My review of Pearl Jam
September 29....Downing Stadium
by: MuddGuyy@aol.com
Here's how it was...continued from previous day...
Same routine...
I was just 15 rows back...yes!
5:00...Fastbacks were great on this day. They made the crowd relaxed. The
lead guitarist was pretty good at communicating with the crowd too. They played
better than they did on the previous day.
6:15...Ben Harper...wow, he's unbelievable. They were awesome. He got
the whole crowd behind him and got huge ovations from the crowd. He had the
crowd clapping along and singin' along. Everyone was saying how great he was
once he left the stage.
7:40 or so...PEARL JAM!!!...They began with Sometimes, in the dark. It was
great. Eddie had his guitar on. Jeff was using a stand-up bass. It was a good way to
start off the show. Then Eddie began talking to the crowd after the song was over.
"Hey.....I anticipate the songs tonight, to be played better than they have ever been
played before...and...and, I also anticipate there to be more songs to be played than
have ever been played before." That got the crowd going, the only question was,
would he keep his promise? Then they started to play once again, Hail, Hail. It
rocked. They continued on, until, before Animal, Eddie said something like this
"We've got a problem, down front here. You guys gotta settle down in here..." And he
continued on, Animal began. Right before the outro, Eddie just stops the music to
yell at the crowd..."You guys got an Fin' mosh-pit down here. I know there's a
looney bin around here, (pointing behind the stage to the right where the crowd could
see the mental hospital) is that where you guys came from?" After screaming at the
moshers some more, he settled down a little bit. "You know, it's like an ocean of
people, and there's waves, and there's undertows and sometimes, when you get
pulled under, it's hard to get up. (Talking to a 15 year old, getting crushed) C'mon
little darlin' you don't belong in there, if you want out we'll find a place for you on
the side (of the stage....lucky girl). You know...if there was someone, who...didn't...
live after tonight...we'd never play a live show again. Other bands could do it, but I
couldn't. Could everyone just pull back a few steps...we need to relieve some space
here. (and mindlessly, as every dedicated fan would, we pulled back) I know that
there's not a lot of room back there either, but, we need all the space we can get up
here. (Talking to another young lady) Come on out sweetheart this security guard
will find a place for you on the side...OK? Are we good here? OK, I want
everyone who's standing to make sure that there's nobody under them." Then,
almost humorously, the song picked up right where it left off.
The rest of the night
went smoothly...playing better than they ever had played, just like Eddie said. They
played Rats, that's hardly ever played live. They played and played for what
seemed like forever. Pearl Jam sounded better than ever...what a show. But they
weren't done. They left and of course there'd be encores, so we waited. They came
out and played a few...songs like Leavin' Here, and Long Road were played. There
were a ton of encores. They played Off He Goes and Present Tense for the first
time ever. And Stone did quite well for himself, singing Mankind...he looked like
he was having fun up there. The show ended on a high note with Eddie talking
about how it wouldn't be long before they came back to New York. He said he had
more fun that night than any other night. The last song was Yellow
Ledbetter...wow, what a night!
Hope you enjoyed my little Pearl Jam review, thanks for reading. =)
