Story Time; First EV Solo Show - From NJ to Chicago

Long story short; I never got tickets to the NY or Philly shows...

My brother died a little over 2 years ago and he was a HUGE Pearl Jam fan. I always liked PJ when he would listen to them, but wasn't nearly the fan as he was, or that I am now since he's been gone. I guess I wanted my own favorite band, and that was always Modest Mouse. He was probably actually a member on here and I didn't know it. I knew all the hits and Yield was the only cd that was actually mine. I bought it used at an old record store because I knew he didn't have it, win-win. Now I know and love everything they've put out and have all the CDs and about 40 live ones.

My mom recently met someone who convinced her she had to go to an EV concert and told her he was playing in NY and she got this feeling that it was a calling for her that she had to finally see him. (she was supposed to go last year to see PJ with me at MSG but decided against it) So she told me to go on StubHub to get us tickets as a college graduation present, and I insisted against it because they were around $300 each, which is pretty ridiculous. She was still willing to pay that, but I didn't want her to. So she was under the impression that the ticket prices would drop exponentially during the next few moments, which was not the case, but she found out that he was playing in other areas and started listing them, which surprised me because she's not very tech-savvy.

Jokingly for the most part, I said let's go to Chicago (tickets on SH were about $70). Ten minutes later we're looking up flights and hotels, and shortly after, tickets are bought for the Chicago night 1 show and flights and hotel are booked. It all happened so fast and as I listen to Into the Wild right now, it's making me very appreciative of what I'll be seeing Tuesday night in Chicago, where I've never been before. I haven't been away with just my mom since I've been about 5 and I'm 22 now, and now we get to go on a mini vacation (we're staying Sunday-Wednesday and I already got a cheap ticket to Giants @ Cubs just so I can say I've been to Wrigley). I really look forward to seeing EV solo and being with my mom for a few days, and it's something my mom will appreciate very much since there will be no loud PJ songs that she may not enjoy. She loves his voice and lyrics and she will 100% cry during this show, as EV has touched my family deeply over the past 27 months.

After looking at the recent sets, I see that I Am Mine has been played at all of the shows, and I REALLY hope that continues to be the case for this reason...

I fell in love with that song in November 2002 when it first came out, which was when I was visiting my brother at school with my parents. At the time it first came out, I can't imagine I cared too much about the lyrics, but now it's one of my favorite songs ever.

Another long story short; I'm pumped.