{"id":12951,"date":"2024-08-27T11:08:37","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T15:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/?p=12951"},"modified":"2025-08-29T12:57:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T16:57:34","slug":"pearl-jam-in-indy-finally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/2024\/08\/27\/pearl-jam-in-indy-finally\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearl Jam In Indy &#8211; Finally"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As hinted at in yesterday\u2019s post, I got to do something insanely awesome Monday night that I\u2019ve been waiting a long time for. Even with a short night of sleep, I\u2019m still a little keyed up from it this morning. If you choose to proceed, prepare yourself for an overly detailed accounting of my evening watching Pearl Jam play live rock \u2019n\u2019 roll music.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9735-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>One of the funny things about me is that for as big a fan of music as I am &#8211; and I think the archives of this blog are testament to that &#8211; I\u2019ve not been to tons of concerts in my life.<\/p>\n<p>There are lots of factors that go into that, but I believe the biggest was because in the years I was coming of age with music, I lived with a single mom who both couldn\u2019t afford concert tickets and didn\u2019t have the time to take me. You would think as I got older that would change, but it never did much. In the mid\u201390s I went to tons of shows at local clubs, but even then I never became one of those music fans who went to a show a week or whatever. And I rarely went to big stadium\/arena shows.<\/p>\n<p>I also blame the years in the early \u201890s when I was a poor college student. A big group of friends went to the U2 show at Arrowhead in 1992, one of the greatest tours ever. I was offered a ticket last minute, but the $50 or whatever seemed like soooo much money at the time.<a id=\"fnref:1\" class=\"footnote\" title=\"see footnote\" href=\"#fn:1\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>I also just had some bad luck over the years. I was supposed to see Prince in 1998, but came down with the worst case of the flu I\u2019ve ever had and had to sell my ticket.<a id=\"fnref:2\" class=\"footnote\" title=\"see footnote\" href=\"#fn:2\">[2]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Anyway, that is all needlessly long prelude to the point of this post: Monday was the best concert I\u2019ve ever attended. My total shows seen might be small, but this beat them all.<\/p>\n<p>It was Pearl Jam\u2019s first visit to Indianapolis in 14 years.<a id=\"fnref:3\" class=\"footnote\" title=\"see footnote\" href=\"#fn:3\">[3]<\/a> It was my first time seeing them in over 20 years. It was worth every second of those collective waits.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to review a Pearl Jam show, because they are almost always incredible. While I\u2019ve not seen them in person since 2000 &#8211; more on that later &#8211; I\u2019ve watched tons of their shows online, both officially and unofficially. There is no better live band in music. They are a well-oiled machine that combines the spontaneity of a setlist that changes every night with a structure that allows for almost seamless transitions between most songs. They famously play epically long shows that often veer in unexpected directions depending on where the night and crowd takes them. Shows become near religious events as thousands of devoted fans scream out every word and react to every element of the performance.<\/p>\n<p>Everything about Monday\u2019s show lived up to the band\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n<p>It was a fire-cracker hot night here in Indy, in the mid\u201390s during the day, and the air at Ruoff Music Center was thick and heavy when opener Glen Hansard took stage at exactly 7:30. He had the line of the night when he introduced his band: \u201cWe\u2019re from Ireland and we\u2019re happy to be here. We\u2019re going to play for 45 minutes and then we\u2019re going to fuck off.\u201d And then they only played for 30 minutes! Under-promise, over-deliver!<\/p>\n<p>His set was terrific. I didn\u2019t know much about his music, mostly the more soft\/folksy songs he did for the movie <em>Flag Day<\/em>, including \u201cMy Father\u2019s Daughter,\u201d a song he made with Eddie Vedder and daughter Olivia Vedder. But from the go, his band absolutely kicked ass. Roaring guitars, screamed lyrics. It was a good start to the night.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9663-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Pearl Jam took the stage at 8:40, just as the sun was disappearing and a nice breeze was beginning to blow through the partially covered main seating section. My buddy SK and I had been trying to guess what the opening song would be, a pointless exercise since PJ opens with a different song every night and can literally go hundreds of directions when you account for covers. He guessed \u201cLow Light.\u201d I didn\u2019t take a real stab at it, but \u201cHail, Hail\u201d had been in my head all day.<\/p>\n<p>We were pleasantly surprised when Stone Gossard started strumming the opening lines to <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/eiGdjFUKbYc?si=qbBznspM6yS3WRSP\">Ten-era B-side \u201cWash.\u201d<\/a> A terrific omen, as many of theirs shows on this tour have begun with slower songs.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-three songs followed. The band was in fine form, although the sound was a little muddy. Eddie was in great voice. The crowd was frenzied. On the biggest songs, \u201cAlive\u201d for example, you could barely hear the band because the crowd sang along so loudly. You couldn\u2019t ask for a better show.<\/p>\n<p>It was interesting to look at the show from above, as a long-time PJ fan, and see how far this band has come. They\u2019ve been an incredible live band since day one. Those early Nineties shows were intense affairs, Eddie a brooding, distant, sometimes scary frontman. The band went through their difficult mid\u201390s period, where the performance was generally great but the band was going through a lot and you never knew how much joy and personality they would put into each show. There were a few notable meltdowns in this era when the band\u2019s future was in question. Around 2000, they realized that touring was their salvation, and they began to enjoy it more, stretching shows out to Springsteen-esque lengths. About 10 years ago it seemed like Eddie was losing some of the power in his voice. He made allowances, but sometimes those were jarring to see\/hear.<\/p>\n<p>In the last five years that has changed again. Eddie has become more theatrical on stage. It\u2019s hard to put into words, because that sounds a little cheesy and he is not cheesy. He just does a lot more from the start of the show to the end to interact with the crowd, to entertain with his actions rather than just sing from the bottom of his soul. The once reluctant star happily embraces everything about being the director for where each night\u2019s show is headed.<\/p>\n<p>His political monologues haven\u2019t disappeared, they\u2019ve just morphed. Monday he encouraged everyone to get out and vote, and noted that 30 years ago he was imploring us to vote, where now he is asking us to get our kids to vote. His most pointed comment of the night was about women needing to reclaim their right to choose. He never said any candidate\u2019s name, nor espoused a particular ideology.<\/p>\n<p>Of course last week while in Jeff Ament\u2019s home state of Montana, the entire band wore <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tester.senate.gov\/\">Jon Tester<\/a> shirts, so I think they just pick their spots these days.<\/p>\n<p>Eddie\u2019s voice seems to have recovered from whatever ailed it, too. I remember watching concert films from early in last year\u2019s tour and being floored by how good he sounded. I think he\u2019s found ways to strengthen his voice but also to adjust how he hits certain notes so that he can mask the effects of age. Not that long ago I worried about how much longer he could tour. The past couple years, he\u2019s sounded as good as he ever has and I can see the band touring forever. His energy level is also insane for a guy who will turn 60 in a few months. He doesn\u2019t climb lighting rigs anymore, but he\u2019s in constant motion around the stage.<\/p>\n<p>His energy and strength and stage presence translate to the rest of the band. The greatness of their live act has always come from their collective abilities. Every member of the band absolutely still has their A-games. Mike McCready in particular has an apparent endless reservoir of energy. There wasn\u2019t a song, or even part of a song, where the band behind Eddie seemed to be half-assing it.<\/p>\n<p>As we were walking out I told SK beyond the spectacular performance, what makes PJ shows so great is how many terrific songs they have to choose from, and even the ones that might not be your favorites are played so well that there aren\u2019t really any down moments in the show. Even if you don\u2019t hear all your favorite songs, you walk away thoroughly satisfied.<\/p>\n<p>That was the case with me. <a href=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/2023\/09\/08\/friday-playlist-pearl-jam-favs\/\">Of my seven favorite PJ songs I listed a year ago<\/a>, they played just one, \u201cCorduroy.\u201d And, you know what? I was not disappointed at all that I didn\u2019t hear \u201cRelease\u201d or \u201cElderly Woman,\u201d or \u201cGiven to Fly,\u201d etc.<\/p>\n<p>I thought it was interesting they basically cut out an entire era of their career from the setlist. There was exactly one song from their albums that were released between 2000 and 2020, and that, \u201cLightning Bolt,\u201d was a request from a couple who were attending their 57th PJ show.<a id=\"fnref:4\" class=\"footnote\" title=\"see footnote\" href=\"#fn:4\">[4]<\/a> I think most fans are fine with that large chunk of the band\u2019s studio career getting nudged aside. \u201cLightning Bolt\u201d did sound great, though.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-12957\" src=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Setlist-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"901\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Setlist-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Setlist-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Setlist-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Setlist-676x901.jpeg 676w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Setlist.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"Setlist.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>The per-album breakdown was:<br \/>\nTen\/Ten-era: 6<br \/>\nVs. &#8211; 1<br \/>\nVitalogy &#8211; 5<br \/>\nNo Code &#8211; 1<br \/>\nYield &#8211; 1<br \/>\nLightning Bolt &#8211; 1<br \/>\nDark Matter &#8211; 7<br \/>\nCovers &#8211; 2<\/p>\n<p>The beauty of Pearl Jam is their next show in Chicago will likely have a completely different mix, aside from the <em>Dark Matter<\/em> tracks.<\/p>\n<p>A note about our seats. When PJ announced they were coming to Indy in May 2023, both SK and I signed up for tickets. With the band not hitting here in so long, we knew it would be a tough ticket. He is in the band\u2019s Ten Club and hoped that would get us in. I didn\u2019t get selected in the public lottery, but he got a notification that he would be able to get Ten Club seats. Until a week later he got another saying he, in fact, did not make their cut.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately he has a neighbor that has some serious connections in the music industry. Thanks to her assistance, last July he got an email from someone within the Pearl Jam organization saying that we had two Friends and Family seats.<a id=\"fnref:5\" class=\"footnote\" title=\"see footnote\" href=\"#fn:5\">[5]<\/a> When the September 2023 show was postponed, his contact said we would remain on the list for whenever the show was rescheduled. Sure enough, when this year\u2019s tour was announced he got another note asking for confirmation that he still wanted those seats. Two weeks ago he got official word that we were in.<\/p>\n<p>We had no idea where our seats were until we picked up the tickets at Will Call Monday. Even then, Ruoff\u2019s seating scheme is so odd we couldn\u2019t figure it out by just looking at ticket. So we kept showing them to ushers and they kept waving us further forward. We ended up about ten rows behind the pit section, stage left. They were pretty fucking great seats.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"IMG_9722.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-12950\" src=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9722-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"507\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9722-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9722-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9722-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9722-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9722-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9722-676x507.jpeg 676w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Oh, and not to brag too much, but the tickets were somehow comped to us. SK thought he paid for them a year ago, but went back and looked and he never sent anyone money for them. My previous all time best show was U2 in Kemper Arena in 2001. We got free tickets to that show. Yep, I haven\u2019t had to pay a dime for the two best concerts I\u2019ve ever attended. The Music Gods must be rewarding me for all those concerts I did not go to.<\/p>\n<p>This was just my third Pearl Jam show, which seems dumb. SK, in comparison, has now been to 14. I saw them in Kansas City in both 1998 and 2000. I famously missed <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/qCYBSufuIe0?si=uEtX2gfcv_xyY-Jx\">their appearance in Lawrence in May 1992<\/a> because 1) they had not yet become huge and 2) I spent the day playing basketball with one of my best friends who was about to graduate and move to California. Oh, and 3) I\u2019m an idiot. Less than two months later they were my favorite band, a belt they\u2019ve held off-and-on for over three decades now.<\/p>\n<p>In 2003 they were in Kansas City three days before S and I got married and moved to Indianapolis. Didn\u2019t seem like the right time to sneak away for a concert. I missed their Indy stop on that tour because we were on our honeymoon. I think they\u2019ve been in Indy just once or twice since then, during our \u201clots of little kids in the house\u201d phase and I never even considered going to those shows.<\/p>\n<p>Show number three was a long time coming. And totally worth it.<\/p>\n<p>A few other notes:<\/p>\n<p>SK and I got excited when songs four, five, and six of the night were the first three songs from <em>Vitalogy<\/em>, in order. Every now and then PJ will play an entire album in order. This was a tease, though, and they moved on to new songs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBlack\u201d was a song I got sick of in the Nineties because I thought it got super overplayed. It was truly fantastic Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Gossard said before the <em>Dark Matter<\/em> tour began that they would begin to pare back their shows a bit, with Ament already 60 and Eddie right behind him. They still played nearly two-and-a-half hours Monday. The biggest bummer about not seeing them last year was they were still pushing three hours in those shows.<\/p>\n<p>The audio-visual portion of the show was excellent. At most Ruoff shows there are a few cameras shooting video that show up on the auxiliary boards for fans up in the lawn. PJ shot this like a concert movie, with tons of cameras that were constantly switching feeds on the boards. I now see why so many of their shows end up with high quality movies on one site or another. They take that part of the presentation very seriously.<\/p>\n<p>As we walked out there was a dad with a college-aged son in front of us. We overheard the dad tell the son, very seriously, \u201cI hope you realize that was a fucking incredible concert!\u201d We couldn\u2019t hear what the kid\u2019s response was. He better have recognized, though.<\/p>\n<p>Eddie has been wearing a Walter Payton jersey at all their shows on this tour. It was Jeff Ament who made the local connection, wearing a shirt that had Larry Bird\u2019s face on one side and his number on the other.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of shirts, I\u2019ve never bought a concert shirt before. Again, I\u2019m a man full of contradictions and surprises. I bought one last night, though, because they were perfect.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"IMG_9738.jpeg\" alt=\"\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-12955\" src=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9738-1024x651.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"676\" height=\"430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9738-1024x651.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9738-300x191.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9738-768x488.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9738-1536x976.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9738-2048x1302.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9738-676x430.jpeg 676w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Shout out to the merch arm of the PJ empire. That thing is as well-oiled as the band\u2019s performances. They opened up at noon for people who wanted to get there early and get the limited edition items. Inside the venue there were multiple spots to purchase items with crazy long lines before the show. We stopped at one after the show and despite the line, had to wait less than five minutes to purchase my shirt. There was another still open outside the gates that had no wait. And although they were short a few sizes, you could still buy just about anything you wanted almost 12 hours after they sold their first shirt of the day.<\/p>\n<p>Also cool was the special stand that printed up setlist shirts. SK told me the band hands off their final setlist when the show begins and by the time they are done, there are stacks of shirts with that night\u2019s unique collection of songs listed. Genius way to make fans eager to fork over another $40 for a unique memento of the night.<\/p>\n<p>PJ still does the <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.pearljam.com\/collections\/music\/config-sub_category-bootlegs+year-2024\">\u201cofficial bootlegs\u201d<\/a> of every show. I think I still have all the early 2000s ones I bought somewhere in the basement. I believe I will be buying this one when it is released in a few weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Both times I saw PJ in KC, they closed with \u201cRockin\u2019 In The Free World.\u201d Which was great. But I was going to be disappointed if I heard it again. Fortunately they closed with a spectacular \u201cBaba O\u2019Reilly\u201d &#8211; \u201cYellow Ledbetter\u201d double. Finally hearing \u201cBaba\u201d live was a big checkmark on my all-time PJ must hear list.<\/p>\n<div class=\"footnotes\">\n<hr \/>\n<ol>\n<li id=\"fn:1\">An online inflation calculator suggests that translates to $112 dollars today, which seems reasonable for a U2 show, but understandable for a poor college student to decide he\u2019d rather eat\/drink off that for two weeks than blow it in one night. Still wish I had gone to that show, though. <a class=\"reversefootnote\" title=\"return to article\" href=\"#fnref:1\">\u00a0\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"fn:2\">I also missed a KU basketball game that week, so you know I was sick! <a class=\"reversefootnote\" title=\"return to article\" href=\"#fnref:2\">\u00a0\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"fn:3\">And, of course, this concert was delayed from a year ago when Matt Cameron got Covid. <a class=\"reversefootnote\" title=\"return to article\" href=\"#fnref:3\">\u00a0\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"fn:4\">Eddie: \u201cYou attend 57 shows, you get a request.\u201d <a class=\"reversefootnote\" title=\"return to article\" href=\"#fnref:4\">\u00a0\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"fn:5\">Not sure if it was accidental or intentional, but his contact sent him the link for F&amp;F tickets for the entire tour. We had a phone call last spring where we seriously debated whether to get tickets for one of the Wrigley shows later this week, or going to another big city to see them. We decided the smart move, and affordable one since we both have kids in college and at Catholic high schools, was to stick to just the Indy show. <a class=\"reversefootnote\" title=\"return to article\" href=\"#fnref:5\">\u00a0\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As hinted at in yesterday\u2019s post, I got to do something insanely awesome Monday night that I\u2019ve been waiting a long time for. Even with a short night of sleep, I\u2019m still a little keyed up from it this morning. If you choose to proceed, prepare yourself for an overly detailed accounting of my evening watching Pearl Jam play live rock \u2019n\u2019 roll music. One of the funny things about me is that for as big a fan of music as I am &#8211; and I think the archives of this blog are testament to that &#8211; I\u2019ve not been to tons of concerts in my life. There are lots of factors that go into that, but I believe the biggest was because in the years I was coming of age with music, I lived with a single mom who both couldn\u2019t afford concert tickets and didn\u2019t have the time to take me. You would think as I got older that would change, but it never did much. In the mid\u201390s I went to tons of shows at local clubs, but even then I never became one of those music fans who went to a show a week or whatever. And I rarely went to big stadium\/arena shows. I also blame the years in the early \u201890s when I was a poor college student. A big group of friends went to the U2 show at Arrowhead in 1992, one of the greatest tours ever. I was offered a ticket last minute, but the $50 or whatever seemed like soooo much money at the time.[1] I also just had some bad luck over the years. I was supposed to see Prince in 1998, but came down with the worst case of the flu I\u2019ve ever had and had to sell my ticket.[2] Anyway, that is all needlessly long prelude to the point of this post: Monday was the best concert I\u2019ve ever attended. My total shows seen might be small, but this beat them all. It was Pearl Jam\u2019s first visit to Indianapolis in 14 years.[3] It was my first time seeing them in over 20 years. It was worth every second of those collective waits. It\u2019s hard to review a Pearl Jam show, because they are almost always incredible. While I\u2019ve not seen them in person since 2000 &#8211; more on that later &#8211; I\u2019ve watched tons of their shows online, both officially and unofficially. There is no better live band in music. They are a well-oiled machine that combines the spontaneity of a setlist that changes every night with a structure that allows for almost seamless transitions between most songs. They famously play epically long shows that often veer in unexpected directions depending on where the night and crowd takes them. Shows become near religious events as thousands of devoted fans scream out every word and react to every element of the performance. Everything about Monday\u2019s show lived up to the band\u2019s reputation. It was a fire-cracker hot night here in Indy, in the mid\u201390s during the day, and the air at Ruoff Music Center was thick and heavy when opener Glen Hansard took stage at exactly 7:30. He had the line of the night when he introduced his band: \u201cWe\u2019re from Ireland and we\u2019re happy to be here. We\u2019re going to play for 45 minutes and then we\u2019re going to fuck off.\u201d And then they only played for 30 minutes! Under-promise, over-deliver! His set was terrific. I didn\u2019t know much about his music, mostly the more soft\/folksy songs he did for the movie Flag Day, including \u201cMy Father\u2019s Daughter,\u201d a song he made with Eddie Vedder and daughter Olivia Vedder. But from the go, his band absolutely kicked ass. Roaring guitars, screamed lyrics. It was a good start to the night. Pearl Jam took the stage at 8:40, just as the sun was disappearing and a nice breeze was beginning to blow through the partially covered main seating section. My buddy SK and I had been trying to guess what the opening song would be, a pointless exercise since PJ opens with a different song every night and can literally go hundreds of directions when you account for covers. He guessed \u201cLow Light.\u201d I didn\u2019t take a real stab at it, but \u201cHail, Hail\u201d had been in my head all day. We were pleasantly surprised when Stone Gossard started strumming the opening lines to Ten-era B-side \u201cWash.\u201d A terrific omen, as many of theirs shows on this tour have begun with slower songs. Twenty-three songs followed. The band was in fine form, although the sound was a little muddy. Eddie was in great voice. The crowd was frenzied. On the biggest songs, \u201cAlive\u201d for example, you could barely hear the band because the crowd sang along so loudly. You couldn\u2019t ask for a better show. It was interesting to look at the show from above, as a long-time PJ fan, and see how far this band has come. They\u2019ve been an incredible live band since day one. Those early Nineties shows were intense affairs, Eddie a brooding, distant, sometimes scary frontman. The band went through their difficult mid\u201390s period, where the performance was generally great but the band was going through a lot and you never knew how much joy and personality they would put into each show. There were a few notable meltdowns in this era when the band\u2019s future was in question. Around 2000, they realized that touring was their salvation, and they began to enjoy it more, stretching shows out to Springsteen-esque lengths. About 10 years ago it seemed like Eddie was losing some of the power in his voice. He made allowances, but sometimes those were jarring to see\/hear. In the last five years that has changed again. Eddie has become more theatrical on stage. It\u2019s hard to put into words, because that sounds a little cheesy and he is not cheesy. He just does a lot more from the start of the show to the end to interact with the crowd, to entertain with his actions rather than just sing from the bottom of his soul. The once reluctant star happily embraces everything about being the director for where each night\u2019s show is headed. His political monologues haven\u2019t disappeared, they\u2019ve just morphed. Monday he encouraged everyone to get out and vote, and noted that 30 years ago he was imploring us to vote, where now he is asking us to get our kids to vote. His most pointed comment of the night was about women needing to reclaim their right to choose. He never said any candidate\u2019s name, nor espoused a particular ideology. Of course last week while in Jeff Ament\u2019s home state of Montana, the entire band wore Jon Tester shirts, so I think they just pick their spots these days. Eddie\u2019s voice seems to have recovered from whatever ailed it, too. I remember watching concert films from early in last year\u2019s tour and being floored by how good he sounded. I think he\u2019s found ways to strengthen his voice but also to adjust how he hits certain notes so that he can mask the effects of age. Not that long ago I worried about how much longer he could tour. The past couple years, he\u2019s sounded as good as he ever has and I can see the band touring forever. His energy level is also insane for a guy who will turn 60 in a few months. He doesn\u2019t climb lighting rigs anymore, but he\u2019s in constant motion around the stage. His energy and strength and stage presence translate to the rest of the band. The greatness of their live act has always come from their collective abilities. Every member of the band absolutely still has their A-games. Mike McCready in particular has an apparent endless reservoir of energy. There wasn\u2019t a song, or even part of a song, where the band behind Eddie seemed to be half-assing it. As we were walking out I told SK beyond the spectacular performance, what makes PJ shows so great is how many terrific songs they have to choose from, and even the ones that might not be your favorites are played so well that there aren\u2019t really any down moments in the show. Even if you don\u2019t hear all your favorite songs, you walk away thoroughly satisfied. That was the case with me. Of my seven favorite PJ songs I listed a year ago, they played just one, \u201cCorduroy.\u201d And, you know what? I was not disappointed at all that I didn\u2019t hear \u201cRelease\u201d or \u201cElderly Woman,\u201d or \u201cGiven to Fly,\u201d etc. I thought it was interesting they basically cut out an entire era of their career from the setlist. There was exactly one song from their albums that were released between 2000 and 2020, and that, \u201cLightning Bolt,\u201d was a request from a couple who were attending their 57th PJ show.[4] I think most fans are fine with that large chunk of the band\u2019s studio career getting nudged aside. \u201cLightning Bolt\u201d did sound great, though. The per-album breakdown was: Ten\/Ten-era: 6 Vs. &#8211; 1 Vitalogy &#8211; 5 No Code &#8211; 1 Yield &#8211; 1 Lightning Bolt &#8211; 1 Dark Matter &#8211; 7 Covers &#8211; 2 The beauty of Pearl Jam is their next show in Chicago will likely have a completely different mix, aside from the Dark Matter tracks. A note about our seats. When PJ announced they were coming to Indy in May 2023, both SK and I signed up for tickets. With the band not hitting here in so long, we knew it would be a tough ticket. He is in the band\u2019s Ten Club and hoped that would get us in. I didn\u2019t get selected in the public lottery, but he got a notification that he would be able to get Ten Club seats. Until a week later he got another saying he, in fact, did not make their cut. Fortunately he has a neighbor that has some serious connections in the music industry. Thanks to her assistance, last July he got an email from someone within the Pearl Jam organization saying that we had two Friends and Family seats.[5] When the September 2023 show was postponed, his contact said we would remain on the list for whenever the show was rescheduled. Sure enough, when this year\u2019s tour was announced he got another note asking for confirmation that he still wanted those seats. Two weeks ago he got official word that we were in. We had no idea where our seats were until we picked up the tickets at Will Call Monday. Even then, Ruoff\u2019s seating scheme is so odd we couldn\u2019t figure it out by just looking at ticket. So we kept showing them to ushers and they kept waving us further forward. We ended up about ten rows behind the pit section, stage left. They were pretty fucking great seats. Oh, and not to brag too much, but the tickets were somehow comped to us. SK thought he paid for them a year ago, but went back and looked and he never sent anyone money for them. My previous all time best show was U2 in Kemper Arena in 2001. We got free tickets to that show. Yep, I haven\u2019t had to pay a dime for the two best concerts I\u2019ve ever attended. The Music Gods must be rewarding me for all those concerts I did not go to. This was just my third Pearl Jam show, which seems dumb. SK, in comparison, has now been to 14. I saw them in Kansas City in both 1998 and 2000. I famously missed their appearance in Lawrence in May 1992 because 1) they had not yet become huge and 2) I spent the day playing basketball with one of my best friends who was about to graduate and move to California. Oh, and 3) I\u2019m an idiot. 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