Set List: Throw Your Arms Around Me (Ed) before Ben Harper; PJ Set: Release, Brain of J, Hail Hail, Given To Fly, Dissident, MFC, Corduroy, Wishlist, Even Flow, Faithfull, Spin The Black Circle, I Got Shit, Improv, Habit, Off He Goes, Present Tense, Black, Do The Evolution, Porch; 1st Encore: Go, State of Love and Trust, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Rearviewmirror, Alive; 2nd Encore: Last Kiss by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers (1964)

Jakob Odell (jwo@mars.iol.unh.edu):
"i wish i was ben harper."

I was sitting on the lawn at GreatWoods, and when I heard this I thought, "cool, ben harper's playing." I had just listened to an interview with him on the radio during the 2.5 hour journey and was excited to hear him play again (I went the night before too). But it wasn't Ben. It was Eddie. The fans who got there early got a real treat as Eddie played 'Throw Your Arms Around Me'. Wow; it was a good start. A song I actually never heard in concert, but sounded better than any bootleg I have of it.

Ben Harper then took the stage and played an even better set than he did last night. Full of intensity and truth, they played with great flow and commanded respect. I wish I could name the songs so I could say more, but let me just say 'Flowers From My Friends' is the best opening band song I've ever heard. And again, they closed with a crowd charging version of 'Voodoo Child'.

You could faintly hear 'Sonic Reducer' in the background as the stage was set, and instead of 'red dot', the track 'Aye Davanita' led the crowd to cheering! Thankfully this night the crowd was a little mellower in my section because I wasn't pushed once (compared to the night before where I held my own, but got a guard rail to the elbow). Thanks for that Mass.

I won't reiterate the setlist above, but will highlight classic moments. Before I do though, compare this setlist with the one from the night before. Except for the 'staple songs' (Alive, Even Flow, etc.) they played a totally different set list. Totally Different! I basically went to a very long show that spanned two days. Even Eddie reminded us many times during the concert they were going to play a lot of different stuff, I couldn't have asked for something any better. (eddie vedder)

'Release' opened up well, 'Brain Of J' right to 'Hail, Hail'? Hurt me baby! Finally got to hear 'Dissident', 'Faithfull', and 'MFC'; the whole crowd Loved these! 'MFC' stands for "mccready fan club" right? 'Given To Fly' was a tribute to someone who may have died, but I didn't catch who (Ed didn't want to give the name). 'Spin The Black Circle' set me into a frenzy that might have annoyed the people behind me with marginal views. After Eddie acknowledged that they played a Neal Young song last night ('Fu___ng Up' was _so_ cool) they ripped into 'I Got Shit'. I stood in awe as I listened to a song I had _never_ heard from them before as it led into 'Habit'. Anyone know what that was? Great line: "speaking as a man who paked the ca at the bawston gaaden." (gotta do it with a Boston accent).

The thing you'll probably hear most people talk about during this show happened right near the end of 'Go' in the second encore. Apparently, someone threw some coins at Eddie, and he got PISSED! Every other word was f_er or f_you. He threatened to leave and gave permission to whomever was sitting next to that jerk that they could beat the holy hell out of him. He got over it real quick though, and Mike immediately started up with 'SOLAT'. I love it when they tack 'Save It for Later' to the end of 'BetterMan' (Heth, he did the end you love twice!). I also love 'Rearviewmirror' because it's so fun to play on guitar. No one saw 'Last Kiss' coming and it was a great way to end instead of the typical 'Ledbetter' (sorry, bet I got some people mad at that one!). Seriously, 'Last Kiss' was just phenomenal.

I guess I am reiterating the setlist, but I guess just every song was awesome! Matt Cameron was on fire: perfect every show. Also can't forget to appreciate my boys Jeff and Stone. Stone was wicked funny as he apologized for screwing up the beginning to 'Last Kiss' after Eddie stopped him.

At one point Eddie was talking about stuff he read at the hotel about the concert that night. Imagine Ed trying to sound all professional as he read GreatWoods' advertisement as it sounded all important was funny as shit. Then he held up another article saying, "greatwoods: another summer of drunken orgies out on the lawn finally comes to a close." The crowd just loved it. Ed then apologized if the next song interrupted anything.

Probably would have been my favorite show ever, but my seats in Montreal were just too good. Quick "hi" to Sophie Belanger who wrote a review about it and sat next to me and Heather (fifth row!). So the trilogy of my shows comes to an end, and I'm left with this scary thought Eddie said as they left for the last time. "see you next millennium."

Wow, that's a long time from now. Thanks to Ten Club, and of course, this webpage. If they both didn't exist I would never have gotten the tickets to the best times of my life.

Bradford Campeau-Laurion (campeb@rpi.edu):
Wow. I've been a Pearl Jam fan since it all began, but this was the first time I ever got to see them live. Ed was definitely out to have fun and he brought the whole crowd into the show. It was a great, long set that covered the best of their songs. I got goose bumps at the beginning listening to Ed play "throw your arms around me". It set the mood for what was an incredible night. I had the opportunity to be sitting right down front and when he walked over to near where I was sitting and danced with us, he had these great wild eyes and you could see the guitar riff that was taking the crowd away was infectious even to him. It's great to see a band so big still be so passionate about their music.