Pearl Jam-Live!

Megan and I were lucky enough to see Pearl Jam at the Xcel a few weekends back. They played for over three hours, giving Minnesota a 32-song set for their first appearance here in eight years. I got to see them at the X when they were here in 2003. Megan and I had just started dating and she was out of town for that show. I went alone, and was amazed at the show they put on back then.

Now it's not an Alice Cooper-type of show with theatrics and everything. Pearl Jam are professional musicians who play their asses off for the night. A lot of bands will give you an hour, maybe 90 minutes if you're lucky. They played for over two hours in 2003. This was Megan's first time seeing them live, and she actually shed tears of joy when the concert started 45 mins past the start time.

As we sat in our seats waiting for the show to start we checked Facebook, not only to brag that we were there, but also to see who else was there. We knew quite a few people also in attendance. A couple  were my cousin and her husband. They fundraise for the U of M Children's Hospital, and I knew that Eddie Vedder was there the day before. As we looked at Facebook in the bleachers we saw why the show hadn't started yet. Vedder was posing for pictures backstage. With them.

Husband, Vedder, cousin

That was pretty cool to see, but I was ready for the show to start. The whole time after 7:30 we were thirsty, but didn't want to get beverages and have the show start while one of us was away. Finally at 8:05 I risked it and went to the concessions stand. I was about 10 people deep in one of four lines. There were two people working behind the counter, and only one beer tap was working. I stood in the same spot for 10 minutes as my face grew more red as my temper rose. At 8:15 I heard the ROAR of the arena. I said screw it and ran back to my seat empty handed.

I was excited as Pearl Jam played the entire No Code album start to finish at the show before ours. Our show was on the anniversary of the release of the album Vs. so I thought naturally they'd play it. They didn't play it, but of course the show was awesome. It really kicked in for me on the 10th song, Even Flow. Megan had left to get our drinks during the song before it, and when Even Flow started I had room to move, and I rocked out. 

Waiting for the start "selfie"

View from our seat

At one point during the concert Vedder introduced the members of the band. He introduced the drummer, Matt Cameron, as the greatest drummer in the world. When he did, the man sitting next to Megan felt the need to pipe up to her "greatest in the world, huh? I think Neil Peart might have something to say about that."

First of all, we don't know you. 

Second of all, even if we did, right now isn't the time to debate who is the greatest drummer in the world. 

Third, it's Janice Weiss of Sleater-Kinney, so let's just enjoy the show.

Three hours is a long time for anything, even excellent rock and roll. I was glad that we had seats to rest in during the slow songs. They ended the set with the house lights up for the last three songs. The lights signifying that it really is the end of the night and PJ isn't going to do the stupid encore ritual for a third time. 

Winding down

I was excited to be with Megan for her first PJ concert. It was a great night, but I gotta say that I enjoyed the show in 2003 more. I know it's partly because that was my first live experience with them, but also now we have satellite radio. Pearl Jam has their own channel on it that plays their concerts. We both listen to it in our cars, and it made the live experience a little less special for me.

I've been seeing a lot of live music lately (Spoon, Pixies). This was the last concert I thought I'd see for a while. I had to work early the next morning. When my alarm went off at 5:30, my ears were still ringing, I'd only slept about four hours, and my throat was sore. I had a music hangover. The difference between it and a real hangover is a music hangover feels kinda good. It's a reminder of how I (soberly) cut loose for a few hours the night before.

At work the morning after I saw some music news online that I'll detail in my next blog, but I know that I'll be seeing another concert in February. BIG (for me) news.