Set List: Release, Severed Hand, World Wide Suicide, Corduroy, Animal, Red Mosquito, Love Boat Captain, Better Man, Unemployable, Even Flow, Sad, Wishlist, Gone, Green Disease, Down, Jeremy, Life Wasted, Why Go

1st encore: Forever Young by Bob Dylan (Ed & Jeff), Masters Of War by Bob Dylan, Crazy Mary by Victoria Williams, Inside Job, Alive

2nd encore: Spin The Black Circle, Do The Evolution, Whipping, Rats, Comatose, Rockin' In The Free World by Neil Young

May 24, 2006 I knew would be exactly 6 months to the day that my father past away suddenly on Thanksgiving. I always knew Pearl Jam shows in Boston were special events so I bought 1 ticket. I wanted to take a long drive from NY on the 6 month mark of my father's passing alone with my thoughts, just thoughts of him and life in general. It was a beautiful day and a smooth ride with the new PJ album, new Strokes and new Chili Peppers albums blasting all along the way. I arrived in Boston and quickly found a parking spot on the street right near the arena...lucky me. I watched My Morning Jacket open and they hit it hard as usual, I have seen them many times and it was a great treat to see them opening for the Mighty Pearl Jam...I actually met Jim James at The Great Bamboozle in Asbury Park, NJ a few years back, nice fellow. When MMJ played "steam engine" I must admit was very emotional for me....it was me and my ex-girlfriends song and I would have been there with her I'm sure, but we parted ways a few months back....bittersweet to say the least. Jim James has some great pipes. I had great seats, it was on the Loge Level but row B was actually on the bottom floor level AWESOME!

I have been to over 20 PJ shows but I never had the pleasure of hearing Release live and was thinking how great it would be but also how hard it might be as well if it was the opener...I have been driving my father's old work van lately and it only has a cassette player and I found all these old cassettes in a box and Ten has been in heavy rotation...I remember listening to Release recently while driving to work and the words really hit home like never before. Sure enough Release was the opener and it sounded beautiful and made me cry, but nobody could notice because the audience was dark of course, all the lights were onstage...and what great lights they were! The new Pearl Jam lightshow for this tour is just fantastic, if you are reading this and have tickets to a future show take note that not only will the music move you, the lights will too. "Oh dear dad, can you see me now?" Next was Severed Hand, the words made me realize that I'm not alone in pain and that so many people right now are going through horrors the likes we have never seen, at least thats my view of that tune. It also rocked hard by the way. Corduroy had the audience clapping together before the outro and Mike played a cool solo over it that sounded totally different than any other he has done, very bluesy in a spaced out way. I really like how Eddie sung "constant recoil sometimes life don't leave you alone" during LBC, it was different and sung in a lower register, not with as much venom but still intense and beautiful.

The Boston crowd helped Eddie along in Betterman, they sounded great, again I have been to many a Pearl Jam show but never have I heard people singing along as cool and loud, the band was really feeling it and Ed made sure later in the show to point out how great they were "South America spoiled us but so far on this tour you have been the best, its the honest truth" (something along those lines, hard to understand him at times when he spoke because the crowd was so pumped and cheering at an amazing level). Sad was a nice surprise and had people dancing and bouncing, nice groove to that one. Wishlist had a different and sudden end without an outro that was well received, I love when that mirrorball spins. Down got a huge cheer when Ed said "this next song is called Down." He also mentioned Howard Zinn before the song and how the band was thinking of him and how Zinn was thinking of the band which means he was thinking of us too. Jeremy was performed as though it came out yesterday and when the song ended got a huge reaction from the crowd, the biggest one all night I think, and they were all huge but at the end of Jeremy it was ear shattering. Life Wasted and Why Go were 2 great rocking songs that fit nicely back to back and were a perfect way to end a perfect 1st set. "Forever Young" was dedicated to all the recent graduates in the audience. Recent grads were mentioned a few times during this show . Eddie Vedder sung "forever young" in such a way...very moving, his voice was just perfect, I was thinking "this is like we are in the studio with him, this is being sung with such focus and beauty". Masters of War gave me the chills, I did not expect this one to played, Ed was intense as hell. During Crazy Mary I was laughing so hard because while Boom was playing his solo Vedder came up to him and was pouring wine in Booms mouth, very funny. "Inside Job" is just terrific, very cool lights and lasers during that one. "Alive" closed out the first encore with Eddie then Mike standing high on some speakers during the solo while the whole crowd yelled "yeah yeah" in unison.....simply amazing.

The second encore seemed like the show had started over with blistering versions of STBS, Do the Evolution and Whipping. Rats was a fun surprise, what a great bass line, did I mention how great Jeff Ament was and is? I was really hoping the band would play Comatose but figured that wasn't gonna happen, little did I know! That put a huge smile on my face, I really love that song, and to hear it live and in person had me jumping high and headbanging, sounded huge live. Show ended with some Rocking in the Free world, Matt was really letting loose on this one, and it was great to see Stone play a solo on that one. Someone threw an orange "stone" T-shirt onstage which Eddie wore for a few minutes before giving it back. I love how the crowd burst into huge clapping and cheering before and during Rocking in the Free World, which had Eddie dancing and fist pumping, the Boston crowd really stole the show, what a great experience.

Thank you Pearl Jam and the people of Boston for giving me such a special night, it was nice to get into a car and just go somewhere far and be alone to think but then arrive in some different place with thousands of like-minded people who love this music you create, it was a great reminder that one is never alone.