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

Last night's concert was excellent as always. This is only the 2nd time I have seen Pearl Jam in concert, and after experiencing it for the 2nd time and from listening to all of their recent European bootlegs, it amazes me how Pearl Jam never fails to give the crowd their money's worth time after time. Tonight was no exception. After the first song, Eddie says that the band is "in no hurry to leave Missouri," so we knew we were in for a good one.

There were several highlights of the show, but I think the big one was when the band announced that they were going to try something that "has not yet been attempted." After they said that, I knew we were in for a treat as they played one of my favorite B-sides, "U." The song sounded great, and I was thrilled to be one of the lucky few to hear it live. That moment alone was worth my money! Other highlights included the songs "Footsteps" (another one of my personal favorites), "In My Tree," "Brain of J," "Daughter," "Whipping," "Elderly Woman" (with the crowd singing along), and an extended version of "Rearviewmirror" which was blowing me away as they ended their first set. Wow! They quickly returned to the stage for an encore, in which the band picked up exactly where they left off with a hard rocking version of "Breakerfall."

Eddie also showed us his sense of humor. Toward the end of the show, he declared that the Cardinals had won their first NLCS game, which was being played at the same time of the concert. The crowd went crazy with excitement! A couple minutes later, we hear "Woops, actually I was wrong, they lost to the Mets." Then there was a dead silence throughout the amphitheater. Either Eddie was playing a joke on us, or he really was mistaken and it was an accident. If anybody knows if it was an honest mistake or a joke, please e-mail me. Given that St. Louis is known for it's great baseball fans, many people got extremely upset about this, and some then left the show! I thought it was funny - I was laughing. Eddie then tried to save himself by saying "Well, now you have the comfort of knowing that you didn't waste your time watching the stupid fucking game on TV and you can be glad you spent it with us instead. Don't worry, you will win tomorrow night and the Cardinals will proceed to play Seattle in the World Series..." That made the crowd feel better as they applauded and then the band continued to play. I think Eddie kind of felt bad for making the comment about the Cardinals winning, maybe he didn't realize how important the Cardinals were to the city. I forgive you Eddie!

My only compliant about the show was the crowd on the lawn. It seemed like most of them were not really into the show and didn't really care. I don't think anybody around me realized how special it was to hear the song "U" played live. If you are a big Pearl Jam fan like me, and if you haven't already joined, it will be worth every penny to join the Ten Club. I am not a member but am going to join as soon as I am done here. You could tell the people in the front section, and most of the fans in the seats, were much more into the show than the lawn crowd. As a member of the Ten Club, you get first dibs at seats to most Pearl Jam concerts. After last night, I realized how valuable that can be to a big Pearl Jam fan.

Thanks to everyone who made the St. Louis show possible as I will look forward to seeing you next time around!

Amber Pawula (adpawula@midway.uchicago.edu):

So, St. Louis was my last of seven shows that I was going to this tour. I was hoping for a great show, but after the Chicago show, I didn't know how they could possibly top it. My seats weren't particularly great, and the sound at Riverport could have been louder, but I was willing to see what the guys could do. They came on with "Of The Girl," and it was great, but I had no idea just what was in store for me. Mike was just on fire all night. The second song they played was Animal, and he just nailed the solos and went on from there. And so went the evening. I still can't decide just which Even Flow that I have heard at the last three shows is the best, because last night's was certainly memorable. In My Tree had some of the most beautiful chords that I've ever heard played at the ending. We were all privileged to hear Footsteps, which was something I was totally not expecting. And the first set ended with a rousing version of Porch, with Eddie coming in and jamming against Mike for several minutes. It was great. After that, I didn't know what they could do to possibly make the show better, but they opened up their first encore with Sonic Reducer, which is always something that I have wanted to hear live.

But what they did next was something that I still have trouble believing actually happened. Before I saw them play any shows at all, there was one song that I said was at the top of the list of songs that I would like to hear live just once. So after not hearing it for the last six shows, I decided to do a little research, and I discovered that it had never been played live. When I met up with my friends before the show, I said, "I guess there's no way that I'll ever hear it, since they don't play it. Oh well." So after Sonic Reducer, Eddie starts talking. He says, "Ok, we're gonna attempt something that we've never attempted before. It's just a little unknown b-side and in fact, it's not just a one word title, it's a one letter title." AND THEY PLAYED U!!!!! The song that I have been wanting to hear ever since the tour started. Oh thank you Pearl Jam, you have made my life complete. They could have stopped playing after that, and I wouldn't have minded, I was so ecstatic. But they didn't, and went on to rock out on Rearview Mirror to close the first encore, and three songs later, Yellow Ledbetter to close the second one. I can't find enough words to express how much joy that that show has given me. It's gonna be a long time before I see them again, but last night made it much easier to bear.

Amber Pawula