Set List: Better Man, Don't Go, Save You, Tremor Christ, Given To Fly, Corduroy, Get Right, Even Flow, I Am Mine, Love Boat Captain, Wishlist, Jeremy, You Are, Whipping, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror;
1st encore: Off He Goes, Small Town, Last Kiss, Black, Leatherman, Do The Evolution;
2nd encore: Baba O'Riley

Poster credit: Matt The Craw

A night of Pearl Jam is difficult to compare to anything. The support band fulfilled their duties in a gracious manner, thanking the guys for inviting them to open for the shows out here, but in the end they fill a time and space that all present appear to wish was over already.

The slow build up of people into the arena is always interesting, especially now a few years/tours down the track, all aspects and scope of people are represented in the crowd tonight…(how old was I when Ten plowed though my senses?)

The anticipation hums, climaxing at 9.15pm local time. The individuals that will soon become one, appear on the dark stage and the crowd welcomes them. The figures move to their respective, and ritually custom areas of the stage. From front, Mike stalking on far left, then Jeff, the kit with Matt. Eddie hovers just to the right of the drum riser, just right of centre stage. Stone lingers to the far right, almost appearing deliberately distant from the others. At the rear right is Boom's gear, and right now, I can't remember if he played the opener, Betterman. From previous set lists, this seemed like a different type of show, straight into Don’t Go (including Mike soloing w/guitar behind head), Save You and then a mixed bunch of blissfully delivered highlights, Off He Goes for the second time this tour, Even Flow, Corduroy, Rearviewmirror, Black, Jeremy, Small Town, and a version of Evolution that was purely surreal. Picture a guy rushing the stage, (a security nightmare you’d think) Eddie waves off the security, somehow maintains his composure, calms the guy down, (all the while not missing a beat of the verse he’s in and then intentionally taking the situation onto the next level and beyond anything I can recall). They are both screaming into the mic “EVOLUTION” during the chorus, the guest even belts through a passage of the next verse, (crowd involvement has now officially escalated to rapturous, incredulous adoration, and a hint of jealousy!). Not content, Eddie is elevated to the shoulders of the 7th person on stage, and continues to engage the crowd. The two crash to the stage floor, Eddie throws a mock wrestling type lunge at the guy, down they go again, Eddie gets the Bush mask and creates a new character of the visitor, and still the song continues. Crowd is now in sensory overload…….unpredictable, sheer joyous rock, what a privilege tonight has been. Mike slayed every solo like a demon (an almost continual barrage of picks to those close in the audience), Stone stayed intense all night, Jeff powered that guitar through all the classics, Matt and Boom are not just perfect compliments, they are Pearl Jam.

Thanks PJ, thanks for making the effort, thanks for sticking with it and staying with us when lot of others out there either couldn’t or wouldn’t. Thanks to Pearl Jam for providing a great number of people with a powerful pleasure, the kind of which is a rare thing. You are appreciated.