*** Cincinnati Fanviews 6/24 Here ***

I need to give it up to the great people in Section 116 side stage. I was a bit skeptical about sitting in this area, but I was not disappointed. You guys rocked! After warning all of those in the immediate area that I would be losing my shit during the show, I soon found out that I was in good company.

I will say this for the setlist. I knew as I listened to the show that the setlist would look pretty bland to those who weren't there, but fuck that. The boys were completely on last night, the crowd was nuts, and those that I met were incredible. I think that too often we get so hooked on "quantity" over "quality," and that is easy to do, but I must say that, for the most part, this was one of the cleanest performances I've seen of them in some time.

edwho wrote:

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I think when critiquing Pittsburgh and Cincinnati set lists you have to remember what’s next for the band (and us) The Tom Petty shows. Maybe Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were a warm up for those shows. More hits, Less rarities, Shorter sets.

Reading the Pittsburg Fanviews you’d think pandemonium prevailed all night in that crowd. Coming from Chicago (not bias) I agree with most those views. BUT I think Cincinnati fans were just more excited and were very much louder. If they had just known a little more cheering would have gotten them a third encore.

In Cincinnati after the band finished playing Baba O’Riley (with the house lights on) they took their bows and left the stage. People starting leaving and nobody was cheering. Folks should have been screaming because the stage crew was setting up for another song. In Pittsburgh Mike and Jeff’s quitar techs were breaking stuff down during Yellow Ledbetter. In Cincinnati after Baba O’Riley they were still prepping guitars. But nobody was cheering so after a few minutes someone with a headset gave the kill sign and the race to St. Paul started.

Cincinnati was so close to a THIRD FUCKING ENCORE. Royals17 and I could see a crew set list from our seats and Indifference was the last song listed.

~

I thought the crowd stuck with it a little bit. I even made the comment to my wife that you don't usually see a crowd stick around this long and cheer. Persoanlly, I've never seen them come back once the lights come up, especially once the pre-recorded music comes on. Anybody else?

-Jeremy

The crowd in Cincy was amazing. This was show number ten for me, and this crowd blew every other crowd out of the water. From the time Ed came up to do The Kids Are Alright until Baba it was just insane. I was beyond pumped when I got to hear Long Road for the first time, and would have been happy with any set list that would follow. Some nice surprises in Save You, Green Disease, Wishlist, and Leash. During Evenflow Matt did a kick ass drum solo, and I hope that becomes a staple. The first set had some balls to it, the fact is after Long Road it didn't slow down at all (unless you count Unemployable, Present Tense, and Gone as "slow"). The first encore slowed the pace down a bit, not that that is bad, and then Leash took care of that. All in all, it was a great show. I think people were expecting an epic type show with it have being 6 years since the last show there, but I don't think anyone should be let down by it. A great concert, and easily towards the top of the concerts I have been to.

Ok, you guys are killing me talking about the 3rd encore, but I agree, I think it was coming. I saw the upright bass being set up and figured they had more for us. That kills me too, I've never heard Indifference live and really wanted to hear that one. I think that would have put the show over the top for me, Binaural be damned. Honestly though, I kind of figured Baba might end it so I think that psyched a lot of us out. More than anything I'm just depressed that I won't be seeing them again for a while. Great show though, no matter how it ended.

I don't believe they would've played anymore if the crowd was louder. I think the venue probably said they were past curfew and couldn't play anymore if they actually were going to play some more.

Great show! This show was so good, I had to sign up to your little message pit and tell the world as such. I've seen quite a few shows in my day...[although I hate to admit I haven't seen Pearl Jam since Lollapalooza '92 which they also blew everyone away...damn Bogart's for selling out so fast!]this was one of the best. I don't think I've ever experienced that much energy emanating from the crowd to the artist. What feedback! To me, that's what it's all about and Pearl Jam stoked the fire.

And, hailing from Dayton, what about our own Robert Pollard! He, along with his new band, kicked it up to arena level with low-fi buzz! However, I still long for the good ole GBV days of 'intimate' shows at Canal Street Tavern or the beer throwing frenzies of the Southgate House performances of Baba O'Riley. However, seeing Pearl Jam, Robert Pollard and the amazing crowd with the house lights on bolting out their rendition of the Who classic, it doesn't get much better than that!

I was in section 104, near the bottom, and thought that the sound was bad there. I couldn't understand Ed, couldn't hear Mikey really well, heard the crowd over the music a lot. The band was fantastic- the most energy I have ever seen in them. I saw some songs that I hadn't seen before (this was #13 for me). Overall, I thought it was a great show, but for the first 5-6 songs, the sound sucked. Is there anyone out there who thought the same thing? About the sound, that is?

The last show I saw them at was the VFC show in St Louis. Obviously, the sound was much better there.

I don't think I'll see them again unless I have really close seats.

Hey all,

This is my first post here. I posted the review below on my blog, thought you might dig. Freaking amazing show all the way around, I'm still buzzing. Also, I haven't seen this posted elsewhere: here is the Cincinnati Enquirer review of the show:
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060625/ENT/306250014

Cheers,
dp

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Pearl Jam in Cincinnati

People who know me, have seen my band, or have read RFN for long know that there are few things I dig more than rock and roll played like it matters. Life does not get much better for me than when rock is played with passion and urgency; with a belief that four chords can move mountains and change the world; and with a need to communicate, to break down the barriers between audience and band and turn a concert into a conversation rather than a performance.

People who do this — they’re the true believers, the people who give a shit.

Amy and I had not seen the band since their Lollapalooza set at Riverbend back in July 1992. We played the hell out of Ten back then and were big fans up through Vitaology. They sort of lost me with No Code and although we continued to listen to them on occasion — Amy listened far more than me — they fell out of high rotation. But the new record is really good, and we were intrigued by reports that the band had hit its groove again and was once again fulfilling its rep as one of rock’s best live acts. Our pal Jackie — one of my favorite people on earth and someone I’ll write about one day — hooked us up with tickets.

Thank goodness she did, as we were treated to a righteous two-hour, 26-song tour de force. Pearl Jam get it. They give a shit. They’re true believers.

The musical highlights were a blistering “Not For You,” a beautiful take on “Better Man” (where the crowd carried the first verses and the band later segued into the English Beat’s “Save It For Later”), a glorious “Crazy Mary” that culminated in a dual between the part-time keyboard player (on B3-style keys) and guitarist Mike McCready, and, of course, “Alive,” which as good as rock anthems get.

The personal highlight — besides taking in the band’s passion and watching the crowd respond in kind — was witnessing Pearl Jam’s sense of history. US Bank Arena was formerly the Riverfront Coliseum, where eleven young adults were crushed to death trying to enter a Who concert on December 3, 1979. Two of the victims went to my high school and while I didn’t know them (I was in the eighth grade then), I came to know two of their brothers. (These are astronomical odds: 2/11 being from a small Catholic high school with an enrollment of approximately 300, especially considering that the two guys didn’t attend the show together.) I have many friends who were there and who are still haunted by the night in some ways. Pearl Jam suffered a similar tragedy in June 2000 when nine concertgoers died in a rush to the stage at a large festival in Denmark; the band considered breaking up afterwards.

Whereas most bands might ignore the building’s dark history and their own connection to it, Eddie Vedder took it head-on. Pearl Jam are known as unabashed Who fans and Vedder took the stage wearing a classic Who t-shirt. He opened the show before opening act Bob Pollard with a solo version of “The Kids Are Alright” (we missed this, unfortunately). Midway through the show, he acknowledged both tragedies and admitted that it felt weird to set foot in that building for the first time. They felt compelled to honor the victims of both shows, dedicating “Love Boat Captain” as a “little prayer for those who passed and all the survivors” (quote from the Enquirer review linked below).

The final piece was bringing Pollard, also a massive Who fan, back for the final encore, a joyful blow through “Baba O’Reilly” with the house lights on. Pollard messed up the end, Vedder dropped his mic while imitating Roger Daltrey’s classic mic lasso move, and they ended the song with laughter and hugs. It was beautiful, the perfect end to a night of glorious noise.

Honestly, it felt like some demons were exorcised from the building. Someone finally acknowledged it and did it right. You don’t have to like Pearl Jam’s music, but I do not understand how people can’t appreciate their faith in rock and roll. Sometimes faith is all we have, especially during these dark times.

http://www.pike27.net/rfn/?p=704

meme wrote:

ABSOLUTELY

Until Corduroy you could hardly make up any melody.
Things dramatically improved with LBC. Main set ended good. Then a little back to bad in the first encore, then improved again.

sound wasn't a problem for me, but i was sitting further back(105 row M).

Best seats I've had at ANY concert let alone PJ. My wife and I were 3rd row (which was the first row) side stage on Mike's side vs. all the way at the other end of the arena in Cleveland...that made ALL the difference. Best show of the 9 I've seen in large part due to the seats.

Can I just say: Mike is freaking hillarious!! Pointing at everyone all show long and thanking each person he made eye contact with...killer. Matt was freaking into it big time too.

I'm not even pissed about the dude next to me that caught the tamborine from Mike just before I was about to snag it; my wife was pissed, this dude kept asking if the songs he didnt know were off the "new album", I'm not even sure he knew WWS. The best was when someone told him he better hide it under his shirt and dude said nobody in here is big enough to take this thing from me, so I gave it a little tug and he says except maybe you and proceeded to tell me how much he benched, LMFAO, I said "not bad"...dude was a trip...kept saying "I don't know how I do it?" I told my wife I couldn't help but like the guy cuz he was into the show and was jammin right along every chance he could...if only his high maintenance looking girlfriend was standing next to me during the tamborine throw... oh well, bygones.

Props to my poor wife who only had one beer at 7PM cuz she knew our 4 month old was going to be hungry at 2AM when we got back to Cbus.

Why do I keep missing out on Marker? damn. Also, I think Ed got pissed when I yelled bullshit after he said "its ok to dream" in reference to PJ playing Parachutes...wtf, I had to let him know how bad we all wanted it.

Indifference definitely would have taken this show to another level