*** Chicago 1 Fanviews Here 8/23/09 ***

PJRulz10

iamica wrote:

Kilgore_Trout wrote:

iamica wrote:

I've been to pretty much every PJ show in Chicago since Chicago 2000, and this one definitely had the most energy, both from the crowd and band.

for real? i think that thread about lame chicago crowds had a point... its sad when you can pick out the lottery rows on the floor from across the building because theyre the only ones moving ("dont tell me how to enjoy the concert", right? :P )

it was especially noticeable when they busted into "sad" and there was basically an eerie silence... the only strong crowd points were the usual scipted parts like yelling "fuck" really loud at the right parts and "hellooooo" in EWBTCIAST... nice ovation and energy for ledbetter... overall... not impressed chicago

didnt ruin the show for me though

I don't know where you were sitting, but where I was sitting, people were completely going nuts. Maybe each section was a little different, I don't know. I can say for sure that this crowd had way more energy than the '06 and '03 crowds.

I agree 100%!!!!!! My nosebleed section was off the hook! Everyone was mov'n and groov'n. I guess when the 301 section is full of 10c members and the floor is full of Ticketmaster fans that's what you get, but it was a damn good time were we were!!!!!! Fo Sho.

tkepearljamn

I just drove back to ST. Louis from Chicago after two nights... Great shows. j

DewieCox

Kilgore_Trout wrote:

THIS THREAD NEEDS TO BE LOCKED DOWN BEFORE THE NIGHT ONE ONLY PEOPLE BURN THIS MOTHER DOWN

NIGHT ONE OFFICIALLY SUCKS BY COMPARISON :twisted:

WRONG..... Night 1 has the overall edge.

simpleman

Thanks again Ten Club!! A lot of complaining here about the seats, but what else is new... I was 201xxx and was on the floor, sec 5 row 17. I gotta think their were 7-9 thousand fan club members there. Probably more than MSG 1. As for the show, I'm never dissapointed. I get so lost in the music, that by song 3, it does'nt matter where the fuck I'm sitting! I realized my eyes are closed half the time anyways. Man of the Hour is truly a blessing and blissful moment every time I hear it.... thanks again

joberschlake

I'm back to work in Columbus Ohio from the weekend in Chicago. I thought night 1 was solid, any show with Smile is money. Crowd was into it, and I was happy to have a set of mostly rockers.

Thanks to 10C for keeping me out of the nose bleeds. I was about 1 section back from where i usually am, but expected to be back abit since there were so many fan club people there.

Now if I could only get my hands on a Cubs PJ Shirt!!!

WK187680

how many people got stuck up top with 10c tickets? i was sitting next to another 10c member in section 301 (third level). the will call lines were a total clusterfuck, so i wonder if people were actually getting the wrong tickets. it was still a killer show, though. needle and the damage done ?! awesome.

anybody with any ideas about why the tickets were nosebleeds would be much appreciated. keep on rockin-

luvisatower

finally a chance to catch my breath and get my fanview on!
i've got to say that night one chiacgo had THE most energy of any show i have seen in a long time.
i loved every last minute of this show!!! setlist, band's energy, crowd's energy, bad religion, my seats (sec 6 row 1)
in a nustshell THAT...ALL OF IT!!!
it was an amazing night.
seldom am i speechless, leaving sunday nite's shows was one of those few occasions.


the band brought it and brought it hard!
i'm counting the days already til philly 10/30

Mamasan23

simpleman wrote:

Thanks again Ten Club!! A lot of complaining here about the seats, but what else is new... I was 201xxx and was on the floor, sec 5 row 17. I gotta think their were 7-9 thousand fan club members there. Probably more than MSG 1. As for the show, I'm never dissapointed. I get so lost in the music, that by song 3, it does'nt matter where the fuck I'm sitting! I realized my eyes are closed half the time anyways. Man of the Hour is truly a blessing and blissful moment every time I hear it.... thanks again

Is this the guy from Boston that called the Long Road opener? If so - you guys rocked!

tradrrr

Just the best show I've ever been to. Hands down.

HeavyHands

tradrrr wrote:

Just the best show I've ever been to. Hands down.

Gotta say I agree. I was at both Chicago shows (luckily) and night 1 was intense. Nothing wrong with night 2 by any means... Just something about night one.

KK211760

The show was absolutely amazing!
I'm happy that they played a lot of the non-mainstream stuff! This is so far my favorite concert of them yet...

it's just too bad that i was in the nose bleeds.... i expected better seats after having awesome seats last tour...
but when you have a show with SO many people coming from out of state, it's gonna happen

a bonus for the show was seeing eddie's kids! at one part he ran over to olivia and gave her a kiss after she tried running on stage! too cute!

youngster

Finally getting a chance to post here. Great show.....one of the best......ever. I can't get over how great they were that night. Phenomenal setlist. Just wish I had been able to stay for night 2.

sgtppr67

HeavyHands wrote:

Mamasan23 wrote:

BTW - did anyone see the guy with the lit-up stickman shirt on the floor? It was outstanding!

Saw that guy. Pretty excellent! I didn't get any shot's of him, but I got a few others...

http://s669.photobucket.com/albums/vv53/HeavyHands_photos/Pearl%20Jam%20August%2023%202009/?albumview=grid

Hey that's me, i did make it from el wire. I love it, it gets lots of attention where ever i wear it

simpleman

Mamasan23 wrote:

simpleman wrote:

Thanks again Ten Club!! A lot of complaining here about the seats, but what else is new... I was 201xxx and was on the floor, sec 5 row 17. I gotta think their were 7-9 thousand fan club members there. Probably more than MSG 1. As for the show, I'm never dissapointed. I get so lost in the music, that by song 3, it does'nt matter where the fuck I'm sitting! I realized my eyes are closed half the time anyways. Man of the Hour is truly a blessing and blissful moment every time I hear it.... thanks again

Is this the guy from Boston that called the Long Road opener? If so - you guys rocked!

yes it is!! were you the two to our right?? Great times!! The long road call was all luck!!

eddiefnvedder

I told my gf that i had a feeling that they were playing Long Road tonight(sunday) and they did. We were going to just come to chicago sunday, get our hotel and just sit around all night cuz I came to chicago only goin to the monday show cuz i got my tickets from the 10c but as we drove into Illinois from Iowa i got this feeling telling me to get tickets to the show cuz i'd regret it on monday when i saw the set list. I got my tix from some scalpers and pretty good ones at that. Anyways right when he started playing Long Road chills went through my body. Even now watchin the numerous videos on youtube from sunday i still get chills. I teared up during that song cuz its the ONE song that I have always wanted to hear live and i was so happy. My gf whom i took with me told me on the drive back today that sunday night was the happiest shes EVER seen me in my entire life. I couldnt believe i got to hear Man of The Hour, Comeback and In Hiding. I loved this setlist and I look forward to the bootleg! Monday was just as good but im just partial to sunday cuz i got to hear my favorite songs of all time. I freaking LOVE this band!!

simpleman

eddiefnvedder wrote:

I told my gf that i had a feeling that they were playing Long Road tonight(sunday) and they did. We were going to just come to chicago sunday, get our hotel and just sit around all night cuz I came to chicago only goin to the monday show cuz i got my tickets from the 10c but as we drove into Illinois from Iowa i got this feeling telling me to get tickets to the show cuz i'd regret it on monday when i saw the set list. I got my tix from some scalpers and pretty good ones at that. Anyways right when he started playing Long Road chills went through my body. Even now watchin the numerous videos on youtube from sunday i still get chills. I teared up during that song cuz its the ONE song that I have always wanted to hear live and i was so happy. My gf whom i took with me told me on the drive back today that sunday night was the happiest shes EVER seen me in my entire life. I couldnt believe i got to hear Man of The Hour, Comeback and In Hiding. I loved this setlist and I look forward to the bootleg! Monday was just as good but im just partial to sunday cuz i got to hear my favorite songs of all time. I freaking LOVE this band!!

great story, but I have to say, that the second sentence of this post is by far the longest sentence I've ever read!!! Rock on...

CorduroyGal

My 10c seats weren't so fabulous that evening, however- after checking into the hotel one of the hotel reps wished he could've gone, which helped me have a reality check and helped me appreciate that I could actually go and be in the presence of rock gods- I always cry the entire day before I go to PJ and I always cry through the 1st song- and of course opening with Long Road hit home to me because my first PJ show ever was No Code tour and they opened with Long Road then. It also means a lot to me lyric wise. I feel like the luckiest gal ever when they play Corduroy 2 days in a row since that's my fave song of the world. Funny thing- another 10c couple ended up with seats next to us in nosebleed 1st night then in the lower level the 2nd night- I miss the "PJ family" that I feel I can always associate with- having "post PJ depression" as I call it- I STILL loved the show even though it wasn't front row seats that I always dream of.
After rambling on a bit- Rearview Mirror was fantastic- setlists of 8/23 and 8/24- how much more amazing could it get? Thanks so much PJ for caring about your fans and touring every year and keepin' it real! I wish I could make it to Austin City Limits or Philly- but love to the fans who get to go for me!

troubledsoulsuniteblog

Great 2 nights guys.
Check my review and pics here: http://troubledsoulsunite.blogspot.com/

As Tony drove us back to West Rogers Park last night, we sat in his back seat speechless. We were on our way back from the second show of Pearl Jam's two-night stint at the United Center in Chicago, and for once, words failed us.

But let's backtrack first before we get into the details. Frequently, people ask why I go to more than one Pearl Jam show per tour. I politely explain that the band has taken a cue from performers like Bruce Springsteen, and they change up their sets from night to night. I would tell people this partially because it was true, and partially to assuage my own guilt from spending so much money to see this band so many times.

And then Chicago happened:
2 nights
56 songs
Only 7 repeats
Let me say that again, in case you missed it:
Only 7 repeats

This wasn't two separate shows in the same city, this was one 2-part show. It was a marathon 4.5 hour concert, with a 22 hour encore break in the middle. It was a concert to be remembered and cherished.

Part 1 was an energetic show with a recognizable, but far from standard setlist. Opening with the calm and beautiful Long Road, the band sampled from their radio hits (Corduroy, Alive, Dissident, Small Town, Given to Fly, Even Flow), their early hard rock tracks (Rats, Why Go, Spin the Black Circle, Rearviewmirror), their lesser known gems (Come Back, Save You, In Hiding, Man of the Hour, Long Road, God's Dice, Insignificance, Life Wasted), rarities (Sad, Smile), their upcoming album Backspacer (The Fixer, Supersonic, Got Some), a bit of Neil Young (Needle and the Damage Done) and The Who's epic album Quadrophenia (Love Reign O'er Me, The Real Me).

The show was a powerhouse of energy and emotion, as Jeff Ament dedicated it to a good friend who had recently died. The encores were the show's strongest point, and the night ended on a high as Mike McCready played us out the doors as the house lights went on with Yellow Ledbetter.

Thus endeth part 1.

Part 2 began similarly calmly, with the Mike driven Hard to Imagine. The band followed that up with Corduroy, after which Eddie turned to the crowd smiling and said:
'What day is it? Is it Monday? Well, it feels like a Sunday night crowd. It's definitely more of a Sunday night crowd than last night's crowd,' to which the crowd erupted. The next thing we heard were the opening drums to In My Tree (the old good version) and after that things began to get crazy. By the end of the first encore, we had heard 5 songs off of Vitalogy including Nothingman, Last Exit, Whipping, and Not For You; we had the first Brother in the US since the early 90s; we had heard killer versions of Grievance, Alive, Do the Evolution, and Porch; we had heard a beautiful rendition of Black with 'We belong together' at the end. And that was only the first encore. There was still one to go.

The second encore began with Boom on Wasted Reprise, then straight into Betterman. By the time Stone played the first chord of Crazy Mary, it was already 10:58 PM, with only 2 minutes until the assumed 11 PM curfew.
But the band continued with State of Love and Trust.
And we thought they were finished.
But the band turned on the house lights, and continued with Fuckin' Up.
And then we knew they had to be finished- the house lights had already gone on, Mike and Jeff had switched bass and guitar, and Eddie had traded a tamborine for a blonde wig- what else could possibly happen?
But Mike took his guitar back, and rocked us all to sleep with Yellow Ledbetter.

To quote Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune: (Eddie Vedder) "didn't so much sing the songs as detonate them." Kot's got it on the money. This wasn't a concert- it was an explosion; an explosion of energy, emotion, great music, fantastic songs, and a band and their following- both of whom never seem to want to let up.

eddiefnvedder

simpleman wrote:

eddiefnvedder wrote:

I told my gf that i had a feeling that they were playing Long Road tonight(sunday) and they did. We were going to just come to chicago sunday, get our hotel and just sit around all night cuz I came to chicago only goin to the monday show cuz i got my tickets from the 10c but as we drove into Illinois from Iowa i got this feeling telling me to get tickets to the show cuz i'd regret it on monday when i saw the set list. I got my tix from some scalpers and pretty good ones at that. Anyways right when he started playing Long Road chills went through my body. Even now watchin the numerous videos on youtube from sunday i still get chills. I teared up during that song cuz its the ONE song that I have always wanted to hear live and i was so happy. My gf whom i took with me told me on the drive back today that sunday night was the happiest shes EVER seen me in my entire life. I couldnt believe i got to hear Man of The Hour, Comeback and In Hiding. I loved this setlist and I look forward to the bootleg! Monday was just as good but im just partial to sunday cuz i got to hear my favorite songs of all time. I freaking LOVE this band!!

great story, but I have to say, that the second sentence of this post is by far the longest sentence I've ever read!!! Rock on...

LOL Sorry for the long sentence! I am still stoked from the past 2 days!! when im excited i cant shut up

Sun Bear

Awesome show! I can't believe how vastly superior it was to the Toronto show. I thought they phoned in the first half of the TO show.

Bad Religion rocked!