Set List:Of The Girl, Hail Hail, Breakerfall, Whipping, Corduroy, Animal, Small Town, Dissident, Given To Fly, Faithfull, Even Flow, Untitled, MFC, Light Years, Off He Goes, Insignificance, Black, Jeremy, Porch/(It's OK);
encore: Wishlist, State of Love and Trust, Go, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Daughter/(Wrong Child), Smile, Rearviewmirror

OK, where to start? Four years and three days after my first ever PJ show (N. Charleston, 10/96). A cold night here in Wisconsin. As cold as I've been since the winter I spent in Korea…38 degrees and dropping when we pulled into the lot at Alpine Valley after the two hour drive north from the Chicago area. It's cold enough to see your breath. This is one of the ways you know you're a fan-with-a-capital "F."

My favorite moments of any concert are between the last part of changeover right up until the band takes the stage. Why? Because that's when the air is so alive, so electric, so trembling with powerful potential. I love the instrumental intro, "Baba O'Reilly." I don't know how that escaped me in Atlanta, maybe because I was closer than I'd ever been there and I was going through near-sensory overload. I'm not as close here as I was in Atlanta, but Alpine Valley's lawn slopes up sharply, so I've got a nice, high vantage point and can see just about everything. "Baba" is a great way to start, it fits the moment perfectly, and I've been humming it to myself ever since.

Matt's out first again, appearing behind the drumkit. Then I think I see Stone, kind of half in darkness to the right. Then Ed, notebook and wine in hand. Mike and Jeff move in together from the shadows to the left. This is the moment I've been waiting for since the first time I heard "Nothing As It Seems," back in May on my car radio, right before we take the jump together, poised on the edge, waiting. Barely able to contain myself. What's it going to be? "Release?" "Sometimes?" Something faster, to help heat up the night a little? Actually, it's an ethereal, slow-burning "Of the Girl." But apparently aware of the need to generate some heat, and maybe just wanting to get warm fast themselves, the guys peel off white-hot readings of "Hail Hail" and "Breakerfall," both of which sound great. The first surprise comes with "don't need a helmet…got a hard, hard head." Wow.

Other nice surprises in a solid setlist: "Faithfull," not heard live since the last time I was here, in '98. "Jeremy," which tricked the crowd, who sang the first chorus while Ed just watched. When Ed got to "I wish I was the full moon," on the shimmering version of "Wishlist," I looked up--the moon wasn't quite full, but it was three-quarters, and the cold, clear sky was full of stars. In that setting, "Wishlist" (one of my favorites) was just full of beauty and aching longing. Awesome, just awesome.

"Untitled," was expanded and a bit different--the "ten minutes or so" was now "23 minutes," (I think?). Significance? Other than 23 being Michael Jordan's jersey number, I can't say. How about putting that question to the Rumor Pit?

So it was cold. The coldest show they've ever played, Ed said early on, including even Matt's days with Soundgarden. But long after the cold has faded into an abstract memory, the music will live on. Thanks. To five musicians whose obvious love for their craft and respect for their audience transcends the weather and creates warm memories out of even the coldest nights. Thanks. See you in Chicago…