Set list: MFC, Save You, Do The Evolution, 1/2 Full, Insignificance, Given To Fly, Sad, Even Flow, Faithfull, Daughter/(music- Another Brick in the Wall. improv lyrics- about leaving Cindy Sheehan alone), Lukin,
Grievance (Intro only - false start), Whipping, I Got Shit, Nothing As it Seems, Rearviewmirror,
1st encore: Small Town, Sleight of Hand, Black, Glorified G, Alive,
2nd encore: Bee Girl [Jeff-gtr. Ed-v], Black Red Yellow, Better Man, Porch,
3rd encore: Yellow Ledbetter

Missoula, Montana + Pearl Jam = 7000 very loud, very music hungry people. Pearl Jam are cursed to roam this earth forever because, for whatever reason, they simply refuse to suck, get old and then fall by the wayside.

Jeff is probably the most relaxed and HUMBLE person I have ever met and when he walked on stage to introduce Jon Tester, the Adams Center erupted in a standing ovation for what seemed like forever and for no damn reason other than the fact that he merely walked onto the stage. Jeff's quiet demeanor took a back seat while he professed his appreciation to the masses and introduced Mr. Tester who is running for the Democratic seat in the Senate for Montana. ( Go Jon! )

Jon then introduced the band who came out to thunderous applause the likes of which I could compare to the normal 20 thousand seat arenas that sell out every tour. Missoula clearly LOVES Pearl Jam. And why shouldn't we? We have one of them to call our own.

The boys start with MFC and the house lights are still on. When the song kicks into the next gear the lights go off on cue as if Ed said something like: "Its not a tv studio. Turn these lights out. Its a fukcing rock concert!!"

They hurl past the next few songs with passionate rage and I have to tell you that I'm attending the show with a virgin. He has never seen them play live before and he cannot get enough of this. One of his favorite songs is Evolution and as Stone gets this one started he looks at me with the biggest damn grin and all I can do is apologize to the couple next to him. I'm really sorry and I hope you understand.

Having said that I also must apologize to the people next to me. For this 3 word reason: Given To Fly. By far one of the most moving songs written to date by anyone who has ever held pen to paper. Every time I hear that song live I quietly give thanks for Mike McCready and his immense well of never ending talent. After GTF Ed makes mention about playing some new stuff and rare b -sides on this tour which brings us to Sad. The Sad/Other Side combo are my favorites from Dogs and I can't believe I'm actually hearing this. E-Flo brings the hard core rockers back out and Mike burns another solo into our ears and hearts. Ed lets the crowd finish the last chorus of the song. Faithfull and Daughter are next which of course, brings the crowd back into singing mode. Full frigging throttle!!

The tag on Daughter starts off as just a "HEY" sing along but then Ed does the Pink Floyd cover with lyrics changed to fit an anti-republican theme: 'We don't need no fox news channel' and 'leave Cindy Sheehan alone.' Lukin tore the vocal chords right outta my throat. I think they're still at the Adams Center somewhere. After a slight pause Matt starts Grievance and Ed missed the timing on the first verse but sometimes he does that. No problem. He comes up to the mike and starts ............. nothing. Either he forgot the lyrics or this wasn't the song he thought it was. Any way, the song slowly comes to an end before it began and the guys regroup. Obviously to get it together and start over. Well, sort of. Instead they rip into Whipping and pull out all the speed bumps for this one. Small Town was dedicated to Jon, being from Big Sandy, Montana. Sleight of Hand is my favorite song from Binaural and I have never heard it live and if you let it, this song can take you to another level transcending into enlightenment. Big words I know, but its true.

Jeff and Ed came out for an encore. Jeff with an acoustic in his hands means something very rare indeed. Ed speaks of doing something never tried before. Correcting himself he goes on to say that the one other time they played this song was very spontaneous and off the cuff, so to speak. Bee Girl starts and ends with such perfection that I almost thought that they pulled a Milli Vanilli on us. It could have been the studio version played over the speakers and one of the Simpson girls is on the soundboard giving Brett advice on lip synching.

The show ends with an almost obligatory Yellow Ledbetter and the crowd is eating it up like munchies at Hempfest. I would like to give thanks to Jeff. This event was all because of him. A big WOW goes out to their lighting director also. This show stood out for me in huge part to the amazing dance of lights put on. Many thanks to the road crew and show coordinators for allowing us to witness this amazing band perform for what was just a flicker in time. Good luck to Jon Tester in his campaign to turn this country around. Maybe one day Ed can change his lyric to Twenty Million Against One. Damn, that's alot of fingers.

Richard