Ed Vedder, Mike McCready, Michael Moore, U.S. Rep Jim McDermott

Ed solo: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, Don't Be Shy
Ed and Mike: Masters of War

My wife and I had great seats to see Michael Moore at Key Arena for his Slacker Uprising 2004 tour. Floor seats, sixth row, just in front of the stage corner. We got inside about 7:20, got to our seats and started people watching. One of the first things I noticed were two chairs and two guitar stands on the left side of the stage. The two chairs threw me a little, but I leaned over to my wife and said, "hmm, guitar stands, Seattle, Michael Moore has some friends here… I'm thinking we might see Eddie." Just after that a stage hand brought out a Martin acoustic and set it on one of the guitar stands.

At about 8:00 the woman responsible for putting the show together came on stage, talked a bit about it, then announced a special surprise guest - Eddie Vedder! The crowd gave a good round of applause and a partial standing ovation. Eddie said he was starting out with a sing-along and proceeded into "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." After that he said he thought of playing a Cat Stevens song since Cat Stevens couldn't be there. That got a loud round of applause and laughter. He then played "Don't be Shy." More applause, then Eddie said he wanted to bring out his friend and bandmate - Mike McCready! Mike didn't get quite the standing ovation from the crowd (my wife and I were standing, of course), but the applause was great. They played a fantastic "Masters of War" and Mike then left the stage to more applause.

Eddie then talked a bit about the state of the nation and the world and introduced his friend, Michael Moore, saying that when they first met, Michael's file with the CIA was probably only 2 or 3 inches thick and by now his file probably has its own wing at the CIA. Michael Moore spoke for about an hour or so and then Washington Congressman Jim McDermott spoke briefly toward the end of the show.

After the show there were a bunch of people milling around by the stage, including Eddie, Mike & Ashley talking to Jim McDermott. Not much of the crowd stuck around, so we hung back by the exit tunnel. After a few minutes Mike walked over to the rail, said "hi" and signed a few autographs.

All-in-all a great night, great show, and a great message.

-Ryan in Bellingham