Pearl Jamming

Ok, so my trip to follow Pearl Jam up the West Coast is halfway done, and unfortunately it COMPLETELY derailed my November Challenge... this is Partly why i did that challenge earlier this year in July!!  But still, i will try to at least finish a dozen drawings, they just won't be posted until I return to LA after next Saturday, Dec 7th...
In the meantime, here's a play by play of the shows I've attended so far!::

San Diego-Las Viejas Arena-Thursday, November 21st:
Ok, I was in the pit for this show, Pearl Jam rocked, it was just AMAZING to be there.  An amazing setlist consisting of some of my favorite songs, including rarely played ones like "Tremor Christ", and "In Hiding".  Great experience and Pearl Jam played for 3 and a half hours, it was mindblowing!!!  Plus, I GOT A PICK!!!!!  SUCK IT, GUY STANDING NEXT TO ME!!!! A solid 10 out of 10 if such a thing is possible, especially after the false ending series of show closers... Alive could have closed, NOPE... Baba O'Reilly could have closed... NOPE!!! YELLOW EFFING LEDBETTER!!! NOPE!!!!  Finally ending with Rocking in the Free World... we were exhausted and I still had to drive from San Diego to LA... thankfully the roads were empty!

Los Angeles-LA Sports Arena-Saturday, November 23rd:
For this show, i was in the seating area so while the EXPERIENCE itself failed to compare, DAMN DID THIS SET LIST BLOW SAN DIEGO AWAY!!!!  They played all but 3 songs off of their first CD, Ten, and just barraged us with song after song, THAT I ACTUALLY KNEW!!!!  Usually half the show is composed of songs that I don't know the words to, or am not familiar with and leave little impact but DAMN these were some great choices!  Again, didn't compare to being in the pit, but from a purely set list oriented point of view, it was even better!  I'd say this was a solid 8-9 out of ten, the setlist was just on fire and a crowd please for anyone who was a fan!

Los Angeles-LA Sports Arena-Sunday, November 24th:
Ok, at this show I met up with some friends that I havent seen since 1998, it was GREAT just catching up with the guys, and talking about life and good times, and what became of ourselves.  That alone made for a great show, but of course...this show was FANTASTIC... you know what get used to it, there will never be a BAD Pearl Jam show to a fan like me, just shows that are not AS good as that other one lol.  They started the set with Oceans, so off to a great start!!!  They also did "Breath" which is a song i have ADORED since i first heard it on the "Singles" Soundtrack back in 1992!  They premiered a cover of a Lou Reed song, After Hours and it was REALLY GOOD, along with a cover of Pink Floyd's Mother which was almost tear inducing!!  Solid 9 out of ten... just because I got a few MORE faves at the San Diego show

Oakland-Oracle Arena-Tuesday, November 26th:
Ok, if there were a show that I could call bad it would be this one, BUT I am not going to. I will merely say that it wasn't as good as the others leading up to it.  Partly because there were quite a few lyrical flubs where Eddie completely lost his place in the song and as funny as it was, I expect a little more from the lead singer when he's playing a high capacity crowd, especially after all the smack talk...  See at one point, Eddie mentions that a Tuesday Night Crowd is WAY better than a Sunday night one... to which i responded HEY SCREW YOU, I WAS AT THE SUNDAY CROWD lol!!!  That and apparently some fans that flew in from Brazil were mugged in the arena and lost everything.  Thanks to other fans, they were going to be ok, but at that point Eddie jokingly says something like "Looks like we got some LA fans here tonight" to which I again responded, "HEY SCREW YOU, I AM FROM LA lol!!!"  Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind a little smack talk, and to be fair its a great way to rile up the crowd.  BUT we didn't get any of that in the San Diego or the LA shows, so I felt a little cheated, while at the same time wondered is this what it takes to warm up the Oakland crowd?  Being in a place with so much hate for Southern California did make me feel like the odd man out, and I tried my best to simply blend in and not draw attention to myself.  That said, still a VERY strong set and an awesome effort from the band playing in at 3 hours and 20 minutes.  Only the audience swayed my vote to give this show a 7 out of ten, great band, harsh crowd if you're not from Norther California... If you ARE an Oakland native, this was probably a 27 out of 10!  Plus they DID play "Hail Hail", a song I REALLY wanted to hear!!  For what its worth though, let it be known that at THIS show, I lost my voice from screaming and singing along so much, so I'd say since i CLEARLY was enjoying myself at this show, that will put this show's review at an 8 out of 10!!!

Portland-Moda Center-Friday, November 29th:
Ok, Portland felt SO MUCH friendlier than the Oakland crowd, and I felt at home with fellow Pearl Jam fans as opposed to alienated!!  Again, a VERY solid setlist, plus i was surprised that for once, I got a really good seat from my online purchase, no nosebleed seats or anything, this was a legitimately GOOD seat!!  Got to hear "Rats" and "Life Wasted", 2 more songs that I really wanted to hear live.  The preceding shows didn't have an opening act, so we just had nothing but Pearl Jam all night, which while not a bad thing... there's something cool about having an opening act to know you're there and they didnt want you to get bored waiting!  Spoke to a lot of fellow fans, and had a blast at the show.  Solid performance and very little in the way of flubbing the lyrics lol.  Overall, a solid 9 out of 10 from me.

Tonight I go to the Spokane Arena in (suprise!!) Spokane!... its snowing up here... I might just take a cab to the show since I dont feel like walking in the snow after dark... Wish me luck!!!