Set List: Of The Girl, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Go, Gods' Dice, Even Flow, Faithfull, Nothing As It Seems, Grievance, Untitled, MFC, Habit, Wishlist, Better Man, Rival, Sleight of Hand, Insignificance, Porch;
1st enc: The Kids Are Alright (Eddie solo), Given To Fly, Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Once, Black, Soldier of Love, Rearviewmirror;
2nd enc: Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter

Ok, first of all, I wasn't able to recall the full setlist just yet. So, this might be a bit jumbled.

My good friend Jesse was in town from Houston (where he will be seeing PJ in Oct.) and we drove up to Indy from Cincy to see Friday's show from the lawn as a warm up for last nights show here in Cincy. It was truly great, but my appetite was merely wet for my fan club seats in Cincy. We went to the box office around 3:00 like good little PJ fans to find about 300 folks already waiting ahead of us. I was a bit worried that I had missed out on the best possible seats but consoled by the fact that all Fan club seats are good and I had been in the club since about '95. There was a strange atmosphere in line, an eerie tension/anticipation amongst the fans as we watched those ahead of us emerge with their tickets with large smiles on their faces (usually). Well, some guy about 10 people ahead comes away from the window shouting "I'm in the PIT!!!!" well, you can imagine the mixed feelings we had for him as fellow PJ fans. Little did I know that the fine people at Ten Club had the same fate in store for me. I think my heart rate sky rocketed when I saw Pit on my two seats, row B.

So, myself and three others headed to the show a few hours later with a good little beer buzz and a sign with drawn footsteps (traced with marker from my feet) and the phrase "...it was you..," with the reverse side saying Angel (we added some cheesy looking wings to the letters but we figured our attempts at creativity might be rewarded by the band with one of those two songs.) Unfortunately, the guy at the entrance said no signs tonight which really disappointed me. I hung it on the fence next to the entrance (did any of you see it?!). Next time I will fold it up and hide it in my shirt or something. We were running a bit late and missed the Sonic Youth set but I am sure it was cool...Friday's set was good in Indy but I would have liked to have heard The Diamond Sea.

We get to the pit and it was better than I EVER could have hoped. We were in the second row but on the end which gave us railing privileges right in front of Stone and probably about 15 feet from Eddie's mic. I noticed a guy a few seats down recording (IF you read this please email me so I can get a copy!).

It was a beautiful night, about 65 degrees, maybe 70 when the PJ came out. I was really hoping for Release as the opener (seen 5 shows now and have never heard it period, much less as the opener) but instead got a really nice Of the Girl. The sound was really good and already I was jumping up and down b/c I had never been this close to ANY band before (that I paid to see) and this was PJ! So of course the mellow opener worked well for PJ (as usual) to build tension for song 2 which was Breakerfall - sounded really good and I was so glad to see Jeff take some big jumps right away (compared to his rather immobile performance in Indy where it was almost as if he was sick or something). Eddie joined in too, things carried right into Faithfull and Corduroy. Eddie was smiling a lot tonight and really animated with his hands (ie, making little box gestures at the end of Faithfull, even did a Pete Townshend guitar whirl at one point). Of course Corduroy amazing with he crowd going nuts and all of us pointing at the band for "...The waiting drove me mad...you're finally here and I'm a mess" This was especially appropriate for Cincy fans who hadn't had PJ in town since Lollapalooza in '92. This fact was not lost on the band, for Eddie came out after about 8 songs and said "we know we haven't been here since....sometime in the last decade and we are glad to be back." He also thanked Matt Cameron ("...who was here with a band called Soundgarden) Then he went on to dedicate "The Kids Are Alright" by the Who to the fans solo. It was right on.

God's Dice was in there somewhere and pretty damn good for a song I don't consider one of my favorites. Ditto for Habit, the lone No Code song (I really wanted to hear Off He Goes but that's ok). Grievance was fantastic and truly is an instant PJ classic, especially live. Eddie was banging away on his guitar sooo fast ---this show really gave me an appreciation for how far his guitar playing has come along since TEN. OK here's where the order really gets muddled but trust me I remember the songs themselves very well. Nothing As it Seems was beautiful and the crowd was digging it. Back to fast songs which included Go which was blazing as ever as well as Even Flow - Mike is unbelievable to watch and hear; he, too, seemed to be really enjoying himself and throwing lots of picks to the fans up front. Meanwhile Stone was steady but stayed a little more to himself...I got a couple of pics of him making some wildly contorted faces during some solos.

Things slowed down again with Black - the best version I have ever heard with this really long extended solo at the end by Mike that used him on guitar playing the "doo, doo, doo doo, doo" part and all these variations. Wishlist was great too, complete with Merkinball (as I call it) and a new line at the end something like "I wish, I wish, my wish to come true, but some wishes will never be" Ok, so I don't remember that part perfectly...someone please clarify what he said. Better Man was good - always a crowd favorite...esp. the girls. But heah, face it, Eddie can write from a female perspective very well (think Daughter, Why Go, Breakerfall...etc.) so, Ed also plays Untitled with the lyrics a little different from LO2L ..."...in about 20 min or so" and said something about "...you don't have to bring your stuff...you can just use mine" -- it again sounded great and the crowd helped keep time with a little hand clap.

Wow, this is exhausting there is so much more.....Given to Fly - A crowd favorite I think with Eddie making huge wings out of his shirt and flicking off the imaginary oppressors as he said "...f--kers...he still stands." Which reminds me of how often Eddie was spitting tonight...not on anyone but in the middle of songs. He did have a bottle of red wine that he was drinking that he even shared with some fans in the front row. One fan handed up a vinyl Who record (not sure which one but Eddie had the biggest grin on his face when he took it...he was quite moved I think and put his hand over his heart in thanks.)

Did I mention Once? Also sounded great with lots of good Stoney feedback. But, it was topped by a rippin version of Porch (which we had really wanted to hear) that just tore the roof off....and included a little of Eddie singing "I want to thank you for letting you be myself" a few times before the big climax. At some point Eddie said "We haven't had to many sh--ty nights this tour and lots of great ones but this one is truly special" Then there was Insignificance - also an instant live classic I think. Followed by Jeremy which was really good and I made eye contact with both Eddie and Jeff --Jeff saw my vain attempts at air bass and smiled really big...I laughed and looked away in embarrassment like a little freekin girl but it was pretty exciting. Eddie just had the most intense look on his face (you know the look) then ended up in the front row which I also got a pic of and hope to post, with his arms spread wide.

Now, Soldier of Love was the first encore and not really a song I enjoy too much to be honest but Eddie was pretty animated dropping to his knees and really playing it up. This was quickly followed by Rearviewmirror which is always faster that the album and always amazing...especially all the feedback right up to the patented PJ climax. It included a little of Mike sampling Santana - Black Magic Woman before a perfectly timed "SAW THINGS.....!!!!!!!" They left the stage and Eddie came back with his notebook and a sweatshirt from which he pulled the Ukelele which I knew meant Soon Forget and I only hoped the crowd would be respectful (they were) and Eddie nailed it. How to top all this off? Baba? Alive? Daughter? nope....Yellow Ledbetter which was great and included some riffing off of Van Halen by Mike (Ain't Talkin' Bout Love ...I think) the crowd liked it and Jeff was cracking up, I think b/c he put Mike up to it. I can't stress enough how good it was to see the band in good spirits. Bar None, the best show I have ever been to which no doubt was helped by the fact that I could have spit on the band - Now I can't wait to see them in San Fran on Halloween....enjoy the tour fellow jammers!!