... Pearl Jam @ Barrie, Pearl Jam @ ACC (1)

Someone asked me in the comments for the first post if I'm going to be recounting these shows for memory or if I've taken prodigious notes at all the shows I've been to.

The answer is, well, a little of both.

First, I am blessed/cursed with a great memory for things that are of no consequence. I can recite chart positions for most singles and albums, list most Oscar winners without breaking a sweat, and can still give you detailed plot outlines of most the books I've ever read. Important things....eiiinnn...those come and go. Hey, I didn't get to be a Reach for the Top provincial champion based on good looks and charm.

Secondly, Pearl Jam themselves do a lot of the heavy lifting. Their website lists all their gigs and each set list. So often if I remember the venue and the set list I can fill in the rest of the show. Pearl Jam also releases bootleg albums for every show, and we have all of the ones we've been to, so I can go through those to refresh my memory.

Dawn, also, has been keeping a book of Pearl Jam concert memories that I check from time to time.

Having said that, the first couple of shows are a little faded in my memory, so I'm going to do those together, and each will be kinda short. Consider this the cardio before the weight training.

Pearl Jam @ Molson Park, Barrie, Ontario - August 22, 1998

Opening act: There was a side stage that Cracker and The Matthew Good Band headlined. Main stage openers were Cheap Trick.

Click here for the set list.

Yes, Cheap Trick opened. I thought it was a joke. It wasn't. They rocked.

Molson Park was a huge field outside of Barrie, Ontario, an hour a bit north of Toronto. At the time this was the largest show Pearl Jam had ever headlined, and in a way I think they were a little daunted by the number. If you look at the set list you'll see they opened with "Corduroy", which does not happen all that often. It was like they felt a need to really start the show on a high note. On the other hand, there were other reasons to start the show on a big note. This was the first real large scale tour after their battle with Ticketmaster, and was also in support of Yield, which was their most straight ahead record since Vs..

I think I was a little lost in this show. It was a big concert, we were at the top of the field, and it was tough to connect with the band. But there were moments where I saw the flashes that I'd see later. The ones that stick out the most were the coda of "Surrender" at the end of "Daughter", both as a nod to Cheap Trick and also touching on some of the menace that I've always heard in that song since I was a little kid when I'd listen to it in my brother's room. Think of it: "Daughter", a tale of childhood alienantion, ends with "The shades go.....down" and at this show segues it into a morose acoustic "Mama's all right...daddy's alright...they just seem a little weird...surrender." Shudder. Also, they borrowed the famous Boy guitar for "State of Love and Trust", and it's then that I felt that any Pearl Jam song could possibly be an homage to another one. And that leads to a whole other series of events...

Pearl Jam @ Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario - October 5th 2000

Opening act: Supergrass

Click here for set list.

Binaural was a tough period for Pearl Jam. It's one of their more difficult albums (up there with No Code), reflecting a difficult time for the band (and possibly the world, when you think about it). The set list reflects that. The songs almost all seem to have a sense of resignation about them, and the switches in tone seem almost manic. I also think it was a tough night to connect with the crowd: Eddie was talking about the Doomsday Clock and how it had been moved up just that week, and the crowd cheered. "You're all sick f---s, you know that," he said with a laugh, but it was kidding on the square (oh, there will be more stories about Toronto crowds later, don't you worry).

We were up in the rafters, pretty much in the last row, so once again there was a bit of a disconnect between ourselves and the show, which might be why this is one of the least memorable of the shows I've been to.

But then I look at the set list, and check out those encores. That's what I'm talking about when I say that the encores are sometimes the best part of the show. "Crazy Mary" and "Baba O'Reilly", plus "Do the Evolution". In a way, the encore set outstrips the main set.

And it's quite funny, how you can be so close to something: the next year we were in Montreal for the Grand Prix, and I was wearing my Binaural shirt, and some Australians were in the elevator. "Where did ya see Pearl Jam?" "Toronto, on this tour." "Cooooor..we heard that show on a bootleg...it was Awwweeeesoooommmmah."

This was my first show with Dawn, and for a while we both thought this would be our only Pearl Jam show together. But then one day, out of nowhere, we made a decision that would change our lives forever.

And I'll talk about that in the next post.