Soundcheck: New Song, Insignificance, Light Years, MFC, New Song, In Hiding, Red Mosquito, Rival, Even Flow (Instrumental), ? (Maybe Parting Ways), Thin Air x2
Set List: Of The Girl, Grievance, Breakerfall, Nothing as it Seems, God's Dice, Light Years, Thin Air, Do The Evolution, Black, Red Mosquito, Daughter/(Hold On by Tom Waits), Faithfull, Dead Man (Ed and Jeff), MFC, Evacuation, Immortality; 1st Encore: Corduroy, Wishlist, Insignificance, (Impromptu Jam), Go; 2nd Encore: Soon Forget (Ed solo w/ his ukelele), Yellow Ledbetter

Brad Hauge (haugeb@cc.wwu.edu):
The very last thing Ed said to the crowd last night absolutely summed up the whole experience. Two words: Much Love.

He couldn't have put it any better, the crowd was absolutely in love with everything Pearl Jam did that night, and the band loved every second of their "practice."

So I go down to the theatre from campus here in Bellingham, and am kinda numb. Like I know what the night will bring, but it just hadn't hit me yet. There were radio personnel, TV people, and other media all around outside- the atmosphere was pretty fun. I just couldn't stop looking at the tiny marquee on the tiny Mount Baker Theater and reading "Pearl Jam 5-10-00 8:00" Just crazy!!

So we get into the lobby after a quick check on my minidisc player, and head right over to the merch table. They had special t-shirts printed up for the 2 warm up shows. The shirts are so tight! On the front is a guy in a gas mask, with PEARL JAM over his head, and the word "start" in smaller letters underneath him. On the back is like something from an old-school "gas warning" brochure, complete w/ another guy in a gas mask. And Vancouver BC, and Bellingham WA writting above and below him. Really cool shirts, and even cool as they were just for the 2 warm-up shows, and there were only 500 shirts sold per night.

So I get into the theater- it is beautiful. Great architecture and scenery.

Absolutely amazing atmosphere. While I wait for the show to start, I get my minidisc all set up and rigged to record. Little did I know that for some unknown reason, the 2-day old battery would die on me 2 songs in!! Argh

C-Average comes out, and basically nobody had any clue who they were. I didn't. But they were very good, amazingly skilled musicians. They played loud, hard and well. Definitely got people's juices flowing, even if we didn't know who they were when they came out!

So Pearl Jam comes out- surreal moment. I am in a 1,200 capacity theater in Bellingham WA, and Pearl Jam just came out on stage. They open with Of The Girl, and I will say right now that I purposely haven't been hearing the songs in advance. PJ always seems to start with something mellow, and this was no different. Very pretty song.

They continue with the new stuff and they pound right into Grievance. Amazing song- and I was familiar with it from Letterman. Mike was just startin' to get warmed up- and it was evident the boys were excited to be playin rock music again.

They then continued to play the new stuff. Breakerfall rocked and got people moving. Nothing as it Seems was amazing. That song has something so hypnotic about it- and the fact I was so close to Eddie and the boys was amazing. Seeing Ed just leaning into the mic w/ eyes closed... so many amazing moments.

Then they gave it a go with God's Dice... wow. This song is going to be a lot of fun this summer! Then brought out In Thin Air. I've heard that from the Bridge School shows and was familiar. Seriously- all the new stuff was unbelievable. I couldn't believe how sharp, crisp and amazing they all sounded. And it must be said that the theater has AMAZING sound. Ed acknowledged this throughout the show, and even raised a toast to the venue.

Ed then announces they'll start playin' some stuff a little more familiar- and they just TEAR into Do The Evolution. This song brought the crowd to a stir, as well as the band. Stone was bouncin', Mike was going crazy, and Ed was all over the place howling the lyrics. Again- it was just unbelievable how they sounded tonight in that theater.

Then I heard it... the opening chords to Black. Black is my all time favorite song of any band, any artists- any time. I was seriously in heaven. They played it beautifully and passionately. I can't stress this enough- seeing Pearl Jam so close, just an amazing experience. I can't describe it. They did the jam/Mike solo at the end and left the crowd breathless. Ed did forget the second verse, and just threw his hands up in disgust before finishing out. Classic and hilarious moment.

Then the band had a few set list problems before the next song. Stone admits he "already f'ed up the setlist" and Ed comes back and says "thats ok- thats what practice is for. I think you can f*** up the setlist as long as you don't f*** up the songs"

Red Mosquito--- wow. Mike just took over. The start/stop points in this song were just amazing and crisp tonight.

Daughter-- your standard Daughter, but I had no idea what the tag was on the end of it. When Ed started singing the tag, it got a smile out of Stone, but I wasn't familiar. The main lyrics I got from it were "There's nothing left to do..."

The boys then went into Yield and brought out Faithfull. I wasn't expecting this at all, but they played their hearts out on this song. During the riffs, Ed just walked back by the drums, put his head down and danced. So many amazing moments at this show!

Ed had been talking all night about how great the venue was sounding, and decided at this point to take advantage of it. He basically tells Stone, Mike and Matt to leave, and Jeff comes back w/ his stand up bass. Ed grabs a guitar and says he can't pass up the chance to play at this beautiful theater, and plays an unplanned Dead Man. He announces it as "a sort of B-side... if you know what song this is- I'll be very surprised." This was a serious moment. Ed solo in the spotlight, with Jeff sitting backstage with just a glow of a light on him. The theater was totally silent, and allowed Ed to play his heart out, and experience a moment for himself that he probably isn't able to often.

The rest of the boys come back out and go into MFC.

Next Ed announces they will play a song written by Matt Cameron, and the play an amazingly energized Evacuation. Ed takes the mic off the stand and just screams out the chorus all hunched over and leaning. Who says these guys are too old to rock!?!?!? After the song, Ed thanks Matt for playing with them.

Then another amazing treat. Immortality. This song live is amazing. The crowd was absolutely mesmorized up until the final note. When the band jams at the end, I have heard many versions where Mike just takes over and solos for a while. But tonight the spotlight was literally on Matt. Mike did have his solo at the end, but then the entire band turned and faced Matt and he pounded the life out of his drums. So amazing- seeing the entire band turn and watch as Matt goes off. It was just great to see the respect and appreciation for each other. And honestly you could tell they loved it. Pearl Jam was having fun. A lot of fun.

Encore:

The theater was so loud. Enough said!

So they come back out and just hit us with Corduroy. I don't know what else to say about this- but the boys were seriously enjoying themselves. Once they came back out for the encore- it just seemed like they were absolutely having the time of their lives.

Next was Wishlist, and it was beautiful as always. But it was fairly obvious they hadnt practiced it much, as they kinda ended it at different times. No complaining- it was hard to even tell, and I just thought it was pretty funny!

Then the absolute highlight in terms of the new album: Insignificance. This song freakin' ROCKED live. Before they played it Ed announced they'd be playin another song off the new album if it was ok. Of course it was with us. Then Ed came with his best song intro of the night, "Well we can play another new one or not. But really in the scheme of things, it's pretty insignificant. Which is what this song is." Again- they just rocked on this song!! I am going to go out on a limb, and say this will soon be a classic one to see live- the one people are goign to be waiting for. I will be when I see them next!

I think it was at this point that Ed let us know that he hadn't been drinking much, but had a pretty good buzz going from his half bottle of wine that night. Quote of the night came next: "No really, I haven't been drinking much. I think the last time I had something to drink was......about 1:30 this morning"

More confusion on stage as they tried to figure out the set list. Ed announced they were playing Go, but Mike was still trying to get his guitar right- so Stone started playin a funky, blues riff- and Matt and Jeff kicked in with him. Ed then did a little freestyle as they jammed for a good 4-5 minutes. Ed's lyrics went something like "I went to my baby's house..... but we just ended up making out." It was funny, but also really really good.

This then lead into Go, which just tore the theater apart. The light show for this was amazing- and the band showed that no matter what- they are rock stars, and they love it. Stone was bobbing, Jeff was bouncing, Matt was out of control- while Mike and Ed were all over the stage. Seeing the band just excited to be playing, and playing hard was amazing.

Encore 2:

Ed comes out by himself and is having a ton of fun. He's fairly buzzed and struts out. He thanks the crowd, and apologizes to a guy who I THINK he said he spit on- but I couldn't hear for sure. But the whole time he had his right hand hidden behind his back. Ed then says he is going to play one of "the greatest rock and roll songs in the history of the music catalog. Actually this is a sh*t song." Then he gets a goofy smile on his face and says "but I'm going to play it on this!!" (as he pulls his hand out from behind his back and shows a ukelele.) The crowd just ate it up!! He then says "I know you all love to yell and scream. But I please ask if you hold all applause till the end of the song. I don't want to mess up." And all this was said with nothing but smiles- from Ed, and from the crowd. So he starts out and plays Soon Forget. What a moment!! Ed and a ukelele!!! Unbelievable. Once he finishes- the theater ERUPTS! And the boys come out all smiles also. Ed then launches his ukelele to the side of the stage.

Then they came through for all of us with Yellow Ledbetter. Absolutely amazing. Right after Mike's intro, and before Ed starts the first verse, he asks for the house lights to be turned on. So the band is playing one of the greatest songs of all time- pretty much with the crowd. The entire theater lit up, and singing along to every word. Maybe the moment of the night- (or at least another one!) was during Mike's solo to end the song. Once it started- Stone unplugged and put his guitar down and sat down on an amp. Jeff unplugged, and took his seat on stage. Ed simply harnessed his mic and sat down on stage- with Matt remaining behind the kit. They all just sat and watched Mike. Along with the rest of us. They too became the fans- the crowd. The house was all lit up- so they were basically in the same place as us, putting us on the same level as them. Mike played his heart out and EVERY eye was on him. The crowd stared, and the band stared. When he finished Mount Baker Theater gave so much love and respect, and I think Stone was the first I saw clapping too. The whole band stood on stage- congratulating Mike, each other, and us fans. It was awesome. No one was in the dark, they could see everyone in the audience- and they just stood there and thanked us and we thanked them. Ed even went around and shook a few hands as Stone and Mike passed out picks.

The rest of the band left and Ed was out there by himself. This is when he got back on the mic, thanked us and backed away to look around again. Then he stepped back up to the mic and said two words that put it all into context better than anything I could have thought of at the time. "Much Love" And then he left.