Ed solo New York 1 8/4 Fanviews

Vedder_woman · August 2008

jonopono wrote:

Wow ... the show was amazing (notwithstanding my new subway friend's views ... more on that later)!

I got there at 6:15 and picked up my tix ... solid orchestra. Not as good as I would have hope for, but awesome all the same. I was sitting between 10C members who were 100,000 higher and lower than me on each side, so apparently the seating was pretty random. While I picked up my tix, I stepped inside for a moment and heard Liam and EJ soundchecking ... they sounded awesome, which only got me more stoked.
But before I ever got inside, I had to walk 2 blocks to stand at the end of a rather long line of people waiting to get in. The line eventually started rolling at about 6:45. I had to wait for a few minutes for my buddy to meet me, but he showed up at 7pm and we headed in. (To the guys who were waiting against the fence with me ... I hope your friends made it!)

As soon as we got in, I headed to the merch table and picked up an EV poster, as I hoped to avoid a repeat of the MSG debacle. As it turned out, there was no reason to worry ... plenty of posters for all! They were still selling them after the show. My buddy picked up two beers, but just as we started sipping them and making our way to the orchestra doors, a woman passed out and dropped to the floor. I am an EMT, so I dropped my poster and rushed over to see if I could help. One of the mindful staff members called 911 and stabilized the woman's head. I introduced myself, and offered to help with the scene until the ambulance arrived. Thankfully, the woman regained consciousness and her vital signs all appeared to be normalizing by the time the ambulance arrived. To gauge her consciousness, I asked her where she was and why she was there. She responded, "I am at the United Palace Theatre in New York City, and I'm here to rock out with Eddie Vedder!" I had to laugh, and replied, "I think that's why we're all here ... and I really hope you'll get to stick around see the show!" The ambulance crew that took her seemed capable and professional. I don't know if she was able to stay for the show, or went to the hospital, but my prayers are with her and I certainly hope she is doing well.

After all this excitement, I picked up my poster (miraculously unharmed!), and my buddy and I picked up our programs and settled into our seats. We sat in Orchestra H, 22-24, around a cool crew of folks. The people behind us were really rocking out and were clearly awesome fans. The couple to our right were also pretty rocking.

Liam and EJ came out and played a freaking awesome set. I apologize to the poor woman in front of me who jumped 3 feet when I screamed as Liam started Second Chance. Hopefully we can all agree that the song is amazing! The Happy Birthday tribute for their road manager was really cute and the whole crowd got into it. Liam and EJ were even good sports when some dude shouted out "Flight of the Concords!" They agreed to adopt the personas of Liam's fellow New Zealanders (this was an even grander gesture by Ms. Barnes, who I'm told is Australian), but then quickly began arguing over which one of them is Jerome. Apparently Bret is not too popular with the Kiwis or the Aussies.

I hit the men's room after Liam's set and ended up next to a sorta weird looking middle-aged dude with a bandage on his head. I could be absolutely, totally wrong, but for a moment i was sure it was Daniel Johnston. Anyone know if he was there?!

After a short break, Eddie came out and opened with Walking the Cow and then Trouble. Lest the crowd think it was going to be a night of covers, he then plowed into one of the most powerful performances of I Am Mine I've ever heard. At some point early on, he made a crack about how cool the crowd was and that he was thankful that, "we left all the assholes back in Boston." As if on cue, 2 minutes later some guy stands up in the middle of his row and, when one of the guys behind him asks him to sit, he whirls around and starts screaming expletives and threatening the guy physically. Security moved quickly to intervene, but the asshole kept shouting and threatening the other guy, until the engineer behind the soundboard turned to his right and called him out and then threatened to throw the asshole out. I'm not sure who it was working the board, but THANK YOU!! Your involvement quickly ended what was starting to escalate into an ugly situation, and made the concert far more enjoyable for all of us in that area. I'd be remiss if I didn't add that the sound was AMAZING! The bass came through without getting distorted or clipping, and the vocals all came through clearly and crisply. It's a damn shame that there's no bootleg off the board for this one ... Eddie and Liam both sounded phenomenal.

Which brings me to Eddie's voice. From what I can tell from the West Coast boots and setlists, tonight's show was definitely shorter (probably due to the fact that Ed admitted he's still on meds), but Eddie sounded amazing. Without having to shout over the entire band, it seemed he was able to relax his voice a little more and fine tune the musicianship. He was pitch-perfect for nearly every note, culminating in the climactic and moving rendition of Arc at the end of Encore 1.

I've got to get up early for work, so I"ll wrap up with my highlights, in chronological order:
1. Liam and EJ rocking Second Chance
2. Ed ripping through I Am Mine
3. The uke vs. mandolin lesson
4. Walk Hard (from Dewey Cox ... I was LMAO)
5. Hide Your Love Away ... right into PORCH!!
6. ARC (whoever said it was a religious experience was dead on)
7. LMLOTD (w/ the guys and girls sing-along)
8. Society w/ Liam (though I would liked to hear more harmony from Liam)
9. Masters of War
10. Hard Sun w/ Liam and EJ

I also met this awesome rocking woman on the 1 train home. I got off at 110, you headed down to 66th ... we bonded over PJ concerts and I marveled at her good fortune to have seen The Who with Moonie. She was the one who told me how sick Ed had been in Boston and that while he sounded great tonight, she was dissapointed that he didn't talk more or play some more songs. I guess when your expectations are THAT high, even tonight's kickass performance can fall short.

That's it for now, but damn, what a great night.

Thank you again to everyone on stage, behind stage, and sitting out in front of the stage. Tonight was magic.

Thank you so much for recaping the night. It was such an amazing experience. Words can't describe how much it meant to me to see Eddie twice in one year. I was at MSG II and now NYC1. Twice in one year is such a treat.I loved Walking the cow, I am mine was just pure power, Man of the hour brought me to tears, Rise up gave me chills, Walk hard made me laugh, Porch made me jump out of my seat, Let love open the door was AWESOME, Masters of war put me in a trace where I seemed to be singing along with Eddie and swaying back and fourth, No more was beautiful, Arc was so haunting I love it, And last but not least Hard sun, awesome performance. Eddie I love you and I have loved you for the past 17years. You got me with Black and ever since then I am yours. You have helped me through some really rough times in my life and I know if it wasn't for you and youre music I would not be here on this earth today. And that's the truth. Thank you for making this summer unforgetable.

Vedder_woman · August 2008

I met some really amazing people. Thank you to ccnyc for the invite to the pre-party. Thank you to the 3 awesome guys I met at Coogan's, Ray, Luke and Ian. I hope you guys enjoyed the show. Thank you to my new friend Niomi, we will grow to be very good friends. And thank you to Eddie for making me feel alive again.

robbi22 · August 2008

Loved the show. 'Porch', 'LMLOTD', 'Masters of War' & 'Arc' rocked. Thank goodness EV was born. What would we do w/o him?

luckestryke · August 2008

Hey Vedder Woman!

Meeting you was awesome! How about that show! Ray and I got so lucky with our seats!! Many thanks to the 10club! We were seated in the 1st 2 aisle seats left side 2nd Row!! After eddies 1st encore i met him at the stage with a mob of people behind us and he shook my f*$king hand!! My hat fell of from the mob of people behind me! So surreal!! Also met and talked with Liam Finn who was hanging out before eddies set downstairs by the poster table, got him to sign my playbill! Best concert ive evver been too! I obeyed the 10club rules of no cameras but i was a little jealous of not having pictures of the show to put me back there somewhat to try to relive it!!! If anyone can send me a kodak gallery of there shots would be much appreciated!

Vedder Woman we still owe you some shots from Coogans! I felt bad about that later! Thanks for the JW Black! Hope to see you at a future show!! Great to meet you.

Luke

WashMyLove · August 2008

I was not lucky through the 10c sale or ticketbastards to get tix for any of the NYC shows.

My friend did score a pair from the 10c and she was going to take my other 10c friend that also was not lucky. She was planing to go but at the last minute she cancelled and she asked me if I wanted to take her ticket...I said ofcourse!

So thanks to you both...lol

Well on with the show.
Liam and EJ were cool. The performance was a little all over the place but I guess it was good and different. Liam's voice was great and EJ...wow with the screams.

I saw that the crew was setting up for the EV performance and they had what looked like a butcher's white coat...hahahaha...funny I heard it's b/c of some experiment, I was like what experiment...Is EV going to have frankenstein on stage.lol...oh well.

Eddie was making everyone laugh with his funny remarks about the "I Love You Eddie" that some guy screamed out and Eddie reply was can't say it back bcs he didn't know who said it and didn't want his other boyfriends to get jealous...lol and there were other remarks regarding what was on the glass some red liquid...I told my friend it probably was some V8..lol...
He seemed in a good mood and seemed to have energy eventhough he told us he was still sick but was not on medication.

High lights for me were def. were Sometimes, Goodbye, Let My Love Open the Door (Wow...I never thought I would see this gem), Society was really nice with Liam. Masters of War, always gives me goosebumps.
First time seeing Arc...It was nice. Does anyone know if it sounded different when played on PJ shows?

The scenary on the stage change: First it was Eddie singing in an ally behind a building. After a few songs the screen behind went up and now what looked like to me some cargo boxes was the scene. Then after a few songs the screen changed into a tent. really nice background for the EV show.

The last song: Hard Sun was really nice. Eddie came out with the white coat as well did Liam and EJ. The background was changed for the finale into the blue sea and clouds...For a moment I thought I was in a cult singing along in that venue...Well the venue is a church of some kind.lol.
Everyone was singing along including me. Great show! Thanks again to my friends for thinking of me

Besides the late comers, people getting up and not letting us see. The two talkative guys next to me that wouldn't shut up...always had to say something during when EV sang. The people who rushed down the aisle to the stage during the last song and ofcourse the security who kept flashing people's faces just to show the late comers where their seats were. The EV show was a memorable experience.
Thanks Eddie!

joep3 · August 2008

I cannot stop talking about Monday night. The greatest live show EVER! So intimate-I felt like I was just hanging out with Eddie and some friends in his livingroom.

Great crowd-NYC!!!-gorgeous venue-Eddie's vocals were heartfelt and powerful.

Transcendent..

Will never forget it.

vduboise · August 2008

Thanks freakfish for a great recap on the show.

I was 6 rows back from the stage- and the theater is just beautiful.

Liam Finn and Eliza Jane was unexpected. I've never heard him play and I thought that it was pleasantly surprising. What a talented guy! And made a fan out of me.

The only words I can say is that EV was the best. I'm glad I cut my trip short to see him.

P.S.

***Also, to the dude in front of us who was taping long portions of the show. When the usher busts you and tells you to stop, don't argue, just apologize and stop. It's not the difficult. And when you're being a dick and taping again, knowing you're not allowed, and the woman behind you asks you to please lower your camera so she can enjoy her view, the proper response would be to apologize for inconveniencing her and then lower your camera. An improper response would be to act like a dickbag and tell her that the only way you'll put the camera down is if she pays for your seat. I know it's embarrassing when people call you out for behaving like an ass, but further underlining that behavior is not the way to go when it happens.***

I had a similar situation with the woman in front of me. I know that it would be nice to have a record of this wonderful experience. But on that same note, the people behind you would like to enjoy the show.
This woman got tapped 5 times and she still would not put the camera down. My husband tapped her and asked that she put it away- she just looked over at us- moved the camera a few degrees over to block another person instead. But the bright screen was still there! If it was not the camera- it was the iPhone. If its a picture once in a while- fine- but for the WHOLE show- that is just wrong to the people behind you.

I understand the No Camera Rule- and now I'm for it.

meme · August 2008

jonopono wrote:

I also met this awesome rocking woman on the 1 train home. I got off at 110, you headed down to 66th ...

No, no, no, the awesome rocking woman got off with you at 110!

Ok, I guess the other one was also awesome and rocking

evolvin · September 2008

Eddie made an awesome statement, something along the lines of "I get so fuckin' angry, that people aren't more fuckin' angry" or something like that. Does anybody recall the quote?

edvedr13 · October 2008

Driftin!!!

PJRock75 · February 2009

I took my dad to this show...he became and EV fan through osmosis ....we had 10th row and the best time together. First time I heard Driftin' live which I had been waiting YEARS for. All in all, a great night.