and burst into SOLAT.

I thought the highlights were Corduroy, Lukin, Rearviewmirror, Alive, Porch, Even Flow, and I Got Id. An inner feeling of "WOW!!!" gripped the heart of my soul during each of these songs. I was also very impressed with the whole political spiel after Porch. I thought the implied point was going to be "vote against Jessie Helms," but that was never stated explicitly by Eddie or Gloria. Instead they focused on making sure our voice was heard by just voting. That was really cool. I was also amazed by Vedder's humble and earnest expression of gratitude to the fans. He thanked us for coming and for all the shit we went through to get there. We knew he meant it and none of us will ever forget.

Review of Charlotte 10/4 Show
by: Raulie Ruiz

This is my review of the Charlotte 10/4/96 concert:

I wrote this during my Calc II class here at Carleton two days after the show, so excuse any grammatical errors, but...

It seemed impossible that we were finally boarding the plane that would take us from Minneapolis to Charlotte. Rachel and I looked at each other with glee as my mom waved goodbye and we walked the tunnel to the plane. The flight seemed to last forever, and our shaky landing caused us to question whether we would actually see this band. But we found ourselves dropping our backpacks in a locker and jumping into a cab before we knew what was happening. Though the cabbie first took us to the wrong stadium, we eventually made it.

3:30 pm. The gates had just opened. We ran out of the cab, but stopped so we could buy a couple t-shirts to make sure we got the ones we wanted, and to keep warm, for a crisply cool evening outdoors was ahead of us. We approached the gates to find two extremely long lines, and one very short line. We went to the short line, asking the ticket-taker why the line was so short. “People are too stupid to realize there’s more than two lines.” Sweet.

We swiftly maneuvered down the stairs to the field of the football stadium and we saw everyone running towards the stage at the far end of the field. We joined them and sprinted our way to the front. There was a large blocked off section in front of the stage that was labelled as “Pit”. A security guard stood at the gate of the pit explaining (he sounded like Chris Farley’s motivational speaker), “This is the mosh pit. If you don’t want to be in the pit, do not come in. Once the pit is full, it will be closed off.” Rachel and I looked at each other and ran to the pit. When we got in, we found security was making everyone sit down, so we took a seat. And there we sat for three hours before the opening act came out, when we were finally allowed to stand.

The Fastbacks were better than I thought and their final song was pretty good as the female backup vocalist sang lead, and the guitar player played some sweet solos. A half hour passed by and it began to grow dark. Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals came out and played a kickin’ version of Jimi’s “Voodoo Child”. The rest of Ben’s hour long set was just as exciting; the entire crowd was pleasantly surprised.

But now we were ready for Pearl Jam.

It took forever to get set up, but when the lights went down, we knew it was worth the wait. I felt hundreds of bodies pushing towards the stage and was afraid I would not enjoy the show, but when Eddie picked up his guitar and began playing “Long Road”, I knew it would be a night to remember. After a powerful version of that first song, Eddie decided to address us, as he would do many times throughout the evening: “This looks like an intelligent crowd...” He wanted to make sure we took care of each other because the band was ten seconds from “kicking it in”. We obliged, and the band broke into “Last Exit”.

In the first of many surreal events, the entire crowd held up their hands and counted on their fingers as Eddie chanted “1, 2, 3, 4, 5 against 1” at the beginning of “Animal”. And then came “Spin the Black Circle” where Eddie became a kid again, and danced like a maniac all over the stage. The fifth song, “Hail Hail”, was the first “No Code” song of the night, and it now felt like we were all part of the concert. Over the next hour, the band played a good mix of songs from all of their albums. Eddie looked like he was feeling pretty good and he sounded really good. The entire band was in a great mood and it showed in their performance.

My next surreal experience came during “Mosquito”, when I removed a package of peanuts from my pocket, and ate them one by one, standing in the pit, listening to and watching them play the song. “Alive” and “Rearview Mirror” were simply amazing. And then Eddie stepped to the mic and said, “You know, I have a lot of stuff to say...I think I’ll just say....1, 2, 3, 4...” And they broke into “Porch”. Wow. Fifteen minutes of pure.....I don’t even know what to say. Actually, a crowd surfer landed on my head and my neck snapped, so I’m not sure if I missed anything. So they left after “Porch”, but soon Eddie returned with Gloria Steinem. He said, “If you guys are quiet and respectable and listen to what she has to say, we’ll come back and play a bunch more songs.” So we were silent and gave her a huge round of applause. She was pretty interesting anyways.

They began the encore with “Who You Are” and continued with an amazing version of “Even Flow”. During “Even Flow”, Rachel was landed on by a surfer and she hit the ground. Instantly, I and another young man scooped her up to her feet. Still, she smiled and turned to face the stage, apparently not feeling what had just happened. They played a few more songs, and then went on to “Daughter”. Before the song Eddie warned us that it had to be their last song because they had played too long and they were turning on the stadium lights, and the fire marshall said they had to go, so he thanked us and began the song. It turned out to be an eight minute version that included a sing-along where Eddie would sing something, and then have us repeat it. Pretty cool. In the middle of the song, Eddie looked into the crowd and said, “Wow, just look at you guys....” Very cool.

After “Daughter”, they said “goodnight” and left the stage. All of the stadium lights were on, and I guess we were supposed to leave. Along with a guy next to me, I started shouting, “Yellow Ledbetter! Yellow Ledbetter!” and not thirty seconds later, Eddie came running out on stage and said, “We can’t go now......Here’s one more....” and Mike stepped out and started “Yellow Ledbetter”. It was so beautiful. For one final surreal moment, Eddie seemed to look directly at Rachel and me. He got to the part of the song where he sings, “But they don’t wave....” and he waved at us. He made eye contact with me and I almost felt uncomfortable it was so unreal. As Mike played the ending solo to the song, Eddie sat down on a monitor and just stared at him in awe. And then it was over.

We went to a local diner with a bunch of other people from the concert and then we slept at the airport. We flew home the next day. And now it is over.