Friday 5/21/2010: One of the best shows ever!!

On Friday 5/21/2010 my brother and I made the journey from the Philadelphia area to NYC to see Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden. We took the train from Hamilton, NJ to Penn Station and walked the rest of our time in the city.

On our short walk from the train station to the hotel we scoped out a few places we might want to hang before the show. A place called O'Reilly's on 31st street looked like a cool spot and we would keep that one in mind.

We checked into the hotel and chilled out for a bit there before heading out for some food and refreshments for the pre-show. I never really knew it before but found out that my brother LOVES hotels! Probably would have stayed there all night! It was close to 5:00 PM I think when we decided to venture out into the enormous city and locate some suds and fine bar cuisine.

we strolled back the way we had come and thought we'd cruise by that O'Reilly's joint we saw earlier to see what it might offer. Well when we got to the front of the place we knew we would probably be staying here for a while...
Not only did they have the best sign on the streets of New York but when we walked in the place they had Touring Band 200 playing on the TV's in the bar area. Nice! We stayed. We had a few beers and some great grub and got ready for the show.

I guess it was about 7:30 when we decided to head to the Garden and get to our seats. The building was absolutely electric! You could just tell people were excited to be there. In New York. At a Pearl Jam show. It was great feeling!

My brother and I were both really hoping to see them open with "Release". I had never seen them open with that song and for him it had been since '98 I believe when he saw them in DC for one the Voters For Choice shows.

Well, it was not to be. They came out swinging with "Corduroy" on this night but looking back on it I certainly did not feel disappointment. After all, the opening line to the song was just so fitting... "The waiting drove me mad... Your finally here and I'm a mess..." because I was so excited for this show it was hard for me to focus on anything for the entire week leading up to it. From that opening song on through the entire night we simply witnessed magic all around us. The band was really into it and was feeding off a crowd that grew louder and louder as the night progressed. The band delivered a really diverse set of songs from hits like "Black", "Alive", and "The Fixer" to the tracks that most casual fans would recognize as Pearl Jam including "Sweet Lew",  "Black, Red, Yellow" and "Push Me, Pull Me".

A couple of the finest moments ever at a Pearl Jam concert came in the later parts of the show and these are the moments that I will remember forever.
"Hunger Strike" with Ben from Band of Horses:


And "Lukin II"... a slowed down version of the normally punk infused classic! This was really awesome.


My brother and I had a great, great time at the show and enjoyed our time together in a great city! He even made us shirts for the occasion. I left mine in the car at the train station and he left his in his bag that he left on the train on the way home :) Hopefully he got it back. I haven't heard yet :)

Regardless of few minor mishaps... nothing could ruin a night like that. Pure Pearl Jam magic. Can't wait to hear the official bootleg!