Ed solo: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away before opening band
Set List: Small Town, Grievance, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Save You, Dissident, Given To Fly, Off He Goes, Love Boat Captain, Thin Air, Wishlist, Even Flow, Better Man, Daughter/(Peace cheer), 1/2 Full, I Am A Patriot (reworked), MFC, Rearviewmirror;
1st encore: Last Kiss, Evolution, Black, Alive;
2nd encore: Yellow Ledbetter, Rockin' In the Free World with Sleater-Kinney

I couldn't wait to see PJ in Tampa after the West Palm show. I could feel the excitement in the air and had a sense that I was about to see one of the greatest shows of the tour and I was right. The crowd was phenomenal. They sang along to every song and were as familiar with their new cuts as they were with their "classics." (My God - have they been around long enough to have classics?!) Sleater Kinney once again proved that they are one of the greatest trios out there; combining great music with impassioned lyrics. Ed introduced them with his solo rendition of You've Got to Hide your Love Away. At one point forgetting the lyrics and laughing at himself. Matt once again came out and played tambourine on One Beat. He really seemed to enjoy the whole show from the side stage.

The crowd was pumped when PJ finally took the stage. They opened with Small Town - a great song for the crowd to welcome the band to Florida; eleven thousand plus screaming hello. Mike's guitar work all evening was magical. He was feeding off the energy of the crowd and grew more impassioned as the evening wore on. Stone was animated the entire night and he and Jeff fed off of one another - each pushing the next. Eddie's voice was in fine form. I don't know how he played three shows in a row and still sounded effortless. Thin Air was a nice addition to the show - Stone flubbing his chords slightly eliciting a smile from Eddie. As expected, the crowd was riotous during Even Flow. Mike was definitely on fire - the more the crowd cheers him the longer he goes. Eddie stood to the side and just watched him and smiled. Jeff and Stone were smiling at one another all night. It seems as if the entire band was energized by the loud, appreciative crowd who couldn't get enough of the band. During the Daughter tag Eddie yelled "Give me a P, give me an E, give me a D!" ?? He smiled and started over spelling Peace - the crowd was ecstatic. Even though MacDill central command is here and Jeb Bush(leaguer two) is our governor - central Florida is a liberal area. (We were a blue county during the Presidential election/rip off!!!! )

Synchronicity ruled the night. A reworked I Am A Patriot appeared again - with Eddie on guitar and Matt doing fantastic work on the drum set. It was impassioned and heartfelt. A great rendition. Rearviewmirror was an absolute rock/riot. All members were flying away on their guitars and the light show enhanced the scene. The band ended their set amidst loud cheers - we all knew they were coming back for more. They opened the 1st encore with Last Kiss and then seamlessly went into DTE. Stone was kick ass on his solo. Black was beautiful. The crowd ending the song "Doo doo doo do" without Eddie at the mike. He seemed amused by this. Maybe because we didn't know when to stop! Alive energized the crowd once again. With the packed arena screaming "We're still alive!!" What better song to help end the show but Yellow Ledbetter? Ed mixing the lyrics up a bit. Sleater Kinney came back out to help with Rockin' in the Free World. It became a huge dance fest with Eddie and Corin Tucker dancing center stage. A great evening in Tampa - wish it hadn't ended. Thanks Ten Club for my rockin' seats and hello to my neighbors who traveled from Naples to see the show. It was his 17th time seeing the band. Guess I have some catching up to do - it was only my fifth time. (Play more Florida shows!!!) Absolutely cannot wait to add more shows to my memory bank. Thanks PJ!!! Come back soon.

Peace and love,
Francine
Clearwater

I will not bore you with everything I did leading up to the show. I will get right to it. The lights went dark and the band walked on stage. As usual Ed with his bottle of wine and notebook. He picked up his guitar so I was expecting "Corduroy." Much to surprise and liking it was "Elderly Woman." This got the crowd way into from the get go. Especially during the "HELLO." It was a stellar opening to a more then stellar show. The boys then ripped through "Grievance," "Corduroy," Hail Hail, and Save You. Ed along with band seemed to be in great spirits and high energy. Breaking for a moment to address with crowd with a "Thank you" they then played "Dissident." It was really nice to hear this song live. I haven't heard it live for a while so it rekindled my love for it. Then the lights went blue and it was "Given to Fly." The crowd received this song by jumping up and down throughout the stadium. It was nice to see everybody into the show dancing and singing at the top of their lungs. "Off he goes" and "Love Boat Captain" were next. The keyboards in LBC were just as amazing as I had anticipated. Then Ed saying "Speaking of love" we were treated to "Thin Air." Then the disco ball was lowered and we were introduced to a very intimate "Wishlist." (no tag) "Even flow" and "Betterman" came next followed by "Daughter" with a "P E A C E" tag. "1/2 full" was so much better live featuring Ed dancing like a madman and holding a mirror on the spotlight above his head shining towards various parts of the stadium. The reworked "I Am A Patriot" was next. This was just Matt and Ed. I have to say I like the faster Tibetan Freedom version better. The first set closed with "MFC" and "RVM."

Moments later the band was back out for a crowd pleasing "Last kiss." "Evolution" rocked like never before. "Black" and "Alive" back to back was really cool. Very reminiscent of the early days. When the band came back for the final encore Ed gave a little speech about making the world a better place. It went something like this, "Everyone in here has the power to make the world a better place. Even if its just picking up something for someone who might be too old to pick it up themselves....so next time the Domino's man comes by you can tip him an extra five bucks. Unless he's a crackhead and takes the money to buy drugs so he can shoot it in his arm." The speech was sincere and quite comical. Then Ed yelled for Keely to turn on the house lights and "It was time to say good-bye to Florida." After "Yellow Ledbetter" Ed brought out the girls from Sleater-Kinney for a powerful "Rockin' In the Free World."

It was an AMAZING show ranking way up there with my personal favorites. Have a great summer with Pearl Jam. See ya in 2 years!