Obviously, when you have fall break at college, the first
thing you do is buy tickets to see your favorite band and go on a solo road
trip. Right? Right. Since (at the time) I did not think I would be able to go
on Pearl Jam's fall tour, I was pretty upset. But, Pearl Jam announced they
would be playing Voodoo Fest in New
Orleans over my fall break. Yeah, I'm so there. As
soon as classes were done, I made a pit stop at my parents house, and then I
headed to New Orleans .
One of the few reasons this trip was possible is that I have family in New Orleans and they let
me crash on their couch for the weekend.
The first band I saw on Friday was Youngblood Hawke. I first
heard of them from VH1's Top 20 Countdown and I really liked their sound. They
played (not in order)
Rootless
Dannyboy
In Our Blood
Dreams
Stars (Hold On)
Last Time
Protect Yourself
We Come Running
Forever
Glacier
At the end of their set, Sam Martin, their singer, asked who
was ready for Pearl Jam. The crowd was very enthusiastic, as was I. It is awesome to know that they like Pearl Jam too. When
their set was over, I ran to the main stage (also known as The Ritual Stage)
and started to stake out my spot for PJ. I managed to catch the end of The New
Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band. If Jazz music is your thing, then I highly
recommend looking them up. But for others, who are just impatient and want to
see their favorite band, I do not recommend them. After TNOPHJB, was Macklemore
& Ryan Lewis. Never in my 15 years of concert going have I ever heard bass
that loud. It was so loud that I could feel it in my throat and it was hard to
breathe. I am not the best with Top 40 music, so I do not remember every single
song they played but I do remember Thrift Shop, during which, Macklemore got a
random person's costume jacket from the crowd and placed it on the mic stand
for the duration of the song. The bass was the loudest during this song and I
could not hear one word he was saying. But the crowd seemed to enjoy it and I
did too. This was followed by my favorite song, Can't Hold Us. I had been
listening to that song all week leading up to that so I could try to learn all
of the words. I was fairly successful in my efforts. The crowd went crazy
during the NANANANANANANANA part. A few songs after that, he played Same Love
and gave a very inspiring speech about the meaning of the song. Fast forward a
few more songs. He said that one of his friends from England
came all the way to New Orleans
to see him. He walked off stage and when he came back, he said that his friend
was David Bowie and walked out dressed as the man himself. He put on the
aforementioned jacket and a wig and proceeded to play And We Danced. The crowd,
which consisted of middle aged men, was not enthused. Finally, Macklemore ended
and It was time for Pearl Jam. Oh, my gosh, I was so excited. Since we were in
New Orleans (the home of the New Orleans Saints), Steve Gleason, a player from Spokane,
Washington who has Lou Gehrig's disease and is an avid Pearl Jam fan,
introduced the band. We were later told that he made the set-list. Eddie also
announced that Gleason was part of the band. The band played
Sirens (Such an interesting opener)
In My Tree (Love it! Great diehard crowd participation)
Save You (FAST SONG!)
Corduroy
Animal
Lightning Bolt (My favorite song on LB!)
Mind Your Manners (Love hearing this song live)
Given to Fly (One of my favorite PJ songs!) (Read below for
the story on this song)
Getaway (I think this was only the second time this has been
played)
Even Flow
Present Tense (AH!!!)
Severed Hand (See below for the story of this song! Favorite
song on the self titled album!)
Daughter with Another Brick In The Wall Pt. II
Jeremy
Inside Job
State of Love
and Trust
Rearviewmirror
(encore)
Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns (OH MY GOD! ONE OF MY FAVORITE
SONGS TO HEAR LIVE!!! I have had the luxury of hearing this version twice. The
diehards were going nuts)
Do the Evolution
Go (After 7 Pearl Jam shows, I finally got to hear this song
live. It is one of my favorites)
Black (Gave me chills)
Alive
Rockin' in the Free World
Yellow Ledbetter
Throughout the night, there were several things that are
worth mentioning because, well, it just would not have been a Pearl Jam show
without these.
Eddie made a comment about the VIP section [pointing to his
left] "The jacuzzi section or whatever the fuck that is over there."
We all know that Eddie has never been a fan of special treatment of fans, but
whatever.
Eddie asked the crowd a number of questions: Who has been
arrested before? Who has been arrested in New
Orleans , and Who thinks they are going to get arrested
tonight? Of course, for all three questions the crowd screamed at the top of
their lungs. For the second question, Eddie said "I should raise my
hand" since he was arrested almost twenty years to the week in the French
Quarter. He said that if we were ever in Seattle ,
and we were arrested, we could call one of his friends and "He'll pay your
bail or give you $10 to buy some big, floppy old man shoes. His name is
Macklemore. His number is *********" and Macklemore ran out to stop him.
Given To Fly was then dedicated to him.
During Severed Hand, Eddie made a comment about the song
being written about "all the overdoses on marijuana in Seattle since it was legalized. Obviously,
I'm joking, because that's never fucking happened, EVER!"
During RVM, The lyric "I'll forget but I won't
forgive" was repeated multiple times.
And how about Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns?! I have always
loved their version of these songs and I have had the fortune of hearing them
live, not once, but twice (the other time at Wrigley Field). Chloe Dancer has
only been played seven times and Crown of Thorns has been played 22 times. All
of the die hard fans around me, including myself were freaking out and several
of us, including myself, were crying. That is one of those songs that I could
hear every time I see PJ and I would not get tired of it.
How could we forget about Eddie Vedder calling out the
people in the crowd wearing costumes? One was a possessed unicorn looking thing
and the other was a bunny. They somehow were picked out by Eddie and got to go
on stage. When he called them out, he said "I heard about this on a Sonic
Youth record. Something about how people can't get sexually excited unless they
are dressed up like that. Is that you? I knew I would never see anything like
this until I got to New Orleans .
I am in room 518 at the Hudson Arm or whatever it is. I'll bring my teddy
bear." The crowd laughed for a long while, including myself. It was a
moment I wish I could un-hear, but it was still funny nonetheless.
Lastly, Eddie and Mike had some fun with the hanging
lanterns. Eddie jumped on and started swinging on one of the lanterns and Mike
ended up smashing one of the lanterns with his guitar and it was great. He
eventually swept all the glass(?) to the side and kept on playing.
I have seen Pearl Jam at festivals in the past, but this was
by far the best. (Uh, hello, Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns! Duh!) Steve Gleason
picked a great set that combined the hits but still maintained a good variety
of die hard favorites! I salute you, Mr. Gleason.
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