Set List: MFC, Brain Of J., Hail Hail, Animal, Do The Evolution, Dissident, Jeremy, Corduroy, Wishlist, Lukin, I Got Shit, Even Flow, Daughter/Hunger Strike, Given To Fly, Improv Intro, Habit, Small Town, Nothingman, State Of Love and Trust, Alive; 1st Encore: Go, Once, Better Man/Save It For Later, Last Exit; 2nd Encore: Yellow Ledbetter

Poster credit: Fiona Thiessen

Phillip Deftereos (tgf@netspace.net.au):
Another great concert. I had attended the Monday Melbourne concert, (the first Australian concert) and that was a fairly lively event. I was very close to the band that night as I had good tickets. The Adelaide concert was held at an oval (the Melbourne concert was indoors) with all tickets being general admission. I was a fair way back from the stage but that didn't really worry me as the sound was excellent and I could still get a good view. It was a clear night and the atmosphere seemed more relaxed where I was (I friend of mine was right at the front and he told me it was very intense there).

The set list was good. It was great to hear "Once" and "State of Love and Trust". Other highlights were "Last Exit " (also a highlight from Melbourne), "Lukin" and "Better Man".

Eddie was in good spirits, voicing his approval for the local Coopers beer and his "approval" of Liam Gallagher's head-butting incident.

Overall, I was very satisfied with both concerts. Both were different in atmosphere, and the setlists spanned all albums.

Well done PJ.

Luke Eygenraam (eygenram@whyalla.net.au):
This concert was awesome, so I wanna write an awesome review. give something back to the PJ community. Ok, first I need to set the scene. At 12pm on March 7, I lost my wallet. And money. And ticket. Panic ensued.

For the next 5 hours I ran around Adelaide with no shoes on making phone calls and inquiries everywhere. At 5:00 we decided we better get to the Oval, even tho I still had no ticket.

At the gates, some guy sold me a ticket for 40 bucks. We lined up. At about 20 mins to 6 pm the gates opened and we went in. We were about the first 3 thousand or so to get in, and until about 8:15, there was a constant stream of bodies flowing into Thebarton Oval. We were to the left of the stage, about 20 rows back, in front of the P.A, just inside the 'closed in' section to separate moshers from non moshers. People kept moving around so I was able to slide in a little way, inside the fenced off area. People were sittin around tokin' (but they got busted -plus- drugs suck) and chillin' to the Beasties who were blaring thru the PA. At about 7, my other group of friends arrived, my mate Al weaved through the crowd, straight past me!! I said "where ya going!!" and he had spotted an old friend of ours, sitting centre of stage about 3 rows back. I figured we'd talk to him, and then have to weave our way back. So we got to him and said hello, and all of a sudden, for no known reason, the WHOLE crowd stands as one. And there we are, trapped centre of stage at Pearl Jam!!

People started surfing before the support even came on. But too bad for them:- they went over the barrier!! :) It was VERY cramped. (Quote which epitimised the show: "I'm covered in sweat, but I can't tell whose it is!" -me)

THE SHOW
Pearl Jam walks on, and I was expecting Long Road, and out comes MFC - my favourite Yield track. Everyone pogos, but already the shove is amazing and people are fleeing the pit...friends surf past. It is incredible!! ppl fall over, but the crowd are the type who push you over, and then pull you up. JFK is next, and my friends are quickly disappearing! The band were into the show, Eddie was really loose, probably due to the amount of Coopers Ale that he sunk!!! Next we had Hail Hail and by this time the mosh was turning crazy. I was hoping for a slow song to cool off with, and what did I get?? Animal!!!! followed by Do The Evolution!! (which was a definite highlight - and brought the fact that this WAS PJ to my face) The whole croud chanting the chorus almost drowned out the band, but it rocked!!!!

I was then surprised to hear Dissident, as it hasn't been played for a while, but during this song, a surfer fell on us and a hole opened in the mosh - I was crushed against a barrier, with about 4 people tangled on top of me. I thought my leg was going to break - and the weirdest thing happened - I just totally accepted that I was going to either suffocate, or have a broken leg. Then the next thing I remember is finally standing up, and hearing the words "Escape Is never the Safest Place"... how true it was :)

Jeremy was next but I don't remember this song, just remember seeing Jeff change basses. My friends were well and truly gone... at this stage I was drifting over to the right side of centre stage.. I had gotten pushed over once or twice, but pretty soon worked out how to stay upright and avoid surfers... Next came Corduroy, which was great to hear, I sang along, and remember that Jack thumped out this tune effortlessly! And as the stage had no back drop, I watched a jet plane landing in the distance behind PJ during the bridge of the song.. a truly majestic moment..

Wishlist was good, tho there wasn't much relief from the crazy mosh - it was soo intense, and very bloody violent! I had been pushed back a fair few rows now, probably a yard or so from stage. I thought that this would be a good opportunity to leave the front and find my mates, while there was this slow break. WRONG! On comes Lukin, but surprisingly people didn't go COMPLETELY crazy. I Got Id was great to hear, and all I remember of Jeremy is singing "seemed a harmless little F*CK!" at the top of my lungs...

Daughter came next but I don't remember these songs much cos I was looking for a break with which to get out of the mosh!! Actually I remember trying to hear the Daughter tag while asking this guy to give me a boost so I could get out. We fully tried for like 20 mins but the mosh was too wild!! I just couldn't get up on top. Eddie said he was going to crowd surf during Given To Fly, but he didn't which was a disappointment.. but the moon shone down and the song was magical. I also learned not to put your head below the mosh, as you probably wont get it out, and you will be trapped in a sea of legs.... very ugly..

The band played a little jam, with the lyrics "lemonade...gatorade....Adelaide" Which got HUGE cheers from the crowd . The jam at the end of Habit was great, but again I was busy trying to leave the mosh.. Ed had a joke with the crowd about Oasis, who were booed passionately by the crowd!! It was pretty funny to see the ppl who were cheering get shut up by the Oasis haters! ;) I was waiting for Not For You, but we got Elderly Woman, which was a brilliant moment, one of their greatest songs... there was just total JOY in the air. I then ran into an old friend who was so pissed, he couldn't walk , it was pretty funny.. anyway the band played Nothingman , but I don't even remember it cos I was talking... but this is a shame cos they rarely play it live.. and it seemed like a beautiful version....

Okay, now was my chance to leave... wrong again: State of Love and Trust revved up and the crowd were crazier than ever, it was just f*cking incredible.. everyone sung along, and I knew I HAD to get out before I passed out, because of heat and the endorphin rush! :) Finally, there was a little break, and I finally got a leg up. I wanted to get out and see my friends before the show was over. Some guy (the crowd was generally shoving but friendly) boosted me up and I surveyed the crowd stretching back, thinning out, dispersing over the area, and accumulating again in the grandstands. 23,000 bodies. (5 against 23000 -heh) I closed my eyes, fell back... The night sky above, and heard the crackling of the Alive riff warming up, followed by a mammoth roar, and feeling my body thrust up at least an xtra 2 feet in the air!!!! I truly thought I had died and gone to heaven, this was too good.! I ended up suspended upside down, as people were too busy cheering to be holding me up!! But I got up again, and eventually went up over the barrier right in front of Eddie just on the line "Who answers?" feeling like it was JUST for ME :) And as far as I was concerned, show over. So I walked out past all the security guys, around to the back of the crowd, right around to the other side.

During this time we had the encore, which was GO ("here's something you're feeling right now") and Better Man (which I don't remember). And ONCE, which was a GREAT surprise to hear, and it was interesting to walk thru the crowd, with the extreme diversity of faces singing along. That was it, Eddie said goodnight, but then "Man, you guys are TOUGH!" he explained that they appreciated what we have been through., obviously he knew that mosh was dangerous.. but it had more meaning for me.. what with the wallet and all. "The moon was over there but now it's over here.... it's good to know the world is still turning regardless of the f*ucked up things we do to it." and next we hear Last Exit, a great song which is usually only played at the start of the show!

Then the band left stage again. I was now left of stage again, about 2 or 3 yards back - a fair way, but I could see. Eddie had a jam on the drums ("Jack's all nervous!!") for a while, but the whole band wasn't on stage, and the distant retrospective was good. Mike, Jeff, and Eddie were back on stage, and I knew what we were in for... Yellow Ledbetter was great. Back where we were, people were saying, "What the hell is this??" left right and centre.. but we weaved a little closer in and TRIED to sing along with the crowd ;) An innovative and beautiful ending from Mike, and that was it. Pearl Jam '98 - over.

The last song for me, was like that period between dreaming and being awake, where you know the dream is ending, but you don't want it to. I'd like to thank Pearl Jam now, as a whole, for letting me stand back and watch that same moment.

And p.s - thank YOU for sharing my pj experience, hopefully you will have some idea of how magical it was to be there.

(c)copyright luke eygenraam (eggy!) Please feel free to use this in your fanviews.... let me give something back to you!