Eddie Vedder and Glen Hansard 7/1/11

Fast-forward a few years from 2009 to 2011. If someone had asked me if I thought I would have ever seen Eddie Vedder solo again, I would have said no. The day my mom told me, she said “Kinsey, we are going to see Eddie Vedder in St. Louis because he is not coming anywhere closer. Oh, and it is 4th of July weekend.” I was so excited because I remembered how much fun I had at the last Eddie shows I went to. The show was at The Fox Theatre. Once again, you were not allowed to have a camera and we had to sit down. But that was ok. When we got inside, we went to our seats. We were about 15 rows back from the stage on the floor, which is a really good seat. But in that venue, there is no bad seat. Glen Hansard, from the band The Swell Season, was the opening act. I do not know any of his songs and I cannot tell you which songs he played other than the one Pearl Jam song that he played a snippet of, which was Smile. Not going to lie, that was pretty freaking cool. Then it was time for Eddie. He walked out while Waving Palms was playing in the background and the crowd went crazy. He sat down in his chair and played Can’t Keep. I was not a big fan of this song on Riot Act but it was my favorite on his newest album. It really set the mood of how this show would turn out. Then he played Sleeping By Myself, Without You, Goodbye, You’re True, Light Today, Trouble, and Sometimes. Then he played I Am Mine. My cousin and I freaked out because that is our song. Following I Am Mine, he played Thumbing My Way. I was so excited because that is one of my favorite PJ songs. I feel sorry for the two guys sitting next to us because it is not every day one goes to an Eddie Vedder concert and sits next to a 15 and 16 year old freaking out over their favorite Pearl Jam songs. After TMY, he played Driftin’, and Betterman. Betterman definitely got the crowd going. Everyone around us was dancing and singing, including my cousin and myself. Then he continued with Far Behind, Long Nights (played with Glen Hansard) and Guaranteed. After this, he played Rise. Before he actually played the song, he started talking to the sign language interpreter. He kept telling her funny, but provocative things to sign and she would do it. It made everyone would laugh. He dedicated Rise to her. After that, he played Just Breathe and dedicated it to someone he knew that was expecting a baby. When he played Just Breathe, it made me cry. That is just an emotional song for me. Then he played Elderly Woman. That song always gets the best crowd response. Then he played one of Molly’s favorite songs, Unthought Known. She slapped me in the arm because she was so excited. Then he did ARC. I was so excited and I started crying again because it is just a beautiful live song. He came back and encored with Wishlist. Of all the songs he could have played during that big moment, he played Wishlist. That is my least favorite Pearl Jam song ever. But I am not complaining. After WL, he played Immortality. Of course, he messed up the words in the beginning like he always does. This song got a good crowd response as well. Then he played several more songs with Glen Hansard. These songs were Sleepless Nights, Society, and Falling Slowly. Before the show started, Molly and I were talking about songs we wanted Eddie to play. All she wanted to hear that entire night was Last Kiss. When we checked earlier set lists, that song was nowhere to be found so we eventually forgot about it. Well, as luck would have it, the next song he played was Last freaking Kiss. If you were in the crowd that night, you probably heard the squeal of an excited 16 year old followed by a wail of pain from a 15 year old that just got slapped on the arm from too much excitement. He then played So You Wanna Be A Rock N Roll Star, Lukin, and Porch. These three songs got the crowd on their feet and the whole place was rocking out. It was awesome. Then it was time for the second encore. He came out and did Hard Sun with Glen Hansard. He walked out and came back and closed the night with Dream A Little Dream. That is one of the sweetest songs ever. This show got me excited because at some point during the show, Eddie mentioned something about The Pearl Jam 20th anniversary show. Heck yes.