Set List: Of The Girl, Breakerfall, Grievance, Corduroy, Light Years, Go, Given To Fly, Evacuation, Even Flow, Daughter, Animal, Wishlist, Nothingman, Better Man, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror;
1st encore: Last Exit, Once, Black, Timeless Melody, State of Love And Trust, Fuckin' Up
2nd encore: Leatherman, Footsteps, Do The Evolution, Garden, Yellow Ledbetter

Paul Dunne (pauldun@lineone.net):
As a 42 year old veteran of many concerts over the years, I have to say Pearl Jam were fantastic. Although the Arena is a vast bowl, the atmosphere was similar to that of smaller venues. They played nearly all my favourite songs but strangely not the new single and nothing from "No Code." Eddie hinted that they may not return for sometime to Manchester - I hope it's a lot sooner. The highlight for me was a great version of Nothingman followed by Better Man, but then hearing the old songs like Even Flow, Animal, Go and the wonderful Daughter was also great. Lets not forget the wonderful new songs which everybody seemed to know.

Come back to Manchester soon - at least before I go bald!

Chris Mace (MACEC@stmaryschesterfield.org.uk):
The night was still light as we approached the largest indoor Arena in Europe. I've never seen so many Pearl Jam fans in my life. I didn't even know that this number existed in the UK.

The lights went down promptly at 19.30. The Vandals appeared on the stage, launching into a punk redition of 'Tell Me More' from Grease. Their set was monotonous and cumulated with the lead singer stripping off naked and running into the crowd. Finally they left the stage.

After a short gap, Pearl Jam appeared to huge cheers from the eager crowd. It has been 4 years since Pearl Jam's last UK dates and this was the first time that I had seen them. The went straight into 'Of The Girl' following up with 'Grievance' and 'Breakerfall.' They sounded fantastic. Their set was tight and well played. Eddie greeted the crowd with "I'm surrounded by Manchesterians." This was followed by a launch into 'Corduroy' and hailed as one of the best moments of the night.

Their set continued mixing old classics like 'Daughter' and 'Even Flow' with the glorious new tracks like 'Insignificance' and 'Light Years.' 'Rearviewmirror' and 'Better Man' received some of the largest cheers of the night.

Eddie seemed in a playful mood. He forgot the lyrics to 'Wishlist' and had to be reminded by an ecstatic audience. He laughed it off. And when one of the front members of the crowd threw an empty beer at Stone, Eddie threatened to "Kick his ass." "What was it? a beer? can I have it?"

McCready was in good form with the solos, whipping through 'Go' and 'Animal' with great precision. Cameron seemed to fit in superbly with the band's old songs as well as the new ones. After just over an hour and a quarter, the band left the stage, returning to do the first of two massive encores. They started with 'Last Exit' and included great rareties like 'Leatherman' from the 'Given To Fly' single, and 'Footsteps' from the 'Jeremy' single. 'Black' was fantastic, and is a song which clearly sticks out in my mind from the night. 'Once' and 'Garden' also were amazing, and succeeded in surprising Eddie...that he remembered the song and lyrics.

As the set drew to a close, the band smashed out 'Do The Evolution' and 'Yellow Ledbetter' with all the house lights up. Mike McCready spent the last minute of the show playing the solo on his own before Vedder returned to thank the crowd for giving him a great time in England. "I don't know when we'll be back in England again" Eddie said, as he took some photos of the screaming crowd showing his and their mutual appreciation.

With a set like this, the North American Tour is definitely something to look forward to for all of you American fans, as well as the rest of the European tour. Hopefully, it won't be another 4 years before Pearl Jam return to these islands, especially with performances like that.

Chris Mace, Chesterfield, Derbyshire