Set List: Oceans, Hail Hail, Animal, Given To Fly, Daughter/(Jersey Girl by Tom Waits)/ (Androgynous Mind), Corduroy, MFC, Wishlist, Even Flow, Faithfull, State of Love and Trust, Brain of J, Nothingman, Leatherman, Better Man, Black, Do The Evolution; 1st Encore: Go, Immortality, Small Town, Rearviewmirror, Alive, Porch; 2nd Encore: Yellow Ledbetter

B.J. (johnson5@prodigy.net):
WoooooooooW!!!!!!!! That is all I can say about last night's concert at the Meadowlands. It was just totally unbelievable. I was lucky enough to trade to get 5th row tixs up on the left side (thanks Lisa!) which were amazing for my long awaited first PJ show. Before I start let me just tell all of you who were there that I was the tall guy who was jumping and singing all concert long. If you were up front it was kind of hard to miss me.

I started my day off by going to the first day of school which really sucked but right after the bell rang to get out I ran home and got ready for the show. We got there at about 7:30 because my friend had to work late. We got some food and went to our seats. I had no idea that the 5th row was so close, we were like 15 ft away from the stage. Our seats were on the aisle so I had lots of room to jump, not mosh. All the seats in the row were bolted together so that no one could mosh. =) I looked around at the system PJ had and was amazed by the amount of speakers they had. Soon Ben Harper came out with his huge ass fro which was amazing. They started their set right on time and I really enjoyed it. They were a lot better than I thought that they would be, the bassist was aswome. Near the end of his seat the guys across from me started to point behind the speakers where they kept the guitars. It took me a minute but I soon saw Stone! over on the side watching Ben Harper and moving along with the music. They ended their set a little before 9:00. PJ's roadies came filing out and did a very quick job. I just stood there with amazement on how close we are and that I am going to get to see PJ in a couple of minutes. I could not control my excitement in my chair. Right when the Red Dot song came on I jumped right out of my seat. PJ came out a little after 9:00 which was a surprise, I thought it would be later. The crowd went wild! They entered through the left side of the stage.

OCEANS: I heard the first chord and just went crazy. I have not heard this song in a while and have grown to like it very much. They did a very good version with Ed leaning back as the song goes faster and stronger. His voice sounded great along with the rest of the band.

HAIL, HAIL: The band busts right into a great version of the song with Stone and Mike jumping around. I myself was just going crazy, I just love to sing along to that song. Ed takes off his jacket and is ready to go.

ANIMAL: They slam into this song with everyone jumping and going crazy. They get to the 1,2,3,4, etc. and while I am doing it, I look around to see if anyone else is. I am very surprised to see a really lot of people doing it. I was very happy to hear this song, it should have been played a lot more early on in the tour.

GTF: I was kind of thinking that Brain of J or STBC, some fast song but they go into GTF. I kind of needed it because I was already drenched and sweaty and need to dry off. I never really liked this song over the past month or so but it sure was good tonight. Mike was just getting warmed up on this song. I was really surprised at this time to see that I was not the only one singing along to every song and jumping around. Almost everyone around was singing along, it was amazing.

DAUGHTER: I saw the bass that Jeff plays sitting down (pretty cool) and all I could think was Daughter. It started out as usual and once the tag time came along I was thinking about what they would play. They started going into a very heavy version of Hey Hey, My My (my fav). Ed was going crazy. They they did some song that I could not make out (not a normal tag), I later found out that it was Jersey Girl by the Boss. Then to top it off they played a little bit of Androgynous Mind.

BREAK: At this time Ed goes over to Stone's side and comes back with a ping pong paddle and ball. Me and my friend during Daughter saw that McGwire hit his 62nd and were trying to tell Ed. Ed gave the ball to Jeff and then Ed unplugged his guitar and hit the ball into the second row (it hit a light). He then said "congrats mark."

CORDUROY: Right after that they go right into Corduroy and the place goes crazy. A very good version but nothing special.

MFC: Ed then still has his guitar on and I was hoping for either Lukin or N4U but got MFC instead. I really enjoy this song, they did a very good version of it with an extended end to it.

WISHLIST: Not one of my favs. but I think last night made me change my mind. It started out like it normally does and I was pointing to the mirror ball as it slowly came down. When it finally went on, it was just totally amazing, I got goosebumps.

EVEN FLOW: A fan fav and sure is one of mine. During the second verse, Ed screws up the line and yells "fuck" really loud, it was pretty funny. During the song while I was jumping and singing like crazy, I looked over at Mike right before his solo and started pointing right at him. I noticed that I was jumping in sync with him and just yelling his name. He saw me since I kind of was over everyone else and was looking right at me as he was jumping and doing the riffs. His solo was just totally amazing, it had to be one of the best versions of the song that I have heard. They finished the song with a bang and Mike took off his guitar and threw his pick right at me, but it landed in the row in front of me. =(

FAITHFULL: This is one of my favs off Yield and they did a great job with it tonight. The band was just playing away like crazy. Stone was going crazy as well on his solo.

SOLAT: I heard the first lines of the song and I just went crazy. I yelled "state!!!" at the top of my lungs. The guys next to me sure knew the song but not many others knew it. I was very happy to see it but for some reason it is kind of a blur.

BRAIN OF J: I hear the screech they make before the song and I knew right away that it way BOJ. A really good version with most of the crowd singing along.

NOTHINGMAN: By this time I was getting pretty tired and needed a slow song. My friend who was not really a PJ fan only came for one reason, (not really) to hear Nothingman, his fav. I heard one of the roadies play some of the chords before they came on (along with Lukin) and once I heard Stone and Mike get ready I told him that it was Nothingman. This song is such an underated song. It was so beautiful, we were all singing along almost drowning out the band.

LEATHERMAN: My friend heard this song now on next. I saw one of the roadies change the mic and I was really wondering what he was doing. The band goes right into Leatherman which most of the crowd does not know. I think that that version of the song changed my mind of it, I sure love it now. The band really had a good time playing, even Matt was singing along.

BETTER MAN: Ed then says "this is the last song of the trilogy", and I knew it was Better Man. A crowd fav but I think they should lose it unless they keep playing it with the SVL tag. The lighters came out and so did all the voices. A good version but could have used a little SVL.

BLACK: I thought it was time for a fast song but they went right into Black. This song has got to be the most emotion/sad song I have ever heard. It was a very buetiful version with a lovely solo by Mike. I hope they never stop playing that song.

DTE: I was surprised to see this so late in the set but it was a crowd pleaser. I was surprised by how everyone in the arena knew it ( i guess it is the video). They did a great version with Mr. Vedder giving us some lovely dance moves at the end. I have been wondering how he has been dancing to that song (it's pretty damn funny).

I was quite surprised that they ended with the set on DTE but they soon came back out. Some lady gave out hundreds of Breath signs at the beginning of the show and I had to tell everyone around what it was. When the band came back out about everyone on the floor had one of these signs. Ed almost fell down laughing. He made some comments about it like who made them. But then he started to ask Mike, Jeff, and Stone if they could try to play it. I seriously thought that they were going to play it!!!!! Everyone was going crazy, I think that they band was amazed at how much people wanted to hear the song. He then asked a guy down front in an orange shirt who had a sign that said, "can i play drums on one song" if he knew Breath. Then he made comment about Matt and that if you come back on New Year's Day 2003 they will play it?!?!

GO!!!!!!!!! So Ed then says that they thought about a song that was fitting for NJ and I heard Matt hit the cymbal 4 times and I knew it was GO. Right before they slammed into it, I just yelled GO as loud as I could! I was going absolutely crazy, I did not know I could jump that high! They go to the solo and Mike played it behind his head! It was absolutely amazing.

I started to yell PORCH and the guys next to me started to yell too. We were yelling so loud that Ed said, "calm down, we're thinking about it." I knew they were going to play it after that. It looked like they were playing the encore from scratch.

IMMORTALITY: I needed a break and they went right into a beautiful version of Immortality. I was yelling and pointing right at Mike as he went into the solo. I think that that solo is one of the best PJ has. Overall it was an outstanding version.

ELDERLY WOMAN...: I saw Ed strap on a very different looking guitar and I was trying to think of what song it could be. If I could have thought back farther I could have remembered one of the roadies tuning Stone's acoustic guitar. I have not heard this song played in a while either. It was amazing as everyone sang along and almost drowned out the band.

RVM: At this time I was still waiting for a really good version of a song, like a highlight of the night (Even Flow was great though). When RVM started I was hoping that it was not the last song like they did early on the tour. It had a very extended jam with a great ending. It probably was one of the best versions I have ever heard, maybe the best.

ALIVE: I knew this was coming when they stayed out for more. It was a crowd pleaser and once again showcased Mr. McCready's talents. Just an outstanding version of it. During the solo which was very, very long Ed made a nice lap around the stage and talked to a couple of people, the back went crazy. Once again on of the best versions of this song I have ever heard, Mike was just on fire.

PORCH: After yelling like crazy I started again and I say Mike bring out a flying V and I was thinking "they have already play dte, what's that for?" Ed says "1,2,3,4" and I just went bonkers. Great version of the song even thought it wasn't 10 min long (around 6-7) During the solo Ed made his way down to the seats on the right side and stood on the barricade and shook hands and sang the rest of the song. People were going crazy and Ed had to tell them to call down a couple of times (he looked pretty made) They left the stage with the song that I came to hear (actually Garden is the song I really wanted to hear)

Those last three songs had to be the best I have heard them played them in a long time.

YELLOW LEDBETTER: They came back out one more time and I know it was YL. Jeff say down and Ed said good night as they went into YL. The place went crazy, we all sang along for the last time that night. It ended with an outstanding solo from Mike.

For my first time to a PJ concert after waiting 5 years I truly think it was worth the wait. The show was just absolutely amazing and I had one of the best nights of my life there. I'm off to Hartford on Sunday where the FC has pleased me again with 10th row seats, Stone's side. I think I will have to make some of those Breath signs! Hope to see you there and thank you Lisa, the FC for the seats, and PJ.

P.S. just a little note, Ben Harper was on the side of the stage most of the concert singing along.