Set List: Corduroy, Animal, Hail Hail, Brain of J., In Hiding, Jeremy, Do The Evolution, Pilate, Even Flow, Daughter, MFC, Wishlist, Present Tense, Habit ("speaking as a friend of a Missoulian"), Given To Fly, Immortality, Alive; 1st Encore: Better Man, Black, State of Love and Trust, Once; 2nd Encore: Yellow Ledbetter

Photo credit: Joey Golliher

Kim (parkesl@titanlink.com)
What a show! It was one of the best Pearl Jam gigs I've ever heard. They came out hard with Corduroy, and never stopped the whole night. The stadium was filled over capacity especially on the floor, but nobody really cared- the were all just listening to the great music. Eddie even asked the fans way over on the mountain if they were having a good time.. and of course they said they were. Everyone was loving it so much we all knew they were coming back. When Eddie let the guy propose on stage, it was like who else would do this. Through the whole encore everyone sang along louder than they did during the concert, probably because they knew it would soon be over. after once was over we still hadn't had enough and when they all came back on, we knew a good song would be coming up. But not before the band thanked a few people and Jeff wished his dad a happy fathers day. It was no surprise that they ended with Yellow Ledbetter, but it just seemed right. Nobody was disappointed with the show especially me. I was glad I came down from Canada, because no other band has had a live show even close to that. What a great start to their tour.

Ben (nowigotworry@yahoo.com)
Pearl Jam started off the Yield Summer Tour in great fashion June 20, in Missoula, Montana. The show was held at Washington-Grizzly Stadium on the University of Montana campus. About 22,000 people attended the concert.

Goodness started the evening off. They played a good set. The people responded to them quite well. Of course, there were a few people who only cared about seeing Pearl Jam, but that's expected. Mike McCready came out and played one song with them.

After Goodness, Smitty and the rest of the crew came out with all of PJ's familiar guitars and little stage things. The stage was beautiful with five huge gothic looking candles in the back.

Pearl Jam came out and started off with Corduroy. The crowd was insane. Right from the start, the guys were playing well and sounding very tight.

The usual hard, fast stuff was next with Animal, Hail, Hail, and Brain of J. The crowd was so intense during these songs that it was sometimes hard to concentrate on the music. A great version of In Hiding followed.

It was an interesting experience listening to 22,000 people all singing along with Jeremy. Do the Evolution was next. Before DTE, Ed asked the crowd what their majors at college were.

I'm not totally positive of the order after this point, but I think I'm pretty close. They played Pilate and Ed introduced it by saying that this song was originated in Montana. Of course, Pilate was written by Montana native Jeff Ament. Wishlist, Even Flow, and MFC were in fine form too.

Daughter was played right as the sun was setting over the Missoula mountains. Instead of "the shades go down," Ed said, "the sun goes down." The whole place had such a great atmosphere in the dark. There were hundreds of people on the hills overlooking the stadium and Ed asked them to stand and move around if they could hear ok. Everyone stood up and the band applauded them all.

Ed also addressed the drug problems that are out of control in Montana, specifically Billings, that were featured in Time this month. He seemed to be mocking and putting down the "crank-smoking degenerates," but some people didn't get the point. Habit came right after this. Instead of his usual phrase, Ed said, "speaking as a friend of a Missoulian."

Present Tense was also played. This was definitely more powerful than the album version and even the few times I've heard it on bootlegs.

The set was closed with Immortality and Alive. Mike pretty much stole the spotlight during both of these. His solos were so great. The rest of the band seemed to look on in amazement.

The encore started in odd fashion. Some guy came out of the crowd to ask some lady to marry him. He asked Pearl Jam to play a song for him and they played Better Man next. It was a really upbeat version. They continued with the best versions of Black and State of Love and Trust that I have ever heard. They ended the first encore with Once and the whole crowd pointed their index fingers in the air with Ed as he shouted Once over and over.

The show ended with Yellow Ledbetter. Mike played a longer solo than usual and it capped off a great evening.

Eddie said that Missoula was a great place to make music and that he'd like to see it start off their tours again. The energy at the concert was so great. A lot of it has to do with Jeff being from Montana. It's good to see that he still loves to come back and play for his home state. In fact, he has a home in Missoula. Missoula is such a unique place and there is nowhere else that has such a great atmosphere for music. It almost seems that it is a second home for Pearl Jam.

Well, I can honestly say that Pearl Jam is at their all-time best on this tour. Make it a priority to see them this summer.