Set List: Interstellar Overdrive, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Brain of J., Last Exit, Tremor Christ, Given To Fly, Jeremy, Faithfull, Nothingman, Improv, MFC, Habit, Off He Goes, Even Flow, Once, All Those Yesterdays, Go, Immortality; Encore: Do The Evolution, Leatherman, Better Man, Wishlist, Alive, Smile

Nick Edwards (nmedward@students.wisc.edu)
Two Halves Make A Whole (continued from first night)

Second Night. I had lawn seats, and we managed to work ourselves pretty close, but the distance and the tall people in front of us put a damper on the visual aspect of the concert. Those video screens that Eddie was flipping off the first night were actually pretty nice if you were far away from the stage.

Again for a pre-concert warm up, they played the album version of Red Dot on the loudspeakers. Even though Matt's doing an incredible job filling in, it's too bad Jack Irons couldn't tour with the guys and we all wish him the best of health.

The band started out with a short prelude to Corduroy that I didn't know (It happened to be Interstellar Overdrive by Pink Floyd), and then ripped into their hard edged song from Vitalogy. Hail Hail and Brain of J. followed, keeping everybody excited, and then the band moved into an error-free Last Exit. A surprising choice, Tremor Christ, followed, and then Given to Fly. During the first few songs, Eddie was dancing around, and strangely, sometimes reminding me of Beck. (Of the Odelay fame, not Bolero)

A big one missing from Friday's concert, Jeremy, came next, starting a string of songs not played the night before: Faithful(l), Nothingman, and an unknown song. Eddie mentioned that Nothingman is hard to do live, but I'm not sure why. He also mentioned something about the unknown song, but his comments were drowned out by the excited crowd. MFC and Habit came next, followed by Off He Goes, which many people were upset to miss the 1st night. A powerful Even Flow and Once came next. The sedate All Those Yesterdays was played, but I was disappointed that they didn't play the hidden song (Hummus?) afterwards. Go was next, completing their set of all five album openers. Eddie spoke about if you wish for something you just might get it, and the crowd went nuts, probably expecting Wishlist. A impassioned performance of Immortality came instead to round out the set.

The first encore started with Do the Evolution, followed by the little known Leatherman. Next came my favorite song of both concerts. I thought Friday's version of Better Man kicked ass, but this one topped it. Eddie held out that last "Maaaaaaaaan" for longer than I've ever heard him, then extended the song past its usual borders and ended with, "Saw things so much clearer once you were in my rearviewmirror." Everybody was going nuts. Next came Wishlist, along with another great playing of Alive. (I think this was the time when Mike was playing Vaughn-esquely behind his head.) Granting the wish of the people who had their sign displayed by Ament on Friday, the band played Ament's and Vedder's, Smile. Fitting lyrics: "I miss you already, I miss you always." We will miss you guys too.

I am so thankful I went to both concerts. They were like two halves of a whole. There were only 11 songs that they repeated both nights, mostly off their latest albums and there were 23 songs that were only played at one of the shows.

I listened to my tape of the concert while I was writing this and it made me terribly sad. It was three years since I saw them before this concert; will it be another three years before I see them again? What an unbelievable weekend, but I want to embrace it and it's already slipping into the past. Eddie was right when he said, "Hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away." I guess this emptiness I feel is the price for loving a band and their music so much.