I remember listening to this show on one of the first boots I ever bought - I was/am a big Neil fan, even as a young teen. It was marketed as a Neil Young concert, with the Pearl Jam songs coming at the end of the CD. The booing is pretty clear in parts, as is Eddie's explanations regarding why he has to go. As a Neil Young fan, I can tell you for sure that he played Rockin' twice to piss off/wink at the crowd. Neil has a wicked sense of humor - he loves fucking with his crowd, bucking expectations, etc - and before he plays it the second time during the encore, he says something to the effect of 'well, I know you know this one' as a way to rib them for booing through all the unknown Mirrorball/NY songs. It was his way of saying, it's just a fucking rock concert. Eddie's really sick, hospital-bound, and you're worried about not hearing PJ play. Don't take these things so seriously. You can be disappointed, you can boo and leave in a huff, or you can table that for a day and enjoy what is in front of you. My brother saw the Mirrorball tour in Israel and I was so jealous. This show would've been heavenly for me. * - sidenote - my first Neil Young show was even more disastrous - I was at summer camp and bought three tickets. 1 for me, 1 for my best friend Steve, and one for a counselor, Joel, who said he'd drive us. 2 weeks before the show, he gets fired but vows to come back and pick us up. He never showed up, claiming that he had car trouble. I still have the unused tickets. And yes, I cried a bit too. but you know what, it's only a rock show.
I drove with a friend from Sacramento to the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park for the show. We kept passing and falling behind another car that obviously were going to see the show. I had a stickman figure decal on my car and when we got to the toll booth in the Bay they were ahead of us and paid for our toll! Such a cool thing to do! After seven songs Eddie announced that he wasn't feeling good and spent most of the night in the ER and said Neil would come out to play a show some people were angry and disrespectful to Neil. I loved the show and was happy to hear Neil do a full set. Afterwards walking out of the park a girl threw down a hat that was given out by a local radio station that had Pearl Jam printed on it and she cursed angrily about not getting to see Eddie an entire show. I picked the hat up right away and still have it to this day. What a great treasure to have. The Ten Club and band announced through snail mail they would make up for the show in San Jose's Spartan Stadium in November for only $10 a ticket so my 4 year old daughter and I went to that show and WOW!!! The Fastbacks opened, then Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, and PJ. I wrote the set list as the show unfolded on index cards and have them in a memory book with tickets from both shows. They opened with Release which is such a powerful song and reminds me of surfer music from growing up in Hawaii and being on the North Shore of Oahu. They closed the show with Indifference and they played from 4:30-7:15pm. I remember Eddie apologizing for what happened in SF. He's such an awesome human being! I just found the hat safely tucked in a drawer in my closet. The radio station was KSJO and it says "KSJO 92.3 Welcomes Pearl Jam." I recently bought the show on CD from Discogs which was a free giveaway by 98.5 KOME. I feel twice blessed to hear Eddie for seven songs and the rest of the band play with Neil for a full show in June and then to see PJ in November for an unforgettable show.
In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks~John Muir
I was looking for the setlist from this show and found this thread. I know it's an old thread, but very cool to see it still alive. I was at this show as well as the show a few days earlier in Sacramento. Sacto was my first non Bridge School show, so I was pumped and is still one of my favorite concerts ever. I was (and am) a huge NY fan, so when Eddie dropped off-and he did sound like crap- and NY came to the rescue, I was loving it. I would have been disappointed if I hadn't just seen PJ a couple days earlier, but I knew seeing a NY/PJ show was history in the making. I lived close enough to walk, so that was cool as well.
I was there. It was my first PJ show. I was 22 years old, totally stoked to see PJ for the first time, and honestly I was very disappointed. It sucked. I am not a Neil Young fan. I recall the audience being not too thrilled. We did get to reuse our tickets for a show later in the year in San Jose and I went and it was awesome. I've seen them a few times since then, including last week here in Austin, Texas where I live now. These guys have still got it.
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* - sidenote - my first Neil Young show was even more disastrous - I was at summer camp and bought three tickets. 1 for me, 1 for my best friend Steve, and one for a counselor, Joel, who said he'd drive us. 2 weeks before the show, he gets fired but vows to come back and pick us up. He never showed up, claiming that he had car trouble. I still have the unused tickets. And yes, I cried a bit too. but you know what, it's only a rock show.