Set List: Long Road, Corduroy, Brain of J, Last Exit, Given To Fly, Animal, Dissident, Jeremy, Daughter/(Mother by John Lennon), Even Flow, In Hiding, I Got Shit, Better Man, Do The Evolution, All Those Yesterdays, Alive; 1st Encore: Wishlist, Rearviewmirror, Hail Hail, Black, Small Town, Fuckin' Up; 2nd Encore: Soldier of Love by Arthur Alexander (1962)

JudeWeill8@aol.com
I'll start off by quoting my mother who said to me after the concert, "in my opinion, this show was a ten."

Ben Harper was amazing. He and his bass player were in-sync--just groovin' away as if nothing existed except the vibe between them. Their cover of Hendrix's Voodoo Child--blew everyone away. The audience (whoever had decided to show up for the opening act) was receptive... gave Ben and his band the applause and hooting they deserved.

As with Jersey, the "breath" campaign continues. The "breath" signs are passed throughout the entire stadium...

Scenery: 5 tall candleholders in the shape of oil rigs...

Now, for Pearl Jam.

An extended "color red" plays over the speakers, and we all know what's coming next. I'm glad PJ uses that song as a sort of prologue to their set--Jack's presence was definitely felt.

The guys open with "long road,"... beautiful. Of course, the crowd goes wild as soon as Eddie opens his mouth. I was right along with them. Stone does his side-to-side shuffle, and Mike skips forward and back--so much energy in him! Jeff and Matt--terrific form.

After the song, Eddie says, "i'm sure all of you don't give a fuck *how* you got your ticket or who you had to pay to get your ticket--and i don't care, either. we don't give a fuck." He goes onto say, "you know, right before we walked out here, someone said, 'you've sold 30 million records, went to play countries all around the world, but you ain't shit 'til you play madison square garden."

Everyone in the place screams loud enough to have crumbled the stadium.

Second song is a bitchin' version of "corduroy". The guys are right on with this one--'specially Jeff... awesome bass work during the "... supposed to be just fun" bit. Mike was killer at the semi-extended jam at the end; the spotlight was on his almost the entire night--and with just cause: this man can ROCK!

"brain of j" comes next as strong and as fast as a bullet to the head (but not as deadly). During Ed's lyric, "...the name they gave me, the name i'm letting go," he takes a ball of some sort, hides it in his jacket, then throws it away (into the audience). Nice physical imagery, there.

"last exit" is ushered in by a massive attack of drums courtesy Mr. Cameron. I'm not sure, but I think Mike and Jeff hopped back and forth in opposing directions during this song. It's nice to see that type of interaction; it shows what a good time the band's having. While Ed sang, "shed my skin at last," he shed (and tore) his jacked and threw it off. Again with physical imagery. =) Mike... do I even need to write it? Why not. Killer, again.

Ed, "for this one, we'll pretend that this place doesn't have a roof."

Before that can happen, Mike has some difficulty with his guitar. Eventually, he and his techs figure things out, and the familiar strumming of "given to fly" chimes out... Matt comes in on drums -- I could already feel myself at the shore. This is when the crowd truly wakes up and tunes in. "a wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw..." the Garden rings out as everyone sings along. After the first chorus, Mike's guitar cuts out on him, again, and Ed continues to sing with only drums. This sounded quite pretty. Stone does his best to fill in for Mike, and then after, "he still stands..." Mikes back in full force (how ironic). During, "... a human being that was given to fly" all hands shoot into the air.

"animal" bursts out, and no one is left untouched. This was one of the best live versions I've ever heard. Stone and Mike were one with their guitars; Jeff, his bass; Ed, his voice; and Matt, his drum kit. In a word, "whoa."

"dissident"--for some reason, I think people were (happily) surprised to hear it. Or, maybe, that was me. Amazing guitar-work. Bass and drums were as tight as could be.

"jeremy". Crowd=mass hysteria. Who could blame them (us)? It's a damn good song, and it was played damn well tonight. Beautifully, in fact. Everyone, along with Ed, screamed his or her favorite expletive at the right moment. "...in a 'v'"--all hands raise in a V. Nice touch. At one point in the song, the audience sings so loudly the "ohh-wo's" that Eddie ended up singing along with us instead of the other way 'round.

Stool=stand-up bass="daughter". Stone was utterly *on*. A clap-along. Tag at the end went, "mother, mother, mother, you had me, but i never had you," and "it's okay, it's okay..." Hypnotizing.

"even flow" --"ow!!!" Man, that sizzled so much it hurt. Mike did an amazing solo. The rest of the guys, simply amazing. :)

"in hiding"--powerful. Stone was physically *part* of this song. I had hoped to hear this live and was dutifully rewarded.

"i got shit". This almost killed everyone (especially me). I hadn't expected to be as touched by it as I was tonight. A real crowd pleaser, and it had quite an effect on me. Some psychotic, quick jam-strum thing at the end.

Ed, "that one was written with neil. young neil. neil young." ... "thinking back, i guess michael and i have been up here in this place, before.... bob dylan tribute? 6, 7 years ago."

Mike, "oh, really?"

Ed, "mike was still drinkin' pretty heavy, right then, and i don't know if he remembers it that well."

(Mike laughs).

"better man"-- another crowd pleaser. Eddie starts out alone (except for the audience singing with him... and shrieking, applauding happily). Then the rest of the band comes in... and did a fine job of it, too. Eddie sings the word, "man," holding it for so long that I thought he'd pass out from lack of oxygen.

"do the evolution". STELLAR! I love that riff, and it came off so well, tonight. Pearl Jam was completely into this song (and so were we). Jeff, Mike, Ed, Stone, Matt-- they couldn't stand still. They each did his own little dance. We couldn't sit still -- we all had to dance along (somehow).

"i'm a thief, i'm a liar. *this* is my church, i sing in the choir." During the "hallelujahs," bright white lights lit the stage from behind-- looked like an explosion. Eddie lifted his hands in the air... very effective. At the end of the song, everyone (including myself) went nuts. The Garden was so damn LOUD with cheers.

After the song, Ed turns the mic stand upside down and bashes it into the floor. The mic stand dents and curves.

Stone, "kind of like the power team: he's bending bars for christ. 'can you bend that for christ?!'"

Ed, "you wanna see me break the mic stand for jesus?"

Crowd cheers, and Eddie folds the mic stand in half using his neck.

Ed (jokingly), "hail satan. hail satan."

"all those yesterdays". Stone plays beautifully until he screws up and plays his solo in the wrong key. Eddie seems to be the only one who notices (as the rest of the band plays contentedly), and he laughs. Then Jeff and Matt realize Stone's playing in the wrong key, and they get off rhythm. The song falls apart from there. "use your mind to escape..." Nice lyric.

Stone, "well, i fucked *that* up."

Ed, "coming to madison square garden, fuck up a song big time--i think john lennon would be proud."

"alive." Simply put: wonderful. I wonder what deal Mike made to be able to play like that... (just a blessin', I know). =) At some point, Ed pumps his fist in the air and screams, "yeah!" and then the whole crowd does the same throughout Mike's solo. To give a bizarre analogy, it looked like Nazis hailing Hitler--one armed (not saying Pearl Jam is anything near the Third Reich)...just awe-inspiring and frightening at the same time. Tens of thousands of people mimicking the same movement... wow.

*Encore 1*

Men dressed like secret service men bring 18 boxes or so and stack them on the stage. The faux secret service remain by the boxes. The band comes on, Eddie truly thanks us, and all the audience (all around the Garden) holds up all the "breath" signs (we're talking thousands, I think).

Ed, "besides new jersey, i've never seen such organization within a crowd." He goes on to say that the band had a day off between now and New Jersey but that someone had slipped him a Viagra, so he was doing something else.

Then Ed jokes that some of Kenneth Starr's people wanted backstage passes, and that the only way that was going to happen was if Starr sent a copy of his report on Clinton. He gestured to the boxes. "so, here it is. should we read it?" More jokes on the boxes (and report), says he doesn't care about every little detail whether the Pres. had sex or not with Monica and wishes he could hear about some *important* issues instead; that it has nothing to do with our government, our freedom, what's happening over seas, etc.

And, as good New Yokers, we all shouted our agreement. The boxes were then thrown into the audience for our enjoyment.

Ed gives a final note before beginning the next song, "i'm sorry. the stage is not the place for my personal problems. i just wanted to know if i was the only one who felt this way (about the pres., etc.)" We shout our reassurance.

"wishlist." Terrific. It's so complex in its simplicity (musically and lyrically). At the end, Eddie sings, "i wish i was a senator, and all the news was good... i'd change things if i could."

"rearview mirror"--yet another crowd pleaser. A totally killin' version. Another hypnotizing jam in the middle.

"hail, hail"... slamming. The guitars and bass rocked on this one utterly. Drums were hot. Of course, "hail, hail the lucky ones--i refer to those in front, yeah."

"black". I didn't think they would, but all my senses, except that of hearing, disappeared. The song was it. I didn't absorb anything but the music. What a pure experience. :)

"elderly woman"-- sing-along. All arms raise, "i just wanna scream, 'hello!'" Matt's drumming sticks out the most.

Stone, "this next song i dedicate to 'all those yesterdays'."

"fucking up". MY GOD! Does that say enough? This was so good it's indescribable. I'm constantly amazed at how much those guys can give...

*Encore 2*

Ed says that they've got one more, and that, "this is how we feel." Mike goes into "yellow ledbetter," (crowd goes wild), and Eddie stops him, saying that they played that at Jersey. Eddie gives a little background info. on the next song, and the crowd (myself not included) kind of groaned in disappointment.

"soldier of love"--I wanted to hear this after reading other fanviews. Pearl Jam played it as if the song were one of its own. The house lights were on. This was a high point for me, the Garden had thinned out a bit--it felt like a party. The music is upbeat. Everyone clapped along... very, very nice way to end the show.

Thank you, Pearl Jam.

And thank *you* for reading...
LBL.