By Monkeefan
I drove 10 hours total, to and back from the woodlands this Sunday (in blinding rain on the way there and blinding fog on the way back, mind you) and I would do it again in a heartbeat! I was sort of assuming I would be disappointed due to seemingly crummy tickets and possibly unreceptive audience, but I was so wrong! Not only did I get a deal on my tickets though ebay- 2 second tier reserved seats for 65 dollars- but the venue was much smaller than I imagined so from our seats we could see sufficiently and they had big video screens to show any necessary close ups. The sky had been threatening rain and drizzling all day, but it never poured out of respect to SK…the ladies came on while the sun was setting and they looked lovely as usual-Carrie wore that striped tank top she seems to always wear-we theorized that she packs light to allow for all of Corin’s more elaborate outfits….and this was no exception with the ruffles and the two tone denim skirt with the splash of pink….Janet was totally workin’ the pink furry shoulder pads. They busted into oxygen, and i think Corin’s voice had never sounded better, and Carrie’s kicks and windmills had never been more abundant. This type of show certainly had virtues of its own over a club show: I don’t have to hold back on singing every lyric at the top of my lungs because there’s no way i could sing over them in that arena and no one around me seemed more focused on their ridiculously long plastic margarita glasses so i was not ruining their fun….but the crowd up front really seemed to be digging it and there was big applause after every song, augmented by me and my girlfriend’s screams and shouts…..she swears Corin looked and pointed at us repeatedly since we were totally standing out in our unenthusiastic section….i don’t know if she could have seen us from the stage but is nice to think she knew there were at least a few hardcore fans representin’ the big sleatizzle kinnizzle….a few highlights….they played youth decay which is one of those totally rockin songs they don’t always play….oh and there were all kinds of sexy guitar interplay going on between the ladies…Carrie kneeled righy in front of Corin and then rose up real slow and saucy like….and then she moved behind Corin and they played really close like….yeow! very nice….when Corin introduced Sympathy she said something to the effect of “Is anyone here a mom? I’m a mom….i wanna dedicate this to all the mothers of US soldiers….and the mothers of Iraqis” oh and how the eyes did well up with tears for the whole song, especially the “were all equal in the face of what were most afraid of” part, gets me every time, but especially this time cos she was really lettin’ loose….a very personal song to share with so many people….but im glad she did….they also did the new song, which features a newly British sounding Carrie singing like she is gonna just freak out…accompanied by her erratic hand gestures and cute angry puppy face that she only puts on when really pissed….oh and she plays a tambourine, if there is one instrument i love its the tambourine, second only to the cowbell which, wouldn’t you know, they utilize as well! An approximate set list, out of order:
oxygen
youth decay
far away
one beat
oh
sympathy
step aside
Hollywood ending
ynrnrf
new song
words and guitar
dig me out
and then i was like “what? no cover?” buuuut just you wait….
then pearl jam did their thang, which given myself not being a big fan, put on a good show…played a hit or two….like evenflow and better man which my middle school memory served me correctly and i still knew all the words….there is a ridiculously long guitar solo on evenflow and Eddie just lights up a cigarette and chills until its over….i was anticipating his impaling of a Bush mask, but he merely mocked the exaggeration by putting a Bill Gates mask on his mic stand and knocking it over saying “look at me, im a crazy fuck and a celebrity!”….he made some anti war statements, i think, i could never really tell what he was saying in between songs-i think the innner-song smoke breaks have further graveled his voice-and there were boos and a shout of “shut up you fuckin piece of shit!” but i think the cheers drowned em out…. so we were just about to leave when he’s like “were gonna bring everyone out” so we haul ass back to our seats only to see the most awsome encore….ever! Not just “fortunate son” with the alternating eddie/corin verses, but as that song came to a close, Carrie starts in on “keep on rockin in the free world!” which is just a great sing along anthem to close a show….and corin totally ripped it up vocally, id never seen her sing without a guitar so she was all jumps and dancing, very cute, even cuter when she and eddie did some synchronized dancing….Carrie was totally steppin up to ol’ Stone and showing him how it was done! ow! I was a little discouraged when everyone started funneling out during the encore, but i guess they just didnt appreciate how cool it was! In my opinion it really was an awesome show and while maybe i wouldn’t want to have only seen them in such a setting, I definitely would recommend going to one of these pearl jam gigs.
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