My review of San Diego =)

[jess...@my-dejanews.com]

O.K. This is my long and personal review of the San Diego show...... Have
you ever had one of those amazing days where everything goes exactly as
planned? Well, I have only had a few of those days in my life, and Friday,
June 10th in San Diego was one of them. Although I am often blessed with
perfect moments, I am rarely blessed with perfect days. Friday was
probably the most perfect day I have ever experienced! The day was perfect
for many reasons. I shared the entire day with someone I love greatly, my
husband, and part of the day, included, a spectacular musical performance by
PJ! Although I have been a fan of PJ since early 1992, this was my first time
to see them live. It was well worth the wait. I ordered my tickets through
the Ten Club back in March, and I anxiously counted down the months, weeks,
and days. Reading other fan views and seeing the live pictures from the tour
only added to my excitement. Perhaps, the show was extra-special to me
because it was something I had thought about for such a long. I have to
admit that I was quite nervous when I woke up on Friday morning. In the
past, I have had a tendency to place high expectations on special events,
only to be disappointed when reality does not measure up to my expectations.
These day, I am trying to follow Shawn Smith’s advise to "see what the day
brings" to me. Fortunately, this day brought me great joy and happiness!
Although I only live two hours away from San Diego in Orange County, my
husband and I decided to drive down early on Friday and spend the day/night
in San Diego. We wanted to make sure that we were there on time and we
wanted to miss the Friday afternoon traffic. (After reading other reviews and
hearing about how far many fans have traveled, it is hard for me characterize
our little journey as a road trip! I guess you could call it a mini road
trip MRT =) We were both really excited about our drive to San Diego because
we just bought a convertible the weekend before and really had not been able
to enjoy it. After packing and making sure we had our tickets (about five
times), we began our journey. We popped "Ten" in the disc player, and were
on our way! We decided to listen to the albums in chronological order which
ended up being really nice because we were able to reminisce about all of
the memories we have shared listening to Pearl Jam. We talked about how much
we have grown up, our favorite songs, what we wanted to hear live, how some
songs have different meanings to us now, and how other songs still evoke the
same emotions as when we first heard them. I can remember being with my
husband (boyfriend at the time) on another road trip from Cincinnati, Ohio to
Jacksonville, NC in 1992, and hearing "Alive" for the very first time. He
cranked it up, and said "Jess, you gotta listen to this song. I love it".
Now, here we are 6 years later on our way to see Pearl Jam live for the very
first time. The weather was perfect. We had the top down. Warm Sunshine.
Cool Breeze. Amazingly Blue Sky. A few White, Fluffy Clouds. We got down to
San Diego about 1:00 and checked into our room, and then we ROAMED all over
the city. Up and down the hills. Across the bridge to Coronado Island.
Cruised Mission Beach. Checked out the Gas Lamp District. Had a dip in the
pool. Got ready for the concert. Grabbed a bite to eat. Left for the
Arena. Found it easily, no problems. Parked a few blocks away, and walked
to the Arena. Got a super- cool PJ San Diego shirt, Yield hat, and a couple
of beers and made our way to the seats. First of all, much appreciation to
the Ten Club for the terrific seats. We were on the 19th row on the floor,
seats #1 & 2. There was such a positive vibe in the arena. I don’t know how
many seats the place holds, but I know the venue is on the smaller side.
IMO, the San Diego fans kicked ass! Although we only talked to a few people,
everyone seemed to be on Cloud 9. Smiling faces everywhere! I can’t believe
how kind and polite everyone was. It was just a very relaxed atmosphere.
When we first got there, Ben Harper (a personal favorite of mine) was playing
over the loudspeaker. Later, one of the bands signed to Loosegroove was
played (I can’t remember their names….maybe Critters Buggin ?….not sure
because I don’t own any of the CD’s, but it was definitely a Loosegroove
band). A lot of people were there when Spacehog began their set. They
started right on time at 8:00 and finished by 8:45. The crowd didn’t really
seem to be into their performance, but they seemed to give them a listen.
Everyone again was very polite and patient. Although my husband and I only
knew 2 of their songs, we were impressed by their performance. Again, like
the rest of the crowd, we have them a chance/a listen. We thought they
rocked! The singer (who is also the bass player) has an amazing voice. Very
strong vocals. I think he sounds like the singer from Iron Maiden (Bruce
Dickinson –I think that is his name). They have two guitarists and a
keyboard/organ player. One of the guitarists sang also. I am planning on
checking out their disc whenever I get a chance. Okay….now PJ! After reading
someone else’s review, I knew they would come on when they played Jack’s song
over the loudspeaker. What can I say, they started the long sweet trip with
"Long Road". Perfect. The soft glow of the candles behind them set the mood
for the evening—we were all mesmerized. Next, showing us they planned to
rock out, they played Corduroy. The Yield songs sounded terrific. Stone
really shined on Brain of J and DTE. He had so much energy. I love his
Pogo!! Lots of us were up and down with Stone all night long. I don’t think
that Ed even spoke until after DTE (maybe right before…not sure). It was
difficult for me to understand Ed when he spoke the whole night (partly due
to the sound system I believe, and partly due to fans screaming his name
out). I ,like everyone else, seemed to enjoy Ed’s dancing. He and the rest
of the band really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Given to Fly was
awesome live. I was a little surprised because I wasn’t sure how it would
translate in an arena setting . The wave-like melody made me feel like the
whole arena was flying through the universe! Gee.. I know that sounds dorky,
but it is true. I swear the arena (the fans and the band) just had this
positive vibe going on. We were all connecting. At times, I couldn’t see
very well due to the taller fans, but I didn’t care. I just closed my eyes,
and enjoyed the music. The greatest thing was that everyone sang! Well, of
course Ed sang, and Jeff and Stone sang a little back-up, but you should have
heard the crowd! It was so much fun singing with Ed! Rearviewmirror kicked
ass! I really connect with this song on a personal level, and when I looked
around the arena, it seemed liked so many other fans do as well. Again, we
were singing (in this case, screaming) every word. Immortality…Yes,
IMMORTALITY was absolutely gorgeous. I love this song, and I was blown away
by the performance. Mike’s solos on this song, and the very last song,
Yellow Ledbetter were extraordinary. Wishlight was a highlight for me. I
have to admit that I was disappointed by PJ’s performance of Wishlist on
Letterman. I love the song on Yield, but after seeing the TV performance, I
decided the song probably just wouldn’t work live. I was wrong. It works
magic live. "There’s a mirror ball twirlin….=) I though the mirrorball was
perfect for Wishlist. It came down after the "sentimental ornament you hung
on" line. Ed again reminded us that he wished he was as fortunate as we
were—"fortunate as YOU!" . The mirrorball also came down for another song
( I believe for Daughter ?). The crowd loved Even Flow. Ed started to sing
at the wrong time, and this really seemed to crack him up (and the crowd
too). I loved this little mistake. I think we’ve all seen shows where the
performance is sterile. Basically, sometimes performers just seem to be going
through the motions. Imperfections make the performances real, and the
performers human. During a few songs, some people started a little moshing,
but it didn’t really work too well because the seats were bolted to the
floor. I guess I could write a book on moshing alone *lol*. It seems like
‘back in the day’, there was moshing etiquette. I wonder if anyone else
thinks this. If you wanted to mosh, there was a place to mosh, but moshing
was a choice. These days, it seems a little different. I had a bad
experience at a RATM concert last year, so I felt comforted by the fact that
there was no moshing around me at the PJ show. From what I saw, the security
did a nice job. They seemed to be working hard, but I never saw them be
physically out of line with anyone. Again, there seemed to be a positive,
even peaceful vibe in San Diego. After reading about all of the "Daughter"
tags from other shows, I couldn’t wait to hear what our tag would be. I was
so excited about hearing the tag, and Ed made us wait a long time! He did a
Middle-Eastern inspired dance and kept teasing us. Basically, a lot of hand
moves—covering up his eyes, touching his arms, and chest, etc. Someone said
that it reminded them of a dance from one of Madonnas’s videos. I’m not sure
which one. Speaking of Madonna…Ed also quoted Madonna sometime during the
show. I have no idea what the quote was, but he said something like
"Quoting Madonna, I’m not sure if some of you like her or not, but (then
the quote, sorry I couldn’t hear). Anways, back to Daughter. The tag was
"Roam If You Want To" by the B-52’s. "Roam if you want to, Roam around the
World"!! He basically repeated the first part several times, and added the
"Roam around the World" to the end. I have been singing this song since I
left the arena, with the added "without wings, without wheels". Can’t get it
out of my head. Afterwards, Ed talked about how San Diego is a terrific
place, but there are a lot of great places in the world to roam. I guess I
have forgotten to mention how terrific Matt was. I thought he played a
little too hard on Daughter, but on every other song, he really played
wonderfully. He seemed to give a lot of the songs an edge. Also, Matt has
huge arms. I couldn’t believe it. I guess that is why he plays so hard
*lol*! Alive was really special to my husband. Ed changed the lyrics in the
song from daddy/father to brother—"your real brother was dying." Wow! This
really struck us. It honestly freaked us out a bit. My husband’s brother
passed away last month, and I believe the lines "I’m still Alive" have taken
on a new meaning for him. For him, the song is about something more personal
now. I don’t know if Ed has done this before. ??? He may do it often for
all that I know. We were treated to a superb encore! Lukin was right on! I
really never liked the song before. I love Red Mosquito, and I think Lukin
just sounds terrible after it on the album. I think I would like the song a
lot more if it was positioned somewhere else on No Code. (I’m digressing
here!) Anyways, the point is that I really liked it live. Rockin’ in the
Free World was amazing. The guitar solo’s went on and on. Jeff really seems
to be connected with Matt. They played so well together. Mike was running
all over the stage. It seems like he likes to come over and visit Stone as
much as possible. They were really jamming! Ed went into a
social/political commentary about flag burning during the song. He was
talking about how politicians waste time and money debating ridiculous acts
such as flag burning instead of real problems like homelessness. He is so
good! He just really has the ability to make you think. We loved what he
had to say because 1) it was true, a great point 2) it was funny. Ed did not
really talk very much all night. He wasn’t very chatty, but he sure sang a
lot. His vocals were gorgeous. What can I say. The show was killer. I
believe they played about 25 songs, and played for about 2 hours and 15
minutes. The ended the show with Yellow Ledbetter, a second encore. Mike
dedicated the song to his father. Mike’s guitar work on this song was
amazing. He closed his eyes, held his head to the sky, and played his heart
out. The whole band, especially Stone and Ed, could not take their eyes off
of him. I can’t say that I understand all of the lyrics to this song, and I
guess Ed has a tendency to change them, but it doesn’t really matter what
they are. The music is beautiful. I could feel so much from this song. I
was soooooo impressed with PJ’s performance on Friday. I have respected them
as artists/musicians/people for a long time, and now I only have more respect
for them as performers. Also, I have to mention that they have a great crew.
Everything went smoothly—started on time—no long wait— everyone seemed to be
efficient and give it their best. After the show, my husband and I met up
with some friends who were able to get last-minute tickets to the show. It
ended up being a perfect ending to our perfect day. Our friends were as
blown away as we were. It was great that they had similar feelings as we
had, even though their seats were high up near the top of the arena. They
felt the same magic. I don’t know what was going on in that arena on Friday,
but I am glad that I could be a small part of it. Thank you Pearl Jam and
Thank you San Diego!!!! Jessi

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