Pearl Jam @ MSG … May 21, 2010

This was my 25th Pearl Jam show….. so I was hoping for Awesomeness (not really… I didn’t know what number show it was until after I got home and added it to my list…. bad Pearl Jam fan ).

Arrived at MSG after a quick stop for some pizza…. much earlier than the previous night.  We made our way to our seats…. but first stopped for …. Beers w/ a Pretzel stick in the mug handle!  (I discovered this 2 years ago.… and think it is the awesomest thing….seriously I talked about it for days leading up to this trip).

Then I of course checked into Foursquare……… and got my Swarm badge!!!!!!!! Woohoo!

We made our way to our seats….. Band of Horses was mid-set…. sounded ok.  They finished their set….and then it was time to wait.  But this wait time turned into spot the celebrity! Michael Moore was one section over!  Some guy in a knit cap came along and was sitting in front of Moore.  I thought he was some NY Ranger that people were talking about… but the next day found out it was actually Matt Damon!!  Half way thru Pearl Jam’s set John McEnroe also showed up in this section.  Then Vedder’s girlfriend/wife showed up about 5 rows in front of us… along with the Olsen twins.

So Pearl Jam opened with Corduroy, Hail Hail, and DTE……  which led me to tweet that this could be an epic show! And it was.  The first set was awesome…… the momentum awesome, the crowd was completely into it.  The floor was shaking!!!  We got some rarities (re done Lukin to be slow… instead of fast, Black Red Yellow…. which hasn’t been played since 1995!, Sweet Lew (though I got to see that in Philly , and Hunger Strike w/ the singer from BoH – this was epicly awesome!) Can’t wait until next time

Set List: Corduroy, Hail Hail, Do The Evolution, World Wide Suicide, Got Some, Breath, Nothing Man, I’m Open – dedicated to Howard Zinn, Unthought Known, Grievance, Amongst The Waves, Present Tense, Not For You/Modern Girl (Sleater Kinney), Push Me Pull Me, Rats, Daughter/WMA, The Fixer, Why Go

1st encore: The End with string quartet, Just Breathe with string quartet, Lukin II with string quartet, Black Red Yellow, Sweet Lew, Given To Fly, Spin The Black Circle, Rearviewmirror

2nd encore: Wasted Reprise, Better Man/Save It For Later (Charley, Cox, Morton, Steele, Wakeling), Black, The Real Me (Townshend), Hunger Strike with Ben Bridwell from “Band Of Horses” (Cornell), Alive, Kick Out The Jams (Davis, Kramer, Smith, Thompson, Tyner), Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner