Set List: Crazy Mary, Spin The Black Circle, Hail Hail, Save You, Green Disease, Small Town, Nothing As It Seems, Even Flow, Insignificance, Given To Fly, You Are, 1/2 Full, Daughter/(WMA), Corduroy, Love Boat Captain, Black, Do The Evolution;
1st encore: Animal, Go, Glorified G, Better Man/Improv, Alive;
2nd encore: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (Ed solo), Soon Forget, Jeremy, Fortunate Son, Rockin in the Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Wow. As if I needed another reason for pearl jam to be my favorite band, tonight they gave me 29 reasons! There is not a single thing I'd change about the setlist they played tonight. The two songs I was hoping they'd play the most, 'You Are' and 'Glorified G', were played. I've never been to a show where everyone was so enthusiastic and singing all of the words to all of the songs. my voice is gone from singing and my legs ache from pogo-ing to every song they played tonight. I guess opening with 'Crazy Mary' was a sign of what the rest of this show would be like. Unpredictable, kickass, one big party.

After 'Green Eisease' Eddie started to talk and he had to stop and wait several minutes for the crowd to stop cheering. Then he talked about how great it was to be in a city with so much history, and so much related to freedom, and to be in a building with so much history. (He really had a thing for the Spectrum, as we'd all find out later). The lighting effects during 'You Are' were as beautiful as the song itself. I think the crowd got pretty quiet for the first time during that song, either from being in a trance or not knowing the song at all. Or both.

Mike was energetic, but not too energetic. He'd stand up on his amp, twirl around, and shred the shit out of his solos, but wasn't running all over the place. The other guys seemed pretty relaxed as well. I think they really appreciated how enthusiastic the crowd was being. I was at the September 1st, 2000 show and it was nothing like this. Everyone was singing at the top of their lungs. I looked around to see if it was just this way in the 10c section (which was pretty huge) but the whole place was alive and really into it. I saw people in the 3rd tier jumping up and down.

Later on in the show Eddie brought it to our attention that Sen. Joe Biden (D) from Delaware had attached a draconic anti-drug rider to a bill that was supposed to be about helping with abducted children. We all expressed our disapproval of Sen. Biden trying to make it harder for us to use illegal drugs in public places. During his talk, some people started changing 'Let's go Flyers' but that died down pretty quickly. After talking about Biden, Ed asked the crowd what they were chanting before, but the crowd was unable to get the chant going again. So Eddie just said something about how they couldn't speak in a united voice yet, and went into the next song. "We'll get back to you later," he said. The improv to Better Man was just beautiful. Ed sang about seeing and admiring the strength in other people, and love being all around. The guy is pretty much ad-libbing it, but it's still so profound and meaningful.

Before starting the second encore, Ed talked more about how cool it was to be in the spectrum, how privileged he was to take a piss in the spectrum, and how disrespectful it'd be to take a shit in the spectrum. He told a story about the time he and Jeff met Dr. J (of the 76'ers) here, and how his hands were really huge. At some point he also decided to give a special toast to several random sections of the spectrum, and then 'to the Brazilians'. I think he was referring to the part of the crowd that was doing the 'ole ole' soccer chant earlier on. After 'Soon Forget' the rest of the band comes out, and I'm thinking 'Ok, one or two more songs, I hope they're good' and they do Jeremy! Before they start 'Fortunate Son' Eddie introduces the other 4 members and I'm thinking 'this is it, this is the last song'. Some guys in front of me must not have been keeping track of other setlists from other shows this tour, and were totally shocked and stoked by Pearl Jam covering CCR. Again, nobody stopped singing, nobody stopped dancing and clapping during any of this. Then the lights come on and so begins 'RIFW'. I was positive this would be the last song, just like I thought that Jeremy, and then FS would be the closer. They just keep on playing! After 'RIFW' I notice that they still aren't taking their instruments off. So the real closer was Yellow Ledbetter, nearly 3 hours after they opened with 'Crazy Mary'.

I really hope the guys know how much fun people had at this show. I danced my ass off like no one was there (and I'm usually pretty inhibited). Strangers were dancing with each other, hugging, throwing high five's, it was awesome. I've never been to such a happy concert. This was where pearl jam ceased to be just music and became an environment. I don't mean to sound so maudlin, but...wow. best concert I've ever been to. Now I just hope the July shows can compare. YOU WANT THIS BOOTLEG!

-Brian

I have one word to describe tonight: AMAZING. Nah, I'm just kidding, everyone writes that. It was a great show, though, especially for my brother who caught his first PJ concert tonight. For my friends, and I, the reference to Dr. J couldn't have made us prouder. The energy was really positive tonight, as well, and there was a ton of fan club members there, (I heard ten thousand maybe someone can confirm it) which made it even louder. Eddie held up the mirror tonight like he did Saturday in Pitt to shine the spotlight on the crowd. The real mirror was the band, though who reflected the energy of the crowd all night and vise versa. Some highlights for me were Green Disease (my favorite new track), Spin the Black Circle and the way they tore through the old favorites giving them new life. Opening up with Crazy Mary set the tone for the night and I think everyone will agree with me. I was real poetic the last time I wrote one of these things, two years ago, but I have papers to write for school so I gotta get moving. I'll write a better one next time. The band certainly deserves it. On behalf of Plumstead, however, I just want to say thanks to the band and to everyone in the crowd who helped make the show so great. I also wanted to say a word to the girl we hung out with in the parking lot who brought her dog. Keep your head up.

Sincerely,
-Mike Paolucci