Set List: Release, Last Exit, Hail, Hail, Animal, Tremor Christ, In My Tree, Corduroy, Small Town, Habit, Even Flow, Daughter, Jeremy, Long Road, Sometimes, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, Alive, Blood, 1st Encore: Who You Are, State of Love and Trust, Once, Smile, Porch

November 24, Istanbul concert review
by: Peter Proios (pproios@cheng.auth.gr)

This was my first PJ gig. Me and three of my friends traveled from Salonica in Greece, where we all live, to Istanbul just to see our favorite band. IT CERTAINLY WAS WORTH THE 12-Hour road trip. We arrived at the World Trade Center at about 2.30 because I wanted to get the tickets I had reserved by phone. There was a huge crowd in front waiting to get in, so I found a back way into the concert hall in order to purchase my tickets. There the PJ crew was making the stage arrangements for the gig. After getting the info for the tickets, I noticed a familiar figure working on stage. It was a crew member that I had once spotted in a PJ fan club newsletter (of which I am a member) and in the gig of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Paris this summer. So I approached him and chatted with him for a while. He was SMITTY!!!

After that me and my friends rushed to the line in front. After a lot of pushing and swearing I managed to get in, almost first. I stood in the first row, as I would not have settled for anything less. To my surprise the crowd was extremely anxious to see PJ. The Fastbacks opened the show at 8.00 p.m. As usual I had everybody over my head, as a lot of small girlies, who wanted to see Mr. ED from close, could not cope with the hardcore situation in the front. I, on the other hand, had no problem thanks to my D.R.I. upbringing (I am 23 now).

PJ went onstage at 9.00 pm, opening with Release. The band was quite in the cold, at first, but after the crowd`s response they regained their power. I was right in front of Eddie but I was observing everyone. It struck me that everytime I watched Mike, he went mad and thrashed on the stage, while Stone was always smiling when I was looking at him. Sadly, I couldn`t attract Jeff`s attention, but what the heck... After Corduroy, which is my fave PJ song, a guy rushed at Jeff and grabbed his baseball cap and threw it to the crowd. Eddie and Jeff looked at each other laughing and they stormed into a power version of Not 4 u.

During Habit, Eddie stopped the song in the part where he whispers, "speaking as a child of the 90`s" and moved to the front waiting for the crowd`s response. The only one that shouted this verse was me and after repeating it 4 times I said to Eddie "COME ON". After that he smiled and said something I didn`t catch and continued the song. Suddenly, after letting his quitar down, I watched him approaching the speakers in front of him, jumping off the stage and coming towards me. Everybody next to me tried to grab him but he ducked and avoiding them GAVE ME HIS GUITAR PICK. HE REWARDED ME FOR KNOWING ALL THE WORDS!!!! THANX ED!!!! I just couldn`t believe it. During Daughter he started singing some ramblings in the end as he did in Blood. In My Tree was great with Jack remembering his Chilis funky days. Long Road was also very emotional and hard. So was Who You Are and Sometimes which sounds so much better live! In Blood after the verse, "paint ed big..." he imitated some karate moves. I was really so glad seeing him having so much fun, at last. During the whole show he was jumping up and down and in the back of Jeff. HE WAS HAPPY!!!

In the encore they played Once and Smile with Jeff on guitar and Stone on bass. At one point Eddie fucked up his harmonica part and gave it in person to somebody. Lucky guy!!! The last song was Porch. In this song all hell broke loose. Eddie remembered his `91 days and started climbing on the light frame. When he reached the top (at least 15 m off the ground) he repeated 3 times "Should I.....JUMP?" Fortunately, he came down and finished the song and the gig. After they had left, I took the opportunity to jump from the barrier to the crowd and to somebody`s head, unfortunately. SORRY!!

The only thing I regretted was that PJ played only for 2 hr but the gig was more that I expected. After that me and my friends returned back to Greece with our memories and my close encounter with Edward Severson 3rd.