Set List: Sometimes, Last Exit, Brain of J., Hail Hail, Given To Fly, In Hiding, Interstellar Overdrive into Corduroy, Go, MFC, Wishlist, Rearviewmirror, Pilate, Alive, Spin The Black Circle, Off He Goes, Even Flow, Daughter/(Mother by John Lennon)/(Monkey Gone To Heaven by Pixies), Mankind, Do The Evolution; Encore: Jeremy, Immortality, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Sonic Reducer w/Murder City Devils

Photo credit: MORRmike@aol.com

Christopher McEwan (veddhead@cyberramp.net):
It's no surprise that Pearl Jam's first show in Dallas in almost 5 years was more than welcome. The tens of thousands of fans at the sold-out Reunion arena proved that. For those of you that stood in line or sent in your fan club fliers early, you know the wait was well worth it.

I had no watch, but I believe Pearl Jam came out on time at 8:30 pm. They strummed a few chords and broke into "Sometimes" which was what I thought they would play first. An extremely good version of "Last Exit" followed, and then one of my favorites, "Brain of J."

What happened next was a total and complete surprise. Eddie busts out into "Hail, Hail" when all of the sudden, Dennis Rodman walks on stage wearing nothing but sandals, shorts, and a straw hat. The crowd cheered, the song continued, and Dennis hugged the hell out of Eddie. Apparently, Dennis is extremely strong, or Eddie is extremely light...or both. Eddie looked like a rag doll. Anyway, Dennis plays around onstage during "Hail, Hail", putting his hat on Eddie and bowing to him...etc...etc.... (altered lyrics in "Hail, Hail": 'Hail, hail the lucky ones. I refer to those who are tall') Eddie jokingly mumbles something about Dennis hitting the bottle early at the end of the song, and I believe Dennis left the stage.

"Given To Fly" and "In Hiding" follow without a hitch, and then they play "Corduroy". Enter Rodman, stage left.... This time, Eddie's earlier assumption seems to be true. Dennis clearly has a tad bit of alcohol in his system. Okay, he's had a friggen keg. The playfulness continues, and Eddie asks Dennis what he wants to hear. Finally, Eddie gets Dennis to sit on a stool next to the drumkit.

If you've never heard "Go" live, you're missing out. This song blew the roof off. "MFC" followed, along with "Wishlist". I had a hard time hearing what Eddie said at the end of "Wishlist". The 'radio song' line was altered, as was 'I wish it never stops'. It was different. Anyone catch it?

My anthem, "Rearviewmirror", was extremely awesome. It started off with Eddie strumming solo, rather quickly, but not as quickly as on the album. "Pilate" followed, and it seemed to be a crowd favorite. "Alive" had everyone, absolutely everyone, singing along. "Spin the Black Circle" was just as intense, if not more, than on Vitalogy.

Another surprise...they played "Off He Goes". I've never heard this live aside from the Melbourne show, but it totally kicked. There were two couples making out behind us during the song...but that's another story.

Songs from Ten always seem to invoke the most audience participation, and "Even Flow" was no exception...another crowd favorite. Following this was "Daughter". Jeff sat on his little stool and strummed. Did I mention he wasn't wearing a hat during the show? Now, I couldn't tell what the hell the trailer to "Daughter" was. One of the lines was "Mother, you and I...". Anyone catch this either? It was interesting to say the least. Not one of my favorite trailers, but cool.

Eddie walks to the left of the stage and grabs a tambourine. Stone says something like "Alright, you guys want to hear me play one?" The audience cheers of course. He says "You better be happy. It's not everyday I play this". Eddie laughs. "Mankind" follows....awesome.

My personal favorite from Yield is "Do The Evolution", and hearing it live only made me love it even more. I can't remember, but I think Eddie mixed some of the words around. I was too busy singing at the top of my lungs to make notes then.

After "DTE", the guys left the stage. This was met with extreme displeasure by the crowd in the form of massive cheering. A few seconds later, the guys head out onto the stage. Eddie says "This is a song from the b-side of a single. I'm sure none of you have ever heard it"....something like that. Well, it turns out it's the song that hooked most everyone way back when..."Jeremy". It was your typical live version for the most part. Then came "Immortality"...totally unexpected. Following that was "Better Man/Save It For Later"...very cool.

All good things must come to an end, and for the second encore, Murder City Devils came out and played "Sonic Reducer" with the guys. It was a totally exciting, blowout song. Eddie and the MCD's singer were all over the stage "dueling it out". Dennis comes out again and walks Eddie to every corner of the stage eliciting cheers from the crowd. The song ends, Eddie thanks the crowd, and that was it!

Anyway, overall this was better than the Austin show 3 years ago. It was indoors and cool! There was NO mosh pit, even though I was no where near the mosh pit area. Our seats were somewhat disappointing considering we bought them from the fan club, but we could hear the music just fine which is all that really matters. The crowd was totally into every song, and it seemed to be a younger crowd than 3 years ago. I also saw a happier Eddie than 3 years ago. He really seemed to be enjoying it all, as did the other guys. Their attitudes allowed me to leave today with a different feeling than I did 3 years ago. It's the same feeling I had when I first listened to Yield. Do you know that feeling? I think you do. Goodnight.

yellow1000@sprynet.com
Well, I must say that Pearl Jam rocks live. I have been a fan of theirs every since they came out, but tonight was the first time that I ever saw them live. They were very inspiring and wonderful in concert. They started the show off with "Sometimes", and then blasted away with many songs from Yield. We were all surprised when little Dennis from the Chicago Bulls got on stage. It was cool at first, but he stayed forever! At some point everybody was patronizing Dennis, hoping that he would get bored with his career as a rock star and leave. Up in the balcony I soaked in everything with my binoculars. I caught a glimpse of Doug Pinnick from KINGS X backstage, and I put down the binoculars to see the awesome "disco ball" during Wishlist. Matt Cameron was bad to the bone. He hit the drums so hard, I was sure that they were going to break in half. It was cool seeing Gossard, Ament, and Cameron together, being that they all played on the Gossard DEMOS pre Vedder. The band rocked so hard with Jeremy, Alive, and Even Flow from "TEN", as well as other tunes from the other albums. Rock on Pearl Jam..........thank you for living your dream, and bringing your music to Dallas.