Ed solo before opening band: I Am A Patriot, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
Ed with Betchadupa: History Never Repeats
Set List: Can't Keep, Save You, Hail Hail, Corduroy, Grievance, Ghost, Cropduster, Dissident, Given To Fly, Even Flow, I Am Mine, Love Boat Captain, Wishlist, Thumbing My Way, Better Man, Lukin, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror;
1st encore: Bushleaguer, Daughter/(War by Edwin Starr), Black, Do The Evolution, Alive;
2nd encore: The Kids Are Alright by the Who, Yellow Ledbetter

Being one who likes to be there for the start of play and see the first ball bowled, I also go and see the support bands cause you never know when you're going to see something amazing. Its good to crowd watch and soak up the atmosphere too, so I was in my seat when the lights went down and a guy walked on with an acoustic guitar. Hey, COOL, it's Ed and there are only about 400 of us in the place to see it. He goes into I Am A Patriot and we cheer when he says "I sure ain't no Republican," then he dips into the Beatle song book for one of my favourite Lennon songs, "Hide Your Love Away." The couple sitting next to me have been to all the concerts and are grinning from ear to ear when they ask if I was expecting the show to start this way. They hadn't mentioned it in our earlier chat, just in case I didn't know what was going to happen. (I hadn't read this web site prior to the gig.) This was going to be one excellent show. [Can those two songs be put on the CD?]

Really enjoyed Betchadupa. Liam Finn ran and leapt around like Pete Townshend. He nearly lost control of his guitar doing some athletics with it but recovered in style. In fact there was quite a bit of PT emulating by Pearl Jam as well. And then those people who think they are too cool to catch the support acts missed out on the next surprise, Ed taking the lead on Split Enz's “History Never Repeats.”

Around this point, I remembered that I'd come to this venue on a previous Valentine's Day to see the Eurythmics. That show wasn't as enjoyable as this as they were filming it and kept the houselights on, ruining the atmosphere.

Johnny Marr's guitar playing and Zak Starkeys drumming were great. Being a Who freak, I'd followed their US tour last year on the net and having one of the bootlegs, was impressed with Zak's playing and enjoyed seeing him live.

So far, the show was constantly blowing me away. The crowd was deliciously noisy as the sound of us swelled and dipped. Everywhere I looked there were people waving and pointing and people are on their mobiles talking to others in the crowd on the other side.

Then Pearl Jam came on and the place went wild, more noise than I've heard at a gig before. Ed's vocals were a bit muddy at times but the band were on fire and tight, Mike was storming around, Jeff was leaping (PT style) to end songs and it just kept getting better. I can only agree with the other reviewers song by song reports.

I work in radio and we put to air that day a piece about anti war demonstrations, using the “War” song, so people had been wandering around the office going “HUH, what is it good for?” and what do you know, PJ pull this number out and have us all up hollering it out. Fucking great moment. This was not just another concert.

The second encore (which the usher had told me to stick around for – not that I needed telling) started with a couple of neat speeches from Ed denouncing his government (does that make Pearl Jam anti-American? I can hear the US Ambassador to Australia Tom Schieffer complaining and saying “Not happy, Jam”). Ed urged Sydney siders to attend the rally on Sunday and then he gave another speech supporting his friend and my inspiration, Pete Townshend. Eddie did a solo version of the Kids Are Alright before the band wrapped it for the night. Too many great songs to pick the best. Having said that, I loved the extended workout on Wishlist and its mirror ball routine, Better Man and Alive for the crowd sing along, I Am A Patriot for the sentiment, and if I keep going I'll end up listing the whole show. Read the set list and buy the CD if you weren't there.

I wandered out, knowing I'd seen a truly great show – one that I'll be putting into my Pantheon of Great Gigs. And then there's the CD of the gig. Beautiful. Thanks guys.

Hey Ed, next time you're talking to PT, can you tell him that Australia is not the same place it was in 1968, and he could he consider a visit here.

Alan