Set List: Long Road, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Whipping, Hail Hail, Animal, Dissident, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Untitled/MFC, Habit, Wishlist, Better Man, Evacuation, Mankind, Jeremy, Black, Porch;
1st encore: Last Exit, State of Love and Trust, Sleight of Hand, Even Flow, Improv, Last Kiss, Rearviewmirror;
2nd encore: Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter with Stone on bass and Jeff on guitar

Poster credit: Tim Weaver

And with that, Pearl Jam played their first show in Houston since Lollapalooza 1992. I wasn't planning on going to this show because I thought they were going to play Austin. For whatever reason, they weren't able to play there, so I had been waiting since mid-March for this show. I had tickets to see them in Austin in 1995, but the show was canceled and I wasn't able to attend the make-up date. Thus, this was my first Pearl Jam concert after having been a fan for 9 years.

Expecting either "Sometimes" or "Of The Girl," they surprised me by opening with "Long Road." I absolutely love that song and was extremely delighted to hear it. "Hail, Hail" featured an interesting lyric change: "I don't want to fuck, I want to FEEL!" The crowd went "Animal" for the song of the same name. Hearing thousands of people sing "1-2-3-4-5 against one" was truly memorable. Before "Nothing As It Seems," Eddie talked about the show in Milwaukee a week before:
"Probably a week ago we played a show similar to this that was outside. It was uh...Wisconsin? It was 28 degrees. So...it feels like we're in Hawaii for this one."
Somebody in the front then threw 5 lei's on stage. Eddie gave one to everyone in the band (except Matt) and they all put them on (Eddie put on two). He then remarked:
"I don't know how these lei's tie in to the next song, which is deep, dark, and depressing, but..."

Then came "Nothing As It Seems," highlighted by Mike's incredible guitar playing. "Habit" was a bit of a surprise, but welcome nonetheless. The mirrorball came out during "Wishlist," but before the song started, Eddie showed the crowd something personal to him: "Alright I guess I wanna tell you...tell you what, I want to show you a picture of my nephew. Can you see it in the back? There, now you can see it. He's a Texan, his name's Gary. I'll dedicate this one to him."

As expected, everybody sang along with "Better Man" (which was minus the "Save It For Later" tag). One of my favorites from Binaural, "Evacuation," was played next. Eddie picked up a tambourine, gave the microphone to Stone, and the band started "Mankind," but Mike was playing the wrong chords and the song quickly came to a halt. Mike immediately raised his hand and had a sheepish look on his face as if to say, "My fault guys!" Eddie joked, "ONE guitar player (pointing at Mike) is trying to sabotage the OTHER guitar player (pointing at Stone)...this is called 'infighting.' This is exactly what's wrong with the government today!" Following heavy laughter from the crowd, "Mankind" was played perfectly. A trio of songs from Ten closed out the main set. Everybody sang their hearts out to "Jeremy." Eddie didn't even sing the end of the song, he let the crowd do it instead. Possibly my favorite Pearl Jam song of all time, "Black," followed. Seeing it performed live will always be a nice memory. The first set closed with a great rendition of "Porch," with "It's O.K." tagged into the extended middle section. Once again, the entire crowd sang along with Eddie. Mike McCready is truly the master of the guitar solo. Pearl Jam exited the stage and the crowd eagerly awaited their return.

The band came back out and Eddie told Stone to acknowledge someone holding up a Loosegroove sign in order to get the person to stop flashing it. He pointed at someone up front and said, "And this guy keeps asking for 'Rats.' Sorry but the songs are determined before the show." Yet another song I wasn't expecting, "Last Exit" opened the first encore. A great version of "State Of Love And Trust," followed. Oddly, it seemed that a lot of people didn't really recognize this song. I mean, I know it's not on a Pearl Jam album, but still. Another favorite off Binaural, "Sleight Of Hand," was next. I sang every line word-for-word with Eddie, even though I might have been the only one around me doing so. After the song, Eddie talked to the crowd about Matt's other band, Wellwater Conspiracy, and the last time Pearl Jam was in Houston:
"When was it, '91, '92? We were playing with Soundgarden. I think we played four shows in Texas. Houston, Austin, Dallas....and Beaver Creek." He then introduced the next song as "Buried Alive." I thought I was going to get to hear a brand new song, but it turned out to be "Even Flow." A song (don't know the name) about not being able to go outside because of the pollution caused by companies followed. "Last Kiss" was next, and the encore ended with a spectacular "Rearviewmirror."

The crowd cheered with much intensity and Eddie came back on stage. He picked up the ukelele and everyone knew that we were going to get to hear "Soon Forget." Before the song he made a statement (which I couldn't hear), then said,
"You know what, I'm not even...I think that actually was first said to a Houston audience in 1978 by Keith Moon. So...it's amusing to the audience via a...dead person. I'm sure he wishes he were alive or here today to amuse you himself. Keith Moon is a rich guy. I don't know if he is...well, I'm sure he was happy. But this is a song to any of the wealthier of the crowd...well I guess that would be just right up here in the front (points to the front row). I think I imagine there's too many people there sitting on the back lawn smoking pot. But anyways, this is...this is for whomever it may apply."
Eddie then began to play "Soon Forget." About halfway through (right after the line "counts his money every morning"), he stopped playing. He then said, plain and simple, "It broke" (referring to the ukelele). He tried to fix it and apparently did so. Without missing a beat, he went right back into the song at the point at which he stopped. The show closed with the majestic "Yellow Ledbetter." Eddie changed a lot of the lyrics for this version. The whole crowd was into this song and it translated into a great performance from the band.

Simply put: Pearl Jam was amazing. I'll be at the second show tomorrow (I hope to hear "Alive," "Release," or "In My Tree"). I'm not sure if Pearl Jam can top this show, but I will be looking forward to seeing them try.

Hail, hail Pearl Jam!
James Emmons