Set List: Small Town, Interstellar Overdrive/Corduroy, Save You, Given To Fly, Cropduster, Nothing As It Seems, Even Flow, I Am Mine, Love Boat Captain, Lukin, Not For You, Light Years, You Are, Daughter/(Another Brick in The Wall), I Got Shit, 1/2 Full, Once, Blood;
1st encore: Bushleaguer, Sleight of Hand, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Do The Evolution, Spin The Black Circle;
2nd encore: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Alive, Fuckin' Up

You could just tell it was going to be better than the night before. The crowd, the songs... And it certainly was. A raucous Melbourne Park, most of whom were on their feet (as they should be!) united for a terrific sing-along to opener Small Town. It's great how the whole band comes in later in the song than usual. Ed once again flubbed the lyrics, singing part of the second verse during the first, but soon got back on track. What started me pogoing on the spot was Interstellar Overdrive! I was about the only person in the place bouncing up and down to it, but the arena ignited for Corduroy, which may have been played a thousand times, but still gets everyone, including the band, fired up. Save You is such a damn fine rocker, it's so suited to being played early in the set, taking the place of a song like Hail, Hail. But Given to Fly stirred everyone's emotions. As the song builds to the chorus, it's an amazing feeling, and it's cool that a song off the brilliant Yield is so well received. Would be nice to say the same about Cropduster - a magnificent song - but it's been one that has kept most people sedentary. Still, NAIS featured an ON Mike McCready. Mike has been brilliant this tour. He's the band's most energetic and fun person to watch, and the way he interacts with the crowd shows how cool he is.

An old fave has consistently proven to get everyone up and excited - Even Flow. Again, Mike nailed it, his solo wailing off into the heavens as Ed watched in awe. And we got the synchronised jump from Ed and Jeff. The wonderful I Am Mine got a nice reception, while Love Boat Captain was once again magical. The crowd clapped along during Ed and Boom's intro, the band going on to play it as solidly as ever. It's been one of the highlights of each show I've been to. And Ed got everyone to shout 'Love!' in the outro. Nice.

Before Lukin, Ed spoke about our Prime Minister: 'In Australia, you don't have a Prime Minister, you have a prostitute'!! Course that got a big cheer! 'And in Seattle, we don't have a mayor, we have a king. His name is Lukin.' A couple of songs later and You Are appeared. I think even people who haven't given Riot Act a good listening to were won over - the lighting, the guitar effects, Matt on backup vox - it's a pleasure to hear. But next came one of the high points of the night - Daughter. Everyone singing loudly, the band playing it better than ever, and Ed doing the call-response thing with the crowd. His 'heyyy eyyy's' got louder and higher, showcasing his unbelievable vocal range. Mindblowing! And he picked up his guitar to improvise along with the outro - and we got another tag! Yes, Another Brick in the Wall!!! :) Will be great to listen to on the boot.

A welcome addition to the setlist was I Got Shit! I remember first hearing that song on the radio after I had heard it for the first time in concert back in '95 and the feeling I got. It's so moving - the words, the music... 1/2 Full wasn't one of my faves off Riot Act, but live it's something else entirely, especially in the outro, the band silhouetted against a red backdrop. Very tight, very rocking. A manic Blood closed out the set, which seemed to have gone longer than most others we had seen on the tour so far, Ed spinning the microphone round and round to the delight of fans.

Minus the sparkly cabaret jacket but sporting the George Bush mask, Ed came out to once again put on the excellent dance moves. A surprise inclusion followed next: Sleight of Hand, introduced as a song that the band don't play often at all. Next came Better Man, always sung along loudly to. And we got the tag of tags: a nice version of Save it For Later, during which the band quieted the song down and then built it back up for Ed's 'Don't let me doooooowwwwwwwwwn!!!!'. Superb. Evolution had the place rocking. No stage invader like last night, but a passionate rendition nonetheless. It's incredible live. Spin the Black Circle closes out the set, Ed spinning the bottom of his mike stand to symbolise a record as he delivered the 'You're so waaarm....' line. And off they go.

Encore 2, and Ed introduced his blue guitar. 'This is Rebecca,' he said, only to say that it didn't actually have a name, he just had a friend named Rebecca in attendance that night. Then he decided to name the instrument Rebecca anyway! And with his finger on an E-chord I guessed it: Hunters and Collectors' Throw Your Arms Around Me, played for the (human) Rebecca. It had the place in a frenzy. Thanks Ed!

What was to follow was not anticipated: Stone strummed the opening riff and on came the house lights. Alive. Rod Laver Arena exploded and I was out of my skin. The band were obviously having a great time in order for them to play it. In fact, it seemed like they were all night, with smiles all round. And just when I thought that was it following Mike's brilliant solo, we got Fuckin' Up!! With Stoney clearly enjoying himself, Mike's letting rip a wicked solo and Ed banging the hell out of his tamborines, it was a perfect closer to a fun, energetic and heart-stopping show.

Thanks Pearl Jam. One more to go for me, but damn are you guys in the US in store for a good time.

Brad