Set List: Can't Keep, Grievance, Save You, Hail Hail, Even Flow, I Am Mine, Thumbing My Way, You Are, Whipping, Insignificance, Breath, 1/2 Full, Small Town, Immortality, Evolution, Rearviewmirror;
1st encore: Love Boat Captain, Better Man, Black, Don't Go;
2nd encore: Soon Forget, Fortunate Son w/Sleater-Kinney, Rockin' in The Free World with Sleater-Kinney

So I got to the Pavilion at about 11 am in hopes of getting a good spot in line at the 10c window. Luckily there weren't that many people there cause it was a pretty ugly day so far (rainy). So my bud and I, we just sorta bummed around until FINALLY 3 o'clock hit. I was the 3rd person in my line for my block. I got 10th row tickets. Great Stuff. We joined another friend there for Sleater-Kinney. They were amazing. I yelled "Light Rail Coyote" about 50 times but they never heard me. Also I'm in love with Corin...but...thats another story. So now on to the PJ show...

It was about 8:50 when Pearl Jam took the show, and that sort of worried me from the get-go cause I knew they would only have about 2 hours to play since the Woodlands are so anal about the damn noise ordinance. So they came out to a huge reception and opened with a KICK ASS version of "Can't Keep." It was a great opener and couldn't ask for more. Its crazy because before the show I have all these ideas in my head about what songs I want to hear them play and such, then when they hit the stage I don't even care anymore. They could have played 23 versions of Bugs and I'd be happy. So anyway afterwards they continued Rocking Houston's Ass with "Grievance" then on to "Save You," "Hail, Hail," and "Even Flow." (Mike is a bonified guitar god). Needless to say I almost passed out with the amount of Hard Rockin' which had just occurred. I couldn't believe how awesome it sounded. The Bootlegs don't do them Justice, the live concerts are where they are at. Then they finally decided to slow it down a bit with 3 from Riot Act.

"You Are" is awesome live and Eddie was doing these crazy motions and stuff, it was great. Then we get back to the rockers and "Whipping" hits us out of no where. Then a KILLER version of "Insignificance." Then the chords hit....BREATH! I think that's when the audience went apesh*t. Everyone went crazy. Afterwards we got the best versions of "1/2 Full" ever played. During the LONG jam at the end of the song, Eddie was going crazy like literally jumping around and flailing himself like crazy. Then they decided to slow it down again with "Small Town." "Immortality" was a HUGE surprise, for me at least. Then "Evolution" was dead on and flawless. And finally "Rearviewmirror" was unbelievable.

After the main set my friend, who is probably a bigger Metallica fan than PJ fan, leaned over to me and said..."That was F*CKING AWESOME!!!" I mean with the exclamations points and everything. And then comes the Encore...

"Love Boat Captain" was far better than I ever imagined. Plus "Betterman" and "Black" were better than 2000 versions. And finally "Go" blew the roof off the joint.

Eddie came out alone for the 2nd encore he talked about the whole impaling deal with the Bill Gates mask. It was hilarious. So after "Soon Forget," Ed brought out the great Sleater-Kinney for a kick ass version of "Fortunate Son," and to end the entire thing an extended jam version of "Rockin' in the Free World" w/ SK.

I just want to say that I imagine this is what the band was like back in 1992 energy-wise, but multiply that energy by 100. The entire band was jumping around the whole night. I couldn't believe it. They were so totally different from when I saw them back in 2000. So much more energy, so tight, so great. I really don't care that much about what some people are calling a bad set list, this is probably the most rockin' show I have ever heard any band do. If you want to hear an extremely tight and rock you to your bone show, then ORDER THIS BOOTLEG. You wont regret it.

Oh and in the words of Eddie Vedder - "F*ck Dallas." [It was just a joke.]

They followed up with Grievance, Save You and Hail Hail and the high energy just kept flowing nonstop, from both the crowd and the band. I was going off completely and didn't think I was going to be able to keep the same energy for too long but I made it all the way through and still wishing for more. After Hail Hail I didn't think things could get any better and they launched straight into Even Flow and everyone went crazy! I Am Mine and Thumbing My Way were both beautiful experiences, of course we were all singing along, our bodies taking a bit of a break but our hearts jumping. "You Are" followed and being one of my new favourites I was really glad they were playing it, it sounded amazing. I should add that Mike McCready was extending his solo's in almost every song and he played super great and the crowd cheered and went crazy, he played better than ever!

Whipping was a great surprise, and we all went crazy and sang along! Insignificance kicked in, me and my bro went nuts, the whole crowd went nuts. Breath was a song I didn't know but oh man it rocked as good as any of PJ's best! Eddie's voice was great. Half Full sounded even better in concert than in the CD and the crowd loved it. It was bluesy and jammy and perfect for the moment. Small Town was probably the first BIG highlight of the night, we all sang along and we were touched. Immortality was another GREAT surprise, and the crowd just went nuts......beautiful! This was truly a highlight! Do The Evolution and Rearviewmirror kicked more behind than ever before Eddie's voice and the energy of the band was incredible. Mr. Boom came on joined the group for Love Boat Captain which was played to perfection. Better Man and Black were both two big highlights as well, the crowd singing along as loud as they could. And just when you thought it couldn't get any better they follow with Don't Go from Vs, man that was on of my personal highlights : ) Soon Forget was next and Eddie made fun of Bill Gates shoved a mask of Gates into a mic stand, it was really funny and the crowd loved it, in the middle of the song Eddie just hit the microphone stand w/ Gates face to the floor. It was funny because while Eddie was making fun and talking about Gates, Gates face was stuck on the mic stand moving back and forth like he was nodding and agreeing with what Eddie was saying. Oh yeah thanks to big screens on each side of the stage we got a super close look at Eddie and the rest of the band. Fortunate Son and Rocking in the Free World finished this unforgettable night, Pearl Jam was super well received, the crowd went crazy in a respectable manner of course, things didn't get out of control, people were just having fun responsibly.

Eddie talked a bit about the crazy times we are living in and the crowd cheered with lots whoos and yeahs and he also made a remark about freedom of speech and people cheered like crazy.........no boos in this concert! Thanks Eddie and thanks Mike for all the great guitar solo's, thanks to Pearl Jam for coming to Houston, I will definitely get this CD, I hope that the set list alone convinces a lot of fans to get this CD, but let me just say that the band sounded amazing! Eddie didn't even have to strain himself to sing loud and powerful, it was so effortless and natural and it sounded so amazing! Truly Pearl Jam at it's best and definitely my favourite concert ever!

Even if there was only 23 songs the show lasted well over 2 hours because of Mike's great solos!