Set List: Do The Evolution, Animal, Last Exit, Brain of J., Given To Fly, In Hiding, Corduroy, Wishlist, Lukin, Even Flow, Daughter/(Stuff & Nonsense), Dissident, MFC, Better Man, Red Mosquito, Black; 1st encore: Hail Hail, Mankind, I Got Shit, Rearviewmirror, Alive; 2nd encore: Yellow Ledbetter

Jill Freitag (jfreitag@pink.district125.k12.il.us)
What an awesome show. My brother got front row, center tix through the fan club. He didn't get Toledo tix a couple years back, and was put on a priority list I guess. When this show was announced he was assured tix. Who expected front row? PJ sure knows how to treat their fans. They know where it's at. I would have to say aside from the incredible show they put on, the best part of all was when Eddie walked over to me and took my hand. He literally handed me his guitar pick. No concert could ever be the same. It was one hell of an experience.

Eric Swibel (eswibel@hotmail.com)
Where to start? First, Frank Black played for about 45 minutes to a half-empty crowd. He was pretty good--I was just anxious for PJ. Then they came out. Both of the two past times I had seen them, PJ opened with Release. I love it as a show opener, but it was cool to see them open with something hard.....Evolution was a great opener. It definitely got the crowd into it, and Eddie danced while the band played.

Animal followed, also having the crowd going nuts. next came Last Exit. After the first chorus, the band was sort of jamming, and Eddie rushed into the next verse too early. Eddie knew he had screwed up, so he kinda just stopped the song right there, then said "Fuck that song, let's go on to the next one," or something like that. The whole band (and crowd) was laughing. Next was Brain of J which rocked, with Given To Fly following. Given To Fly was so cool live, with Eddie motioning with his hands a lot. In Hiding was next, which made me happy, since it is one of my favorites off Yield. Then came Corduroy, with the whole crowd singing the chorus. Wishlist was next. The mirror ball didn't come down until the second verse, and the band looked kind of confused as to why it was delayed. Stone kept looking up at it until it finally was turned on. It really adds to the atmosphere of the song.

They belted out Lukin and Even Flow next. Even Flow was really cool, and featured an amazing solo from Mike. Then came Daughter with a tag I didn't recognize. Then, Dissident sort of surprised me. MFC was great live...better than on the album. Better Man was next, and the crowd sang along to every word. Another surprise was Red Mosquito. They finished the set with Black. It was definitely a highlight of the night. They came back 5 minutes later and played an energized Hail Hail. Then Eddie moved to the side of the stage and played a tambourine while Stone sang Mankind. Eddie broke the tambourine and threw it into the crowd. A few people fought over it, then Eddie goes...hey, calm down....give it to the girl. Then he told the guy who had it that he would get him another one. After a few more songs (including a great rendition of Alive), Eddie kept his word, throwing another tambourine in their direction. The band left, and I didn't know if that was it. I turned to my girlfriend and said "Yellow Ledbetter would be amazing right now to close the show." It was. While Mike soloed at the end, the whole band watched in awe for a few minutes. It was amazing.

Throughout the show, there were these people holding up a banner asking for Smile, and during Yellow Ledbetter, Eddie took out his harmonica, shrugged his shoulders as an apology for leaving it out, and threw it in their direction. It was really cool of him. Well, that's it in a nutshell, it was great.

Keith Kraemer (zoso@bytehead.com)
Let me start by saying that the past 2 days were kind of like a dream come true. I would like to say first and foremost, Thank You to Pearl Jam for treating their fans with the respect we received. Giving members of the fan club priority seating and allowing fans to record the show just proves that the fans really do come first.

As the lights slowly came down, that funky drum track from Yield I like to refer to as Red Dot was playing in the background. The band got on stage around 8:50, and really kicked things off right with Do The Evolution. Nothing can start off a show better than a howling scream from everyone's favorite vocalist, Mr. Eddie Vedder. Although the crowd was pumped before the show, that song really got things moving. It took just minutes for the beach balls to start flying, and the security guards even seemed into the show.

Things only got better from there, and the band really seemed to interact with the fans. Animal was great, as was Last Exit, even though it was cut short because the song fell apart. That's the beauty of live music, though. The band is actually giving it their all in front of everyone, and a small mistake just reminds you that everyone can screw up every now and then. The band recovered quite nicely and headed into Brain of J.

Daugter was a definite high point, with Jeff hauling out his big old standup bass and sitting down for the slow number of the evening. As usually seems to be the case, Daughter led into a cover or rarity which I didn't recognize but still thouroughly enjoyed.

After a little over an hour the band said farewell and headed backstage. Every concert-goer knew however, that they would be back. Of course, several minutes later the band re-emerged, this time with Eddie holding a little red notebook and a bottle of champagne (half of which ended up on the front row fans). After Hail, Hail, the encore's first number Eddie stepped back and said, "Now it's Stone's turn." Gossard began by giving credit to Frank Black as his inspiration for the song he had written, which everyone knew would be Mankind. Eddie kicked back for the number, beating a tambourine on the stage's wing. He stepped up for a minute to share a cigarette with a front row fan, then continued. He finished the number off by beating the mic stand through the tambourine, then tossing it into the crowd. A small fight broke out over the thing, and Eddie stopped and said, "Hey, don't fight over the thing, I've got plenty more. Give that one to the girl, I'll get you another one." Later in the show he actually did!

As a closer for the final encore, the band broke into Alive. By this time Eddie had pretty much finished off the champagne, so he followed up the "Is somethin wrong she said...." with a "Not any more there ain't" as he smiled at his bottle. The solos stole the night, but before long the song was over, and the band was gone, leaving us eagerly awainting a second encore.

The crowd was a roar when the band finally re-entered. Eddie let the noise dim before he spoke. He mentioned how he and the guys were big fans of Stevie Ray Vaughn, and how Alpine Valley was the last venue he played before his death. He took that opportunity to dedicate Yellow Ledbetter to Stevie. Eddie began with a new twist on the lyrics, before Mike burst into a screaming solo. By the outro solo he was flying across the fretboard, doing some of the most amazing improvisational soloing I have ever heared. The entire crowd just seemed to shut up and listen in awe. Thanks Mike for putting so much into the song I love so much, and thanks to Pearl Jam collectively for an evening I will never forget.