PJ20 - You knew this was coming from me!

 
The scene at Alpine Valley.  Perfect night at a pretty cool spot for a concert.

 

#PJ20

You probably have already figured out that I am a pretty big Pearl Jam dork.  I was a Pearl Jam fan from the first album.  I cannot claim, as some people do, that I was a Pearl Jam fan when they were called Mother Love Bone - or some other point.  Good Grief people, if you are a Pearl Jam fan, isn't that enough?  Do you have to try to prove that you are more of a fan of Pearl Jam than me or some other person by claiming you have been a fan longer?  Are people really that insecure in their band worship?

So, somewhere this summer I learned that Pearl Jam was coming to Alpine Valley.  The problem was, on the weekend that the tickets were to be made available, I was going to be gone and I was going to be somewhere that did not have wireless access.  Ugh...  No problem, join the PJ fan club and there was a presale on the previous weekend.  So I did.  Problem was, that I completely spaced buying the tickets on the previous weekend - DWEEB!

The situation is, now I am a member of a fan club.  OK, I'm a big Pearl Jam fan (I think my Sirius Radio is stuck on that channel in the truck), but I am not the kind of person that joins a fan club.  Like Groucho Marx used to say, "I would never be a member of a club that would have me for a member".  But, I am a member.  I guess when they send out a mailer now, I will receive it.

So how did I get to the concert you ask?  Well, Len Zanni from Honey Stinger (len_zanni on twitter, check him out), came to the rescue.  He had an extra ticket on Sunday night and offered it up to me.  Wow.  That was super cool.

If you have not been to Alpine Valley, it is spectacular.  A natural outdoor amphitheater.  The slope of the hill is just right, the stage and roof project the sound really well etc...

I found the playlist for the concert online.  I added some of my own comments also.

01. Wash
02. The Fixer
03. Severed Hand
04. All Night
05. Given To Fly- (This may have been the highlight of the night, except they did play Yellow Ledbetter)
06. Pilate
07. Love Boat Captain
08. Habit w/ Liam Finn
09. Evenflow
10. Daughter/It’s OK-(This was pretty damn cool)
11. Leatherman
12. Red Mosquito w/ Julian Casablancas  (I have been hearing this song so much lately)
13. Satan’s Bed
14. Elderly Woman Behind The Counter A Small Town w/ Dhani Harrison  (Only problem was that I wanted Eddie to intro it with Longest-Title-In-The-Pearl-Jam-Catalog-Elderly-Woman-Behind-The-Counter-In-A-Small-Town-One-Two-Three-Four-Two-Three-...)
15. Unthought Known
16. New World w/John Doe-(Doe)
17. Black
18. Jeremy
ENCORE BREAK 1
19. Eddie improv/new song (performed solo by Eddie on acoustic guitar)
20. Just Breathe
21. Nothingman
22. No Way
23. Public Image-(Public Image Limited)
24. Smile w/ Glen Hansard
25. Spin The Black Circle-(dedicated to independent record store owners and customers)
ENCORE BREAK 2
Chris Cornell wishes Pearl Jam a happy 20th birthday
26. Hunger Strike {Eddie Vedder duet vocal}-(Cornell)
27. Call Me A Dog-(Cornell)
28. All Night Thing-(Cornell)
29. Reach Down w/ guests singing bg vocs-(Cornell)

(Honestly - I kinda liked Temple of the Dog, but I did not come to hear those songs.  I was fidgety during this, I just wanted the Eddy back with the microphone.)

30. Sonic Reducer w/ Mudhoney-(Bators, Blitz, Chrome, Magnum, Thomas, Zero)
ENCORE BREAK 3
31. Alive
Eddie thanks family, friends, and crew
32. Rockin’ In The Free World w/ lots of guests, friends and family-(Young)

BREAK LIKE THEY ARE ENDING
33. Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner

Of course we all have our favorites, and they played forever, but I would have loved to hear Crazy Mary and my favorite - In Hiding.  As impressive as the Pearl Jam set was, what’s most remarkable is how every song, regardless of whether it’s a little known PJ track or a Public Image Limited tune, the audience knew every word to every song.  They knew every word, and they all sang along at the top of their lungs.  It was really cool, but I felt inadequate in that regard as I did not know every word.

We all have bucket lists, and some of us have certain bands we wished we could have seen.  I have missed a few of my other favorite bands along the way, and some of them are not around anymore (Led Zepplin, Aerosmith...)  I did not want that to happen before I got to see Pearl Jam. 

I tweeted during the concert that I was not leaving until I heard Yellow Ledbetter.  I almost had to reneg on that.  They played Rocking in the Free World, and acted like that was it.  People started filing out.  We did also.  I was a little bit bummed.  Then, all of a sudden they were back on stage and Eddy mumbled through the opening lyrics of Yellow Ledbetter.  Damn.  That was something.

Just in case you are really wondering at this point what I am talking about.  Here is someones Iphone recording of the song at the end of the show.

 

If you do not like Pearl Jam, there is something wrong with you.

Out.

Joe

Comments

[Spencer M]

I love how this concert appeared to focus on the MUSIC. Contrasting this to the likes of U2's theatrical, eyeball-appealing stages, just shows how cool Pearl Jam is.

[rc helicopter reviews]

Impressive blog! -Arron