May 20, 2006 - Cleveland, OH - Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket

Venue:  Quicken Loans Arena

This was my fourth Pearl Jam show, and my second and final show with my friend James.

James had gone to the first Cleveland show, and at this point he still wasn't a big fan of the band.  We sat on the floor, but at the back of the first floor section, probably about 25-30 rows from the stage.

Main set highlights included an "It's OK" tag on Daughter, and great versions of Immortality, Unemployable, and Severed Hand.  This was the first show I saw after they released their self-titled album, so I got a lot of new music, but not a lot of rarities until the encore.  I was extremely happy to hear one of my favorite stupid little B-sides "U", followed by the ultra rare Stone Gossard sung, "Don't Gimme No Lip".  This was also the first time I saw "Smile", which is always a treat.

It wasn't all great.  This was the first of three times in-a-row that I heard the song "Inside Job", which I have since come to dislike live.  It's just slow and the structure of the song doesn't allow you to do anything but just stand there.  Songs should have a rhythm, a beat, or a hook, and "Inside Job" struggles to barely have any of the three.  I have to be able to move along with a song.

James wanted to hear "Black", and they did play it.  He also felt sick half way through the show and sat down for most of it.  I remember being annoyed.  It wouldn't be the last time that a perceived lack of engagement and interest from a concert going friend bummed me out.

At least he wasn't on his phone.