Pearl Jam Live In Charlottesville, VA

A couple months ago, I entered a contest through Pearl Jam's fan club.  They had a list of all of the dates on Pearl Jam's US tour.  You could choose the shows that you would most likely be able to attend, and be entered for the contest for a chance to go to those shows.  I clicked on Charlottesville, VA, because it was the closest one to home.  I didn't expect to actually win tickets to that show, but, low and behold, I won two tickets to see Pearl Jam on October 29, 2013 in Charlottesville, VA.

I've been a huge Pearl Jam fan since 1991, back when music was good.  I had to find someone who was as big a Pearl Jam fan as I am to go with me.  The obvious choice was my buddy, Seth, from the band Curmudgeon.

The show started at 7:00.  We had a six-hour drive ahead of us, so we left around 11:30 on the morning of October 29.  We made it to the John Paul Jones Arena a little after 5.  There was a big, red merchandise tent set up near the entrance, and we could hear Pearl Jam inside rehearsing such songs as Smile, Daughter, and Even Flow.  We sat around, and talked to some of the other fans for a while, and the gates finally opened at 6:30.

The band walked out on stage around 8:15.

Pendulum

Release

In My Tree

Corduroy

Go

Why Go

Lightning Bolt

Mind Your Manners

I Am Mine

 Swallowed Whole

 Faithful

Wishlist

Sirens

Jeremy

Grievance

Glorified G

The Fixer

Down --  Two guys in the front row started fighting when this song first started.  Eddie Vedder stopped the show, and made security break them up.  He said, "That was just a little speed bump.  Life is full of speed bumps.  That's all that was, just a speed bump."  Then, they started the song over.

Rearviewmirror

Then, the band took a little break, and came back for their first encore -- with acoustic guitars!  They did the following acoustic set:

The End

Thumbing My Way

Sleight Of Hand

Footsteps

Future Days

Mother -- Pink Floyd cover song!

They went back electric for these songs:

Given To Fly

Whipping

Big Wave

Sad

Porch

Then, they took another break, and came back for a second encore:

Breath

State Of Love And Trust

Alive

Baba O'Riley -- The Who cover

Little Wing -- Jimi Hendrix cover

This was my twelfth concert, and the best one yet!

Thousand Foot Krutch Concert

I'd never heard of Thousand Foot Krutch, until I heard them on Sirius Octane.  Turns out they've been around since around 2001.  They have some pretty good songs!  They had a free concert in Paintsville, KY on August 10, so I had to go check them out!  The drummer's plane was late getting there, because of the heavy rain.  They finally took the stage around 10:00, and played for about an hour.  Good times!

This was my eleventh concert.  Here are a few crappy pictures that I took with my crappy cell phone:

Daughtry and 3 Doors Down

I went to my tenth concert on Tuesday, November 27, in Pikeville, KY...  Daughtry and 3 Doors Down.  Otherwise was the opening band.  They took the stage at 7:30.  Daughtry was up next.  Now, I'm not a huge Daughtry fan, but I like a few of their songs.  They were borderline country, but they put on a good show.  They played for about an hour and a half, and then 3 Doors Down came out.  This was my second time seeing them.  They did a really good job.  I think they were even better than the first time I saw them.  They played for about an hour and a half, too.  The biggest surprise of the night came when they played a Megadeth cover song, "Symphony of Destruction." The biggest disappointment of the night was that there was no one there!  The Pikeville Expo Center has a capacity of 7,000 people, and there *MIGHT* have been 1,000 there.

I went to the Mass Chaos tour in Huntington, Saturday night.  Mass Chaos = Brook Royal, Halestorm, Staind, and Godsmack.  I've never heard of Brook Royal before, but they did a good job.  I think I just might have to check out some of their stuff.  Halestorm did a really good job.  I was surprised.  I've heard a few of their songs before, and thought they were okay, but they rocked the house!  It was my second time seeing Staind.  They sounded good, but Aaron Lewis just didn't seem too in to it.  He must have been on one of his bipolar trips, or something.  Poor guy...  Godsmack was awesome!  I was surprised by them, too.  I've heard they put on a really good live show, and I guess I heard right.  Sully Erna was sick.  They did a lot of instrumental stuff, and they didn't play very long, but they were still great.  I didn't know Sully could play drums.  He did a dueling drum solo with Shannon Larkin.  It was very cool!  Anyway, I enjoyed myself at the big rock show.  "It's been a while."

Alice In Chains!!!

Hey there! Just got back from my 8th concert, Alice In Chains! Good times... The opening act was a bit of a surprise: Shooter Jennings(?!). I was expecting country or some sort of rock-a-billy stuff, but he (and his band) played hippy, trippy, psychedelic rock. I kinda liked it! I think I'm going to get their new CD, and try it on for size. They only played about four songs... Five at the most, and then curtains fell. A few minutes later the heart from "Black Gives Way To Blue" appeared on the curtain, and a few minutes after that it started "beating." Jerry Cantrell's shadow was the next thing to appear on the curtain, and he went into the opening riff of "All Secrets Known." Mike Inez's shadow came next, then Sean Kinney's, and then William Duvall was last. I didn't think it'd ever happen, but, after the first verse of the song, the curtain finally dropped. "It Ain't Like That" was the second song. There were a couple "Hello West Virginia"s from the band, and then one of my favorite songs, "Again," kicked in. There was some more audience interaction, and then "Check My Brain." Right around this time I noticed a lot of moshing going on down on the floor. I've never been to a concert that had moshing. This audience was lively. There was even some crowd surfing later on, which continued throughout the night. Jerry Cantrell noticed it, too. He said that "This is the best audience of the whole tour." "Them Bones," and two more of my favorites, "Dam That River" and "Rain When I Die." A roadie brought out an acoustic guitar on a stand, and William went over to it for "Your Decision." Next came "Got Me Wrong," "We Die Young," and "A Looking In View." Next, William said, "This is a song that, up until a couple nights ago, we haven't played live:" "Rotten Apple." Very cool! "Sickman," and "Grind," another one of my favorites! Jerry said, "This is a song that we haven't played for a while," "Heaven Beside You." This is the part of the show where I started looking around the audience, and seeing all the guys dancing with their girls. It made me miss Baby Girl more than ever! Then "Angry Chair," and "Man In The Box" closed out the first half of the show. The band took about a five-minute break, and came back out for an encore. William said something along the lines of "Thank you, West Virginia. We're really glad to see you. Since we appreciate you so much we're going to play a seven-minute-mellow-jam that we don't normally play for everyone else. This is called 'Acid Bubble.'" After the song Jerry said, "We've got to get back here again -- that's for sure!" Next was "Would?" and then the final song of the night was "Rooster." I can mark that off my bucket list now. I've seen Alice In Chains in concert!

Stone Temple Pilots!

Hello from Dayton! I went to Columbus last night to see what may be my favorite concert to date. I had to put my trust in our new GPS thingy, because Columbus kinda freaks me out. It was at the Lifestyle Community Pavilion. My first outdoor concert! Nice place. Good times. My only complaint would have to be the delay in the beginning. It was supposed to start at 6:30, but it didn't start until 8. I guess they were waiting for the show to sell out, or something...

The Meat Puppets started the night with "Oh, Me." Then, they played a couple new songs that I didn't recognize. Sorry, I've been out of touch with The Meat Puppets for the last 10 years, or so. Then, was "New Gods" and "Plateau," and a couple other new songs. "Up On The Sun" and "Go To Your Head" were played at some point... Finally, another song that I recognized: "Backwater." And, of course, "Lake Of Fire." They put on a good show. It sucks that the audience wasn't into them that much. They kept saying stuff like, "We want STP!"

After another long wait, Stone Temple Pilots finally came out at almost 9:30. Not a moment too soon. The audience was getting pretty restless, and drunk, by that time. Drunk people are weird... There was a fight right across from me, and people were passing out and stuff... Anyway, "Silver Gun Superman" got everyone's attention. Good way to open the show. "Wicked Garden" was next. During "Vasoline" some guy threw a t-shirt on stage, and Scott Weiland caught it. "Thanks for the shirt, Buddy!" Heh heh. "Big Empty" was next. After that there was a little conversation moment (the only one of the night, actually). Dean DeLeo asked his brother, "So, what do you think, Robert? Do we like Columbus, Ohio?" Robert said, "Hell yeah!" Then, my favorite song, "Lounge Fly." I couldn't believe they were playing that one! "Army Ants," "Sour Girl," "Creep," "Crackerman," "Plush," "Interstate Love Song," "Down," "Sex Type Thing," and "Unglued." They took a surprisingly short encore break after that (considering the earlier delays). Then, they came back out to play two more songs, "Dead And Bloated (which featured an intro from some guy in the audience. Pretty cool...)." SW: "Would you like to hear one more?" "Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart." It was a fairly short concert. It was over by 11:00, but, like I said, I think it was my favorite concert. It also dawned on me while I was there that it would be my last concert before becoming a dad... It's a boy, by the way.

Stimulate This!

Hey, I went to a concert last night. The opening band was called Lo-Pro. I missed them completely. The show was supposed to start at 7:00. I got there at, like, 7:15, and they were long gone by then.

Second was Halestorm. I missed the majority of their show, too. I could hear them as I wandered around in the lobby / consession area. I heard their last three songs. Two of them were while I was walking around, and I was on my way to my seat when they played their last song. I didn't even see what they looked like. They sounded good, though.

Next, was Chevelle. I've heard them, and thought they sounded good and all, but seeing them live was great! They're a really good (THREE-PIECE!!!) band. They're like a heavier version of Deftones. The UFO behind them was a nice touch, but never really explained... But, they rocked!

And then, SHINEDOWN! This was my second time seeing them. The first time I saw them was in 2005 with Brother Roger. It was neat to see how much they've grown as a band in the last four years. They put on a really good live show. A lot of audience interaction. They had everyone jumping around the whole time. Good stuff!

Last but not least, Staind. It was my first time seeing them. I never realized how much they rock until I saw them live. I'd mostly just heard their mellow stuff... The coolest part was at the end, though, when Aaron Lewis went out into the audience, and sat on a tour crate, and sung with his acoustic guitar: "On The Outside Looking In," and "It's Been A While." Both songs made the hair stand on the back of my neck, and brought a tear to my eyes. Awesome! Good times!

From Last To First

Last night was my fifth concert... Here's a look back at my very first concert. I did this review for the Cruel Music web site way back on December 13, 1998, and it has just been sitting here on this old floppy disc, forgotten about until now:

AEROSMITH
December 13, 1998


All quotes are by Steven Tyler, unless otherwise noted.

My seat: Section 28, Row OO, Seat #22. It was a floor seat, about 20 rows away from the stage. Once the big rock show started, I could actually feel the heat from the pyrotechnics.

7:30pm The opening band, Seven Mary Three, hits the stage.

8:05 Seven Mary Three announces that they only have one more show with AEROSMITH. They thank the audience, and leave the stage.

8:35 The curtains on the stage fall. Egyptian-type music starts playing. The curtains begin changing colors from the lights. Six silhouettes appear on the curtain. One, who was standing with a microphone, starts making shadow puppets of a bird in flight…

Back in the Saddle starts playing. The curtains go up, revealing Aerosmith and their awesome stage setup, when the singing starts… “Good Evening Huntington!” Love in An Elevator… After the song, “Uhhh…. I can’t believe it, I’m at a f%#$ing loss for words! As this guy (Joe Perry) says, we’ll ‘let the music do the talking.’” Falling in Love (Is Hard On The Knees)… “This is off our new album, ‘A Little South of Sanity.’” Eat the Rich. I could have sworn it was on “Get a Grip” before it was on “Sanity,” but who am I to argue?! “Burrrrp.”… Seasons of Wither. “That’s what we call old school, boys and girls.”… Rag Doll… Dream On… Janie’s Got a Gun. Apparently Joey Kramer had a gun too! The opening drum beats could almost knock you off your feet they were so loud!… “What kind of love are you on, baby?” What Kind of Love Are You On… Kiss Your Past Goodbye… “Time for a little more old school.” Same Old Song And Dance… For the next song, Steven has on a top hat that he took from someone in the front row. Pink. Complete with pink lights… “This one is not old school, and it’s not new school. It’s somewhere in between.” Some Kind of Lady. I’m assuming that was the name of this one. I had never heard it before. It was a cool blues song… Draw The Line. “More old school for you.”… “Ladies and gentlemen, on the guitar, playing his a$$ off, and singing his a$$ off, Mr. Joe f#$%ing Perry.” Joe Perry: “And this is your brain on the blues.” Stop Messin’ Around. At the end of the song, the band went into a cool jamming instrumental… Steven then goes into the Intro from “Eat the Rich,” “Wake up kids…etc.” Walk This Way… “This next one is about some guy who was f#$%ing around with my daughter.” I don’t Want To Miss A Thing… Cryin’… Dude (Looks Like A Lady). “Thank you Huntington. Goodnight.”… Chants of “We want more” feel the arena.
-ENCORE-
The band walks back out. “Now I look like a big rock star.” Steven has a pink feathered scarf on. “Yeah right… s#$t.” Big 10 Inch Record. “Let’s just lock the doors, and play all night!”… “Let’s see what this young lady wrote for me: ‘Steven, I have a red corvette. If you can beat me, you can eat me.’” He then stuffs the letter down his pants… What it Takes. “And I still remember that one’s phone number!”… Instrumental. “Ladies and gentlemen, on the bass guitar, Mr. Tom Hamilton.” Sweet Emotion. It had a medley of more older tunes that I did not recognize toward the end… “Goodnight Huntington, God bless you, we love you!” The audience, for some strange reason, get up and start to leave before the band even left the stage. “HEY!!! Sit you’re a$$es down, the show’s not over yet!” Steven introduces the band; Tom, Brad, Russ Irwin, Joey, and Joe. Joe Perry then introduces Steven: “And last but not least, weighing in at 145 pounds, the screaming demon, Steven Tyler.” Steven: “Goodnight Huntington, we love you.” I think they were probably going to do another encore, but the audience acted like they were in a hurry to get out, so Aerosmith left.

My Big, Wild Hinder Night

Last night I saw my fifth concert, Hinder. Good times! The first band was some goofs, called 12 Stones. Next, was Papa Roach. That was my second time seeing Papa Roach. They opened for Guns N' Roses, last year. Too bad I don't like Papa Roach, huh? I mean, they put on a good show, and all, but they're just not my style. Too rappy for me. Finally, after a ridiculous amount of roadie stage time, a video came on the curtain. Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" played, as the guys from Hinder got out of a limo. It showed some back-stage, meet-and-greet stuff for a bit, and then the intro to Bon Jovi's "Let It Rock" started playing. And then, the curtain dropped, and, low and behold, there was Hinder! They started out with "How Long," followed by "Home Coming Queen," and then "Bliss." "Nothin Good About Goodbye," and "Better Than Me." Then, they played a new song called "Heaven Lost You." Very cool! "By The Way," "Born To Be Wild," and another great, new song, "Thing For You." And closing it all out, they played "Room 21," "Lips Of An Angel," and "Get Stoned." It was a good show, but it was a short show. 12 songs?! No encore?! Anyway, yeah, it rocked! The smell of the arena is still locked in my nose...

Happenings

Haven't really had time to check in lately... In case you haven't heard, my mom has cancer, yet again. I don't know if this qualifies as being her fourth battle with cancer, or not. I kinda think it has been there since, like, March, when she had ovarian cancer, and the doctors just didn't spot it then... The reason behind my theory is because she has cancer in her breast again, in her liver, in her right lung, and in her bones... It's bad this time... She's in the hospital as we speak. She keeps saying she's going to get better again. But, like I said, it's bad... The only reason she survived cancer the first two times is because of early detection. No one caught it in time this time around. It's had time to spread through, pretty much, her whole body. She's going to have to have chemotherapy again. I think that's pretty pointless, myself. The only thing that's going to save her this time is your prayers.

I've been trying to keep my mind off my mom's sickness, because it's just too much for me to handle... So... In an effort to keep myself distracted, I saw my third concert this year, Friday night. I went with Brother J.R. to see GUNS N' FREAKIN' ROSES!!! Guns N' Roses is probably my favorite band of all time, as you all know. I don't care if it was just Axl Rose, and his side band, and not the original GN'R, this was still a dream come true. Amazing concert, man! I've been kinda idolizing Axl Rose for the better part of 20 years now, and I must say, I've never seen him happier, or more upbeat than he was Friday night. He kept smiling, and joking around, and stuff. It was inspiring. Sebastian Bach opened the show, at 8:00. That was a bit of a surprise, because I didn't even think GN'R was having an opening band. Sebastian rolled out a bunch of my old favorite Skid Row songs, as well as a few of his new songs. He even dissed Ted Nugent for a while. He said, on the VH1 show, "Super Group," Ted put him down for drinking. So, Friday, Sebastian struck back by saying something along the lines of, "Ted Nugent is a weirdo, who gets out and shoots little animals for fun, and he calls me a bad person because I drink." Heh. He seemed a little lost during his show, though. He kept forgetting what song was next, and stuff... In all, Sebastian, and his band played for about an hour and a half... Then, the big moment? Guns N' Roses? Nope, not yet... Papa Roach played for, like, 45 minutes. They're not a bad band... They're pretty decent, actually, but they seemed to annoy me, though, because I was getting tired of waiting for GN'R to hit the stage. FINALLY... Around 11:00, the lights went out, and Axl Rose screamed out, "Do you know where you are???" The place erupted. It made the hair stand on the back of my neck. "Welcome To The Jungle," of course... It was a fairly typical GN'R set list, followed by: "It's So Easy," "Mr. Brownstone," "Live and Let Die," "Knocking On Heaven's Door," "You Could Be Mine," "Sweet Child O' Mine," and "Street Of Dreams." There were a few surprises, like, the next song, a new one... I'd heard a demo of it before, but never heard it live. I think it's called "Better." Kinda weird, and freaky song, but it was okay... Then, "Out Ta Get Me," "I.R.S," and "November Rain." And, in the biggest surprise of the night, they played my favorite song from "The Spaghetti Incident" album... Axl said, "I haven't sung this song for about 13 years..." "Down On The Farm." It was great!!! Then, a cool acoustic section: "You're Crazy, " "Used To Love Her," and "Patience." And... Another neat thing. Axl brought Sebastian Bach out to sing "My Michelle" with him. Good stuff! Umm... "Nightrain," and "Rocket Queen." And, for the encore, they played "Chinese Democracy," and "Paradise City." Really really really good show! So glad I got to see that. I would've never imagined I'd get to see Guns N' Roses in concert. And, even though it wasn't the real Guns N' Roses, with Slash, Duff, and Izzy, it was still really cool. I loved it!







Oh, and the little red, rectangular thing beside my ticket scan is a piece of the red confetti that was dropping from the ceiling at the end of "Paradise City." Yes, I kept it. I'm weird...

Adjusting...

So, I'm adjusting... I like my new life! It's fun, and liberating, and stuff... Betcher wondering what happened to my old life, huh? Me too!!! Well, as most of you know, I've been a hermit for the better part of 10 years now. I wouldn't socialize with anyone, I wouldn't go anywhere, I'd just stay in my room all day long. Well... In November, I discovered that there's so much more to life than being a hermit. "I got by with a little help from my friends," I guess you could say. My friends gave me a brand new, shiny SOCIAL LIFE. I had a lot of fun with my new-found life for a couple months. A LOT!!! But, all of a sudden, my shiny, happy social life was taken away from me. Oddly enough, it was taken by the same people responsible for giving it to me in the first place! I'm not mad, or anything. Just making a point. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to experience those 2 months of happiness. And, actually, I was expecting it to end from the very moment that it began. That's just my nature. I'm a very pessimistic person, and I always expect the worse of things. But still, even though I was expecting it all along, it still kinda left me in shock when it actually did end. I spent most of February trying to plot my next move. "Should I go back to being a hermit again?" "Should I find new friends?" Stuff like that... Anyway... I'm quite pleased to announce that I'M BACK!!! Yeah, man! I came to the conclusion that I shouldn't go back to my hermit ways, and that I should continue with the social life that was given to me. Pick up where we left off, or something... The thing is, no one really wants to be around me anymore, for whatever reasons. My friends sorta turned their backs on me, and left me here all alone. So... My solution for this little situation is that I have become an EXTREME HERMIT (patent pending...)!!! By that, I mean that I am doing the same types of things that I did when I had my brief social life... I'm just doing it alone now. Case in point:

On Friday night, March 10, I went to Logan, and watched a KICK ASS benefit concert, featuring local bands, ALL BY MYSELF. Sure, I might've looked like an idiot sitting there alone, but I HAD FUN!!!

And, last night... March 12... I went to Charleston, and saw my long-time heroes, MOTLEY CRUE, in concert!!! And, again, I was alone, but I had a blast!

Wish y'all could "be there" with me, as I embark on this new chapter. I'm having a lot of fun being an "Extreme Hermit." But, I guess you've got better things to do...

P.S. If there's anyone out there, reading this right now, I just wanted to say: If you don't like Motley Crue, there's something terribly wrong with you! They're STILL an amazing band!

Hey, according to my "dashboard," this is my 100th post. I guess this calls for a celebration, or something, huh? So... Go ahead, and celebrate.

As you know, I've been going through this weird, transition sort of thing, these last couple months. I think the transition is almost complete now. Last night was sorta, like, a new beginning for me. I like last night. What a great night last night was! I went to the big rock show with Brother Roger, and his wife, Nora. 3 Doors Down, man!!! Yes, sir!!! What an awesome band!!! I've always liked their CDs, and stuff, you know, but seeing them live was a real treat! AWESOME band, there. I had a great time!!! Shinedown, the opening band, are not so bad, either. I really like Shinedown! Good night. Cool night. Awesome night. God bless Brother Roger. God bless Nora. God bless little Aaron, who I've yet to meet. God bless Shinedown. God bless 3 Doors Down. God bless "ROCKY!!!" It feels good to re-discover what's really important in life. I think I'm done with my anger, and bitterness, and whatnot. I'm starting to feel happy again. I don't think the transition will be complete until I can get out of my office job, though. Yeah, I'm still working there part time, while I'm working at the store the other part of the time. But, getting back with my friends has done wonders for me.