5/4 Pearl Jam Concert Review

Me and my brother went to see Pearl Jam last night at the Scottrade Center, in St. Louis. I had bought tickets on the Ticketsnow site, basically Ticketmaster's jack up the price page, because when I looked on the regular site, they only had crap nosebleed seats showing. So I ended up paying more and I was screwing around yesterday and saw I could have gotten floor seats on the regular ticketmaster site. They are a bunch of crooks... But anyway, I'd already taken the day off, so I was wanting to go anyway.. Plus, they weren't actually tickets, but the ones you print off at home. So, when they scanned them in, I was glad, because I got to thinking I better not have gotten screwed on this...
But me and Zane, got there with a half an hour to spare and the show actually started on time(Not like a Springsteen show....). Band of Horses opened. They didn't sound bad. A combination of 70's rock and 90s Alternative, the singer having a bit of Dave Matthews kind of annoyance. I wasn't at all familiar with them. They had a sound of everything except Southern Rock, irony being they are from South Carolina. They played nine songs for about 45 brief minutes.
And after around 45 mins of moving the stage around Pearl Jam came out to an X-Files theme-like intro music. The most surprising thing to me, was that they didn't have giant video screens up. I know they don't like the glitz and glamour, but heck even Neil Young used them when I saw him in Kansas City. They did have a backdrop with the Pearl Jam logo on a typewriter. A "Backspacer" in reference to their last albums name.
I'm sort of a moderate Pearl Jam fan. I think I became more interested in them after I found out Eddie Vedder was a huge fan of the Who. Anyway, they came out rocking. Vedder was on guitar for the first two songs of the night and intermittently after that. Song number two Corduroy was a stomping that kept the momentum going the whole night.
After the third of fourth number, he said something along the lines, " Its been six long years since we've been here..." I think more like 5 and half years. They played in St. Louis during the Vote for Change(Aka We Hate George Bush) Tour in 04. And he also tried challenging the audience by saying how hard it was going to be to top the previous nights audience in Kansas City, knowing it would rile up the Eastern Missouri faithful. But he was also full of shit, saying how long they intended to play, they had everything setlisted and all the encores are part of the "Show."
Heres the Set List

Sometimes
Corduroy
All Night
Do The Evolution

Why Go

Elderly Woman Behind a Counter in a Small Town
In Hiding
Even Flow
Unthought Known
Save You
Down
Pilate
Severed Hand
Not For You
Glorified G
1/2 Full
Daughter
The Fixer
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Inside Job
Just Breathe
Jeremy
Got Some
Rearviewmirror
-----------
Garden
Alive
Baba O’Riley
Yellow Ledbetter>Little Wing


It was a good mixture. I think they most of their hits. Elderly Woman... and Save You were two more strong points in the main set. Better Man and Black were the only two missing ones. And I honestly would have rather gotten one of them instead of Jeremy. I've never been a major fan of it. But the one-two punch of Daughter and the Fixer, were a great way to end the regular portion of the show.
And honestly with most of the non familiar/radio friendly tracks its tough to follow along. The band rocks, but very loud and Vedder still has his garbled vocal. But his acoustic performance of Just Breathe was another strong point. During Even Flow, with the guitarists were jamming away, Vedder went to back to take a mid-set smoke break. And during the very end of the Show during Little Wing, he was setting on the amp in front smoking while Mike McCready was blaring his solo.
McCready is a powerhouse guitarist, providing all kind of mesmerizing solos. During one little jig where he played a blues riff, Vedder claimed "How appropriate in the home of the St. Louis Blues?"
The highlight for me was the final three of the night, the sonic guitar work of Alive , probably my favorite Pearl Jam song. Then the Who cover Baba O'Riley was a surprise. Was figuring a Neil Young cover or something else, but gladly to see it. I think McCready accidentally started on Yellow Ledbetter, at first before Vedder corrected him. And then going into the finale with its also signature guitar riff and unintelligible lyrics. The full band had left save Vedder and McCready, who was wailing away into Little Wing. Then Vedder wished everyone a good night and promised to be back soon. Here's the Post Dispatch's review and other piece

All in all, a true rock blowout. Hits, surprises and good music...