Pearl Jam - Columbus, Ohio

Oh. Em. Jee. One of the best live concert I've ever been to...

Jennifer and I went to the Pearl Jam concert last night and it was absolutely amazing! The night started by us meeting up TJ Mummy at his work around 4:45pm. We then headed to Nationwide Arena when his entourage showed up. We got some crazy parking spots that were right outside the venue; they were a little pricey, but worth it.

The Pearl Jam fan club members order their tickets, but have no idea where their seats will be. Since I'm not in the fan club, we relied on TJ's membership. He got us in row V (ie. 22nd row) on the floor! These were the best seats we'd ever had to any show, ever. :) Bonus that it was PEARL JAM!!

Once we got our tickets, we met up with Tyler and Liz and headed over to Boston's Pizzaria for some beers and pizza before the show. We had a blast and met some pretty funny people at the bar. It was PACKED! I actually saw some old faces from high school while we were there as well (Kris & Elizabeth Armstrong with Elizabeth's sister Debbie and her husband, John). It was a nice to see them after all these years.

From the bar, we headed over to Nationwide Arena to find our seats. As we were heading toward the floor, we saw this guy up on stage singing songs acoustically, as we looked closer, we saw that it was Mr. Mike McCready himself. Simply awesome!

Band of Horses
Band of Horses went on and opened up with "Ghost in my House". It's one of those songs that sticks in your head and it was a great opener for the night. They played "Northwest Apartment", "Loredo", "Compliments", and some other really great songs. I was really wanting to hear "Bartles & James", but they didn't play it. :( No worries, I'm still a fan and could see me going to another one of their shows in the future. If you've not heard of them, or know who they are, check them out!

Once Band of Horses cleared the stage, the lights came on it was time for intermission. We headed over to visit TJ & Crystal with their crew, and then headed over to see Tyler and Liz in their seats. It was kind of nice having floor seats, as we were able to move around very easily from place to place. We found out that Dan and his buddy were directly above us in the nose-bleeds. There was a strait line from Dan's seats, our seats and Tyler & Liz's seats. Literally, the same row from left to right. Very weird.

About 30 minutes went by and then the lights started to dim...

PEARL JAM!!
They came out on stage and the crowd went nuts; including me and Jennifer! I've been listening to their music since 1991 when the "Ten" album was released, and I've bought each of their albums, including the "Greatest Hits" and "Live" albums. I took a 3-4 year break but then came right back to them and made up for lost time. I literally know every single song that they sing. They opened with "Oceans" (which was on the "Ten" album), and I must admit that I teared up a little. It's insane that this is the first time that I've been to one of their shows after all these years...

Pearl Jam literally rocked the house! The crowd was amazing. Nobody was sitting down anywhere in the venue. Eddie Vedder is an amazing front man, and he interacted with the crowd quite a bit. All the band members were packed full of pure energy and were jumping all over the place. I can honestly say that they have gotten better with age. Back in the day they were just kids, but now they are all adults and have really become a better band. After years and years of practice, they proved that they know how to put on a show. At one point, Mike McCready had a guitar solo and he literally turned his back to the crowd and played the entire guitar solo with his guitar behind his head! I think it's safe to say that he's played that solo once or twice before.

The energy at Nationwide Arena last night was simply amazing. It was great being able to scream along with every song that they sang. They played songs from each of their albums, and then some. I later found out that "Alone" was a very rare song to hear at a show. The last time that they played it was November last year, but before that was a 3 year window. This is what keeps the Pearl Jam fans coming back, I guess. They keep stats of how many times they hear a song, and where at. I (on the other hand) was just happy to hear them play live. I got to hear one of my favorites: "State of Love and Trust", so that was a huge one for me. Another song that I loved hearing was "Marker in the Sand". I've always liked that song, and I had just rocked that song out the day before in my car with my girls in the back seat. They played "Once", "Spin the Black Circle", "Given to Fly", "Black", etc... The entire set list can be found here: http://pearljam.com/tour/show/nationwide-arena-may-06-2010.

Now, I have to go to more shows so I can see them play "In My Tree", "Nothingman", etc... Uh oh, I got the bug!