Set List: Interstellar Overdrive, Corduroy, Grievance, Last Exit, Animal, Gods' Dice, Tremor Christ, Nothing As It Seems, Jeremy, Evacuation, Romance (Eddie learned this classical song in Barcelona), Better Man, Lukin, Light Years, Daughter/(ABITW)/(Androgynous Mind), Even Flow, Sleight of Hand, Small Town, State of Love and Trust, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
1st encore: Do The Evolution, Hail Hail, Garden, Immortality, Soldier of Love, Porch
2nd encore: Soon Forget, Indifference
3rd encore: Rockin' In The Free World

Photo credit: Dave Coalter

The trip was cool we listened to quite a few Pearl Jam shows on the way. I didn't know anyone on the trip so we spent a good bit of the time talking, sharing stories and just getting to know one another. We arrived around 5 in the morning on Saturday. We spent most of the morning and noon sleeping. We looked around Tampa a bit and hurried off to the show around 5:30.

The Show:

Our seats were pretty far up so we rented a pair of binoculars. I didn't mind after the front row seats in Atlanta :-] Sonic Youth played mostly the same set and were done around 8:30 or so. Pearl Jam hopped on stage around 9:00. The guys wasted no time getting started as they immediately went into Interstellar Overdrive. Cool... yet another different opener. They proceeded directly into a kickass version of Corduroy. The crowd was really loud and into the performance. Grievance was next and was pulled of without a hitch. Ed pointed up to the flag this night as well. The band continued on with Last Exit. This song simply rocks. Ed's voice was really on... I think the band moved around a good bit more on this night as well. Next they ripped through Animal which is always a rockin tune. It was cool to see everyone down front counting along with Ed.

Our seats really allowed us to take in the crowd and the light show. The lights were really cool. I never really noticed them before because we were always on the floor or up front. God's Dice was next. They really are mixing in different new songs every night. Up next was a song I hadn't heard live in a few years, Tremor Christ. I have to say it was an awesome performance. They pretty much ripped straight through the first few songs without saying much. Somewhere around here Ed commented on how much fun they have had in Florida the last few days. NAIS was next and Mike received quite a reaction for his soloing efforts. Jeremy followed with the loudest singalong I've heard this tour... well maybe tied with Betterman in Atlanta... Evacuation sounded really good live. Afterwards Eddie played "Romance", pronounced romonchey (thanks Russ). It is a classical piece, author unknown. He used this as an intro to Betterman. The crowd went nuts as Eddie played the opening chords. This proved to be quite a singalong as well. Next was a loud and fast Lukin and then Light Years. Daughter was up next and I was eager to hear what the little jam at the end would bring. Eddie stirred the crowd with a line from "Another Brick in the Wall", "We don't need no education..." The crowd went hysterical. Eddie held his mike out for everyone to sing into. It sounded like everyone in the building was singing. He finished off by complimenting the crowd on their singing efforts.

A rocking version of Even Flow was next with a great breakdown and solo by McCready. Sleight of Hand was quite a surprise. This is a great song off of the new album and it proved to be just as good live. Small Town was next. Mike played most of this song sitting down on one of his monitors. The crowd sang along loudly to this one too. Next up was one of my favorites, SOLAT. This song is really powerful live. Insignificance was awesome too. They have added a full stop in the middle ala Corduroy. That was sweet. You could tell that half the crowd thought that it as the end of the song though. RVM was incredible. Lots of jumping around... Actually the whole band seemed to have a lot more energy than at the earlier shows. There was lots of interaction amongst the entire band. Mike and Stone were laughing and joking around. Everyone was making eye contact with the crowd the entire night.

This brought an end to the first set but the band was back in a few minutes with DTE. Hail Hail was played next. There were lots of people holding up signs with requests and Eddie mentioned that this next song was by request. Garden! yes... This was one of my top requests too. It was awesome. Mike's solo was unbelievable. This was definitely a crowd favorite. They continued with solid versions of Immortality, and Soldier of Love. Eddie remembered most of the words to Immortality this time around. A kickass version of Porch ended the first encore and we knew they would be back one last time.

Photo credit: Brian Turkel

They came back pretty quickly and Ed had his Ukulele in hand. We all knew Soon Forget was coming next. Ed asked the crowd to quiet down because this song wouldn't stand a chance against the loud cheering. The crowd got pretty quiet and Soon Forget was excellent. I figured this was going to be it but the band joined him onstage for an intimate version of Indifference. The crowd sang along loudly for this one also. They finished and said goodbye and walked off the stage. At this point I think the show is over and so does most everyone else. I've been to my share of Pearl Jam shows and two encores has become pretty much the standard for PJ shows. But I also know that it's not over until the house lights come on. Sure enough, the guys came back out, the house lights came on, and they proceeded to blow the roof off with Keep on Rockin' in the Free World. Eddie ran across the stage and did a rolling somersault towards the end.

This was my third show this tour and I am really impressed at the diversity of songs each night. They are really mixing it up each night. Eddie took pictures of the crowd with his Polaroid again. He even took one of himself and tossed it out into the first few rows. They looked like they were really enjoying themselves. Wish I were seeing three more shows this tour...