Ed solo before opening bands: I Am A Patriot
Set list: Go, Animal, Do The Evolution, Save You, The American in Me, Immortality, Wishlist/(improv), Grievance, Alone, Present Tense, Corduroy, I Believe in Miracles, Once;
1st encore (acoustic): Lukin, Off He Goes, Man of the Hour, Parting Ways, Black;
2nd encore: The Seeker by The Who, Daughter/(War), Glorified G, Lion's Share by Germs, The New World (by X) with Tim Robbins;
3rd encore: I've Got a Feeling, Rockin' in the Free World

If ever "You had to be there" was true!

I was exhausted from the previous night, but once the lights went down I was ready to go. What would they open with? My guess was "Of The Girl" (I saw Stone's little pseudo-banjo looking guitar being tuned up by a roadie).

BAM, they launch right into "Go." They tore through "Go", and then I just knew "Animal" was next. Talk about a powerful way to start off a show...the place was going absolutely nuts. "DTE" and "Save You" followed with equal ferocity. I remembered The Avengers song from the previous night. Then came "Immortality." Last night was my 21st show, and that was only the 2nd time I have ever seen "Immortality." The crowd really seemed to dig the ending jam. Mike was on fire during the middle parts and the jam. "Wishlist" was also very good, though once again Ed forgot to do his homework as he mumbled his way through the 2nd verse. The "Wishlist" tag was along the lines of "I wish I was the president...or should I say I wish I was running for president." I thought Ed was going to get a little preachy, but after a couple of minutes the tag ended, and he didn't say anything more. I tend to agree with Ed a lot of the time, but I know that when he starts talking politics it can bring a roaring show to a screeching halt. Luckily last night whenever he talked/sang about politics, it was generally well received. Gotta love Boston fans!

Grievance was up next, and was a rocking version. Then it came out. "ALONE"!!!! It wasn't the tightest version ever (Stone apologized afterwards for screwing up 'an old standard'), but I was just in awe. It took me a few songs to come down off the high. The place didn't go as nuts as I thought they would have, but you could tell the hardcore fans were just going out of their minds. "Present Tense" was a nice follow up, and Ed then introduced "Corduroy" as "This was Johnny Ramone's favorite song of ours." It was appropriately followed by The Ramones' "I Believe In Miracles." "Once" was a great 1st set ending song.

The acoustic 1st encore was great. "Lukin" was hilarious. Earlier in the show Ed said he had seen something odd in the front row. Apparently a guy proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes. I forget what song it happened during. Maybe "Wishlist"? Anyway, right before "Lukin" he said "This would have been a more appropriate song to get engaged to" (or something like that). Then they kicked into "Lukin" and I started cracking up. "Off He Goes" was beautiful, and "Man Of The Hour" was equally inspired. "Parting Ways" was also very good, and then "Black" was just awesome. It was a full acoustic version, with a very extended "do do do do dododo" sing-along at the end. I love PJ sing-alongs. Though to be honest I think 80% of the show last night was a sing-along!

The 2nd encore started with a great Who cover, "The Seeker." My other favorite band, Rush, just recorded this song for a covers EP they released a few months ago, and they played in on this summer's tour. I was psyched to see PJ attempt it this time around. Nice connection of my 2 favorite bands! "Daughter" was great, and the tag was a crowd participation of "the shades go down" sung various ways by Ed, and then a "War" tag, which I had seen in Seattle 02. Just awesome! Ed started off screaming "WAR...", then the crowd followed with "HUH!", to which he of course followed with "what is it good for?", and the whole place screamed "ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!" with Ed screaming "SAY IT AGAIN I SAID WAR!" Then came "Glorified G"...another somewhat recent setlist rarity. I remember seeing it on the setlist last year for the first time in years and being jealous, and then I finally got to see it at the Garden. It never used to be a favorite of mine, but it's grown on me. The crowd really seemed to love it, and they sang every note. The Germs' and X covers were decent encore closers, with Tim Robbins joining the band for the last one.

After seeing "Alone", I wasn't sure they had any more tricks up their sleeves.

Wrong.

Encore 3 started with "I've Got A Feeling." As with "Alone", it was the first time they played it in 10 years (actually first time since the Boston Orpheum show in 94). I went crazy! Just like "Alone", it had its share of technical errors (a la "Satan's Bed" at Stage College last year), but it was just awesome to see. I was laughing when Ed started the ending "Everybody had a..." instead of a screaming section, and realized it halfway through so it sounded like "Everybody had a...OOOOHHHH YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I've got a feeling yeah!" It will be one of those moments where the bootlegs do it no justice. It was unbelievable to see. Yes, I was almost in tears just thinking about how special "Alone" and "IGAF" were.

"RITFW" ended a blistering show, and it ended it with a bang. They destroyed the crowd with a great version, and a great jam. It was an amazing ending to a phenomenal show. The whole place was clapping in unison during the jam at the end w/ Ed smashing the tambourine against his hand. What a scene!

Boston 2 was a night to remember. The first night was a very good show, but the 2nd night was a jaw dropper.

Finally Pearl Jam back in Boston, I couldn't go to the first show, so I was fired up when they announced the second show. We got to our seats at around 7 o'clock and were talking about what we thought Eddie would play as a preset. He didn't disappoint when he when into I'm a Patriot. Then the first opening act hit the stage. I found out it was the actor Tim Robbins band, so that was cool. They were alright, I thought their version of Masters of War was pretty good, so we figured that Pearl Jam wouldn't play it later in the night as they had in the two previous shows. Then the second act came out, Death Cab for Cutie, I wasn't the biggest fan, and was fired up when they left around 9:00. Then it was just the wait for Pearl Jam to hit the stage.

They came out of the gate fast with a solid version of Go, and the place went crazy..they continued with Animal, and then Do the Evolution, which I wasn't expecting. The Fleet Center went nuts when they went into Wishlist, Eddie messed up some lyrics early in the song, then forgot them all together after about half of it. He said "things happen," but it was ok because he then went into a rant about him running for president and that was funny. They then went into Save You and then a cover by The Avengers called the American in Me, I had never it before. Then came another surprise in Alone and an awesome version of Present Tense..followed up by Corduroy. The band started to play Once but stopped quick and then went into I Believe in Miracles. After that they went right back into Once, and the crowd went nuts again.

The first encore started with them sitting down and Eddie explaining about how they were gonna do a few songs acoustic. Then went into Lukin followed by Off He goes, and then Man of the Hour which sounded really good. Then they went into Black, and again the Fleet Center lost it ending the first encore. The second encore started with The Seeker a cover by The Who, followed by Daughter flowing right into War. Then out of no where they went into Glorified G. I couldn't believe it. Tim Robbins came out to help sing The New World. Tim Robbins didn't get the best of reactions from the crowd. That ended the 2nd encore. The 3rd started off with I've Got a Feeling, and the show ended with the lights coming on in the Fleet Center and a great version of Rockin' In The Free World. Right after the song Eddie said thanks, and that they'll see us next year. Overall the show was awesome from start to finish.

Jay Forte

Where do I begin! I have been to every show Pearl Jam has performed here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Every single show has been great. The show Wednesday was no exception. What made this show different, was the fact the band did not have a new album to support, so the band seemed limitless! Like the show at the Tweeter Center last 7/11/03, this show provided a beautiful ensemble of acoustic songs. "Man of the Hour" was my favorite part of the show. "Lukin" acoustic is an amazing version, and displays the obvious talent Ed Vedder has with his 1941 Martin! The crowd was incredible this night. It could be the fact it was the first indoor show in Boston since the Orpheum, but Ed was feeding off the energy of the crowd.