Set List: Release, Animal, Hail Hail, Given To Fly, Corduroy, MFC, I Got Shit, Even Flow, Jeremy, Daughter/(Suck You Dry by Mudhoney)/WMA, Off He Goes, Immortality, Rearviewmirror, Brain of J, Black, Better Man, Alive; 1st Encore: (Sweet Home Alabama/Philadelphia Freedom), Hard To Imagine, Wishlist, Last Exit, Go, Leaving Here, Once, Small Town; 2nd Encore: Porch

Magata3@aol.com:
I promised I wasn't going to write a long review of this show, because I know alot of the long ones are annoying and lots of people skip right over them,.....but right now it's 2:30 am,...and the last thing I can do is sleep.....my ears are still ringing, my mouths wide open, and I'm in the same sweat drenched clothes I saw the show in. No, it wasn't hot at the E-Center,...but after watching and hearing possibly the best band in the world for over two hours tonight, almost EVERYONE's hair and shirts were soaked. i'm just gonna write the long review, the hell with it, and if it sounds the same as all the others,....who really cares,...it's PEARL JAM.

The first big surprise of the night (well, for me anyway) was when I walked to my seat around 8 oclock and saw the MUDHONEY banner across the stage. I heard from one source they were playing, but mostly everyone else had only Iggy Pop,....so it was cool to hear both bands,... although it was clear from the audiences lukewarm response that we were there for one reason.

Ten oclock FINALLY rolls around, the extended version of "red dot" plays, a few people stand, but then the lights go out and the place go NUTS. Candlelit stage,......Release begins,...SO beautiful, Eddie was in top form all night. The fairly standard rocking songs followed, Animal, Hail Hail, Given to Fly, Corduroy, without much comment or breaks from the band or Eddie. MFC annd I Got Id were played with outrageous intensity, everyone was totally into it,...then the place just totally busted open with Even Flow....an OUTRAGEOUS solo by Mike, one of many tonight, this guy is totally stealing the tour. A couple more favorites followed earlier in the set than usual, Jeremy, followed by Daughter, both of which got the crowd goin, singing along.

FINALLY Eddie breaks the silence after Daughter (which had two tags, I think not sure of the first, but followed by WMA) Ed joked that they had to play WMA, because his favorite episode of COPS was from Philly {crowd goes crazy, of course.} Then he said we should watch the Liberty Bell, because that would be his choice for the next terrorist bombing. Then he looked out at all the people, and said they were making up for lost time here {This is the first show they've played here in six years} Stone kept out the old Hamer Duo-Tone and they played Off He Goes, I was really happy to hear that, alot of people sat down in front of me, so I was able to get some REALLY cool pix during that tune. Immortality was next, followed by an appropriate "mike mccready!!!" from Ed, after Mike 's flawless solo. Ed launched into Rearviewmirror next, the whole place was bouncin off the walls,....the now typical extended jam session was as great as I had hoped, they never cease to make EVERY song new and exciting. Spotlight hits Mike,....Brain of J,....unbelievable,....then Black,....out come the Zippos,... Judging from the previous reviews, I don't think it's necessary to rave about Mikes solo,....he's been possessed by Jimi, and Stevie Ray this tour,...I'm certain of it. Slowing the pace....Better Man (no save it for later tag). Of course the crowd sings as loud as Ed on this one,...."good singin'" Says Ed afterwards, I think it's great that they're so cool with playin the old hits and havin everyone sing along,...personally I'd much rather hear rarities, but It's an experience havin 25,000 people all singing along. Speaking of sing alongs,...Alive was next. Yes, the solo was ridiculously {can't spell, sorry.} amazing. Enough said.

The band leaves, the Zippos return, the chairs pound, the "eddie" chants begin,...and of course,....they come back. OK,..we're taking requests now, anything you want to hear. {and the signs and Tshirts go up} Stone says something, I think,...and then bursts into "sweet home alabama",....with a surprising crowd reaction. Ed says,....you wanna hear that song?? That's what the civil war was all about. {I didn't really get that, but it was funny.} Then he says,...how 'bout Philadelphia Freedom??,...then he sings a verse. Then,....Hard to Imagine!!! It was great, I screamed when the first notes were played, I think I was the only one in my section who recognized it!!! It was awesome anyway. Wishlist,....the mirrorball,....mezmerizing,...Ed wrote these lyrics, right??? Why does he seem to have such a hard time singing the right words?? I'm not complaining, I love the little flubs, they make the show more interesting, but I seem to remember a few misplaced parts. Last Exit, I was afraid they might be thinking about leaving after this one, luckily they had no such ideas,....right on to GO,....ha,...as I'm listening to my boot,....I can hear myself singing to this one, but none of the others,...the audience really EXPLODED to this tune, Mr McCready played behind his head for the first solo,.....that's just not fair,...the God of Guitars should spread the wealth a little better, I'd have a hard time nailing that solo sitting DOWN,...let alone behind my head....increadible. Leaving Here,...again I get scared that this could be the last song,....to my delight, the crowd knew the words!! We sang all the backup parts, and Ed did the leads. "once upon a time.." said Ed....it took a second to register,...I wasn't expecting this one,...and when they launched into Once, the place really erupted. This show was different than most other shows I've seen,...most of which start out totally intense and then kind of fizzle. The fans were actually somewhat tame at the start, and it just got more and more crazy.

By this point, EVERYONE was bouncing up and down, and of course holding out their index fingers for the chorus. Ed took a second to thank us, saying we were the best crowd Iggy had so far, and we were "polite" to Mudhoney,....then a great rendition of Elderly Woman was played,....a little more stripped down that I've heard on a few boots,...great performance. Then they did it, they left,....and some PEOPLE left,....God knows why,...those that remained yelled, pounded,... and luckily, out they came, a second encore!!! Ed commented on the news,...then said " the last thing i wanna say is:...1,2,3,4.." PORCH!! the original, hard rockin PORCH!!!! It was incredible, incredible solo, incredible break after solo with Ed havin yelling match with the audience : ED: "yeah!!" Audience: "yeah!!" ED: FUCK YEAH!!! Audience: FUCK YEAH!! ,..and so on...{I would say it ended in a draw}. Ed got a bouquet of flowers from someone in the front row, and that was it, they were gone. Now it's just 22 hours till we get to do it all over again!!!

Well, that's it,...my much-too-long review,.....maybe I'll write again tommorrow,...got even better seats,...so we'll see. Also, my boot came out fairly good, so I'm lookin to trade. Later.