Set List: Long Road, Grievance, Last Exit, Given To Fly, Hail Hail, Rival, Wishlist, Insignificance, Corduroy, Small Town, Nothing As It Seems, Evacuation, In Hiding, Daughter, Even Flow, Off He Goes, Better Man, Animal, Once, Rearviewmirror;
1st encore: Go, Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Crazy Mary, Black, Porch;
2nd encore: Last Kiss, Sonic Reducer, Yellow Ledbetter

Photo credit: Brian Byrd

Around 8:45 pm, the band strolled onto stage and I saw Ed grab his guitar and knew they were going to start off with Long Road. It's such a beautiful song and a great way to start a show. Next came Grievance. A fine example of Pearl Jam rocking at their finest. That song is absolutely amazing in concert.

The band went through the next couple of numbers without stopping hardly at all. Hearing Rival for the first time was amazing. During Wishlist, the crowd raised their hands during the "50 million hands upraised..." part and got a laugh out of Ed.

I was really excited to see some of the new songs and was very excited when Insignificance came next. Next came a rocking version of Corduroy followed by Elderly Woman with some funny comments from Ed about how it's their shortest song yet it has the longest title.

Nothing As It Seems was introduced by Ed with special mention on how Mike plays on this one. Which brings me to my next point, is it just me or is Mike stealing the shows? I've never seen him so animated on stage and every chance that he had to play a solo or put in a fill, it was done in a way that only he could and the crowd definitely responded.

During In Hiding, after Ed sang "Soon I was seeing visions and cracks along the wall..." he mimicked smoking something that would have altered his state. It got a great laugh from the crowd.

Daughter was tagless and they ripped an awesome version of Even Flow. Off He Goes was a beautiful number and Ed told the crowd how it was recorded in New Orleans at Kingsway Studios. The crowd was treated to some great versions of Better Man, Animal, Once and a rocking Rearviewmirror.

The band came out for their first encore and Ed apologized for it taking so long. The band had been fighting backstage about what songs to play next and Ed said it wasn't the first time he's been in a fight in New Orleans.

The band played great versions of Go and Do the Evolution. After Evolution, Ed made a comment how tonight was the Democratic National Convention. He said that Clinton's speech went something like this, "Good Evening My Fellow Americans, Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit, etc." He also made a comment how they couldn't see the Republican one because they were playing that night too.

After a little while, he encouraged the audience to get out and vote and said that education should be on their mind as well. The band played an excellent newer version of Jeremy where Ed doesn't sing the chorus the first time around.

After Jeremy Ed goes up to each of the band members and asks them something. You see them all nod in approval and Ed gets up to the mic and starts talking. He tells everyone how the last time they were in New Orleans, there was a lady there named Victoria Williams and that they spent the day riding bikes around the quarter. He said he was riding around again today and he thought of her so they were going to try Crazy Mary.

Incredible versions of Black and Porch followed and closed out Encore #1. Mike did an extended solo during the end of Black and got the crowd and Ed singing along again doing the "Doo-Doo-Doo..."

Photo credit: Brian Byrd

The band came back and Ed talked about what the band had been through lately and how it's the support of the fans that keeps them going. Ed quoted a line from Bukowski saying that "What matters most is how you walk through the fire..." He then asked the crowd to join in a sing along and help out on Last Kiss. Sonic Reducer was awesome. What a pleasant surprise! The band ended with a great version of Yellow Ledbetter and Ed taking pics of the crowd with his Polaroid.

One of the highlights of the show was the elderly woman (pun intended) who was in the front row right in front of Stone. When Ed first looked over he laughed and seemed to enjoy having her in the front row. The band sounded great. They didn't do a lot of improvs or playing around. It was just 29 songs that were completely amazing. No frills, just good old rock n' roll.

Thanks again Pearl Jam and Ten Club. It was a night I'll never forget.
Dave Jackson