Ed solo before opening band: Throw Your Arms Around Me
Set List: Last Exit, Brain of J., Hail Hail, Save You, In My Tree, Red Mosquito, Present Tense, Green Disease, Immortality, Sleight of Hand, Whipping, Corduroy, Down, Leatherman, Nothingman, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Spin the Black Circle;
1st encore: You Are, Even Flow, State of Love and Trust, Black, Alive;
2nd encore: Leaving Here, Know Your Rights, Rocking in the Free World with guest, Steve Earle

Hey PJ fans,
Well, for the forth time, and the second time in two nights, I set out to see the most amazing live act of our era last night... After Wednesday's show, i thought that last night may not live up, due to the appearance of Baba AND Ledbetter in the same perfect set, but I was mistaken.

It started with Last Exit and Brain of J., 2 rocking songs that opened Vitalogy and Yield of course, and they were played with some serious energy, which is a pattern that you will notice in this review. Next were two more rockers, Hail Hail and Save You, which sounded better than last night. This is where it got pretty interesting...
Ed grabs a guitar and starts his mumble about last nights show, and mentions that tonight they're going to get "experimental" or something...at which point they delve into a slightly slower version of in my tree, in which Matt Cameron just blows the roof off. It seems that by experimental Ed was referring to the No Code album, one of my fav's, because they then played Red Mosquito AND Present Tense, to which I was floored, the crowd was really pumped during the last minute or so of that one. Then they went into Green Disease, which was cool to hear, a great version of Immortality, check Matt out again..., and a maybe out of place Sleight of Hand, not that it was bad, just didn't quite fit right there.

Then the show just took off! Whipping!!! Glorious Whipping, crowd went apeshit, then, THE BEST VERSION, no joke, of Corduroy ever, seriously...you just have to hear it... the b side Down was then thrown in I think as a bridge to the next song, another b side, Leatherman, which started the "man" trilogy...a first for "Detroit" I believe... Nothingman was simply beautiful, crowd really singing along, which was perfect as Betterman was next...after playing the intro, Ed told the crowd to take it, at which point, thousands of Michiganders gave it their best shot at letting people miles away hear a little PJ at 10:00 on a Thursday night...this was the most crowd participation I've ever seen at a PJ gig, even better than last night's Baba sing along...it was at this point that you could see the band start to change, they were really starting to have fun. They ripped through a crazy Spin the Black Circle, with Mike just going nuts on leads throughout, love the way Jeff plays bass on spin, just like he's in the Ramones or something...then break time.

You Are comes next, cool lights by the way during this one, nice riff, it sounds great live, then into Even Flow...my god! just incredible version, again with the audience participation, the crowd was almost as loud as the band, which i think is awesome, Ed chilled at stage right during Mike nearly 5 minute solo, which was fast, and beautiful, oh, and his fills during verse 2 were great too...and at the end of the last chorus, during mike's final scorching solo run, he plays the guitar over his head and doesn't miss a note! Damn!

At this point the crowd was wild, and for State of Love and Trust next, I don't think Mike stood still for 3 seconds at a time, running everywhere, huffing and puffing, throwing picks like crazy, at one point, he and Ed started ramming heads together, leaning into each other, WHILE the song was going, neither missing a note. Then into Black, holy cow! Just awesome!....the solo was GREAT!!! Thank you Mike! crowd singing the whole time, can't wait to hear the CD...then the opening notes of Alive!!! A first for us in the D for a long long time... and you could tell we were ready...Ed seemed to be surprised by how loud the crowd was on this one, the choruses were magical...and the solo, my god the solo, Mike played about the half the thing BETWEEN HIS LEGS!!! Of course it was note perfect....then break.

They come back out, thank the Buzzcocks, who I skipped this time, and Ed proceeds to talk about punk for a second, before jumping into a cool version of Leaving Here, I mean these guys were having a blast tonight...smiles on all faces, Matt even laughing during most of the last songs...Know Your Rights was cool to hear, Ed got really ominous with the delivery of the verses, which was funny. Then they pulled some guy onstage to help with Rockin in the Free World, simply amazing, Ed climbed onto a stack of speakers ten feet high, in traditional Vedder style, the band went crazy, the crowd went crazy, great show, this one will stick out for ever in my mind...I've heard most of the boots so far, and I'm serious, you need to get this show, it was PERFECT!!! A mix of b-sides and hidden album gems, and the smash hits, played with the most energy I've ever seen out of these guys.

Thanks PJ, see you in 2006, or sooner...
D.R.

It was an interesting night at DTE (aka the place we used to call Pine Knob). Unlike the night before which was very hot - high 80's, we started with some rain before the show which brought cooler weather (mid 70's) and a show that I think surprised most of the people in attendance.

The Buzzcocks performed with a ton of energy and I think the crowd was into the performance. Unlike other opening acts, they received a warm ovation at the end of the set that was far more than the typical "Get off the stage fast so I can see headline act" clapping we usually see.

Hitting the stage, PJ basically blasted into a set that was fast and hard - Last Exit, Brain of J. and Hail Hail all rocked and the crowd was energized. The band seemed to have good energy, a great sound and attitude to spare. I was thrilled since my last PJ show was back at Crisler arena in Ann Arbor for the VS. disc. The energy was just as I remembered from almost 10 years ago.

The crowd kept up with the new song Save You and Eddie took time to dis on the previous night's crowd (just the first 10 rows) and helped get everyone in a good mood. What was telling was his comment that they wanted to do "something different" that night. This should have been a major warning to every casual fan that they were going to possibly be let down.

Pearl Jam has never been a band that tried to play all the "hits" in a show. Rather, they seem to focus on strong performing and a mix of songs that they dictate. Anyone who attends a show and reads the set lists knows that it's a true grab bag when it comes to songs. Tonight was for the true fan looking for album cuts rather than radio staples.

After Eddie told the fans of a "something different" show, they went into In My Tree which I thought was a total surprise. The next songs all had that strong, mellow vibe that we expect from PJ. Red Mosquito is one of my favs and it was perfect. Present Tense (another surprise for me) was well done and the crowd may have discovered a song they would like to hear again. Green Disease was very interesting, the crowd literally ran for the beer stands and bathrooms - it was dramatic. You could tell that the casual fans were getting antsy, we were into the 8th song on the set list and we hadn't heard any songs that had ever received significant airplay.

With Immortality and Sleight of Hand, everyone had a chance to get some beers and return. Whipping recharged some folks who appeared desperate for something that was familiar. It was no surprise that Corduroy was received so enthusiastically. I was amazed that we had to get to the 12th song in the set before we hit the first "well known" PJ song for casual fans.

The disappointment for those same fans was that Corduroy was followed by Down, which they were obviously unfamiliar with. The next trio of songs was interesting to watch - Leatherman had the die hard fans (myself included) jumping to the beat - everyone jumped on the next two songs - Nothingman (song #2 that most knew) and Better Man - which the audience sang the first verse and chorus. At that point, the crowd was ready to rock and with Spin the Black Circle, everyone was cranked up.

The encore came at a time when everyone was ready for more. I could hear and see fans unsure of what to expect since, for many, they had only heard 2 or 3 songs they really knew. Coming back from the encore with You Are (my favorite new song) the band continued to display the ability they have to reproduce the sounds on disc with an added kick that makes the show so entertaining.

The payoff came with the next four songs - Even Flow, State of Love and Trust, Black and Alive was what the crowd had been waiting for. It was so much, so fast that the encore break seemed to come too fast.

The second encore of cover songs continued the high energy - Leaving Here had everyone bouncing - Know Your Rights - had the political edge that the band brings to any good show and RITFW had everyone begging for more.

As they left the stage - you could see that most of the audience, made up of casual fans had a tough time with the show. With so many non-radio tracks, they tried to keep up but you could tell from the way they responded to the hits they heard that they wanted to get cranked up for this show. This show is what PJ is about, great performances on their terms. I never expected to hear all the big songs one after the other - I knew every song but, you could feel the energy subside for long stretches as the crowd tried to stay engaged.

With so many songs from Vitolagy (7), No Code (4), and Riot Act (4 if you include Down), it was really a show for the true fan. The songs from Ten seemed like a reward to those who waited through unfamiliar songs. The big surprise for me was that there were no songs from VS. and only two songs from Yield (if you include Leatherman).

The previous night at DTE was for the casual fan. Thursday night was for the die hards.