Set List: Love Boat Captain, Corduroy, Save You, Hail Hail, Help Help, Even Flow, I Am Mine,
Better Man/(tag?), You Are, Green Disease, Not For You, Thumbing My Way, Given To Fly, Small Town, Insignificance, Don't Go;
1st encore: Bushleaguer, Do The Evolution, Last Kiss, Black, Crazy Mary, State Of Love And Trust;
2nd encore: Give Peace A Chance sing along, Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter, Keep On Rocking In The Free World

There are no words to describe last nights show in Adelaide… the words ‘amazing,’ ‘brilliant’ and ‘inspiring’ don't do it – this show was more than that. Although only my second Pearl Jam show, last night had to have been one of their best performances in years. The band was obviously filled with emotion from being at Adelaide's 100,000-people antiwar march in Victoria Square just hours earlier, and this bought out something special. I've heard hundreds of bootlegs and have followed the setlists since the very start of the 2000 tour, and this one was so unique. My Ten Club tickets - 2nd row, right in front of Stone - could have something to do with how good the show was from my perspective. But I must say that there was just something special about it that touched every single person in the arena…

Before I get into the show details, I'll say that one of my lifelong dreams was fulfilled before the show - I met Ed Vedder. At the stage entrance out the back of the arena, about 15 diehard fans waited for the vans to arrive. After a long wait Mike, Jeff and Matt arrived and drove straight into the back doors without stopping. I though that this alone was awesome, but a while after Ed, Stone and Boom pulled up in another van… and a few minutes later, out popped the small figure of Ed, ready to have a chat to us eager fans :) Pete, as big and daunting (but still nice!) as ever, made sure we didn't get too many photos and stuff. But I wasn't there for a photo - I just wanted to see the man, Ed Vedder, and at least say hello. Both these wishes came true, and on top of that, he kindly autographed my Las Vegas 2000 bootleg cover. All I can say about that is ‘wow,’ and that Ed is so freaking genuine, and unbelievably nice. A few other fans got album covers signed, and one lucky guy got his Ten vinyl signed :)

We waited around out the front of the venue for Ten Club tickets... unfortunately, there was a computer problem and the tickets took an hour longer than usual to be printed :( We amused ourselves by listening to the soundcheck, which was *just* audible from outside. Me and my mate Mark had been talking about how good "Oceans" would be as an opener, and when we heard it as the first song in the soundcheck we freaked. The rest of the soundcheck consisted of HelpHelp, Nothingman, Gimme Some Truth, Smile, Bushleaguer and In Hiding. Chatting with other Jammers made the wait for 10C tickets faster – well, sorta! – and when I finally received my tickets I was amazed… 2nd row!!! I felt a huge rush, I had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and it was finally here. Stewy, my fellow Jammer, couldn't believe the seats we pulled – unbelievable! We grabbed a bite to eat and headed back in, and by 7.20 the arena doors were open and we made our way to our seats. The arena slowly filled, and by the time Johnny Marr came on the atmosphere was electric. They played much better than when I saw them on the first night in Brisbane, and seemed much more comfortable on stage. After they went off, the techs came on and seemed to have a heap of trouble with Ed’s mic setup. After that was sorted it was all ready for the show…

"Love Boat Captain" is a wonderful opener - the way it builds makes it great to get everyone going. Although not everyone recognised it, us folks down the front were rocking away knowing that it was the first time LBC has opened a show ;) Ed's face wrenched during "lost nine friends will never know" line, and we could feel his emotion, pure and inspiring. Those opening strums of "Corduroy" made the crowd go nuts, and we got a perfect version last night. Mike was jumping ALL OVER the stage, going crazy. We got a few Ed jumps too, and Mike's solo went on and on and on, sounded absolutely amazing! "Save You" was sensational, and will become a great one as the shows continue. Ed was going crazy, jumping around, even more than Letterman (and I never thought that was possible!). They kept rocking into "Hail Hail" - Ed seems to have changed the words in the first verse, replacing "you underestimate me" with "oh if you fuckin’ let me" (similar to Brisbane1). Everyone up front was jumping, bopping, pogo-ing, whatever you wanna call it! It was fanfuckingtastic!

"Hello, Adelaide!" was followed by a deafening roar. Ed then let Adelaide know that "It's been one of the best weekends that I've had in my lifetime, our lifetime" which was an obvious reference to the mass numbers of people out rallying for what they believe in. I knew we were in for a huge show, and when Matt started "HelpHelp" for the first time this tour it sent goosebumps all over my body. I was hoping for something new, and we got it – it sounded great mind you, very powerful. Stone was loving it, and Jeff seemed *extremely* focussed (I suppose he wanted everyone to love his song the most haha). "Even Flow" appeared early in the set, but it was more powerful than ever! Huge jumps from Jeff, and Mike's solo was incredible, with Stone, Ed, Matt and Jeff all having their little jam together, laughing, smiling, feeding off the crowd. At one stage in the solo Mike looked over to Ed and just laughed, awesome moment! "I Am Mine" was up next, a scorching rendition, NO FUCKUPS, hooray! Of course, "Better Man" got massive applause and Ed let us sing part of the first verse. Ed added a tag on the end, but I can't quite remember the exact lines. Unbelievable stuff, just to see these guys jamming onstage is incredible. One of the highlights of the night was the crunchy guitars and soaring vocals of "You Are" - amazing song, and the crossover lighting looks wonderful! "Green Disease" had everyone jumping, and it led straight into "Not For You," in a similar fashion to the Lukin/Not For You combinations! It was great, and the crowd *really* got into N4U, Stoney deliberately wiggling his bum during his solo, to great applause ;) (Not that I was looking…)! Another highlight for me personally was ‘Thumbing My Way’ – Ed nailed every lyric, and it sounded perfect. Anyone who says Ed's voice has lost touch then listen to this bootleg and you'll change your mind. Absolutely brilliant – people took out their lighters and stuff, but I just stood there in amazement once again. When I heard "Given To Fly" in Brisbane, I thought nothing could ever come close to it – well, something else did… "Given To Fly" last night! My favourite song was fucking unbelievable, everyone into it, Jeff pounding the bass more than ever, Mike and Stone's guitars screaming in unison, Matt delicately patting those skins, and Ed – leaning back, arms in the air, his white button-up shirt pulled back covering his head so he was singing through it – so passionate. Nothing can ever touch this moment for me… A cool "Small Town" followed, Ed changing the lyrics to "My God, it's been five years, never dreamed we'd return," very, very nice touch! After ‘Small Town’ Ed explained that the next song was about a small town near their home, where bomber aircraft were built for the military, and they smashed into an awesome "Insignificance." The mini-improv in the middle was again played, before a loud "Go" closed the first set. Unbelievable.

The roars continued, and after what seemed a relatively long encore break than other shows (which is always a good sign!), all of the band except for Ed. Then Stone started up the tune of "Bushleaguer" and we all knew we were in for Ed and the Dubya mask!!!! Without the silver jacket tonight, Ed grooved onto the side of the stage and, although he mucked up the middle of the song (he missed the first 2 lines of the second verse), pulled off an amazing version! Jeff seemed to be lovin’ it, laughin’ all the way through! A solid and LOUD version of "Evolution" followed, and it seemed to go very well as "Bushleaguer's" successor. The crowd was still going nuts, with most people knowing this one. A brief meeting saw the band turn around and face behind the stage for "Last Kiss," dedicating to "the less privileged fans of the night… the people in the back!." It was a great version, even if we do get a tad sick of it *sometimes* :) "This one's called Black" was followed by some of the biggest cheers of the night as Stone lightly strummed this delicate song... absolutely stunning, I was lucky enough to see this one in Brisbane and it was great to see it again. Ed then mentioned "Apparently we've never played that one in Adelaide before – and we've never done this one either," and "Crazy Mary" followed. Another awesome version, Ed raising his arms during the "Mary rising up above it all" part, and almost every fan followed him. What followed was, for me, fucking amazing: Ed motioned to the guys in the first row to take the wine bottle he had been skulling all night, and "pass it around." Me and Stewy were lucky enough to get a sip from the bottle, something which I'd seen happen a few times before but never actually thought would happen to me! This completely capped off my night, and after the emotion of the show and of meeting the man himself, I could've left right then and there. To my amazement Mike strummed the opening riff for ‘State of Love and Trust,’ a song which we'd be yelling for ALLLLLLL NIGHT! So anybody who says they don't play the songs you yell out you're wrong! The boys went off again, with the crowd going more nuts than anytime before! Nothing could make this night better, surely...

We knew they would come back on again, and when Ed came out by himself I knew it'd either be "Soon Forget," or another solo song like "Patriot" or "Throw Your Arms Around Me." He came out to huge roars, and, smoking a cigarette, led us into a singalong of a chorus from the John Lennon song "Give Peace a Chance." It was awesome, the whole crowd knew it and joined in! He then introduced us to "Luke the Uke," and played a cool "Soon Forget." He messed a few notes and lines, but hey who cares :) The rest of the band then joined in for a scorching "Yellow Ledbetter," with Ed including the words "George Bush" and "All following" in there somewhere (he was mumbling ;) You'd think that'd be all, but during Mike's awesome solo, Stone plugged in his electric and we knew we were up for more! Almost immidiately after YL, Stone cranked the opening tunes of "Rockin’ In The Free World" and we were treated to an amazing, slowish version of this one. With the house lights still on from YL, the WHOLE PLACE WAS ABSOLUTELY ROCKING! No-one was in their seats, it was completely phenomenal! A huge Mike solo, with Ed jumping from speaker stack to speaker stack, waving good-bye, saw the end of Pearl Jam in Adelaide. Nothing is better than this!

I have no doubt that last night was the best show of the tour. The emotion after the peace rally, the awesome setlist, and just their ability to connect with an audience as soon as they walk onstage is amazing. This band is incredible, and I hope they play forever. Thanks to the 10C for amazing seats, cheers to Mark and Stewy, and cheers to Pearl Jam - THE WAITING DROVE US MAD!

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the tour!
Judd :)