Pearl Jam, Las Vegas July 6, 2006

first the setlist:

~They kicked it off with seventeen songs straight~
{I've bolded the songs that I was amazed or pleased to hear}

Inside Job
Corduroy
World Wide Suicide
Grievance
Given To Fly
Marker In The Sand
Faithfull
Even Flow
Gone
Daughter
Green Disease
Rats
Garden
Parachutes
State Of Love And Trust
Life Wasted
Do The Evolution

1st encore

Little Sister
Small Town
Betterman/Save It For Later
Black (w/a "Come Back" tag on the end!)
Alive (*a sight to behold*)

2nd encore

Go
Comatose
Fortunate Son
Porch (!;)

Pearl Jam Shows Las Vegas How Its Done

Yes they opened up w/Inside Job, which pleased me very much, and they also played parachutes, state of love and trust, world wide suicide, go, evenflow, and at one point, eddie said something about pulling one out of the vaults, and that his voice might be shaky on it, but it would be "all heart": that's when they launched into given to fly! dude song after song was lobbed up, and knocked out the park. it was sick.

I was counting each & every song on my fingers. The first set was comprised of 17 songs. Then they came back w/an encore of 4 or 5 more (kicked off w/an Elvis cover, of course). And then 4 more after that (including a rousing & pertinent CCR cover of "Fortunate Son"). It was like, 26 songs in all. The band was relentless. Our seats were very close to stage left (just to the left of it). We had a really good view of STone Gossard, then Eddie, and matt Cameron on his kit, w/Mike McCready over on stage right. He strutted all across the stage in his bleached white rooster -do hair cut, I was like "take it down a notch, bitch". That's why stone gossard was hella cooler. He just remained calm and down to earth, w/short brown hair and worn jeans and a nice earth-toned t-shirt. You could learn somethin from stone, mike. settle down a bit. I think Matt cameron makes a stellar, solid drummer. Eddie just delivered the goods, song after song. Half way through I was amazed I'd never caught these guys before now - - fucking staple of american rock -- (awesome fucking killer rock might I add) - - and I could only shake my head that I was able- - and yes, lucky enough -- to catch em now in 2006 hot off the searing impetus from their smokin' self-titled -- before they possibly lose some steam in the upcoming years.

Yeah even Eddie joked about it - - and honestly, it didn't really seem like much of a joke - - about becoming a regular Vegas attraction. *wince* . . . I think in his refining maturity, he probably only cares about "getting the music out to the people, whoever the fuck makes it into the shows" . . . I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see PJ added to the roster of regular Vegas acts . . . hell, BLUE MAN GROUP does it and from what I hear, they put on an amazing performance.
*deadpan stare*

It was impossible for me to remember all those songs, in order, after the show. I was left straight up dazed & confused from it. During the show, I was cruisin along to each and every one - they sang porch which was awesome . . . and "faithfull" from YIELD, and Do The Evolution . . . along w/Given to Fly ... I was amazed & blissfull taking those tunes in.

One of the biggest delights was RATS. Hell yes. RATS. Of course they sang daughter. . . and we also got a strong dose of evenflow (of course). I remember towards the end - (one of the last 2 songs) . . . the pretty awesome spectacle of every motherfucker in the house pumping their fists in unison to ALIVE. (yeh that was the last song of the first encore set. before that was an Elvis cover) ALIVE was a moment to just lean back on your heels and straight -up marvel at. Did I mention they sang Go -? yeah well they did. Jeff Ament gone wicked off the hook, yo.

Man these guys have earned their fair spot up on top as the Number One, that's Numero Uno for you mexican rockers, and in case you're wondering, YES they played black, and also corduroy (towards the beginning), and also GARDEN. . . it was just a sharp, focused blur of hits sailing past these amazed ears, one after the other. You expect me to keep track of this shit, while my mind is reeling -? This is what you get. They hardly played anything from No Code- if they did I can't recall which. Smile? MOsquito? I don't know. I was too freaking retroflabulated w/all the awesomeness pouring out of these guys to really keep track or care.

There was no "immortality" or "tremor christ". . . but there was, maybe four tunes from the new one.

I'm still stunned here .. . nearly one week later. . . and mentally recovering from the impact . . . from the shock of finally getting to witness my long time rockin' heroes. In the wake of so many other awesome shows I've seen, my mind is still reeling. But the echoes of that pearl jam show are still ringing loud & clear in my head.