Set List: (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Brain of J., Hail Hail, Animal, Red Mosquito, Given To Fly, Even Flow, MFC, Improv into Habit, Wishlist, Daughter/(Hyena by Rancid), Jeremy, In Hiding, Lukin, Rearviewmirror, Immortality, Do The Evolution, Porch; 1st Encore: Last Exit, Leatherman, Better Man, Angie by Rolling Stones (part), State of Love and Trust, Alive; 2nd Encore: Baba O'Riley

Kuffs (kuffs@sunet.net):
It's hard to believe, but in a state that feels so much like it should be called Hades, I certainly did feel close to heaven tonight!

First and foremost: Rancid! Let us never forget the opening act! This band came out rocking right from the beginning and never let up for a second! I found myself getting worn out before Pearl Jam ever hit the stage. They put on a heck of a show and really got the crowd jammin', so to speak. Thank you Rancid for getting our blood flowing and for the wonderful speech you made about our favourite band.

The waiting drove me mad, but they're finally here and i'm a mess! I guessed the first song of the night so i'm off to a good start. Corduroy! And I can tell it's going to be a wild night. The guys seemed a bit serious at first, but were tight and ready to jam. I got good seats (thank you, Ten Club), about 6 rows back and a little to Mike's right. I can see every one of their facial expressions just fine.

After Corduroy is Brain of J. Although Eddie's voice is doing really well (as usual) overall, two or three times I can hear it crack making it seem as if he may be having some troubles. I don't know how he can do that every night and NOT have a sore throat! Matt is going crazy in the background. Stone, Jeff and Mike were all a little on the calm side doing some occasional sporatic pogoing and that's about it at first. I'm sure they were just trying to reserve their energy to get them through the rest of the two hours. In Brain, Eddie gives double birds to 'the name they gave' him. The crowd goes nuts. Right into Hail, Hail and then Animal with nothing too out of the ordinary. Next up was Red Mosquito and Eddie used his fingertips to give himself the punctures in his neck.

Ahh, finally some words from the band! Eddie feels the need to tell us it's hot in Florida by saying "ya know, the heat and the humility...humidity, same thing, and the oncoming hurricane, it's really making for a kind of exciting end of summer evening." He talked a bit about their touring and then added "but it's fucking up my hair big time! so on to more important things." And with that, we all started to soar as they went into Given To Fly where Ed used his hands to give his love away as well as receive any that was given to him during the verse with the appropriate words. Next we rocked to Evenflow which contained an unusual solo from Mike that caused Eddie to just stand close to Matt's drums (possibly holding himself up?) as he stared, losing track of anything and all that was going on around him. After waiting a while for the crowd to die down, they went into MFC. Now here I have to give credit to a fan who mentioned in his previous fanview that MFC stood for McCready Fan Club. Indeed! Kudos to you, man! I think Mike must have heard you too because the guy started running over to Stone and back again then jumping around. Okay, I guess he's warmed up now.

Next we got a nice mellow little intro into Habit. However, our child of the nineties did not speak. He threw his head back, as if looking for some new words, then preceded to play a funky little solo of his own. Afterward, the mirrored ball began its decent and gave us the dazzling array of lights all over. And as for Eddie's final wish? "i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish...i guess, at least i could" Into Daughter which ended in a short tag that I didn't quite recognize (sorry). Jeremy raised his arms in a 'V' right after that, but Eddie screwed up the end of the first verse and finished it up with a little Vedder-style moaning (I believe he has a patent on that). Toward the end, Eddie's throat caught the best of him several times. The crowd took right over, finishing words he couldn't get out all on his own. In the middle of the "jeremy spoke in class today" lines, Eddie flat out said "i need help!" and barely assisted as the crowd took it on out for him. Quite endearing, but we understood and took care of it. After we finished, he said "hey, thanks for the assistance. i'll tell ya what, the chorus is a little tough on this one too. i'm just having a pretty hard time breathing tonight. must be all that pot i smoked when i was in high school." We hear the first few notes of In Hiding (where Ed's voice is) and he adds "but i can use your help with this one in the chorus". Sure enough, by the time they get to the end Ed can't finish singing the "in hiding" lines and once again, the crowd takes over. This is obviously getting on his nerves because afterward he tells us "alright, i'm gonna sing the hell outta this fucker!!" and they all burst into Lukin...and he delivered!

Rearviewmirror was next, followed by Immortality which took us down a notch. But not for long. Eddie ended that by giving credit to Matt and began talking about drummers which turned into a speech that made it obvious we were to be treated to Do The Evolution. Next Ed gave us a language lesson and started counting in Spanish...and apparently the band understands the language because they went right into Porch which ended the set.

Naturally we yelled and screamed and got them back out on stage. Ed gave us a big thank you and another speech telling us that the last time they were here there was a different hurricane on its way. He inaccurately called it Andrew then said we've got Georges now. "bring it on, georges!" He then introduced Last Exit. As this point, I was at the foot of the stage near Mike who came over to throw some guitar picks at us. Three landed right next to me, but my hands were full with a t-shirt requesting my favourite song, Footsteps. I called Mike's name when he got two feet from me and held the shirt up for him to see. He smiled at me and shrugged, then mouthed the word 'sorry'. Guess it just wasn't in the set list for the night. Oh well, hopefully tomorrow!

Another song, another speech. Ed mentioned he had heard someone scream thank you and used it against us by thanking us and telling us that we've given them the best jobs in the world. Well, I'm happy to pay whatever wage for the job these guys do! The band then played Leatherman and Betterman for us. So I didn't quite get the full trilogy, but that's just fine. We were then treated to a short intro of Angie (from the Rolling Stones) which took us into State of Love and Trust. Ahh, so good to hear this one! I pulled out the thing in my hair which I had been using so I wouldn't overheat in the tightly packed bodies drowning in their own sweat from the heat and the 95% 'humility'. As I let my hair fly, I noticed the guy behind me (wearing a Citizen Dick t-shirt, no less) had done the same. We jammed out the rest of the song, trying to calm down a bit as the beginning of Alive started. By the end of this, Mike was on his knees, hunched over his guitar as he gave us his all. Another language lesson from Ed as he gives us a big "gracias!" and they all leave the stage.

Once again, the crowd commenced to screaming their brains out so we could earn the privledge to another encore. It worked. Back again with another speech telling us we needed some sleep before tomorrow night...and so did he! He then thanked Rancid...and challenged them to play a blues song. Then another one of the songs I really wanted to hear was played...BABA!

Although my tape came out good to keep my audio memory fresh, my visual memory isn't stamped with Memorex. I would love to be able to give you more on Stone's chicken-like heads movements, Mike's jumps and on the floor and behind the head solos, and Jeff's little hip jig that is all his own...but as any of you know that have seen this incredible band live, there just aren't the words available in this language (or any other, sorry Eddie) to really quite capture it. They absolutely rock on their studio recordings, but nothing - and I do mean nothing - can come close to describing how they are in person! I had the pleasure of seeing them in London for their No Code tour and found an addicting bliss that can never be sated. Pearl Jam live is the only thing that can top Pearl Jam recorded!

Yes, I am aware that this is a lenghty review (I'm still on an euphoric PJ high). I know many of you have apologized for writing a long one yourselves. But alas, I won't apologize. I love all the details of a good concert and have really enjoyed all those lengthy reviews in the past. And for those of you who are annoyed by too long a review...well, why did ya read it all then?

I'm so thankful for the band for adding these dates onto a tour that has already been incredibly long. Even with heat, humidity, hurricane and sore throat/lack of breath, they still came to play just for us. I just had an unbelievable night and am really looking forward to seeing Part II tomorrow night. They really are the best band for live shows! If you've never seen them before, be sure not to miss out next tour! And for anyone who's interested, I've got a great tape of the show. Now, time to get to bed so I can have strength to make it through another night because these guys can really rock!