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.  [...]]]>

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

Walking from Penn Station to the Hotel, my friend and I saw a pedestrian yell at a cabbie (and hit the cab with something).  Then the cabbie (with a passenger in the car!) pulled over, put the car in park, and opened the door!  They kind [...]]]>

Forgot one detail in my May 20 Pearl Jam post…

Walking from Penn Station to the Hotel, my friend and I saw a pedestrian yell at a cabbie (and hit the cab with something).  Then the cabbie (with a passenger in the car!) pulled over, put the car in park, and opened the door!  They kind of yelled at each other… then the cabbie got back in the car and left.

Going into this trip I had two goals

1) Unlock the Far Far Away badge on foursquare…. Done
2) Visit the NHL store…… Done!

Also…. Thursday early AM I walked up to Central Park,. got some Starbucks and read blogs via my iPad ; Saw the 5th Ave Apple store, went into Duane Reade (they have essie and OPI nail polish!!! – I bought some of course).  Headed back downtown to shower and eat breakfast. 

Then my friend and I headed to the NHL store where I only spent $15!!  We attempted to hit a King Tut exhibit, but tickets were over our price point.  So we headed back downtown to MSG (with a side trip to Macy’s where I walked away from the cutest handbag )to pickup the next round of fan club tickets … and then went to Pinkberry!!!!!  Which led to an awesome discovery…. aside from my Starbucks Mayoral discount,
Pinkberry offers 10% off your purchase when you check in via foursquare (NYC has many more deals… I later learned my hotel had a deal for check-in and mayors in the hotel restaurant).

Then we headed back uptown to rest up and pre-game!

Next up… the Review of Pearl Jam… May 21….#EPIC

Thursday afternoon I met my friend  “C” on the train to NYC.  (usually I take the bus, but I decided to splurge and take  the train, due to not wanting to deal with Metro on Saturday afternoon, after I returned). 

We ended up at Penn Station  (convienently attached to MSG) around 4:30pm, and picked up [...]]]>

Thursday afternoon I met my friend  “C” on the train to NYC.  (usually I take the bus, but I decided to splurge and take  the train, due to not wanting to deal with Metro on Saturday afternoon, after I returned). 

We ended up at Penn Station  (convienently attached to MSG) around 4:30pm, and picked up the Fan Club tickets.  Score……Mike’s side ! (haven’t been on this side of the stage in years) Woohoo, so I was way happy

Then hiked 20 blocks uptown (10 blocks out of our way… due to not checking the exact cross street for the Hotel…. ooops).  So we turned around and went 10 blocks the other way.  Went to check in… and the room wasn’t ready! (its 6pm by now).  Receptionist said she would put a rush on it while “C” and I went to dinner (and she gave us 2 vouchers for the breakfast buffet… sweet!)

After some Pho for me and a Vietnamese beer,  we went back to the hotel, checked in, changed, and high tailed it back downtown.  Arrived at MSG at about 8:15… and my BlackBerry battery was drained, which meant no tweeting… or checking into Foursquare

We found out we had missed the opening band…. The Black Keys… which was fine with us

Set List: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Last Exit, Animal, The Fixer, Severed Hand, Small Town, I Am Mine, Comatose, Force Of Nature, Even Flow, Low Light, Down, I Got ID, Army Reserve (dedicated to Lt. Colonel John McDonough), Insignificance, Unthought Known, Do The Evolution

1st encore: The End (with string quartet), Lukin (with string quartet), Just Breathe (with string quartet), You Are, Love, Reing O’er Me (Townshend) [Ed has crowd wish Pete Townshend “Happy Birthday”], State Of Love And Trust, Once, Porch

2nd encore: Jeremy, Leash, Mankind, Crazy Mary (Williams), I Believe In Miracles (Ramone, Ray) [dedicated to Joey Ramone], Alive, Indifference

Pretty standard show… nothing epic to me….. Highlights for me  were I Got ID, Unthought Known, SOLAT, Once, Stone singing Mankind, and Indifference.

I should note there was also an annoying girl that seat hopped into the row in front of me and was blocking my view for the first half of the show, until the person who’s floor space she was encroaching on kicked her out of the row … so this probabaly affected my experience

I was unable to get tickets to this show under my member number, but my friend was able to. She joind about 3 years after me so has a slightly higher number… and we were not on the floor… [...]]]>

After a great day in NYC (no rain!, Pinkberry!, and comfy shoes!) I was ready for MSGII.

I was unable to get tickets to this show under my member number, but my friend was able to. She joind about 3 years after me so has a slightly higher number… and we were not on the floor… but it was great… we were in the first “ring” about 12 rows back… right up against the stae… and since we were elevated and on an agle had a great view!

Pearl Jam did not disappoint. They opened with “Release” – this will always be my favorite opener… its what they opened with the first time I saw them live… and really heard them

At one point walking around NYC my friend and I came across a hue Rat statue/blowup thing… I was like ” They are playing ‘Rats’ tonight!” (actuallyI kinda almost screamed it… luckily since I was in NYC… no one thought I was out of the ordinary ) – I should have taken a pic… but didn’t… but PJ did play Rats!!! it was great.

It was a great setlist… I think this may be one of my top shows of all time (preceeded only by the epic State College 2003 show).

Ace Frehley came out near the end to play KISS’ “Black Diamond” (which Mike and Matt sang on).

Also… I must have had some major Mojo workin’ this night… because during the show I was hit on by a young guy from Philly – (seriously I think he was about 26 if he was lucky)… and outside MSG after the show I was hit on by a guy from Israel (who thought he was older then me … but I clued him in that no he wasn’t (he was only 32) ):P

Also, while in NYC I came to the realization that even after working in DC for almost 2.5 years , I know my way around NYC 500 times better! :/

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First NYC Pearl Jam show was great. Still no “Better Man”!

Spending the morning at MOMA.

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