*** San Diego Fanviews Here 10/9/09 ***

norm

Just Breathe to Tuolumne wrote:

norm wrote:

while waiting for the trolley, my friend went to the bathroom...a drunk off his ass guy was in there saying "motorhead! motorhead!" my friend asked why he was saying that and he said "he thinks we just saw motorhead"

:crazy:

I met that same friggin' drunk dude on the train in elevator. Did you get off Grantville station?

no we went to the station near the hilton...kinda wished i had seen the guy...i would have asked him what he thought about lemmy singing betterman

tdlftdaporch

I lucked out and won tickets from 94.9 the day before. Otherwise, I would have missed this amazing show. I haven't missed them in San Diego since '95. My dream came true to experience "I Got Id" live finally. I had never seen "Red Mosquito" either. Those were some sweet slide leads from Ben Harper. Also, "Under Pressure" was quite amazing. Too bad that won't be on the bootleg.

There were alot of PJ standards that night, but they all ripped. I never get tired of Cordoroy or Evenflow live. Alive is almost an obligatory San Diego tune since it was written here in waves. Even though there were about 12 or 13 songs of the same songs from the '06 show, it was still an awesome time spent with old friends.

Thanks Pearl Jam for the amazing hometown energy. Even my wife who is not a fan enjoyed the communal spirit at the show.

I hope they come back again sooner than three years from now.

breath123

I enjoyed the show very much.

I thought the setlist overall was a bit "safe". Kind of like if a relative who is not necissarily a PJ asked me to put together a PJ mix cd for them. It would be all the more "user friendly" tracks. Definately no "Blood".

Well played, energetic, joyus.

Great way to wrap it up.

thank you pj.

decides2dream

last exit as an opener?!
niiiiiccccccccceeeeeeeeee!
8-)

all these amazing setlists just get me even MORE excited for philly!

Jwmcc

Maybe on paper it doesn't look like the best setlist, however overall it was just a great PERFORMANCE by the band.

But yes Last Exit as an opener was awesome 8-)

acutejam

THANKS 10C! THANKS WISHLIST FOUNDATION and PRE-PARTY ORGANIZERS!!!!

PLUS's: 2 Hours 40 Mins, Hometown Crowd/End of Tour Vibe, 10C Seats/10C Audience Sing Alongs, First Wishlist Pre-Party Where I Actually Know People (PJJ! And Met a Great Couple from Canada following the Tour along with many others), Eddie's Under Pressure w/ Ben Harper/Relentless 7, Force of Nature (and having now heard 9/11 of Backspacer Live), Eddie the Blabberin' Fool (Mohawk Story esp - but most talkative I've EVER heard Ed, live or boots, at one point his whole "I know you wanna sing, I know you need to sing" stream of consciousness "spoken-word" had me in the asiles!), Parachutes, Last Kiss, Little Wing w/ Guitar and Drum Teachers!!! (VERY Well played on Drums!!!), So You Want to Be a Rock'n Roll Star (esp with Mohawk story intro), Brain of J, I Got ID, The End - solo acoustic, Lulu's Birthday (another wonderful story by Ed), Se Hotel Group Rate (thx again 10C!), Gas Lamp District, The Mission cafe for breakfast - twice!, Ocean Beach, Balboa Park (whoa the Fazal Sheikh "Beloved Daughters" exhibit), Seein' So Many PJ Shirts around town and at the airport, TCHiggs buyin' my extra and having a rockin fan next to me, 10C members on other side next to me leaving before the 1st Intermission (he was bummed, she was not into it), Seeing the Fans behind the stage, Viejas Arena Venue (not Gibson Amp-like, but a nice 12,000-seat venue), 10th Show!!!, Breaking My Poster Curse (hey, it's a step up from my usual fate), and did I say "UNDER PRESSURE!"

"We got a shitload of guitars and amps and drums up here, got the place to ourselves, so we might just blow the roof off this joint tonight!"

MINUS's: Not Buying Enough Wishlist Lottery Tix, No Backspacer Backdrops due to tix sales behind the stage (C'mon the typewriter is just sooo cool, plug the PJ "moon"), Sooo Many Repeats from West Coast Swing on Final Night (SH, Evo, GTF, RM, RVM, Eldery, Daughter, Betterman -- but as said, staples, but great vibe) , Sitting in the Wrong Seat and Inconviencing the Nice Folks whose seats I had claimed - sorry! (Thank God that was during Relentless7), Folks around me who wanted to sit after about 4-5 songs, Folks around me following the playoffs during Ben Harper, Left my Fleece in the Rental Car, Left my iPhone at Home had to relearn basic map skills, Finding out what a 416,XXX Really Gets You - Sec U Row 12 (LA had me fooled), Having DVR set for Niner's Game avoiding all coverage all Sunday only to get on plane and hear dude say "Whoa, Niners got Blown Out!"

One more awesome moment from sooo many: "That'll teach 'em not to skip the opening act...."

UNDER PRESSURE!

davet7462

Should I feel as guilty as I do?

Just joined the 10C earlier this year. Was really kind of hoping they'd hit up Phoenix - and I'd be able to get tickets and go to my first show there (yes - that's right - my first show. Sorry - I'm way late to the party.) Anyway - I got pretty excited when I saw they were doing 4 nights in LA and 1 in San Diego - until I realized that all 4 LA shows were weeknight - which would make commuting from Phoenix (and my job) pretty tough. So I just requested the San Diego show in the hopes my wife and I would be able to come out for a nice weekend in San Diego and a great show. But alas - my wife's son's wife wound up expecting their first child (and thus - my wife's first grandchild) somewhere in beginning to mid October. So not only could my wife not go - but neither could her son (who is a huge music fan). So I opted to bring my wife's son's wife's cousin (who wound up moving in with them right after they got married about a year and a half ago) - if for no other reason than to give them a break for an evening of relaxation.

Headed out from Phoenix about 10:00 AM - got to the Hilton around 4:00. Headed over to the venue - stopped at some Mexican dive for 'dinner.' Got to Viejas around 6:00 - went to pick up the tickets - completely expecting to have just alright tickets - and was going to be happy about that. After all - its kind of an intimate venue - so I figured there wouldn't be a 'bad' seat anywhere. Got in the M-Z line for 10C tickets (could someone please explain why they have over half the alphabet in one line - while A-E had its own window (with zero patrons) and F-L had its own window - with only a few people. Yet the M-Z line was about 20 people deep.) Not that I really cared - because we were early enough and my step-nephew was working his way through the merchandise line.

Got to the window - the lady had me sign the envelope - and then hands me two tickets for Section AAA - Row 2. Seriously? Was totally not expecting that - just wow.

Just an incredible show. I've seen alot of concerts in my time - and this definitely one of the best. I've followed Pearl Jam and have alot of their bootlegs and CD's (just had never been able to catch them live). Aside from the show - the one thing that really struck me is the dichotomy between just how much of a stage presence/command Eddie has and how he is able to come across as just another guy - like someone you could meet at a bar - sit on the stool next to him - and spend 2 hours just hanging out.

As for the setlist - how am I allowed to have any complaints? The only slight disappointment is not hearing Just Breathe - but that certainly didn't detract at all from the show. My all-time favorite PJ song is Garden - but I went in with zero expectations that it would be played.

As for John (Matt's drum teacher) and Eddie's guitar teacher - major kudos! Great, great portion of the show with the two of them playing!

To Heartdog - Very cool story - and Congrats! Glad you had a wonderful time. Saw Eddie go get the tambourine and find somebody in the crowd to give it to - but didn't see who it was! Just an awesome story!

To Tipjammer - My step-nephew and I talked to you briefly before the show. That was awesome to watch the whole Parachutes scenario unfold - great experience. Hilarious when Ed said 'I'll probably f*ck up the lyrics - so I might need some help.' Then he points at you - just awesome!

At the end of the show - a lady in the front row on Stone's side was able to get Ed's wine bottle. Then somebody asked for the other one - to which Ed replied 'No - that's vodka.'

Again - great experience. Took some pictures with the blackberry:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marciaandd ... 445505991/

stickfig13

"We've got a shitload of amps and guitars and drums, and the stage to ourselves so I think we should just blow the roof on this fuckin place....."-EV 10-9-09

nuff said...

I have seen PJ more times than I can count and I have never seen the band so ON FIRE! The setlist was perfect for a drunken crowd in SD to sing along too. It's always a dissapointment (IMO) to see a bunch of rarities that kill the casual fans in the crowd. I thought the setlist was perfect!

mt_wrx

Great show! Thanks as always to the 10c for the seats. They just keep getting better and better!!

As mentioned in some other posts, this was a very sentimental show that had that backyard party vibe to it. You know the kind where you know the band, the entire crowd of people partying, and any story is about people you feel close to and understand? Felt very much like that to me and my wife.

Highlights for me included Last Exit as the opener, Johnny Guitar (hadn't seen live yet), Force of Nature (LOVE this song off the new album. Lucky to have seen it twice!), GREAT jam for RVM, even better jam for Red Mosquito between Mike and Ben!!, LITTLE WING!!!!!!!!!!, and of course how much good energy and vibe that the band was sending out. EV was grinning all night long.

Couple of bummers were standing in that SUPER long line for the 10c tix when we got there which in turn caused me to not be able to grab one of the Padres shirts for myself. Oh well... I got one for my wife. Didn't realize I had such a popular last name!

Overall it was a very special show that didn't disappoint. Happy to once again have had the opportunities to see our most favorite band ever.

Review from the local paper...

Pearl Jam rocks and reminisces
By George Varga
Pop Music Critic
2:00 a.m. October 12, 2009


...more pix @ http://uniontrib.com/more/pearljam

Pearl Jam delivered so many rousing anthems at its marathon, 32-song concert Friday night at SDSU's Viejas Arena that it almost seemed anti-climactic when the show concluded with guitarist Mike McCready's Jimi Hendrix-inspired solo version of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Then again, little short of a cameo by the ghost of Hendrix, who died in 1970, could have topped what was perhaps Pearl Jam's most memorable San Diego concert in the band's 19-year history.

Memorable not just because it included such rarely performed songs — at least on this leg of the tour — as the lilting, Beatles-flavored 2006 ballad “Parachutes” and the doo-wop-tinged “Last Kiss,” a 1962 Wayne Cochran chestnut that the band played while facing its fans seated behind the arena stage.

And memorable not just because of Pearl Jam's galvanizing renditions of such early favorites as “Alive” and “Better Man,” which were matched by similarly impassioned versions of “Got Some,” “The End” and five other songs from its new album, “Backspacer.” (Lead singer Eddie Vedder, an Illinois native who grew up in North County, performed “The End” by himself, gently intoning such tender lyrics as: I wanted to grow old / Just want to grow old.)

No, what made this concert really stand out was the all-enveloping sense of communal spirit among the audience, the band and the band's extended family.

Of course, it's a given that many fans will sing along with gusto at every Pearl Jam concert. But Friday's show, which drew a crowd of 11,500, boasted enough unique moments to make you regret the absence of San Diego-bred film director Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous,” “Jerry Maguire”), who is working on a documentary to commemorate Pearl Jam's 20th anniversary next year.

The first came when Vedder brought on stage Lulu Wismar and her dad, Keith (a veteran Pearl Jam road crew member who now works for Ben Harper, Friday's opening act). After recalling how he'd cradled Lulu in his arms when she was not yet two days old, Vedder had the crowd sing “Happy Birthday,” then had Lulu blow out the candles on her birthday cake.

Sentimental? No doubt. But can you name another major rock band that would devote time, mid-concert, to honor the child of one of its former roadies?

Eight songs later, Vedder gave props to his former guitar teacher, Bud Whitcomb, and to veteran San Diego Symphony percussionist Jon Szanto, who was Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron's teacher when Cameron was a Chula Vista teenager.

Another band might have left it at that. But not Pearl Jam, which had Szanto and Whitcomb join in to perform Hendrix's blues-drenched “Little Wing.” Cameron happily turned over his drums to Szanto, who played with poise and precision, while Whitcomb and Pearl Jam's McCready (who lived here for four years as a boy) traded tart licks.

Equally moving was Vedder's nostalgic introduction to Pearl Jam's spirited version of The Byrds' 1967 gem, “So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star.” Grinning broadly, he recalled the time he was promoted to “chief of post-midnight security and gas pump detail.”

What followed was a delightful recounting of how Vedder implored his then-boss to let him get a Mohawk haircut — the better to realize his budding dreams of punk-rock stardom. “This job now,” he concluded, “I'm never going to (expletive) quit!”

Vedder, 44, has been a rock star nearly half his life. His group has weathered the years longer and better than any other band to emerge from Seattle's grunge-rock scene of the early 1990s. Friday's triumphant concert here suggested Pearl Jam has the potential to endure for another 20 years.

Union-Tribune
George Varga

acutejam

stickfig13 wrote:

The setlist was perfect for a drunken crowd in SD to sing along too. It's always a dissapointment (IMO) to see a bunch of rarities that kill the casual fans in the crowd. I thought the setlist was perfect!

As this is the first tour I'm seeing multiple shows from, noted my very casual dissappointment, esp after seeing a festival venue like Outside Lands -- which is almost pure greatest hits. As noted, they seem to be dropping one gem among these greatest hits and backspacer songs. What? Parachutes? You Are? Life Wasted? I'd go with Brain of J....

I think the gem was performed by the opening act personally -- but that's not really the same. Same for Petty cover....

But I can 1000% get behind your comment -- all the audience sing-alongs really where wonderful! Even Last Kiss! If anything I noted a slight energy dip for the Petty cover?!?!!?

And you could tell how many casual fans where there by them forgin' ahead on Betterman and Black as Eddie was holding notes out an extra measure or two -- rookies!

EDIT: This post now improved with Pictures! http://s646.photobucket.com/albums/uu185/acutejam/10_09_09%20PJ%20SD/

Heartdog

Envoy wrote:

To Heartdog: my wife and I were seated right above you, and your joy during the show was there for all to see. I had to leave, but she told me all about Eddie coming over to give you the tambo. I'm not surprised at all.

To all the San Diego fans: I may have been the luckiest guy in the room, because I got tapped to sit in on drums. When Matt let me know they were thinking about it, I just about lost it. That night, I started thinking "holy shit, these people are here to see PJ, they don't want a couple of old dogs out here!"

And then I thought, maybe I ought to just trust these guys to know what they are doing. Your comments in these posts make me smile more than I can possibly say. I'm humbled, and still walking about six feet off the floor.

Which is totally freaking out my cats.

Hopefully I didn't look too much like a dork! I'm wheeling six feet off the floor ; ) I got a drumstick, too, actually! I don't know who that came from, but thanks! I wish I could see you, but the drums were too far back for me to see. That must've been an awesome experience up there!

I love how this show was like a whole family reunion!

Envoy

Heartdog wrote:

Hopefully I didn't look too much like a dork!

Not at all! While I was waiting offstage during "Betterman", I was just jumping up and down (I still love that song), and Mike McCready saw me and laughed. After the show I told him I probably looked like an idiot dancing, and he said something like "Don't we all?"

I love how this show was like a whole family reunion!

Just one of the reasons these guys are so special. It was terribly fun to be with all of you!

ladydocNYC

Grandma wrote:

My husband asked if I would do this again ( go to all 5 shows ) -- I think he was hoping I realized it was a bit much driving 100 miles or more a night after work for 5 nights in 10 days . But I'd do it again in a minute. What a great 2 weeks!

I dragged my husband from NYC to SD for this show. It was hard for us to work it out. Beforehand, even I was thinking, is this really going to be worth it? And I know he would have been relieved if the answer had been 'no'! But the answer was: HELL YES !!!

ladydocNYC

Gbegenyi wrote:

I built up the experience along the way by saying that feeling the energy from PJ and the crowd is like "the souls of everyone in the packed house transcending out of their bodies and then flying around in the rafters high-fiving each other".
.

That's a great description.

silver39

I have to say it really was an awesome show!!!!! It was my birthday I met Mike & Matt, saw Jeff....incredible night!!!!!!!! Mett a lot of very nice people!!!! Had the best birthday ever!!!!! Just looked at my photos and remebered it all over again!! And I have a photo of Mike on the speakers for whoever asked for that. I can post them tomorrow :-)

porch4294

Just Breathe to Tuolumne wrote:

Last nights show was amazing. I can't begin to describe i, but I will try...

...a pleasure meeting you as well, thanks again for the ticket & great meeting all the other wonderful fans from this three day stretch (LA 3, 4 & SD). How to begin to describe it...

I've seen this band a lot going back to 1994, but these past three nights are amongst the best I've ever seen. The feeling of energy & the way they are playing is truly outstanding. After an incredible night in LA with Chris Cornell, I thought, how could they top it? Then, LA4 was awesome again, and I liked the set more, so again, thought how could this could show in SD come close, but WOW!!!

I've have never seen Ed so 'giddy.' He was having a blast. What I've always loved about Pearl Jam is the strong fan base and sense of community, but this show, it was like the whole arena was community. From LuLu's birthday; talking to his old gas station boss and saying it was a good job, but he's never leaving the job he has now; bringing up Ed's guitar teacher & Matt's drum coach, and of course; the great singalongs by the whole arena.

For those that weren't there, it's worth getting the boot just to hear all of Ed's stories before and during the songs.

So many highlights; Truly amazing show!

Grandma

davet7462 wrote:

At the end of the show - a lady in the front row on Stone's side was able to get Ed's wine bottle. Then somebody asked for the other one - to which Ed replied 'No - that's vodka.'
/

So what kind of wine was it?? I kept trying to read the label thru my binocs!

Yield151

Great show, I went to all 4 LA shows as well, but San Diego energy is great.

Highlights of the night for me were under pressure, little wing, and the bad A$$ Padres shirt!!!!!

davet7462

Grandma wrote:

davet7462 wrote:

At the end of the show - a lady in the front row on Stone's side was able to get Ed's wine bottle. Then somebody asked for the other one - to which Ed replied 'No - that's vodka.'
/

So what kind of wine was it?? I kept trying to read the label thru my binocs!

Wish I knew - but couldn't read the label. It was a red, though.

lukin2006

Back from San Diego, my eighth and the best show so far. The band was great, from the happy birthday singalong to the story of the mohawk. The new material sounded great ( could have played all 11 songs off the new album and that would be great ). Flew from Southern Ontario for the show and the weekend, enjoyed the show and a nice weekend in San Diego. Can't wait till tout dates in 2010, however, this show will be tough to top.