Set List: Of The Girl, Go, Hail Hail, Brain of J., Insignificance, Whipping, Light Years, State of Love and Trust, Given To Fly, Animal, Small Town, Wishlist, In My Tree, Even Flow, Daughter, Better Man, Footsteps, Rearviewmirror;
1st encore: Breakerfall, U, Do The Evolution, Porch, Parting Ways;
2nd encore: Sonic Reducer, Last Kiss, Yellow Ledbetter

After witnessing how intense and perfect the Chicago show was on Monday, I honestly was not expecting a show half as good in St. Louis. As we left after Ledbetter, I realized that I had the privilege of seeing the two most incredible shows on their tour so far.

We left on our 3+ hour journey to St. Louis late in the afternoon and made it to the venue just after Supergrass had left the stage. Shortly after, Baba started playing over the speakers and after what seemed like an eternity, the guys emerged from the back and the crowd went completely nuts. "Of the Girl" opened (and what a beautiful opening song it is) followed by the intensity of "Go," "Hail, Hail" and "Brain of J," one of the many songs played that had not been performed at our previous 2 shows at Alpine and Chicago.

"SOLAT" is always a treat, and afterwards, Ed brings the sign language interpreter up on the stage. He says "I'm curious what the next song sounds, I mean looks like" and plays "Given to Fly." As the song ends, he goes back over to her and gets into a dance number as the song closes out.

After playing a few more songs, including "Wishlist" for the third straight show accompanied with the mirrorball, they go into a song that at first seems unrecognizable to me. Then as I hear Ed singing "Up here in my tree... yeah" I go absolutely insane. This is perhaps my favorite Pearl Jam song, and if they didn't play anything else, and just this song, I would've gone home happy! After another strong version of "Even Flow," the guys break into "Daughter." The crowd anxiously awaits a tag, in which Ed sings to the crowd to have them repeat back to him. At the end he seems to fall backwards over something, and apparently injured his ankle, something that hindered his movement on stage for the rest of the show. Poor Eddie!! "Betterman" was next, but unfortunately, no "Save if for Later" tag. Rounding out the set is "Footsteps," another song I was very anxious to hear.

After the break the guys come out with "Breakerfall." Ed then talks and says the next song is something new, joking that "It's actually a Prince song." With perhaps the biggest surprise of the tour so far, they play "U," something that most people did not at all recognize. "Porch" is awesome, as Mike jams away on his solo (as always). Ed then tells the fans that the Cardinals won and the place gets louder than ever. Then he says he lied and they actually lost, "but aren't you glad you are here now than at home watching the fuckin' game?" The crowd goes nuts and after "Parting Ways," they break for the second time.

After another mini speech supporting Nader, the guys acknowledge requests for "Sonic Reducer." This is definitely my highlight of the night. It's one of my personal faves and had hoped they'd play it, but didnt think there was any chance they would. "Last Kiss" and the classic "Ledbetter" close out this amazing set that included plenty of rare songs, and also, for the first time this whole tour, did NOT include "Corduroy."

All in all these four days, and three shows were definitely an amazing experience for me. The only thing missing was "Rival," but hey there's always next time!!! :) Thanks for being insane enough to take the trip to STL with me Shanyn! And again, thanks to the guys for putting on the greatest shows day after day. We'll see ya next time.

Eric Hjelm