Fanviews of Houston
| Index | 2003 Set Lists |
April 6, 2003 - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion; The Woodlands, TX
Brian Perry (bap AT mail.utexas.edu): The Houston show was number seven for me and I am still amazed that I am hearing songs that I have never heard by Pearl jam in the past. Bad weather and traffic backups delayed our arrival to the Ten Club window but the Ten Club still came through with 8th row seats dead center. Sleater-Kinney played a good set and Matt Cameron came out and played tambourine for one song. That would not be the last we saw of Sleater Kinney. I noticed during setup that Jeff's stand up bass was leaning against the amps and I was predicting Can't Keep for an opener and proved to be right. Eddie came out with his notebook and it was on. A hard fast set followed with Grievance, Save You, Hail Hail and Even Flow - it was amazing the way they ripped through these songs. Hail, Hail to those in front! Then a break from the ear popping rock to I Am Mine, Thumbing My Way--which seemed to choke Eddie up a little bit and You Are completed a Riot Act block. Then back to a rock block with Whipping, Insignificance, and Breath which sounded awesome. Although, Matt did flub the opening of the song and they started over. Then Half Full with Mike shredding through--so much better live. Then Eddie talked a little bit about being in Houston and wanting to start some trouble. He also talked about when he lived in Houston and his earliest memory was being bitten by red fire ants and screaming in pain. For those of us who live in Texas it was very appropriate. He continued to talk about freedom and how it doesn't seem like the United States these days which received both thunderous applause and some boos. Up next was Elderly Woman which was dedicated to all of us. Then a real surprise Immortality which led to a great McCready solo. Next was Do The Evolution one of the verses was switched to we need a revolution! Finally, rearviewmirror closed out the set with another round of McCready madness. The guys came back out for LBC and Ed announced all of the band members. McCready missed his name and jumped back out into the spotlight. Jeff was dodging the spotlight when he was announced. Boom was trying to give different hand gestures and finally Ed taught him the peace sign. After LBC, it was Betterman--no tags tonight and then Black with the crowd singing doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo. Then a ripping version of Go. That ended the second set and when Ed came back out by himself it turned surreal. He had his ukulele in hand and started talking about the CNN stuff. He is obviously preparing for Soon Forget and then asks someone to bring out the Bill Gates mask. He tells us he is going to show us how to ritualistically impale someone then rants about how he is a celebrity fuck and says some pretty hilarious stuff which I can't remember right now. He then puts the Gates mask on his head, spins it around and then puts it on the mic stand and sings Soon Forget. When he messes up near the end he stops and goes "Fuck!" He finishes up and knocks over the mic stand to much approval. Then Ed announces that they have an encore tonight and they are going to bring everybody out and Sleater-Kinney joins Pearl Jam for Fortunate Son and Rockin in the Free World with a lyric change about Iraq. Eddie and Sleater-Kinney exchange verses and everyone was dancing. Eddie throws two tambourines out into the crowd and says goodnight and good-bye. Cherrin74 AT aol.com: All I can say is wow. The show was phenomenal. From the opening beauty of Can't Keep, sliding into Grievance and Save You. To songs like Breath (which Ed stumbled through but that always seems to make it even better) to greats like RVM and Evolution. Mike was going off all night into mind-blowing solos, even a little behind the head solo on RVM. Eddie's "impalement" of Bill Gates during Soon Forget was cool and funny. Ending with bringing out Sleater-Kinney to join them in Fortunate Son was fantastic. They also helped with R.I.T.F.W. It was a very energetic show and one I will never forget. Thank you P.J. for an incredible experience. Karim Vellani (kv AT threatanalysis.com): Wow! This was an amazing show. I have now seen Pearl Jam six times, with the first time on April 30, 1992 at the Unicorn opening for Soundgarden. That show still stands out as the best one maybe because it was the first time I was mesmerized by a band, but mostly because of the new found musical energy coming out of Seattle. However, last night’s Houston show was a very, very close second to that first captivating show I saw. The band was really in synch with each other and had more energy than I expected. Ed, as usual, was humourous and Mike was a character and made many connections with the audience. Matt’s drumming and Jeff’s bass, as expected, were incredible. Stone was more intense than previous concerts and actually lost his glasses while jamming during Rearviewmirror. Sleater-Kinney was also amazing and it was great to see them live and especially nice to see them join Pearl Jam for the final encore on Fortunate Son and RITFW. Wow! |
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