Set List: Can't Keep, Spin The Black Circle, Save You, Grievance, Cropduster, Nothing As It Seems, Even Flow, You Are, 1/2 Full, Given To Fly, Daughter, Lukin, Corduroy, Untitled, MFC, Black, Love Boat Captain, Porch;
1st encore: I Am A Patriot, Do The Evolution, Small Town, State Of Love and Trust, Crazy Mary, Alive;
2nd encore: Know Your Rights, Bu$hleaguer, Fortunate Son, Rockin In The Free World w/Jack Irons

I definitely do have to agree with everyone else in saying that Pearl Jam gets better with age. They played an absolutely awesome second show in Irvine and I was able to see it from the right side of the orchestra section. I’d only seen them once before on the Binaural tour, and this time around, they seemed to have much more energy and fun. Mike ran all over the place and loved doing crazy moves and teasing the crowd... he also came out with some great solos and even played with the guitar behind his head. Eddie also talked quite a bit and even threw in a little political and social commentary. He also liked to mention that the show was being broadcast on 94.9 in San Diego, the independent station.

Once the lights went off, everyone went crazy. They went into Can’t Keep, and just from habit, I almost expected to hear Save You afterwards... but they snuck in Spin the Black Circle in between the two. They played a few more new songs, then launched right into Even Flow, which immediately shot the energy level of the show towards the sky. You Are was great, especially with the lights, which definitely helped set the mood for the song. Given to Fly and Daughter both brought in lots of singing from the audience, and during the Daughter tag, Eddie even gave us a line to sing: “With my two hands,” which he ended with “I can change the world” and other variations. We held up our hands and sang in unison... the music Pearl Jam makes has definitely changed my world. Then came Black. Eddie dropped out in the middle of the second verse, but we were able to make up for it. Then came Mike’s solo, which went on and on. It was easy to get lost in the song, and in the end, we joined Eddie in the “doo-doo-doo-doo” part, which was finished by Boom on piano. Then came Porch, which rocked as always, with Eddie basically leaving the stage and taking a smoke while Mike ripped solos off his guitar.

The band left the stage, but Eddie and Matt came back after a few minutes. Eddie toasted the crowd, then played a neat version of Patriot. The rest of the band joined in for five consecutive unbelievable songs: Do The Evolution, Small Town, State of Love and Trust, Crazy Mary, and Alive. Before Small Town, Eddie gave us an “explanation” of where the band name was from. Apparently, they were looking for good initials, and decided to use Phil Jackson, the NBA star coach. During State of Love and Trust, Eddie seemed to have some trouble with the lyrics, probably because he might have been a tad bit intoxicated at the point. Crazy Mary was beautiful; near the end, Eddie handed the wine bottle to someone in the front rows and it was passed around, just like in the song. There was also a great duet between Boom and Mike.

Then they left, but came back for one more round. Eddie talked about the FCC ruling that allowed monopolies more power over the press and radio stations and urged us to exercise our First Amendment rights. He then said, “That is our public service announcement. Now here's another one,” and went into Know Your Rights. Then came Bu$hleaguer and the Pearl Jam rendition of Fortunate Son. After that, Eddie thanked everyone, saying that out of two nights at Irvine, we started out as the ugly twin, but turned out in the end. Then he said that since they were in Southern California, they were going to do something special. He said that Matt was going to play guitar, and on drums was... Jack Irons!! Then they launched into an almost 10-minute long Rockin’ in the Free World with the lights on as usual, and everyone absolutely rocked out to it. The show went well on the way to 3 hours. Afterwards, the friend I went with, who is not the biggest PJ fan, said that it was the best show he’d ever been to. I’d be inclined to agree as well, although I’ve only been to two Pearl Jam shows and am probably more biased.