I’m a little late writing this fanview, but I’ve been reading everyone’s take on the show and other shows too. This was my 8th time seeing Pearl Jam and it stands out as the best. I last saw them at Wrigley and that show was an adventure to say the least.
I got to the GA line around 4:30 and ultimately ended up 10 rows from the railing in front of Eddie. Props to the people who got there at 2:30 on Saturday to wait in line that long for the rail – I don’t know how you do it. Everyone in the GA line and in the arena were all very nice and respectful. At previous shows, it seemed like there was much more rowdiness and outward anticipation for the show to start. Maybe this being a Sunday people were a little more chilled out. That’s fine… it got crazy.
I’m going song-by-song from what I remember:
01. Pendulum – I guessed correctly that this would be the opener. Very atmospheric… I could smell the weed immediately. Seemed like we all knew the words which was cool. 02. Release – an amazing surprise in this position. The entire arena sang incredibly loud. 03. Nothingman – nice and mellow. 04. Go – the pit went absolutely crazy during Go. Non-stop pogo and the band had crazy energy during this. Maybe the start of Vs front to back? 05. Life Wasted –Nope. Maybe the start of Avodado front to back? 06. Corduroy – Nope. Oh well. Awesome version of Corduroy. 1st time hearing it without Interstellar Overdrive to start. 07. Lightning Bolt – such an amazing song. My favorite off of LB. Crazy energy in the pit. 08. Mind Your Manners – awesome fist-pumps. 09. Save You – a nice surprise. So much better live than studio version, in my opinion. 10. Even Flow – 1st of the BIG hits for the average fan. No drum solo and overall seemed shorter than previous years, which is fine. 11. Sirens – one of my least favorite PJ songs and my least favorite song of the night… sorry. 12. Love Boat Captain (with intro)/Jumpin’ Jack Flash. I didn’t recognize JJF at all. LBC was awesome – again, better live for me. 13. Daughter – recorded this on my phone per request from my 8 year old daughter. 14. I Got ID – AMAZING. I love this song so much and it was a special treat. 15. The Fixer – Ed looking down at his notes to get the lyrics correct… this has to be his most difficult song to remember. Good crown energy throughout. “MD Tour” – Ed was quite the comedian and very humble when the doctor was praising him. It got pretty mellow during all of this, but then first chords that came next were amazing: 16. Unthought Known – probably in my top 5 favorite songs of all time from any artist. “Gems and Rhinestones” was screamed out by everyone! 17. Given To Fly – I’m in the extreme minority, but I always skip this song. Was fine. 18. Rearviewmirror – great energy… was concise (relative to previous versions I’ve seen) but still felt like a great ending to the 1st set.
Encore Break 1
19. Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town – Big Hit sing-along for the average fan. 20. Thin Air – so awesome. First time hearing this live I think. Great version. 21. Footsteps – my highlight of the night. I think this song got the biggest gasp when the opening chords played. Of all the more mellow songs, loudest crowd singing of the night. 22. Imagine-pretty surreal to see the entire arena lit up by the cell phone flashlights. A very nice touch. 23. Last Kiss- played to the back. 24. Why Go – Seems to always get played in St. Paul. Love it. 25. Do The Evolution – hate the studio version, but I was surprised how great it was live that night. I’ve heard it before live, but not as good as this. 26. Porch – crazy crazy crazy wild.
Encore Break 2
27. Black- an all time favorite of everyone’s… big sing along. Not the best I’ve heard though. Can anything beat Atlanta 94? 28. Setting Forth – great to see Ed joke about going Into the Wild with his new MN Wild hockey sweater 29. Better Man/Save It For Later-again, big crowd sing along. Ed was trying to the crowd more into his responses for SIFL. 30. Alive – Yes. 31. Rockin' In The Free World-best version I’ve ever seen live 32. Indifference – I hate that I always want Ledbetter to finish a show, because Indifference is such a beautiful song. I felt like Ed’s voice was pretty rough at this point, understandably.
All in all, best concert I’ve ever seen. I feel jealous of you lucky bastards in Moline and Milwaukee to get an album start-to-finish, but I now realize why this show was full of hits. The combination of the large EB contingent (MD, families, kids), Jill in the audience and Jeff’s family in the audience resulted in this rather pedestrian/amazing setlist (depending on who you talk to). I hate when I read fanviews or comments about certain crowds being lame. I think that can happen at every concert. In the pit it was absolutely energized, welcoming, fun and LOUD where I was. I looked up in the stands and could see certain rows sitting down. I make no excuses for that. People go to concerts for various reasons (free tickets, going with a friend or “I used to love PJ back in 93 so I want to hear those songs again). Not everyone knows the lyrics to every song and that’s okay.
I wasn't going to write a fan view because I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to hear No Code or Yield. But then I came to the realization that it didn't matter because this was still, for the most part, an amazing show.
This was the second year in a row we've used a PJ concert as a wedding anniversary present (Year 1/paper = tickets; Year 2/cotton = t-shirts at the show). We were happy with our reserved seats 16 rows up on Mike's side next to a couple that had gotten engaged earlier that day. I'm not sure exactly what we were expecting, but I know that the anticipation put a charge in the building that night. The opening trio of Pendulum/Release/Nothingman was incredible and emotional. I'm pretty sure the last verse of Release was changed from "Oh dear Dad" to "Oh dear Mom." At this point we were expected to be pummeled by some faster, more energetic stuff and were not at all disappointed with the run from Go to Even Flow. I never really listened to the lyrics of Save You before and was surprised with the theme. Hearing it live and actually listening made me like it more than I already did. Sirens was good except there were a lot of people making beer runs during this one. It seemed as though Ed was trying to change up the sing-along outro but the crowd wasn't paying attention and just kept on with the same "Ah-Ooh" as per the song. This is getting long, so I'm just going to skip to important parts. Love Boat Captain was awesome and I had no idea it was Jumping Jack Flash as it was hard to understand the lyrics towards the end. The introduction of the doctor and his work with EB was cool and a great way to introduce the band. It went on for way too long, though, and I felt the energy fell off a cliff here and it never made it back to the earlier heights. Unthought Known and Imagine were powerful. I've heard Do the Evolution at 7 of 8 shows (it wasn't written in 96 when I first saw them) and am completely sick of it, so even though I knew it would be played I wasn't thrilled with it. Porch was awesome. Second encore was good - Black and Alive are always treats to hear live. We got a kick out of Stone starting Alive after Black then having Ed tell him "We talked about this backstage..."
All in all it was a good show. I wish we would have heard a few more rarities, but they seemed to be tighter as a band than when we have seen them previously. And it is always a good day when we get to see live music, especially our favorite band.
I am not a big show review guy. Quite frankly I think it is all subjective. I loved the show, and am glad they didn't play an album from start to finish. I love getting a little here and a little there. For instance, not a super popular song but Save you speaks directly to me. I love hearing it, but god do I not want to hear riot act start to finish. Most of the albums are that way with me save versus, and I wouldn't want to wish that on someone else live if that isn't their favorite.
Soap box has now been put away.
This show was special to me for many reasons I can't go into them all. But my father died a few years ago, and it was his birthday on the 18th. Lots of weird things happened all weekend letting me know he was still there, but the rolling stones was his absolute favorite band. Loved them, picked up guitar at age 45 just to learn how to play the beginning rif from jumpin' jack flash so he could wake me up annoyingly with it when I was home with him. It is one of the last clear memories I can picture of him in my head. When I heard the first rif change during LBC I started to think that it wasn't possible, that I had never really heard it before but LBC sounds a lot like JJF lol...but when Ed said "cross fire hurricane" I lost my shit. Single greatest moment at a PJ concert I have ever had. Now I didn't get no code, and I didn't get yield, or Ten or versus, but I got one of the more special moments for me that I will ever have. Unbelievable night, the RITFW was about as good as I have ever heard and the energy during it was outstanding, and then to not have them go into YLB was an even bigger plus. I haven't seen them since 2009 and god damn it did they sound unbelievable. Love seeing concerts sitting next to other 10 club members too, makes singing along a lot more acceptable...just wish I had kept my old number lol.
Great night for me and my wife and one I won't soon forget.
that’s right! Can’t we all just get together and focus on our real enemies: monogamous gays and stem cells… - Ned Flanders
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
It was great to seeing Ed be so animated and it seemed like the band was pretty relaxed. Saw Stone cracking a lot of smiles. Can't wait for the boot to hear Footsteps again. That was a great moment.
First time I've never gotten merch at a show. I didn't take the time to check out the table. Any cool stuff? Any pics of the merch?
the show was really, really great but my favorite part of St. Paul was the people I met!!
If I had known then what I know now...
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
I think the St. Paul show will be on SiriusXM on 11/19? You can do a free 30 day trial online... Too bad it's on in the middle of the day... Then I think the bootleg comes out 11/25! Super excited to hear it...
Minneapolis - Jun 30 1998East Troy - Oct 8 2000Denver - Apr 1 2003Fargo - Jun 15 2003NYC - May 21 2010East Troy / PJ20 - Sep 3 2011East Troy / PJ20 - Sep 4 2011Seattle - Dec 6 2013St. Louis - Oct 3 2014St. Paul - Oct 19 2014 Chicago - Aug 20 & 22 2016 NYC - May 1 & 2 2016 NYC - April 7 2017 Seattle - Aug 8 & 10 2018 Missoula - Aug 13 2018 Denver - Sep 22 2022
I thought the show was fantastic the band seemed to be having a great time (which seems like a common theme lately) set was great, people awesome, (Minnesota nice), drank beers, smoked weed, enjoyed friends. What a night. Thank u!
Haven't had a chance to get on here yet....Just wanted to say Kudos to the St.Paul crowd....You guys were so fucking awesome!!!!!!!!!I didn't see a single person sitting down in an arena packed with 20,000 people!!!Everyone was up and dancing their asses off! I love you St.Paul!!!!!I truly do!!! St.Paul fans sure now how to get down with PJ!! My second show @ Xcel Energy Show....Thank you all for making it so special and for loving this band like I do!!!!
I'm a week or so out (and still sick), but I've had time to process the show. Many of you know that I've got another thread that I started a few years ago, dedicated solely to the idea of seeing the band in my hometown again. I'm very fortunate to have a wife who's been willing to travel with me for the better part of a decade now, but seeing them at home was a big deal.
Coincidentally (or perhaps not so), everything during the middle part of October conspired against "the PJ week" (10/9 - 10/20). It started with Lincoln, which was a great time with great friends, but shortly thereafter, I came down with the worst non-flu cold I've ever had. It's come and gone and come back, weeks later. A few days after Lincoln, a friend passed away in a terrible accident. Work afforded me no breaks, and the Friday before the show, we had a wedding to go to. I was sick, thinking about a buddy, completely worn out and going into that one PJ weekend I'd been waiting for since 2006.
I went to the Pub Crawl we had planned to host for all the out-of-town friends coming in (compared to Moline, Tulsa, Lincoln, or even Austin, St. Paul was a breeze to get to, so the thinking went). We met some absolutely fantastic people from all around the US, South America, Europe, Canada, Australia...too many places to remember. So many great people.
But as the night went on, my cold developed into what I found out later was an ear infection. Yep. That's right. The night before I was going to hear my favorite band in my hometown, I suddenly couldn't hear a thing. (If you noticed me leaning to the side, saying "What?" or looking like I was miserable toward the end of the pub crawl, it's because I was!).
The next day was show day of course. It was also the day of the funeral for my friend. I won't make any story out of it or pretend that I thought about Paul during the show. No, "Release" wasn't for him. He wasn't my closest friend, but he was a great guy with a great heart. Suffice it to say, a pre-show funeral was tough.
As I said, everything conspired to make this show unmemorable. Miserable. A distraction.
But something happened that night. So many setlist snobs will compare it to Moline or Milwaukee or Denver or other shows and pretend that somehow, what happened on stage in St. Paul was "average" or "pedestrian." So many others will spend time focusing on what others were doing rather than what they were experiencing themselves.
And that thought - that somehow the show unfolding was "unmemorable" or that anything else could be the focus - must have been so foreign to the Minnesota faithful who had waited for so long.
For us, it was the culmination of years of waiting, just to sing along with our favorite band, and have them to ourselves for a few hours. Maybe Ed pretends (as I'm sure he does for a lot of places), but it really looked and felt like he and the band had an affinity for our state. Our state. The world is a really cynical fucking place these days, but that means something here, and I know it meant something to all the Minnesota folks in the crowd that night. I was on the floor with my friends and ear infection be damned, we sang the shit out of that place. There were high-fives, finger-pointing, sing alongs. We found our friend in reserved and fist-pumped from 50 yards, together.
So what could have taken the place of all that? After showing a bunch of a great people who we'd never met a good time the night before, singing with old friends and new, hearing the band in such good spirits, knowing our pre-party kicked ass, what could possibly take the place of that? A fucking setlist critique?
Too many people in this fan club have gotten cynical, snobby, hard-hearted. Too many people would rather bitch that St. Paul got the "hits" half of Ten instead of the dark half of Binaural, or that the stranger next to them wasn't as big a fan as them. As I've always said, if that's what you're worried about while at a PJ show, then you're doing it wrong. St. Paul was about the friends. The people. The vibe. The "coming home" experience. Every PJ show is.
And I know there are just as many who feel just like I do. But for those that are knocking the show's energy or it's setlist, or what it "could have been," my guess is you're not from here. Or you didn't spend enough time meeting the right people. Or you just weren't paying attention. Maybe with that background, the show could never have been for some what it was for us.
Maybe that's what this is all about. For me, everything worked against that night being special. I'm still sick and exhausted, almost three weeks later. But in the middle of it all, there was this great, special oasis of a night. With friends. At home. After all these years.
Fuck it. What a night.
Thanks for listening. "vant-rant" over.
1998-06-30 Minneapolis
2003-06-16 St. Paul
2006-06-26 St. Paul
2007-08-05 Chicago
2009-08-23 Chicago
2009-08-28 San Francisco
2010-05-01 NOLA (Jazz Fest)
2011-07-02 EV Minneapolis
2011-09-03 PJ20
2011-09-04 PJ20
2011-09-17 Winnipeg
2012-06-26 Amsterdam
2012-06-27 Amsterdam
2013-07-19 Wrigley
2013-11-21 San Diego
2013-11-23 Los Angeles
2013-11-24 Los Angeles
2014-07-08 Leeds, UK
2014-07-11 Milton Keynes, UK
2014-10-09 Lincoln
2014-10-19 St. Paul
2014-10-20 Milwaukee
2016-08-20 Wrigley 1
2016-08-22 Wrigley 2 2018-06-18 London 1 2018-08-18 Wrigley 1 2018-08-20 Wrigley 2 2022-09-16 Nashville 2023-08-31 St. Paul 2023-09-02 St. Paul 2023-09-05 Chicago 1 2024-08-31 Wrigley 2 2024-09-15 Fenway 1 2024-09-27 Ohana 1 2024-09-29 Ohana 2
I'm very fortunate to have a wife who's been willing to travel with me for the better part of a decade now, but seeing them at home was a big deal.
But something happened that night. So many setlist snobs will compare it to Moline or Milwaukee or Denver or other shows and pretend that somehow, what happened on stage in St. Paul was "average" or "pedestrian." So many others will spend time focusing on what others were doing rather than what they were experiencing themselves. Too many people in this fan club have gotten cynical, snobby, hard-hearted. Too many people would rather bitch that St. Paul got the "hits" half of Ten instead of the dark half of Binaural, or that the stranger next to them wasn't as big a fan as them. As I've always said, if that's what you're worried about while at a PJ show, then you're doing it wrong. St. Paul was about the friends. The people. The vibe. The "coming home" experience. Every PJ show is.
And I know there are just as many who feel just like I do.
Maybe that's what this is all about. But in the middle of it all, there was this great, special oasis of a night. With friends. At home. After all these years.
Fuck it. What a night.
Thanks for listening. "vant-rant" over.
Well said. Hope your feeling better.
Seems that needlessly it's getting harder, to find an approach and a way to live
Constant Recoil..Sometimes life, Don't leave you alone
When the anxious is the present, unwrap your gifts, take your time
Vant, first I hope you're feeling better! I didn't get a chance to meet you or do the pub crawl, and I admit I was one of those initially ticked-off setlist snobs (but I've gotten over it). You hit the nail on the head, though! Of the 12 shows I've been to since I first saw the band back in 2000, the energy in St. Paul was unrivaled! The band was totally on point all night long, and I've already mentioned how great Ed sounded! "Fuck it. What a night." is absolutely right!
I love Minnesota! This was my 2nd time visiting your awesome state and I must say, "Minnesota Nice" needs to be upgraded to "Minnesota Really Fucking Awesome!" I've never met friendlier people in my entire life and that is the good honest truth! You guys are an infectious bunch of kindness & positivity and that shined through in the crowd at Xcel 11 nights ago! Glad you finally got your hometown show and I'm really glad I was there to experience it with everyone!
I've said this since the night of the show! I couldn't believe how loud it was in the arena and the energy made my skin tingle, it felt like a tangible presence. I had just come from Moline and was blown away by St Paul. On paper the setlist may not blow anyone away but being in that building lifted that show above Moline for me. The band was on fire and we're loving it all night. I don't know where the naysayers were sitting???? Maybe in a different arena because from where I was St Paul killed it. On top of all that I got Released finally, didn't have to suffer through YL at the end of the show and got to hang with some of the coolest people in the seats around me. A tip of the hat to Minnesota, I hope to have the chance to come back to your state for another PJ show!
Anything you lose from being honest You never really had to begin with.
Sometimes it's not the song that makes you emotional it's the people and things that come to your mind when you hear it.
Dont worry about what the set list snobs say Vant, I thought the show was incredible. The Pendulum -> Release opener was a great way to start, the newly worked LBC (Jumpin Jack Flash) was really cool. Thin Air, Footsteps and Imagine in the encore were fantastic, and Ill never complain about Indifference ending a show. The energy in the GA pit was off the charts which made the night even more memorable.
Besides the show, I really enjoyed the city of St Paul, everyone we met was friendly and fun to hang out with. The bar crawl was a lot of fun with a bunch of great fans, and I could crush 1000 of those mini pork bbq sandwiches at the Amsterdam.
My only complaint was the Eagle Street Grilles failure to pay for the NFL Sunday ticket forcing us to watch a pretty terrible Vikings-Bills game... on every tv.
Pittsburgh 1998 • Pittsburgh 2006 • 2012 Isle Of Wight Festival • 2012 Made In America Festival • Baltimore 2013 • Seattle 2013 St. Paul 2014 • Mexico City 2015 • Philadelphia II 2016 • Ottawa 2016 • Amsterdam I & II 2018 • Wrigley Field II 2018 • Phoenix 2022 Apollo Theater 2022 • Chicago I 2023 • Baltimore 2024
The St. Paul show was 2 1/2 weeks ago, and I haven't been able to talk or write about it yet. When people ask me about the shows (those who knew I was going to see PJ), I tell them about the Denver show....its far easier to make sense out of than St. Paul. But here goes...
Honestly, I don't want to share St. Paul with anyone except those I was with that night in the pit. The energy in the room cannot be explained -- you had to be there. yeah, that sounds cliche or whatever - BUT NO! I am telling you this was different. It was AN ENERGY. It was all of those awesome MINNESOTA people who have been listening over and over to the PJ songs they love for all these years, and all of them just DYING to come, and then fuck it guess what -- they all SHOWED UP!!... it was the energy of the Bone Marrow Doc and his AMAZING VIBES... and ED so fucking psyched he was there... followed by Unthought Known, which was the musical and spiritual highlight of the night. And then there was BLACK. Ed gets possessed by something and his voice changes. Then Mike goes off. It's that kind of feeling when you know larger forces are at hand. And they really truly are. If you believe in that shit.
I believe they really are. They are because my hotel just so happens to be a short walk up the hill, past the St. Paul Cathedral. And because downtown St. Paul is one of the safest, most livable cities in the U.S., I was able to camp overnight for GA and still go back and forth to my hotel, walking past and looking up at beautiful St. Paul over and over again, with the words ringing in my head....
So What Ya Giving?.... What Ya Giving????
Post edited by vickisomoya on
take the reigns and steer us towards the clear here I know it's already been sung but it can't be said enough ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
Listening to the boot on PJ Radio now. What a great show. The first encore was really fun.
Chicago, IL 07-19-2013 | Los Angeles, CA 11-23-2013 | Oakland, CA 11-26-2013 | St. Paul, MN 10-19-2014 | Bridge School 10-25-2014 | Ft. Lauderdale, FL 04-08-2016 | Miami, FL 04-09-2016 | TOTD San Francisco, CA 11/11/2016 | TOTD San Francisco, CA 11/12/2016 | Seattle, WA 08-08-2018 | Seattle, WA 08-10-2018 | EV & The Earthlings Ohana 09-24-2021 | EV & The Earthlings Ohana 09-25-2021 | Ohana 09-26-2021 | Los Angeles, CA 05-06-2022 | Los Angeles, CA 05-07-2022 | Oakland, CA 05-12-2022 | Oakland, CA 05-13-2022 | Austin, TX 09-18-2023 | Austin, TX 09-19-2023 Next: Sacramento, CA 05-13-2024 | Las Vegas, NV 05-16-2024 | Las Vegas, NV 05-18-2024 | Los Angeles, CA 05-21-2024 | Los Angeles, CA 05-22-2024
was just thinking about this show this morning, waiting for the boot and print to go on sale.....when they started to play Release (5th show, first time hearing it live).....I got a rush in my entire body that was unlike anything I've felt in a while......11 years to be exact.....when Ed started singing Arc during the Fargo show in 2003. I got the same emotion. It's a feeling that only happens to me at Pearl Jam shows. It's indescribable. But probably totally understandable to most folks around these parts........
"Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk" -EV 8/14/93
vant, I remember thinking that St Paul got sandwiched in between two special shows, and being a little jealous. But honestly, the St Paul show stood on its own, was very special for me too. I don't travel for music as often as many here do, (5 PJ shows, 1 Ed show, travelled for 3 out of the 6-Fargo, Minnie, and St Paul), but I will never forget that night. And I'm listening to the boot, and I'm loving it.
But out of 5 shows over 21 years, I'm still 0 for 5 on Yellow Ledbetter!! What are the fucking odds of that??? How many people on here who have seen them that many times have YL as their white whale song???? )
"Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk" -EV 8/14/93
Just listened to this boot on the long drive home today. I was right the first time this show kicked ass. It was loud in that arena and you can feel the energy come through the speakers. Release made me cry again and so did Dr. Yakop's speech. Damn that was a good show!
Also Ed had so much fun he's going to buy any of us who were there a beer if we run into him again
Anything you lose from being honest You never really had to begin with.
Sometimes it's not the song that makes you emotional it's the people and things that come to your mind when you hear it.
I was at Lincoln, Moline and st paul... and after listening to all 3 boots...more than a few times... no matter how you flip it...St Paul hands down is the best boot of the 3... being at each show live though... they all were equally amazing but if I had to rank them live....Moline, Linc. St Paul... and that's only if you had to rank them as they all were "over the top"...
Comments
I got to the GA line around 4:30 and ultimately ended up 10 rows from the railing in front of Eddie. Props to the people who got there at 2:30 on Saturday to wait in line that long for the rail – I don’t know how you do it. Everyone in the GA line and in the arena were all very nice and respectful. At previous shows, it seemed like there was much more rowdiness and outward anticipation for the show to start. Maybe this being a Sunday people were a little more chilled out. That’s fine… it got crazy.
I’m going song-by-song from what I remember:
01. Pendulum – I guessed correctly that this would be the opener. Very atmospheric… I could smell the weed immediately. Seemed like we all knew the words which was cool.
02. Release – an amazing surprise in this position. The entire arena sang incredibly loud.
03. Nothingman – nice and mellow.
04. Go – the pit went absolutely crazy during Go. Non-stop pogo and the band had crazy energy during this. Maybe the start of Vs front to back?
05. Life Wasted –Nope. Maybe the start of Avodado front to back?
06. Corduroy – Nope. Oh well. Awesome version of Corduroy. 1st time hearing it without Interstellar Overdrive to start.
07. Lightning Bolt – such an amazing song. My favorite off of LB. Crazy energy in the pit.
08. Mind Your Manners – awesome fist-pumps.
09. Save You – a nice surprise. So much better live than studio version, in my opinion.
10. Even Flow – 1st of the BIG hits for the average fan. No drum solo and overall seemed shorter than previous years, which is fine.
11. Sirens – one of my least favorite PJ songs and my least favorite song of the night… sorry.
12. Love Boat Captain (with intro)/Jumpin’ Jack Flash. I didn’t recognize JJF at all. LBC was awesome – again, better live for me.
13. Daughter – recorded this on my phone per request from my 8 year old daughter.
14. I Got ID – AMAZING. I love this song so much and it was a special treat.
15. The Fixer – Ed looking down at his notes to get the lyrics correct… this has to be his most difficult song to remember. Good crown energy throughout.
“MD Tour” – Ed was quite the comedian and very humble when the doctor was praising him. It got pretty mellow during all of this, but then first chords that came next were amazing:
16. Unthought Known – probably in my top 5 favorite songs of all time from any artist. “Gems and Rhinestones” was screamed out by everyone!
17. Given To Fly – I’m in the extreme minority, but I always skip this song. Was fine.
18. Rearviewmirror – great energy… was concise (relative to previous versions I’ve seen) but still felt like a great ending to the 1st set.
Encore Break 1
19. Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town – Big Hit sing-along for the average fan.
20. Thin Air – so awesome. First time hearing this live I think. Great version.
21. Footsteps – my highlight of the night. I think this song got the biggest gasp when the opening chords played. Of all the more mellow songs, loudest crowd singing of the night.
22. Imagine-pretty surreal to see the entire arena lit up by the cell phone flashlights. A very nice touch.
23. Last Kiss- played to the back.
24. Why Go – Seems to always get played in St. Paul. Love it.
25. Do The Evolution – hate the studio version, but I was surprised how great it was live that night. I’ve heard it before live, but not as good as this.
26. Porch – crazy crazy crazy wild.
Encore Break 2
27. Black- an all time favorite of everyone’s… big sing along. Not the best I’ve heard though. Can anything beat Atlanta 94?
28. Setting Forth – great to see Ed joke about going Into the Wild with his new MN Wild hockey sweater
29. Better Man/Save It For Later-again, big crowd sing along. Ed was trying to the crowd more into his responses for SIFL.
30. Alive – Yes.
31. Rockin' In The Free World-best version I’ve ever seen live
32. Indifference – I hate that I always want Ledbetter to finish a show, because Indifference is such a beautiful song. I felt like Ed’s voice was pretty rough at this point, understandably.
All in all, best concert I’ve ever seen. I feel jealous of you lucky bastards in Moline and Milwaukee to get an album start-to-finish, but I now realize why this show was full of hits. The combination of the large EB contingent (MD, families, kids), Jill in the audience and Jeff’s family in the audience resulted in this rather pedestrian/amazing setlist (depending on who you talk to). I hate when I read fanviews or comments about certain crowds being lame. I think that can happen at every concert. In the pit it was absolutely energized, welcoming, fun and LOUD where I was. I looked up in the stands and could see certain rows sitting down. I make no excuses for that. People go to concerts for various reasons (free tickets, going with a friend or “I used to love PJ back in 93 so I want to hear those songs again). Not everyone knows the lyrics to every song and that’s okay.
Can’t wait to see them again.
This was the second year in a row we've used a PJ concert as a wedding anniversary present (Year 1/paper = tickets; Year 2/cotton = t-shirts at the show). We were happy with our reserved seats 16 rows up on Mike's side next to a couple that had gotten engaged earlier that day. I'm not sure exactly what we were expecting, but I know that the anticipation put a charge in the building that night. The opening trio of Pendulum/Release/Nothingman was incredible and emotional. I'm pretty sure the last verse of Release was changed from "Oh dear Dad" to "Oh dear Mom." At this point we were expected to be pummeled by some faster, more energetic stuff and were not at all disappointed with the run from Go to Even Flow. I never really listened to the lyrics of Save You before and was surprised with the theme. Hearing it live and actually listening made me like it more than I already did. Sirens was good except there were a lot of people making beer runs during this one. It seemed as though Ed was trying to change up the sing-along outro but the crowd wasn't paying attention and just kept on with the same "Ah-Ooh" as per the song. This is getting long, so I'm just going to skip to important parts. Love Boat Captain was awesome and I had no idea it was Jumping Jack Flash as it was hard to understand the lyrics towards the end. The introduction of the doctor and his work with EB was cool and a great way to introduce the band. It went on for way too long, though, and I felt the energy fell off a cliff here and it never made it back to the earlier heights. Unthought Known and Imagine were powerful. I've heard Do the Evolution at 7 of 8 shows (it wasn't written in 96 when I first saw them) and am completely sick of it, so even though I knew it would be played I wasn't thrilled with it. Porch was awesome. Second encore was good - Black and Alive are always treats to hear live. We got a kick out of Stone starting Alive after Black then having Ed tell him "We talked about this backstage..."
All in all it was a good show. I wish we would have heard a few more rarities, but they seemed to be tighter as a band than when we have seen them previously. And it is always a good day when we get to see live music, especially our favorite band.
Soap box has now been put away.
This show was special to me for many reasons I can't go into them all. But my father died a few years ago, and it was his birthday on the 18th. Lots of weird things happened all weekend letting me know he was still there, but the rolling stones was his absolute favorite band. Loved them, picked up guitar at age 45 just to learn how to play the beginning rif from jumpin' jack flash so he could wake me up annoyingly with it when I was home with him. It is one of the last clear memories I can picture of him in my head. When I heard the first rif change during LBC I started to think that it wasn't possible, that I had never really heard it before but LBC sounds a lot like JJF lol...but when Ed said "cross fire hurricane" I lost my shit. Single greatest moment at a PJ concert I have ever had. Now I didn't get no code, and I didn't get yield, or Ten or versus, but I got one of the more special moments for me that I will ever have.
Unbelievable night, the RITFW was about as good as I have ever heard and the energy during it was outstanding, and then to not have them go into YLB was an even bigger plus. I haven't seen them since 2009 and god damn it did they sound unbelievable. Love seeing concerts sitting next to other 10 club members too, makes singing along a lot more acceptable...just wish I had kept my old number lol.
Great night for me and my wife and one I won't soon forget.
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan
First time I've never gotten merch at a show. I didn't take the time to check out the table. Any cool stuff? Any pics of the merch?
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
Coincidentally (or perhaps not so), everything during the middle part of October conspired against "the PJ week" (10/9 - 10/20). It started with Lincoln, which was a great time with great friends, but shortly thereafter, I came down with the worst non-flu cold I've ever had. It's come and gone and come back, weeks later. A few days after Lincoln, a friend passed away in a terrible accident. Work afforded me no breaks, and the Friday before the show, we had a wedding to go to. I was sick, thinking about a buddy, completely worn out and going into that one PJ weekend I'd been waiting for since 2006.
I went to the Pub Crawl we had planned to host for all the out-of-town friends coming in (compared to Moline, Tulsa, Lincoln, or even Austin, St. Paul was a breeze to get to, so the thinking went). We met some absolutely fantastic people from all around the US, South America, Europe, Canada, Australia...too many places to remember. So many great people.
But as the night went on, my cold developed into what I found out later was an ear infection. Yep. That's right. The night before I was going to hear my favorite band in my hometown, I suddenly couldn't hear a thing. (If you noticed me leaning to the side, saying "What?" or looking like I was miserable toward the end of the pub crawl, it's because I was!).
The next day was show day of course. It was also the day of the funeral for my friend. I won't make any story out of it or pretend that I thought about Paul during the show. No, "Release" wasn't for him. He wasn't my closest friend, but he was a great guy with a great heart. Suffice it to say, a pre-show funeral was tough.
As I said, everything conspired to make this show unmemorable. Miserable. A distraction.
But something happened that night. So many setlist snobs will compare it to Moline or Milwaukee or Denver or other shows and pretend that somehow, what happened on stage in St. Paul was "average" or "pedestrian." So many others will spend time focusing on what others were doing rather than what they were experiencing themselves.
And that thought - that somehow the show unfolding was "unmemorable" or that anything else could be the focus - must have been so foreign to the Minnesota faithful who had waited for so long.
For us, it was the culmination of years of waiting, just to sing along with our favorite band, and have them to ourselves for a few hours. Maybe Ed pretends (as I'm sure he does for a lot of places), but it really looked and felt like he and the band had an affinity for our state. Our state. The world is a really cynical fucking place these days, but that means something here, and I know it meant something to all the Minnesota folks in the crowd that night. I was on the floor with my friends and ear infection be damned, we sang the shit out of that place. There were high-fives, finger-pointing, sing alongs. We found our friend in reserved and fist-pumped from 50 yards, together.
So what could have taken the place of all that? After showing a bunch of a great people who we'd never met a good time the night before, singing with old friends and new, hearing the band in such good spirits, knowing our pre-party kicked ass, what could possibly take the place of that? A fucking setlist critique?
Too many people in this fan club have gotten cynical, snobby, hard-hearted. Too many people would rather bitch that St. Paul got the "hits" half of Ten instead of the dark half of Binaural, or that the stranger next to them wasn't as big a fan as them. As I've always said, if that's what you're worried about while at a PJ show, then you're doing it wrong. St. Paul was about the friends. The people. The vibe. The "coming home" experience. Every PJ show is.
And I know there are just as many who feel just like I do. But for those that are knocking the show's energy or it's setlist, or what it "could have been," my guess is you're not from here. Or you didn't spend enough time meeting the right people. Or you just weren't paying attention. Maybe with that background, the show could never have been for some what it was for us.
Maybe that's what this is all about. For me, everything worked against that night being special. I'm still sick and exhausted, almost three weeks later. But in the middle of it all, there was this great, special oasis of a night. With friends. At home. After all these years.
Fuck it. What a night.
Thanks for listening. "vant-rant" over.
2003-06-16 St. Paul
2006-06-26 St. Paul
2007-08-05 Chicago
2009-08-23 Chicago
2009-08-28 San Francisco
2010-05-01 NOLA (Jazz Fest)
2011-07-02 EV Minneapolis
2011-09-03 PJ20
2011-09-04 PJ20
2011-09-17 Winnipeg
2012-06-26 Amsterdam
2012-06-27 Amsterdam
2013-07-19 Wrigley
2013-11-21 San Diego
2013-11-23 Los Angeles
2013-11-24 Los Angeles
2014-07-08 Leeds, UK
2014-07-11 Milton Keynes, UK
2014-10-09 Lincoln
2014-10-19 St. Paul
2014-10-20 Milwaukee
2016-08-20 Wrigley 1
2016-08-22 Wrigley 2
2018-06-18 London 1
2018-08-18 Wrigley 1
2018-08-20 Wrigley 2
2022-09-16 Nashville
2023-08-31 St. Paul
2023-09-02 St. Paul
2023-09-05 Chicago 1
2024-08-31 Wrigley 2
2024-09-15 Fenway 1
2024-09-27 Ohana 1
2024-09-29 Ohana 2
Constant Recoil..Sometimes life, Don't leave you alone
When the anxious is the present, unwrap your gifts, take your time
I love Minnesota! This was my 2nd time visiting your awesome state and I must say, "Minnesota Nice" needs to be upgraded to "Minnesota Really Fucking Awesome!" I've never met friendlier people in my entire life and that is the good honest truth! You guys are an infectious bunch of kindness & positivity and that shined through in the crowd at Xcel 11 nights ago! Glad you finally got your hometown show and I'm really glad I was there to experience it with everyone!
I had just come from Moline and was blown away by St Paul. On paper the setlist may not blow anyone away but being in that building lifted that show above Moline for me.
The band was on fire and we're loving it all night. I don't know where the naysayers were sitting???? Maybe in a different arena because from where I was St Paul killed it.
On top of all that I got Released finally, didn't have to suffer through YL at the end of the show and got to hang with some of the coolest people in the seats around me.
A tip of the hat to Minnesota, I hope to have the chance to come back to your state for another PJ show!
You never really had to begin with.
Sometimes it's not the song that makes you emotional it's the people and things that come to your mind when you hear it.
Besides the show, I really enjoyed the city of St Paul, everyone we met was friendly and fun to hang out with. The bar crawl was a lot of fun with a bunch of great fans, and I could crush 1000 of those mini pork bbq sandwiches at the Amsterdam.
My only complaint was the Eagle Street Grilles failure to pay for the NFL Sunday ticket forcing us to watch a pretty terrible Vikings-Bills game... on every tv.
St. Paul 2014 • Mexico City 2015 • Philadelphia II 2016 • Ottawa 2016 • Amsterdam I & II 2018 • Wrigley Field II 2018 • Phoenix 2022
Apollo Theater 2022 • Chicago I 2023 • Baltimore 2024
But here goes...
Honestly, I don't want to share St. Paul with anyone except those I was with that night in the pit. The energy in the room cannot be explained -- you had to be there. yeah, that sounds cliche or whatever - BUT NO! I am telling you this was different. It was AN ENERGY. It was all of those awesome MINNESOTA people who have been listening over and over to the PJ songs they love for all these years, and all of them just DYING to come, and then fuck it guess what -- they all SHOWED UP!!... it was the energy of the Bone Marrow Doc and his AMAZING VIBES... and ED so fucking psyched he was there... followed by Unthought Known, which was the musical and spiritual highlight of the night. And then there was BLACK. Ed gets possessed by something and his voice changes. Then Mike goes off. It's that kind of feeling when you know larger forces are at hand. And they really truly are. If you believe in that shit.
I believe they really are. They are because my hotel just so happens to be a short walk up the hill, past the St. Paul Cathedral. And because downtown St. Paul is one of the safest, most livable cities in the U.S., I was able to camp overnight for GA and still go back and forth to my hotel, walking past and looking up at beautiful St. Paul over and over again, with the words ringing in my head....
So What Ya Giving?....
What Ya Giving????
steer us towards the clear here
I know it's already been sung
but it can't be said enough
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
-EV 8/14/93
-EV 8/14/93
2012 Missoula (9/30) 2013 Chicago (7/19) Pittsburgh (10/11) Buffalo (10/12) Baltimore (10/27) Dallas (11/15)
2014 Austin (10/12) Memphis (10/14) St. Paul (10/19) Milwaukee (10/20) Denver (10/22)
2016 Ft. Lauderdale (4/8) Miami (4/9) Hampton (4/18) Philly (4/28,4/29) NY (5/1,5/2) 2018 Seattle (8/10) Missoula (8/13) 2022 Nashville (9/16)
E.V. - 2008 Berkeley (4/8) 2012 Austin (11/9,11/12)
Temple of the Dog - 2016 Upper Darby
2012 Missoula (9/30) 2013 Chicago (7/19) Pittsburgh (10/11) Buffalo (10/12) Baltimore (10/27) Dallas (11/15)
2014 Austin (10/12) Memphis (10/14) St. Paul (10/19) Milwaukee (10/20) Denver (10/22)
2016 Ft. Lauderdale (4/8) Miami (4/9) Hampton (4/18) Philly (4/28,4/29) NY (5/1,5/2) 2018 Seattle (8/10) Missoula (8/13) 2022 Nashville (9/16)
E.V. - 2008 Berkeley (4/8) 2012 Austin (11/9,11/12)
Temple of the Dog - 2016 Upper Darby
But out of 5 shows over 21 years, I'm still 0 for 5 on Yellow Ledbetter!! What are the fucking odds of that??? How many people on here who have seen them that many times have YL as their white whale song????
-EV 8/14/93
steer us towards the clear here
I know it's already been sung
but it can't be said enough
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
Also Ed had so much fun he's going to buy any of us who were there a beer if we run into him again
You never really had to begin with.
Sometimes it's not the song that makes you emotional it's the people and things that come to your mind when you hear it.
steer us towards the clear here
I know it's already been sung
but it can't be said enough
ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
-EV 8/14/93
there were most likely many of us from Manitoba. was well worth it!
-EV 8/14/93
-EV 8/14/93