reading these reviews makes me want to run through a wall. i don't think i've ever been this excited for ANYTHING in my entire life. i CAN NOT WAIT until thursday when they take the stage at camden. i'll see the rest of the tour except D.C. & Hartford, so i am stoked for the possibility of anything. i don't think a set will match this one, but if they play WMA in full and i get to see it... i might cry.
i can't believe i missed bonarroo. i was going to go until they announced the tour... unreal.
Camden 7-5-2003, Camden 7-6-2003, Hershey 7-12-2003, Camden 5-27-2006, Camden 5-28-2006, Lollapalooza 8-5-2007, Camden 6-19-2008, Camden 6-20-2008, New York 6-24-2008, New York 6-25-2008, Mansfield 6-28-2008, Mansfield 6-30-2008
Still shaking out the cob webs after what was a really long night but here's some details. So this is my 3rd Bonnaroo and having Pearl Jam there was like having two of my best friends meet for the first time and loving each other. Got up there about 3/4 of the way through BB King's set and started jockeying for position as the anticipation was really starting to build. Jack Johnson came out to an incredibly warm reception and played a killer set. He said at one point "are you guys as excited as I am to see Pearl Jam?" He then brought out Eddie to play a Jack song (Constellations I think). That was an exciting moment because it was our first glimpse of Eddie.
The stage set up is really cool with a big screen behind them with a wave mural and then two big PJ banners on each side of the stage. The lights go out and everyone goes nuts. Hard to Imagine was a great opener and he had the crowd singing instantly. If there was any question that this crowd belonged to PJ it was answered right then. Courdoroy was awesome and then All Night threw some people off but still sounded awesome. Who You Are is a song I've been waiting to hear for a long time. In preparation for this show I hadn't checked the setlists from the previous nights but someone had mentioned they played Who You Are so I had a feeling it was coming. They've reworked the drum intro and they nailed it, absolutely beautiful.
Half Full ripped, Mike did a blistering solo. Before Gone Eddie says that on January 8th, 2001 when Bush took office that gas was 1.56 a gallon and now it's 4.50. He said he wrote this next song when it was at about 2.75 and played Gone. Just mentioning Bush got mixed response from the crowd. Not like the San Francisco crowds I'm used to. Love Reign O'er Me was really solid, Eddie really put it down on this one.
During the first encore the camera man zoomed in on the setlist so we knew what was coming. I saw No More coming up and wondered how it would go with the crowd. Eddie comes out and says "we were talking backstage and you guys really remind us of a crowd at a festival in Amsterdam. All I need now is for you to tell me to go fuck myself in Dutch, Don't worry you'll get your chance in a bit" a reference to No More? I don't know. WMA sounded really, really good. Reworked just enough and it extended out nicely.
For the 2nd Encore he came out alone and told the story of the guy from Body of War. He recently slipped into a coma and Eddie was obviously affected by it, in fact he seemed to be battling a lot of emotion all night. He said I know there's a time and a place to talk about this stuff but I'm pissed!!! He then talked about how the 80,000 people here have the power to change the world. The crowd came around for No More and really made it a nice sing along. Eddie said that if we sang along he'd said Thomas the tape. I had seen Release on the setlist and thought it was really odd to be played so late. Eddie talked about how their friend had lost their Father the day before and he was going to play this for him. The most amazing Release ever with Eddie crying throughout.
To backtrack a second during the 2nd encore break the crowd starting singing Alive on it's own, in fact it sounded like the whole crowd was signing it so Alive was a big hit when they played not to mention that I think Eddie was into bottle of wine number 3 by that point. Yellow Ledbetter and Indifference were on the setlist as the closers but they must have changed it up and went with Watchtower.
All in all the most amazing PJ show I have been to. I was proud to be a PJ fan. The band really, really brought it and I have a feeling will go down in Bonnaroo history as one of their best headliner ever, hands down the best in my book. Sorry for the long review but last night's show was a marathon, not to mention Kanye West finally coming onstage at 4:30 in the morning and playing until the sun came up. Bonnaroo is nuts, absolutely nuts!!!
Have you guys heard the news all over the AP wire. Metallica filed charges against Pearl Jam last night after being visible bent over and raped in front of the world with a concert that will go down in history. The guys just keep on kicking ass after 18 years. I know it's not a contest, but I heard alot about how huge Metallica was, and Pearl Jam would not be able to stay up with them. I heard how Pearl Jam doesn't sell X amount of albums anymore so the crowd won't be as big as Metallica's. Kaboom, stuff all that up your ass, PJ fuckn' blew the windows out of Metallica's tour bus. I kinda think Pearl Jam is reaching a level that has never before been reached by a live rock band. It's starting to get scary how unbelievable they are becoming.
excellent!
s
Montreal/98, Toronto/00'03'05'06x2, Brad Toronto/02, Buffalo/03, Kitchener/05, London/05, Hamilton/05, Late Show Taping/06, Cleveland/06, Pittsburgh/06, Bridge School Benefit Concert/06, Hartford/08, Mansfield 1/08, EV Montreal/08x2, EV Toronto/08x2...
Saturday night was by far the greatest music experience for myself and everyone else who filled the 'Roo for the perfect Pearl Jam show. Perfect. While riding down listening to the Chicago Boot from 06 I pondered if a)this show was going to be a 2 hour pound-out-the-"hits" set or b)tripped out show more jam oriented for the dancing hippies and a few rare ones (I'm thinking maybe Leash but pplleeaassee Crown Of Thorns) For starters, if you are a music fan and can handle camping with thousands, go to Bonnaroo once. Imagine a summer camp of music, art, and some of the coolest, most laid back music FANS you can find. Anyway, after the Racounteers destroyed it friday, and a predictable Metallica set, the table was set for Saturday. Time to start my 6th show, but first since Asheville '04!
Hard To Imagine??!!!?? What a great nod to the longtime fans, and an awesome way to set the stage for the newbies. From here on out I could go song-by-song, but everyone has read the set setlist. Yes, it was stacked!! One holy s*!t afer another, (Yes, WMA was sick. Who You Are=SICK.)so the best way to describe this experience was a strange sense of pride to being amongst this mass of people who may have forgotten about Pearl Jam a little, but were seeing what all of us here have known for years....
Pearl Jam is the greatest band of all time. PERIOD!
As I write this before I pick up te rent-a-car to take my wife to her first show in Columbia, I wonder if I'll see anything like that again. For those of us who have seen them numerous times and write reviews, we focus on little highlights, whether it be a song or how ed and jeff get into a song and mike's level of energy, but I can tell you that I've never seen more emotion out of a performance that I did on Saturday. Humbled. Appreciative. And most of all, EXCITED. A level of energy that was almost out to prove something. And they did, oh boy did they ever. I can finally say that I've been to a "classic" show. So when I'm smiling tonight, sure most of it will be seeing my wife's reaction to her first show, but it's that same smile I haven't been able to stop since Saturday. Greatest Band in the World, and there are over 80,000 witnesses. See you guys tonight, it's going to be face melting!!
Knoxville '98, Greensboro 2000, Raleigh 2003, Nashville 2003, Asheville 2004, Bonnaroo 2008, Columbia 2008, EV The Ryman 1&2 2009, Alpine Valley 1&2 2011, Charlotte 2013, Columbia 2016, Lexington 2016, Bonnaroo 2016
I am still trying to wrap my head around what I experienced Saturday night. I've seen some great shows, especially the previous PJ shows I've been too, but the guys absolutely killed it at Bonnaroo. Hands down the best show ever!!
I had to work Friday morning so I wasn't able to make the Pit meet up, but was able to get down to Manchester by 3 pm. On Saturday I headed over to What Stage (the main stage) right before BB King started. The line for the front pen areas were already insanely long. I didn't want risk not getting into the pen and ending up super far back in the crowd so I decided to try for the rail just behind the pen on Mike's side. I started working my way up during the end of BB King's set. Worked my way up closer during Jack Johnson's set and was about 5 people back from the rail at the end of Jack Johnson. The wait between Jack and PJ seemed like an eternity, probably because I was so excited and there was no room to sit down. When the guys came out and I heard the first notes of Hard to Imagine, I went nuts. Great opener!! The crowd really joined in on Corduroy. All Night was awesome! And then Why Go! At this point, I felt like we were in for something really special. The guys seemed like they were out there to rock Bonnaroo's brains out. Solid Small Town with good crowd singing, then Down. WHO YOU ARE started and I nearly lost my mind. I knew they had broken it out at WPB, but I never thought I would get to see it live. It was the beginning of an absolutely rockin' group of songs (Severed Hand, 1/2 Full, Animal) that whipped the crowd into a frenzy for Even Flow. At this point I was able to move around an annoying group of tall frat boys and next to some very cool PJ fans 3 people back from the rail. I thought the crowd would be much less responsive to Eddie's Bush comments before Gone, but there weren't too many boos. And then Boom started the opening to Love Reign O'er Me. I was speechless as Eddie launched into an absolutely beautiful version. I feel truly blessed to have seen the guys do this live. They closed out the main set with an freaking awesome Do the Evolution and rearviewmirror.
I was a little bummed the cameraman showed the encore setlist during the break, but I didn't think that it was the real one because of how stacked it was. Little did I know what PJ had in store for us ... WMA was unbelievable!! Great extended version. The crowd really joined in for Betterman and Eddie commented on how huge the crowd was. It seemed like all 100,000 plus people were singing for Black, which was beautiful. Crazy Mary was the best version I've heard from the guys. I was super pumped they started Porch out with the interupted/staccato intro. Porch freaking rocked!
Ed was extremely emotional all night, he seemed at a loss for words a couple times. But I thought his speech before No More was poignant and perfectly timed. The crowd sung the chorus sooo loud. He then dedicated Release to a friend, Luke, whose father had just died. When the opening notes of Release started, I literally got goosebumps down my arms and couldn't stop myself from crying. The awesome guy next to me was crying to. I've waited so long to hear this song and the guys gave us an amazing version. I feel so lucky to have been there. Alive was great, with Mike killing it. I think this is when he came out on stacks at the edge of the stage, though I may not be remembering correctly.
I knew the guys weren't done with us yet and the setlist the camera guy showed had Yellow Ledbetter/Indifference, but I never expected All Along the Watchtower. FREAKING AMAZING!! A great change up from Ledbetter as the closer.
Other thoughts ... Mike seemed totally amped the whole night. His solos were awesome and he was really connecting with the crowd in front of him. Stone was his usual chill self, but I'm happy to see him playing closer into center of the stage (someone else had mentioned this in the WPB fanviews). His haircut is terrible (definitely not "hunky"). Stone's solos were amazing as usual. Jeff was running around so much I had a hard time getting a non-blurry picture! Matt rocked but with shorter solos than I have seen in the past from him. Ed's voice was spot-on and he did a number of interesting, beautiful little variations in tone on some lyrics.
Overall, I feel unbelievably lucky to have been at this amazing show. I couldn't stop smiling afterwards. Pearl Jam not only rocked Bonnaroo; they showed why they are the best band in the world. Seriously, every other band I saw at Bonnaroo (and every other band period) absolutely pales in comparison. I'm so happy there were a ton of awesome PJ fans at the show (I met a ton of cool non-pit people). Bonnaroo '08 will go down in my book as one of the best experiences of my life and the best concert I have ever seen. All of you guys are in for some awesome shows for the rest of tour.
Metallica were incredible. This has been their best year live since maybe 99. They sounded great. I still cant get over how good Lars sounded on the kit. It sounds totally different live than on a bootleg or recording of their shows. Even the Roo videos of the band don't do Lars justice at all. Sound quality wise they were excellent. Musically pretty darn tight and very energetic. I noticed only a few flub ups. They performed a great show, not as good as PJ though. Nowhere near as great.
My first PJ show to witness was at Bonnaroo. How is that for lucky?
I am still trying to wrap my head around what I experienced Saturday night. I've seen some great shows, especially the previous PJ shows I've been too, but the guys absolutely killed it at Bonnaroo. Hands down the best show ever!!
I had to work Friday morning so I wasn't able to make the Pit meet up, but was able to get down to Manchester by 3 pm. On Saturday I headed over to What Stage (the main stage) right before BB King started. The line for the front pen areas were already insanely long. I didn't want risk not getting into the pen and ending up super far back in the crowd so I decided to try for the rail just behind the pen on Mike's side. I started working my way up during the end of BB King's set. Worked my way up closer during Jack Johnson's set and was about 5 people back from the rail at the end of Jack Johnson. The wait between Jack and PJ seemed like an eternity, probably because I was so excited and there was no room to sit down. When the guys came out and I heard the first notes of Hard to Imagine, I went nuts. Great opener!! The crowd really joined in on Corduroy. All Night was awesome! And then Why Go! At this point, I felt like we were in for something really special. The guys seemed like they were out there to rock Bonnaroo's brains out. Solid Small Town with good crowd singing, then Down. WHO YOU ARE started and I nearly lost my mind. I knew they had broken it out at WPB, but I never thought I would get to see it live. It was the beginning of an absolutely rockin' group of songs (Severed Hand, 1/2 Full, Animal) that whipped the crowd into a frenzy for Even Flow. At this point I was able to move around an annoying group of tall frat boys and next to some very cool PJ fans 3 people back from the rail. I thought the crowd would be much less responsive to Eddie's Bush comments before Gone, but there weren't too many boos. And then Boom started the opening to Love Reign O'er Me. I was speechless as Eddie launched into an absolutely beautiful version. I feel truly blessed to have seen the guys do this live. They closed out the main set with an freaking awesome Do the Evolution and rearviewmirror.
I was a little bummed the cameraman showed the encore setlist during the break, but I didn't think that it was the real one because of how stacked it was. Little did I know what PJ had in store for us ... WMA was unbelievable!! Great extended version. The crowd really joined in for Betterman and Eddie commented on how huge the crowd was. It seemed like all 100,000 plus people were singing for Black, which was beautiful. Crazy Mary was the best version I've heard from the guys. I was super pumped they started Porch out with the interupted/staccato intro. Porch freaking rocked!
Ed was extremely emotional all night, he seemed at a loss for words a couple times. But I thought his speech before No More was poignant and perfectly timed. The crowd sung the chorus sooo loud. He then dedicated Release to a friend, Luke, whose father had just died. When the opening notes of Release started, I literally got goosebumps down my arms and couldn't stop myself from crying. The awesome guy next to me was crying to. I've waited so long to hear this song and the guys gave us an amazing version. I feel so lucky to have been there. Alive was great, with Mike killing it. I think this is when he came out on stacks at the edge of the stage, though I may not be remembering correctly.
I knew the guys weren't done with us yet and the setlist the camera guy showed had Yellow Ledbetter/Indifference, but I never expected All Along the Watchtower. FREAKING AMAZING!! A great change up from Ledbetter as the closer.
Other thoughts ... Mike seemed totally amped the whole night. His solos were awesome and he was really connecting with the crowd in front of him. Stone was his usual chill self, but I'm happy to see him playing closer into center of the stage (someone else had mentioned this in the WPB fanviews). His haircut is terrible (definitely not "hunky"). Stone's solos were amazing as usual. Jeff was running around so much I had a hard time getting a non-blurry picture! Matt rocked but with shorter solos than I have seen in the past from him. Ed's voice was spot-on and he did a number of interesting, beautiful little variations in tone on some lyrics.
Overall, I feel unbelievably lucky to have been at this amazing show. I couldn't stop smiling afterwards. Pearl Jam not only rocked Bonnaroo; they showed why they are the best band in the world. Seriously, every other band I saw at Bonnaroo (and every other band period) absolutely pales in comparison. I'm so happy there were a ton of awesome PJ fans at the show (I met a ton of cool non-pit people). Bonnaroo '08 will go down in my book as one of the best experiences of my life and the best concert I have ever seen. All of you guys are in for some awesome shows for the rest of tour.
Amen to that. Great review and that sums it up absolutely perfect. I also noticed that Ed got emotional at times. He really seemed to be enjoying the show a lot, much more than what i thought he would. One of the best performances both vocally and emotionally I have witnessed from Ed. Did anyone else here think he sounded a little bit like the Gorge from 2005 or was it just my hearing that night?
My first PJ show to witness was at Bonnaroo. How is that for lucky?
For the 2nd Encore he came out alone and told the story of the guy from Body of War. He recently slipped into a coma and Eddie was obviously affected by it, in fact he seemed to be battling a lot of emotion all night. He said I know there's a time and a place to talk about this stuff but I'm pissed!!! He then talked about how the 80,000 people here have the power to change the world. The crowd came around for No More and really made it a nice sing along. Eddie said that if we sang along he'd said Thomas the tape. I had seen Release on the setlist and thought it was really odd to be played so late. Eddie talked about how their friend had lost their Father the day before and he was going to play this for him. The most amazing Release ever with Eddie crying throughout.
This part gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes!! I love how emotional Eddie...so real! Thank you for sharing!! Cant wait to see them in Hartford and Mansfield!
Wow! Thank you InThinAir and Releash and all others that posted their reviews! I just got absolute chills just by reading those! I'm so glad all of the ones who went there had a great time and saw a hell of a show! That's so awesome to hear and I also loved the fact that Eddie was emotional in the show, he's always had a big heart...so far from what I can tell...Amazing! I'm so sad that I wasn't there, I really wish I was there it seemed like a show of a life-time, reading reviews like that just brings a smile to my face, because that shows that after all these years PJ is still relevant and can still rock the house with amazing energy! Aaaah! I'm so jealous! I really really hope I get to experience a concert, they seem like such a great live band and so real as well, that's why I'm hooked on them and it's a great feeling! Hell, I hope I even go to a concert even if I'm like a million miles away lol! But again, thank you guys so much for your reviews, I actually felt like I was there for a moment! So thank you for that feeling! And what an AMAZING mind-blowing setlist that was!!! How awesome for those who went there! And honestly, to the guys that went there, did you feel like you got a music-gasm/Pearl Jam-gasm? By the sound of your reviews I'm sure you did!!
"Does anyone remember laughter?"
"Where's Mike McCready? My god he's been ate!"
"If you're an Elvis fan, there's no explanation necessary; if you're not, there's no explanation possible."
"Sometimes God makes perfect people and Paul Newman was one of them." - RIP Paul Newman
unbelievable show. Ed was on his A-game. McCready was on crack! Crowd was massive and really into it.
A+++
Yea, i couldnt beleive the size of the crowd. You would look back and just see nothing but people. Highlight of the night was love reign over me. How amazing was that. Insane show. Put them right behind MMJ for the best shows of the weekend.
I am so disappointed I didn't go to this and almost did. But I'm proud of them that they stole the show. Amazing setlist. WMA and Who You Are have never really done much for me, but it must have been awesome to hear live. It would have been worth the price of admission just to see Hard to Imagine and All Night opening up the show. Is anything up on YouTube yet?
Change don't come at once, it's a wave, building before it breaks.
Pardon me if this is repetetive and lengthy- I just started typing and didn't stop until I was done. Fuck, man, I can't believe I saw this show. What an incredible night in an incredible fucking weekend.
First off, apologies to those who may have been following my Twitter relay (were there even any, or did another source pop up?). It appears Twitter may have been up and down, so some of my relays were put up out of order (Hard To Imagine didn't show up until after the first encore, when 15-16 other songs had already been put through, for example)
So... yeah, Twitter sucks I guess. *sigh* Twas a good ideara at the time.
Anyhow...
I was dumfounded at the end of that show. In my haze of alcohol and other fun things, I just stood there wondering if I had really witnessed what I had just witnessed. My three companions who are fans, but not fans, had enjoyed it, but I had no way of relating to them just what kind of show this was to me. I am not going to anoint this "favorite show ever" quite yet, but I'd be hard pressed to think of coming out of another show with as much excitement, elated bewilderment, and genuine happiness as I did coming from this one. I couldn't have been happier, there was just no way.
The band continues to amaze me with what they are willing to give their fans live. I'd long crossed off Who You Are and WMA from my "want to see live" list just because I didn't figure it a possibility. Ever. Love, Reign O'er Me was a long longshot in my mind. But here today I can cross off all three in one single motion. I've now seen 15 shows, and this band have played all of my favorite songs at some point or another in those 15 shows. From the common Black and Given To Fly down to the rare (at this point) Education, every single song that would inhabit my top 20-25 list I now have seen in concert. That is just fucking amazing to me, and I am so fucking grateful to them. I've also seen 13 unique opening songs in those 15 shows (Release being the only multiple, with 3 times heard (as an opener, anyway- ha!)). It's little things like this that make Pearl Jam concert going fun to be a part of. Pink Floyd is still my all-time favorite band, but I'd never relay a set or track what songs I've heard, because there's never any variety in their sets and there's simply no joy in even doing so. Pearl Jam always, ALWAYS give you the hope that they just might play that song when you see them; always, ALWAYS gives you plenty of new reasons to talk to other fans during and after the shows. I love it.
For the show I positioned myself pretty far back from the stage, about 50 feet behind two field speaker stacks outfit with beer booths- never want to be too far from those, you know?- where I couldn't see much goings-on on the stage (though Stone's hair was clearly bigger), but where the sound is perfect and I have a good view of the screen and crowd. I kind of regret not getting closer now just because no one around me was as into the band and show as I was, but on the other hand I was able to enjoy myself without worrying about other people in close proximity.
Hard To Imagine was so amazing to hear live, and to open even. Nobody around me even knew it, but I sang anyway. Those first few notes were... I dunno. I didn't even see the song because I had my eyes closed the entire time, soaking it all in. Bonnaroo is invariably the highlight of my year every year I go, and having Pearl Jam finally come was a dream come true. For me these first few moments, hearing those opening guitar notes, singing those words... I was moved. It was spiritual, for real. I can't even begin to describe it really... it was just everything I could have ever wanted or imagined. If my life was a painting, this moment was a beautiful sun in the sky... Anyway, another boarder and old friend has seen at least 45 shows and has never heard HTI. Raulie, if you weren't here for this show, I really hope you'll finally get to hear it one day.
Corduroy got the crowd into it. The photo from Sunday's Roo newspaper is Eddie flashing the peace sign during this song.
It took me 30 seconds or so to figure out the third song was All Night, and even then I wasn't positive until the chorus. Guess I need to listen to Lost Dogs again. Surprised to find out this was the debut- I figured this had shown up in the show or two before. I was going to say it wasn't what I'd thought a live All Night would be-didn't seem to have the oomph, I guess?- but if it's its first time out, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for now. One of the few times all night the band didn't seem sure of themselves.
God I love Why Go. How it stayed off setlists for so long is beyond me, but I'm glad it gets regular playtime these days.
Small Town was the first real crowd sing along. Where I was sitting, you can never hear the crowd that well (they're all yelling in the direction you're facing), but I heard them here.
Even after All Night, Down being played six songs in was the song that got me thinking that this wasn't going to be your "usual" 2006-7 Pearl Jam show, let alone a typical "festival" show. Little did I know the next song would prove that it wasn't even a usual Pearl Jam show.
Who You Are. I still can't fucking believe it. One of the songs I remember really wanting to hear the first time I ever saw the band (in 1998). By 2003 I was a die hard and knew hearing it was as likely as winning the lottery. In 2008, I won that fucking lottery. Fuck. Yeah. I will remember this forever.
Severed Hand is a high favorite off of S/T, and I barely remember it here. I was still on a Who You Are high (or maybe another type).
1/2 Full- Nobody knew it, but I'll take it at any show- they always seem to enjoy playing this and I like the intensity and urgency that isn't on the album version. Ed did the guitar spotlight thing, but I couldn't really tell if it was doing anything from where I was.
Edit: Forgot Animal. Hadn't heard it in awhile. Pleasant surprise at this point.
Even Flow- After the 15th time hearing it, it's hard to pick out things to say about it, so I won't.
Daughter seemed a bit heavier, especially during the end of the tag- I don't even think it faded out. The Blitzkreig tag was brief, and there was also some nice chanting from Ed.
Gone- Meh. Never cared for the song, and it didn't renew any interest in it here. I'd imagine if you liked the song, you'd have liked this though.
Love, Reign O'er Me- Ed intorduced Boom and so I thought we'd be getting LBC or Wasted Reprise. When those first few piano notes hit... man, I was so happy. We were only and hour and change into the show and already I'd been taken to so many emotional highs, this was another one. I think Ed lost parts of his voice after this song. During it, however, he was amazing. Even my friend commented on how powerful his vocals were. If only the rain that showed up the night before started during this song... how cool would that have been?
Do The Evolution- This got anybody still lost in the crowd back into the show. If the band had stuck to hits this show, I think they'd have thought the crowd even more amazing than it already was.
I've come to appreciate Rearviewmirror a lot more over the past 3-4 years or so, especially after hearing it in San Diego '06, which was a blistering version. This one was up there in intensity, and was the most "jamming" they did all night, which I'm sure went over well with a lot of the typical Roo crowd. Really looking forward to hearing this again to see if matches SD or not.
WMA- I couldn't fucking believe it. I didn't believe it until the second verse was sang. I'm smiling just now typing this- I HEARD WMA LIVE. I wanted this more than Who You Are... I put this song on PJ mixes, I listen to it while exercising... I love this song and to finally hear it in person... wow. Another moment I'll never forget. From what I remember, this has been In My Tree-ified, using guitars more to drive the sound, but the trademark bassline and most of the drumming is still there, just not as prominent.
Betterman is notable for Ed being able to see how many people were actually there when the lighters came out. He was right, it was fucking beautiful, even from where I was. I've never seen as many lighters at one show.
I love Black these days for Mike's solos. I just kept my eyes closed while he played. Mike was just awesome tonight, in everything. Ed did some more vocal accompanaiments at the end which were also amazing.
Life Wasted- Dare I say this song sounded grungier? It was definitely more muddy and plodding, but in a good way. I think it fit the song better. Anyone care to back be up, or was I hallucinating? Matt seemed to be more deliberate. Maybe he read the "Matt Cameron plays too goddamn fast live" thread.
Crazy Mary- Awesome, awesome Mike and Boom interaction at the end. I'd soured on this song, and wasn't exactly excited about it when it started, but I was grooving by the end. I'm pretty sure Ed went into the crowd here, or at least down to the barrier, I presume to pass out the wine. Next thing I knew he was crawling back up on the stage and seemed to have trouble doing so! Ed might have been just a bit tipsy by this point.
I don't remember if I've ever heard Porch and RVM in the same show, but if I have, their performances didn't come close to the two here, because both left me blown away. Ed made a decently long, somewhat rambling speech, about making change happen in the middle, but he made it work.
Tomas Young was supposed to be at Roo to talk about Body Of War, but obviously that didn't happen. Ed made no qualms about being pissed off that Tomas was not able to be there (and the war in general), and urged the audience to sing along. I'm not sure if they did, though, because I couldn't hear them if they were. I know Ed wan't people to get into it, but I don't really know anyone who actually likes the song. He's obviously been inspired by Phil Ochs and Dylan in writing No More, but No More just isn't up to par with those folks' protest songs. Maybe he'll write one one day, but this one isn't it.
Ed started Release by saying it wasn't the usual spot for this song to be played, but that Release was being dedicated to a young man named Luke. He didn't elaborate much on why, that I recall. There were no Dear John references this time. I really thought this might close the show, which would have been really cool, in my opinion. Nonetheless, to hear Release here (after pretty much scratching it from possibility once HTI opened) was another emotional high for me. One of my favorite PJ memories was singing along at Boston I 04- that was amazing. While the people around me at Roo weren't singing like they were in Boston, there is just something about singing "I'll ride the wave where it takes meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" that is so uplifting and wonderful. Awesome, awesome, awesome.
Alive was amazing, as it usually is, though Ed's vocals were getting pretty rough by this point. Being placed after Release was special, too.
Encore 3 was Watchtower, and was a great surprise end to what turned out to be one fantastic fucking show. As I said, when it was done, I was asking myself if I had seen what I had just seen. Pearl Jam once again blew me away like select few bands have done before, let alone on a repeated basis. I really hope they enjoyed playing Roo as much as I enjoy going every year, because it'd be nice to have them there in some capacity every couple years. Can you imagine a PJ late night set with absolutely no boundaries? My dream of PJ playing at Roo has been fulfilled (fulfilled is an understatement of epic proportions, really). Looks like I'll have to dream it all again and hopefully one day I'll be typing up another recap of an amazing, amazing show.
SHOW NOTES
-Set: Hard To Imagine, Corduroy, All Night, Why Go, Small Town, Down, Who You Are, Severed Hand, 1/2 Full, Animal, Even Flow, Daughter/Blitzkrieg Pop/Chanting, Gone, Love Reign O'er Me, Do The Evolution, Rearviemirror
E1: WMA, Betterman/Save It For Later, Black, Life Wasted, Crazy Mary, Porch
E2: No More, Release (dedicated to Luke), Alive
E3: All Along the Watchtower
-Attendance award of the weekend belonged to JJ/PJ. Metallica, Kanye, Widespread- not even close.
-Crowd seated around where I was (about 50' behind the two left-side speaker stacks/beer booths) were not hardcore fans. I saw 2-3 people around that knew some of the semi-obscure stuff, otherwise it was a hits-only knowledge crowd around me. Down in front had plenty of action throughout, but the lesser-known numbers didn't seem to do much for the crowd around me. While we all agree this is a special setlist (at least so far), I'm curious to see what non-fans thought. This was no Lollapalooza set (which, for the record, wasn't bad at all
-I'd heard the Severed Hand intro played over the main stage speakers earlier in the day, so I thought we might get that as an opener since they hadn't been using that at shows recently (that I recall anyway). However, while not an opener, they did use it to start SH in the main set. I don't think Eddie was playing guitar, but I may be wrong.
-Band Intro music was Philip Glass' solo piano tune 'Metamorphosis: Two'. Have they used this at the other two shows so far?
-At some point during the first or second encore break, they showed the encore setlist on the big video screens for 10-15 seconds. I was too far back to actually read it, which I was actually thankful for- I had done a great job of avoiding the first two shows' setlists and wouldn't have been pleased to have the remainder of the night's set show up right in front of me. I heard the crowd down front wildly cheer when it was shown, so that was relieving. Anybody who saw it know if anything was on it that wasn't played and vice-versa?
-The Jack Johnson song Eddie sat in on, according to the Bonnaroo newspaper, was 'Constellations'. It was dedicated to former PJ road crew member who now is on JJ's touring crew.
-They had Roo specific posters and shirts. Got a shirt the first day- looked like the poster was already sold out. Checked again on Sunday and they had a whole stack of posters. Probably over 100. Poster had essentially the same design as the t-shirt. I got a Pearl Jam labeled tote bag with the poster even.
-I really hope the boot is as good as I remember. I can see myself listening to this show again and again and again, just to relive those amazing emotional moments I had all over again.
I know, I just bought it and I just got back from Bonnaroo.
I love reading how so many people wished they could have been at Roo; for once, I can say I saw true PJ greatness. I will never take Saturday night for granted.
2005: Borgata 2, Philly
2006: Camden 1&2, East Ruth 1&2
2008: BONNAROO, MSG1, MSG2, Hartford
2009: Philly 1, 2, 4
2010: Hartford, MSG1, MSG2
2012: Made in America
2013: BK1, BK2, Hartford
2015: Global Citizens
2016: MSG 2 (ISO MSG1)
EV Solo: NJPAC 2008; Tower Theatre, PA 2009; Hartford 2011
SHOW NOTES
-Set: Hard To Imagine, Corduroy, All Night, Why Go, Small Town, Down, Who You Are, Severed Hand, 1/2 Full, Even Flow, Daughter/Blitzkrieg Pop/Chanting, Gone, Love Reign O'er Me, Do The Evolution, Rearviemirror
E1: WMA, Betterman/Save It For Later, Black, Life Wasted, Crazy Mary, Porch
E2: No More, Release (dedicated to Luke), Alive
E3: All Along the Watchtower
-Attendance award of the weekend belonged to JJ/PJ. Metallica, Kanye, Widespread- not even close.
-Crowd seated around where I was (about 50' behind the two left-side speaker stacks/beer booths) were not hardcore fans. I saw 2-3 people around that knew some of the semi-obscure stuff, otherwise it was a hits-only knowledge crowd around me. Down in front had plenty of action throughout, but the lesser-known numbers didn't seem to do much for the crowd around me. While we all agree this is a special setlist (at least so far), I'm curious to see what non-fans thought. This was no Lollapalooza set (which, for the record, wasn't bad at all
-I'd heard the Severed Hand intro played over the main stage speakers earlier in the day, so I thought we might get that as an opener since they hadn't been using that at shows recently (that I recall anyway). However, while not an opener, they did use it to start SH in the main set. I don't think Eddie was playing guitar, but I may be wrong.
-Band Intro music was Philip Glass' solo piano tune 'Metamorphosis: Two'. Have they used this at the other two shows so far?
-At some point during the first or second encore break, they showed the encore setlist on the big video screens for 10-15 seconds. I was too far back to actually read it, which I was actually thankful for- I had done a great job of avoiding the first two shows' setlists and wouldn't have been pleased to have the remainder of the night's set show up right in front of me. I heard the crowd down front wildly cheer when it was shown, so that was relieving. Anybody who saw it know if anything was on it that wasn't played and vice-versa?
-The Jack Johnson song Eddie sat in on, according to the Bonnaroo newspaper, was 'Constellations'. It was dedicated to former PJ road crew member who now is on JJ's touring crew.
-They had Roo specific posters and shirts. Got a shirt the first day- looked like the poster was already sold out. Checked again on Sunday and they had a whole stack of posters. Probably over 100. Poster had essentially the same design as the t-shirt. I got a Pearl Jam labeled tote bag with the poster even.
-I really hope the boot is as good as I remember. I can see myself listening to this show again and again and again, just to relive those amazing emotional moments I had all over again.
Only show note you missed was an AMAZING Animal > Even Flow with the behind-the-head guitar solo by Sir Mike. Best Animal I've ever heard performed..sounded like Even Flow and then to be played right after was really special for me.
2005: Borgata 2, Philly
2006: Camden 1&2, East Ruth 1&2
2008: BONNAROO, MSG1, MSG2, Hartford
2009: Philly 1, 2, 4
2010: Hartford, MSG1, MSG2
2012: Made in America
2013: BK1, BK2, Hartford
2015: Global Citizens
2016: MSG 2 (ISO MSG1)
EV Solo: NJPAC 2008; Tower Theatre, PA 2009; Hartford 2011
Only show note you missed was an AMAZING Animal > Even Flow with the behind-the-head guitar solo by Sir Mike. Best Animal I've ever heard performed..sounded like Even Flow and then to be played right after was really special for me.
Oh, I must've accidentally deleted it- I just copied and pasted.
Yeah, Animal was great. I hadn't heard it a while.
This was my first Pearl Jam show, and the trip from Tennessee to California, not showering for 4 days, and enduring that heat was all worth it.
I got to the What Stage around 11am, it was opened around 2pm and I ran and sat down at that blue wall for the next 10 or so hours of my life. Waiting for Pearl Jam was actually fun, I got to hang out and talk with a bunch of Pearl Jam fans and everybody was really really cool.
When the pit for Jack Johnson was cleared and I got in very close to the stage, I looked down at my phone and saw it was about 10:10pm and I just told myself "This is going to be the longest ten minutes of your life" and it was, but when the band finally walked on stage it was great and when the band started playing Hard To Imagine I was shocked and delighted. It was all worth it.
Some other highlights were hearing Release because I wasn't expecting it at that part of the set so it was great to hear, and after Porch singing along with the whole crowd to the chorus of Alive was a really fucking cool. Also when the band started playing Who You Are I said to myself out loud "Holy fucking shit", I also had the same reaction for WMA.
THANK YOU PEARL JAM
also banana pancakes
"If my thoughts, dreams, could be seen, they'd probably put my head, in a guillotine, but it's alright ma, it's life and life only."
-At some point during the first or second encore break, they showed the encore setlist on the big video screens for 10-15 seconds. I was too far back to actually read it, which I was actually thankful for- I had done a great job of avoiding the first two shows' setlists and wouldn't have been pleased to have the remainder of the night's set show up right in front of me. I heard the crowd down front wildly cheer when it was shown, so that was relieving. Anybody who saw it know if anything was on it that wasn't played and vice-versa?
THe only change to the set list that I remember was that it had Ledbetter/Indiffer. as the closer and didn't have Watchtower on it at all.
Awesome show
Manchester, TN - 2008
Washington, D.C. - 2008
Philadelphia, PA I - 2009
Bristow, VA - 2010
Baltimore, MD - 2013
Milwaukee, WI - 2014
Hampton, VA - 2016
Comments
i can't believe i missed bonarroo. i was going to go until they announced the tour... unreal.
I can't believe the cameraman showed the setlist!
He kicked ass at the show though.
next time.. next time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-r8zE6CGjs
Eddie and JackJohnson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeHrZ14hoSY
Alive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKQ9ScXeQ30
Won't let the darkness swallow me.
excellent!
Montreal/98, Toronto/00'03'05'06x2, Brad Toronto/02, Buffalo/03, Kitchener/05, London/05, Hamilton/05, Late Show Taping/06, Cleveland/06, Pittsburgh/06, Bridge School Benefit Concert/06, Hartford/08, Mansfield 1/08, EV Montreal/08x2, EV Toronto/08x2...
being serious for a second
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! oops. sorry.
"The leads are weak? Fuckin' leads are weak? You're Weak! I've Been in this business 15 years"
"What's your name?"
"FUCK YOU! THAT"S MY NAME!"
-my dad after hearing Not for You for the first time on SNL .
NAH I MISSED IT ,,
Hard To Imagine??!!!?? What a great nod to the longtime fans, and an awesome way to set the stage for the newbies. From here on out I could go song-by-song, but everyone has read the set setlist. Yes, it was stacked!! One holy s*!t afer another, (Yes, WMA was sick. Who You Are=SICK.)so the best way to describe this experience was a strange sense of pride to being amongst this mass of people who may have forgotten about Pearl Jam a little, but were seeing what all of us here have known for years....
Pearl Jam is the greatest band of all time. PERIOD!
As I write this before I pick up te rent-a-car to take my wife to her first show in Columbia, I wonder if I'll see anything like that again. For those of us who have seen them numerous times and write reviews, we focus on little highlights, whether it be a song or how ed and jeff get into a song and mike's level of energy, but I can tell you that I've never seen more emotion out of a performance that I did on Saturday. Humbled. Appreciative. And most of all, EXCITED. A level of energy that was almost out to prove something. And they did, oh boy did they ever. I can finally say that I've been to a "classic" show. So when I'm smiling tonight, sure most of it will be seeing my wife's reaction to her first show, but it's that same smile I haven't been able to stop since Saturday. Greatest Band in the World, and there are over 80,000 witnesses. See you guys tonight, it's going to be face melting!!
I had to work Friday morning so I wasn't able to make the Pit meet up, but was able to get down to Manchester by 3 pm. On Saturday I headed over to What Stage (the main stage) right before BB King started. The line for the front pen areas were already insanely long. I didn't want risk not getting into the pen and ending up super far back in the crowd so I decided to try for the rail just behind the pen on Mike's side. I started working my way up during the end of BB King's set. Worked my way up closer during Jack Johnson's set and was about 5 people back from the rail at the end of Jack Johnson. The wait between Jack and PJ seemed like an eternity, probably because I was so excited and there was no room to sit down. When the guys came out and I heard the first notes of Hard to Imagine, I went nuts. Great opener!! The crowd really joined in on Corduroy. All Night was awesome! And then Why Go! At this point, I felt like we were in for something really special. The guys seemed like they were out there to rock Bonnaroo's brains out. Solid Small Town with good crowd singing, then Down. WHO YOU ARE started and I nearly lost my mind. I knew they had broken it out at WPB, but I never thought I would get to see it live. It was the beginning of an absolutely rockin' group of songs (Severed Hand, 1/2 Full, Animal) that whipped the crowd into a frenzy for Even Flow. At this point I was able to move around an annoying group of tall frat boys and next to some very cool PJ fans 3 people back from the rail. I thought the crowd would be much less responsive to Eddie's Bush comments before Gone, but there weren't too many boos. And then Boom started the opening to Love Reign O'er Me. I was speechless as Eddie launched into an absolutely beautiful version. I feel truly blessed to have seen the guys do this live. They closed out the main set with an freaking awesome Do the Evolution and rearviewmirror.
I was a little bummed the cameraman showed the encore setlist during the break, but I didn't think that it was the real one because of how stacked it was. Little did I know what PJ had in store for us ... WMA was unbelievable!! Great extended version. The crowd really joined in for Betterman and Eddie commented on how huge the crowd was. It seemed like all 100,000 plus people were singing for Black, which was beautiful. Crazy Mary was the best version I've heard from the guys. I was super pumped they started Porch out with the interupted/staccato intro. Porch freaking rocked!
Ed was extremely emotional all night, he seemed at a loss for words a couple times. But I thought his speech before No More was poignant and perfectly timed. The crowd sung the chorus sooo loud. He then dedicated Release to a friend, Luke, whose father had just died. When the opening notes of Release started, I literally got goosebumps down my arms and couldn't stop myself from crying. The awesome guy next to me was crying to. I've waited so long to hear this song and the guys gave us an amazing version. I feel so lucky to have been there. Alive was great, with Mike killing it. I think this is when he came out on stacks at the edge of the stage, though I may not be remembering correctly.
I knew the guys weren't done with us yet and the setlist the camera guy showed had Yellow Ledbetter/Indifference, but I never expected All Along the Watchtower. FREAKING AMAZING!! A great change up from Ledbetter as the closer.
Other thoughts ... Mike seemed totally amped the whole night. His solos were awesome and he was really connecting with the crowd in front of him. Stone was his usual chill self, but I'm happy to see him playing closer into center of the stage (someone else had mentioned this in the WPB fanviews). His haircut is terrible (definitely not "hunky"). Stone's solos were amazing as usual. Jeff was running around so much I had a hard time getting a non-blurry picture! Matt rocked but with shorter solos than I have seen in the past from him. Ed's voice was spot-on and he did a number of interesting, beautiful little variations in tone on some lyrics.
Overall, I feel unbelievably lucky to have been at this amazing show. I couldn't stop smiling afterwards. Pearl Jam not only rocked Bonnaroo; they showed why they are the best band in the world. Seriously, every other band I saw at Bonnaroo (and every other band period) absolutely pales in comparison. I'm so happy there were a ton of awesome PJ fans at the show (I met a ton of cool non-pit people). Bonnaroo '08 will go down in my book as one of the best experiences of my life and the best concert I have ever seen. All of you guys are in for some awesome shows for the rest of tour.
Metallica were incredible. This has been their best year live since maybe 99. They sounded great. I still cant get over how good Lars sounded on the kit. It sounds totally different live than on a bootleg or recording of their shows. Even the Roo videos of the band don't do Lars justice at all. Sound quality wise they were excellent. Musically pretty darn tight and very energetic. I noticed only a few flub ups. They performed a great show, not as good as PJ though. Nowhere near as great.
Piperston in Waterloo, IA
Milwaukee, 7-8-1995
East Troy, 6-26-1998
Denver, 4-1-2003 (Best Show Ever!)
Amen to that. Great review and that sums it up absolutely perfect. I also noticed that Ed got emotional at times. He really seemed to be enjoying the show a lot, much more than what i thought he would. One of the best performances both vocally and emotionally I have witnessed from Ed. Did anyone else here think he sounded a little bit like the Gorge from 2005 or was it just my hearing that night?
This part gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes!! I love how emotional Eddie...so real! Thank you for sharing!! Cant wait to see them in Hartford and Mansfield!
Red Rover Mike McCready take over.........
9-15-98, 8-29-00, 8-30-00, 7-2-03, 7-3-03, 7-11-03, 9-28-04, 9-29-04, 9-15-05, 5-13-06, 5-24-06, 5-25-06, 5-27-06, 6-27-08, 6-28-08, 6-30-08, 10-30-09, 10-31-09, 5-15-10, 5-17-10
"Where's Mike McCready? My god he's been ate!"
"If you're an Elvis fan, there's no explanation necessary; if you're not, there's no explanation possible."
"Sometimes God makes perfect people and Paul Newman was one of them." - RIP Paul Newman
A+++
Yea, i couldnt beleive the size of the crowd. You would look back and just see nothing but people. Highlight of the night was love reign over me. How amazing was that. Insane show. Put them right behind MMJ for the best shows of the weekend.
10/30/09.10/31/09.5/17/10.9/7/11
EV:boston 1+2.albnay 1.boston 2010
First off, apologies to those who may have been following my Twitter relay (were there even any, or did another source pop up?). It appears Twitter may have been up and down, so some of my relays were put up out of order (Hard To Imagine didn't show up until after the first encore, when 15-16 other songs had already been put through, for example)
So... yeah, Twitter sucks I guess. *sigh*
Anyhow...
I was dumfounded at the end of that show. In my haze of alcohol and other fun things, I just stood there wondering if I had really witnessed what I had just witnessed. My three companions who are fans, but not fans, had enjoyed it, but I had no way of relating to them just what kind of show this was to me. I am not going to anoint this "favorite show ever" quite yet, but I'd be hard pressed to think of coming out of another show with as much excitement, elated bewilderment, and genuine happiness as I did coming from this one. I couldn't have been happier, there was just no way.
The band continues to amaze me with what they are willing to give their fans live. I'd long crossed off Who You Are and WMA from my "want to see live" list just because I didn't figure it a possibility. Ever. Love, Reign O'er Me was a long longshot in my mind. But here today I can cross off all three in one single motion. I've now seen 15 shows, and this band have played all of my favorite songs at some point or another in those 15 shows. From the common Black and Given To Fly down to the rare (at this point) Education, every single song that would inhabit my top 20-25 list I now have seen in concert. That is just fucking amazing to me, and I am so fucking grateful to them. I've also seen 13 unique opening songs in those 15 shows (Release being the only multiple, with 3 times heard (as an opener, anyway- ha!)). It's little things like this that make Pearl Jam concert going fun to be a part of. Pink Floyd is still my all-time favorite band, but I'd never relay a set or track what songs I've heard, because there's never any variety in their sets and there's simply no joy in even doing so. Pearl Jam always, ALWAYS give you the hope that they just might play that song when you see them; always, ALWAYS gives you plenty of new reasons to talk to other fans during and after the shows. I love it.
For the show I positioned myself pretty far back from the stage, about 50 feet behind two field speaker stacks outfit with beer booths- never want to be too far from those, you know?- where I couldn't see much goings-on on the stage (though Stone's hair was clearly bigger), but where the sound is perfect and I have a good view of the screen and crowd. I kind of regret not getting closer now just because no one around me was as into the band and show as I was, but on the other hand I was able to enjoy myself without worrying about other people in close proximity.
Hard To Imagine was so amazing to hear live, and to open even. Nobody around me even knew it, but I sang anyway. Those first few notes were... I dunno. I didn't even see the song because I had my eyes closed the entire time, soaking it all in. Bonnaroo is invariably the highlight of my year every year I go, and having Pearl Jam finally come was a dream come true. For me these first few moments, hearing those opening guitar notes, singing those words... I was moved. It was spiritual, for real. I can't even begin to describe it really... it was just everything I could have ever wanted or imagined. If my life was a painting, this moment was a beautiful sun in the sky... Anyway, another boarder and old friend has seen at least 45 shows and has never heard HTI. Raulie, if you weren't here for this show, I really hope you'll finally get to hear it one day.
Corduroy got the crowd into it. The photo from Sunday's Roo newspaper is Eddie flashing the peace sign during this song.
It took me 30 seconds or so to figure out the third song was All Night, and even then I wasn't positive until the chorus. Guess I need to listen to Lost Dogs again. Surprised to find out this was the debut- I figured this had shown up in the show or two before. I was going to say it wasn't what I'd thought a live All Night would be-didn't seem to have the oomph, I guess?- but if it's its first time out, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for now. One of the few times all night the band didn't seem sure of themselves.
God I love Why Go. How it stayed off setlists for so long is beyond me, but I'm glad it gets regular playtime these days.
Small Town was the first real crowd sing along. Where I was sitting, you can never hear the crowd that well (they're all yelling in the direction you're facing), but I heard them here.
Even after All Night, Down being played six songs in was the song that got me thinking that this wasn't going to be your "usual" 2006-7 Pearl Jam show, let alone a typical "festival" show. Little did I know the next song would prove that it wasn't even a usual Pearl Jam show.
Who You Are. I still can't fucking believe it. One of the songs I remember really wanting to hear the first time I ever saw the band (in 1998). By 2003 I was a die hard and knew hearing it was as likely as winning the lottery. In 2008, I won that fucking lottery. Fuck. Yeah. I will remember this forever.
Severed Hand is a high favorite off of S/T, and I barely remember it here. I was still on a Who You Are high (or maybe another type).
1/2 Full- Nobody knew it, but I'll take it at any show- they always seem to enjoy playing this and I like the intensity and urgency that isn't on the album version. Ed did the guitar spotlight thing, but I couldn't really tell if it was doing anything from where I was.
Edit: Forgot Animal. Hadn't heard it in awhile. Pleasant surprise at this point.
Even Flow- After the 15th time hearing it, it's hard to pick out things to say about it, so I won't.
Daughter seemed a bit heavier, especially during the end of the tag- I don't even think it faded out. The Blitzkreig tag was brief, and there was also some nice chanting from Ed.
Gone- Meh. Never cared for the song, and it didn't renew any interest in it here. I'd imagine if you liked the song, you'd have liked this though.
Love, Reign O'er Me- Ed intorduced Boom and so I thought we'd be getting LBC or Wasted Reprise. When those first few piano notes hit... man, I was so happy. We were only and hour and change into the show and already I'd been taken to so many emotional highs, this was another one. I think Ed lost parts of his voice after this song. During it, however, he was amazing. Even my friend commented on how powerful his vocals were. If only the rain that showed up the night before started during this song... how cool would that have been?
Do The Evolution- This got anybody still lost in the crowd back into the show. If the band had stuck to hits this show, I think they'd have thought the crowd even more amazing than it already was.
I've come to appreciate Rearviewmirror a lot more over the past 3-4 years or so, especially after hearing it in San Diego '06, which was a blistering version. This one was up there in intensity, and was the most "jamming" they did all night, which I'm sure went over well with a lot of the typical Roo crowd. Really looking forward to hearing this again to see if matches SD or not.
WMA- I couldn't fucking believe it. I didn't believe it until the second verse was sang. I'm smiling just now typing this- I HEARD WMA LIVE. I wanted this more than Who You Are... I put this song on PJ mixes, I listen to it while exercising... I love this song and to finally hear it in person... wow. Another moment I'll never forget. From what I remember, this has been In My Tree-ified, using guitars more to drive the sound, but the trademark bassline and most of the drumming is still there, just not as prominent.
Betterman is notable for Ed being able to see how many people were actually there when the lighters came out. He was right, it was fucking beautiful, even from where I was. I've never seen as many lighters at one show.
I love Black these days for Mike's solos. I just kept my eyes closed while he played. Mike was just awesome tonight, in everything. Ed did some more vocal accompanaiments at the end which were also amazing.
Life Wasted- Dare I say this song sounded grungier? It was definitely more muddy and plodding, but in a good way. I think it fit the song better. Anyone care to back be up, or was I hallucinating? Matt seemed to be more deliberate. Maybe he read the "Matt Cameron plays too goddamn fast live" thread.
Crazy Mary- Awesome, awesome Mike and Boom interaction at the end. I'd soured on this song, and wasn't exactly excited about it when it started, but I was grooving by the end. I'm pretty sure Ed went into the crowd here, or at least down to the barrier, I presume to pass out the wine. Next thing I knew he was crawling back up on the stage and seemed to have trouble doing so! Ed might have been just a bit tipsy by this point.
I don't remember if I've ever heard Porch and RVM in the same show, but if I have, their performances didn't come close to the two here, because both left me blown away. Ed made a decently long, somewhat rambling speech, about making change happen in the middle, but he made it work.
Tomas Young was supposed to be at Roo to talk about Body Of War, but obviously that didn't happen. Ed made no qualms about being pissed off that Tomas was not able to be there (and the war in general), and urged the audience to sing along. I'm not sure if they did, though, because I couldn't hear them if they were. I know Ed wan't people to get into it, but I don't really know anyone who actually likes the song. He's obviously been inspired by Phil Ochs and Dylan in writing No More, but No More just isn't up to par with those folks' protest songs. Maybe he'll write one one day, but this one isn't it.
Ed started Release by saying it wasn't the usual spot for this song to be played, but that Release was being dedicated to a young man named Luke. He didn't elaborate much on why, that I recall. There were no Dear John references this time. I really thought this might close the show, which would have been really cool, in my opinion. Nonetheless, to hear Release here (after pretty much scratching it from possibility once HTI opened) was another emotional high for me. One of my favorite PJ memories was singing along at Boston I 04- that was amazing. While the people around me at Roo weren't singing like they were in Boston, there is just something about singing "I'll ride the wave where it takes meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" that is so uplifting and wonderful. Awesome, awesome, awesome.
Alive was amazing, as it usually is, though Ed's vocals were getting pretty rough by this point. Being placed after Release was special, too.
Encore 3 was Watchtower, and was a great surprise end to what turned out to be one fantastic fucking show. As I said, when it was done, I was asking myself if I had seen what I had just seen. Pearl Jam once again blew me away like select few bands have done before, let alone on a repeated basis. I really hope they enjoyed playing Roo as much as I enjoy going every year, because it'd be nice to have them there in some capacity every couple years. Can you imagine a PJ late night set with absolutely no boundaries? My dream of PJ playing at Roo has been fulfilled (fulfilled is an understatement of epic proportions, really). Looks like I'll have to dream it all again and hopefully one day I'll be typing up another recap of an amazing, amazing show.
SHOW NOTES
-Set: Hard To Imagine, Corduroy, All Night, Why Go, Small Town, Down, Who You Are, Severed Hand, 1/2 Full, Animal, Even Flow, Daughter/Blitzkrieg Pop/Chanting, Gone, Love Reign O'er Me, Do The Evolution, Rearviemirror
E1: WMA, Betterman/Save It For Later, Black, Life Wasted, Crazy Mary, Porch
E2: No More, Release (dedicated to Luke), Alive
E3: All Along the Watchtower
-Attendance award of the weekend belonged to JJ/PJ. Metallica, Kanye, Widespread- not even close.
-Crowd seated around where I was (about 50' behind the two left-side speaker stacks/beer booths) were not hardcore fans. I saw 2-3 people around that knew some of the semi-obscure stuff, otherwise it was a hits-only knowledge crowd around me. Down in front had plenty of action throughout, but the lesser-known numbers didn't seem to do much for the crowd around me. While we all agree this is a special setlist (at least so far), I'm curious to see what non-fans thought. This was no Lollapalooza set (which, for the record, wasn't bad at all
-I'd heard the Severed Hand intro played over the main stage speakers earlier in the day, so I thought we might get that as an opener since they hadn't been using that at shows recently (that I recall anyway). However, while not an opener, they did use it to start SH in the main set. I don't think Eddie was playing guitar, but I may be wrong.
-Band Intro music was Philip Glass' solo piano tune 'Metamorphosis: Two'. Have they used this at the other two shows so far?
-At some point during the first or second encore break, they showed the encore setlist on the big video screens for 10-15 seconds. I was too far back to actually read it, which I was actually thankful for- I had done a great job of avoiding the first two shows' setlists and wouldn't have been pleased to have the remainder of the night's set show up right in front of me. I heard the crowd down front wildly cheer when it was shown, so that was relieving. Anybody who saw it know if anything was on it that wasn't played and vice-versa?
-The Jack Johnson song Eddie sat in on, according to the Bonnaroo newspaper, was 'Constellations'. It was dedicated to former PJ road crew member who now is on JJ's touring crew.
-They had Roo specific posters and shirts. Got a shirt the first day- looked like the poster was already sold out. Checked again on Sunday and they had a whole stack of posters. Probably over 100. Poster had essentially the same design as the t-shirt. I got a Pearl Jam labeled tote bag with the poster even.
-I really hope the boot is as good as I remember. I can see myself listening to this show again and again and again, just to relive those amazing emotional moments I had all over again.
I know, I just bought it and I just got back from Bonnaroo.
I love reading how so many people wished they could have been at Roo; for once, I can say I saw true PJ greatness. I will never take Saturday night for granted.
2006: Camden 1&2, East Ruth 1&2
2008: BONNAROO, MSG1, MSG2, Hartford
2009: Philly 1, 2, 4
2010: Hartford, MSG1, MSG2
2012: Made in America
2013: BK1, BK2, Hartford
2015: Global Citizens
2016: MSG 2 (ISO MSG1)
EV Solo: NJPAC 2008; Tower Theatre, PA 2009; Hartford 2011
Only show note you missed was an AMAZING Animal > Even Flow with the behind-the-head guitar solo by Sir Mike. Best Animal I've ever heard performed..sounded like Even Flow and then to be played right after was really special for me.
2006: Camden 1&2, East Ruth 1&2
2008: BONNAROO, MSG1, MSG2, Hartford
2009: Philly 1, 2, 4
2010: Hartford, MSG1, MSG2
2012: Made in America
2013: BK1, BK2, Hartford
2015: Global Citizens
2016: MSG 2 (ISO MSG1)
EV Solo: NJPAC 2008; Tower Theatre, PA 2009; Hartford 2011
Oh, I must've accidentally deleted it- I just copied and pasted.
Yeah, Animal was great. I hadn't heard it a while.
This was my first Pearl Jam show, and the trip from Tennessee to California, not showering for 4 days, and enduring that heat was all worth it.
I got to the What Stage around 11am, it was opened around 2pm and I ran and sat down at that blue wall for the next 10 or so hours of my life. Waiting for Pearl Jam was actually fun, I got to hang out and talk with a bunch of Pearl Jam fans and everybody was really really cool.
When the pit for Jack Johnson was cleared and I got in very close to the stage, I looked down at my phone and saw it was about 10:10pm and I just told myself "This is going to be the longest ten minutes of your life" and it was, but when the band finally walked on stage it was great and when the band started playing Hard To Imagine I was shocked and delighted. It was all worth it.
Some other highlights were hearing Release because I wasn't expecting it at that part of the set so it was great to hear, and after Porch singing along with the whole crowd to the chorus of Alive was a really fucking cool. Also when the band started playing Who You Are I said to myself out loud "Holy fucking shit", I also had the same reaction for WMA.
THANK YOU PEARL JAM
also banana pancakes
THe only change to the set list that I remember was that it had Ledbetter/Indiffer. as the closer and didn't have Watchtower on it at all.
Awesome show
Washington, D.C. - 2008
Philadelphia, PA I - 2009
Bristow, VA - 2010
Baltimore, MD - 2013
Milwaukee, WI - 2014
Hampton, VA - 2016