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

Hi All PJ fans! Another review of the Adelaide show for you to digest.

Unfortunately I'm now in the "early 40's" age bracket. However I still love my rock music and have been going to rock concerts to see international and local artists since the mid 70s. The awesome show PJ put on in Adelaide would rank alongside only a handful of large-scale concerts by international artists in Adelaide that I rate in the "truly great" category.

We Adelaidians know Adelaide is a one-concert town (assuming we actually get on the tour itinerary in the first place !) and PJ's previous 2 visits to Adelaide have seen their concerts sellout in no-time at all. I can remember the 1995 Memorial Drive show selling out in 3 hours. Going on what my wife was told when she got to the ticket-box only 90 minutes after tickets went on sale, this concert effectively sold out in 2 hours.

Back to the concert - firstly let me mention how impressed I was with support act Johnny Marr And The Healers who played a very tight 45 minute set to a surprisingly small audience.

PJ's set proper and two encores (approx. 2 hours 10 minutes) featured a fantastic blend of new and old songs with "Love Boat Captain" surprisingly kicking off the night. Some 2 hours later, and with all the house lights on, the band finished with "Yellow Ledbetter" and then just as we were all think "that's all folks" came an unbelievable 7 minute frenetic version of Neil Young's "Keep On Rockin' In The Free World."

The energy exerted by the guys (especially Eddie, Matt and Mike) in the heavier / more up-tempo songs just had to be seen to be believed. Mike McCready was in absolutely sensational form on lead guitar and I was lucky to be to seated to the side of the stage on his side. The addition of Boom on organ greatly added to the sound and energy.

Some of my fave PJ songs were played; "Small Town" (although Eddie fluffed the lyrics early into the song), "Crazy Mary" (with Ed sharing his bottle of red wine with several members of the audience), "Given To Fly" (great version of this song - however see the "2000 Touring Band" DVD for the definitive version played in St. Louis with someone signing on the side of the stage), "Insignificance", "Black" (a mind-blowing version), "Not For You" and "Do The Evolution" (by far the most powerful version I've ever heard of this song). Given PJ's extensive number of songs and their ever-changing set-list for each concert, some of my other faves such as "Alive," "Release," "In Hiding" and "I Got Shit" were missed.

The set featured many of the new songs from "Riot Act." No doubt the new album will become another classic PJ recording and I'm sure the likes of "I Am Mine," "Love Boat Captain," "Thumbing My Way," etc. will join other longtime PJ classic songs.

All in all, a fantastic concert by what must be considered as one of the great live rock bands of all-time! How pathetic that local TV news bulletins (eg. the one between 8 and 10) chose to show the Rolling Stones parading in front of an interstate press conference instead of reporting on one of the great concerts Adelaide has ever seen! PJ's 10 concert Australian Tour 2003 takes in all of the major mainland cities while the rolling stones are only playing intimate 2,000 seat concerts in Sydney and Melbourne... enough said !!!

Of course I've ordered the cds of the concert and have already downloaded the MP3 versions... I can't wait for the mastered copies to arrive!

Thank you Ed, Stone, Jeff, Mike, Matt and Boom for an unforgettable gig!
John