Philly – It's Party Time, Excellent!

It was Halloween weekend in the city of brotherly love, but there certainly was no nightmare on Broad St. On an eventful day that included a Flyers game in the same parking lot and the World Series across the street, Pearl Jam concluded their epic 4 show set, the last events to take place at the legendary Spectrum in Philly, home of my beloved Flyers. No, Bruce Springsteen didn’t show up and neither did Neil Young. But they were definitely not needed, as Pearl Jam would tear down the Spectrum on their own in style with a 42 song marathon that crept near the 4 hour mark in length, capping off an incredible run of performances that surpassed even the extreme standards that Pearl Jam have set for themselves over their career.

Now I am not one to really care about what songs are played nor have I kept track or have a checklist of songs which I go into a show with like most fans do, but with the band proclaiming an attempt to get through every song that they know over the course of the 4 shows, the Pearl Jam geek came out of my shell and I started analyzing the setlists for the first time in a long time to figure out the stats of what transpired over the week. I know some others have probably done this already, but this is my take on the Philly compilation.

SETLISTS
PHILLY 1
Corduroy * Whipping * Hail Hail * Supersonic * Dissident * Unthought Known * Faithfull * Parachutes * Unemployable * Immortality * Green Disease * Not For You * Rival * Nothingman * Ghost * Do The Evolution * Why Go
~~~~~
Bee Girl * Just Breathe * The End * All Those Yesterdays * State Of Love And Trust * Mankind * The Fixer * Go
~~~~~
Daughter * Love Reign O’er Me * Black * Leash * Rearviewmirror * Rockin’ In The Free World

PHILLY 2
Animal * All Night * World Wide Suicide * Small Town * I Am Mine * Johnny Guitar * Nothing As It Seems * Gone * Evacuation * Even Flow * Come Back * No Way * 1/2 Full * Down * Wishlist * Grievance * Given To Fly * The Fixer * Save You
~~~~~
Just Breathe * Lukin * Speed Of Sound * Push Me, Pull Me * Garden * Blood
~~~~~
Last Kiss * Wasted Reprise * Better Man * The Real Me * Porch * Yellow Ledbetter * Little Wing

PHILLY 3
Gonna See My Friend * The Fixer * In My Tree * Given To Fly * Tremor Christ * Untitled * MFC * Hold On * Unthought Known * In Hiding * Deep * Habit * Cropduster * Off He Goes * Force Of Nature * Present Tense * Got Some * Do The Evolution
~~~~~
Just Breathe * Parting Ways * Jeremy * Breath * Light Years * Rearviewmirror
~~~~~
Whipping * Crazy Mary * Footsteps * Once * Alive * Sonic Reducer * Baba O’Riley

PHILLY 4
Why Go * Last Exit * Corduroy * Severed Hand * The Fixer * Small Town * You Are * Amongst The Waves * Even Flow * Pilate * Unthought Known * Daughter * Johnny Guitar * Rats * I’m Open * I Got Shit * Glorified G * Out Of My Mind * Black * Insignificance * Life Wasted
~~~~~
Just Breathe * The End * Low Light * Speed Of Sound * Jeremy * Inside Job * Bugs * Spin The Black Circle * Porch
~~~~~
Whip It * Got Some * Crown Of Thorns * Satan’s Bed * Sweet Lew * Do the Evolution * Better Man * Smile * Alive * Rockin’ In The Free World * Yellow Ledbetter * Star Spangled Banner

SHOW STATS BY ALBUMS
(X are songs that were played, O are songs that were not played)

TEN (9 out of 11)
X Once
X Even Flow
X Alive
X Why Go
X Black
X Jeremy
O Oceans
X Porch
X Garden
X Deep
O Release

VS (10 out of 12)
X Go
X Animal
X Daughter
X Glorified G
X Dissident
O W.M.A.
X Blood
X Rearviewmirror
X Rats
X Small Town
X Leash
O Indifference

VITALOGY (11 out of 11)
X Last Exit
X Spin The Black Circle
X Not For You
X Tremor Christ
X Nothingman
X Whipping
X Corduroy
X Bugs
X Satan’s Bed
X Better Man
X Immortality

NO CODE (9 out of 13)
O Sometimes
X Hail Hail
O Who You Are
X In My Tree
X Smile
X Off He Goes
X Habit
O Red Mosquito
X Lukin
X Present Tense
X Mankind
X I’m Open
O Around The Bend

YIELD (12 out of 13)
O Brain Of J
X Faithfull
X No Way
X Given To Fly
X Wishlist
X Pilate
X Do The Evolution
X Untitled
X MFC
X Low Light
X In Hiding
X Push Me, Pull Me
X All Those Yesterdays

BINUARAL (7 out of 13)
O Breakerfall
O Gods’ Dice
X Evacuation
X Light Years
X Nothing As It Seems
O Thin Air
X Insignificance
O Of The Girl
X Grievance
X Rival
O Sleight Of Hand
O Soon Forget
X Parting Ways

RIOT ACT (7 out of 15)
O Can’t Keep
X Save You
O Love Boat Captain
X Cropduster
X Ghost
X I Am Mine
O Thumbing My Way
X You Are
O Get Right
X Green Disease
O Help Help
O Bu$leaguer
X 1/2 Full
O Arc
O All Or None

AVOCADO (9 out of 13)
X Life Wasted
X World Wide Suicide
O Comatose
X Severed Hand
O Marker In The Sand
X Parachutes
X Unemployable
O Big Wave
X Gone
X Wasted Reprise
O Army Reserve
X Come Back
X Inside Job

BACKSPACER (11 out of 11)
X Gonna See My Friend
X Got Some
X The Fixer
X Johnny Guitar
X Just Breathe
X Amongst The Waves
X Unthought Known
X Supersonic
X Speed Of Sound
X Force Of Nature
X The End

LOST DOGS (8 out of 30)
X All Night
O Sad
X Down
O Hitchhiker
O Don’t Gimme No Lip
O Alone
O In The Moonlight
O Education
O Black Red Yellow
O U
O Leaving Here
O Gremmie Out Of Control
O Whale Song
O Undone
X Hold On
X Yellow Ledbetter
O Fatal
O Other Side
O Hard To Imagine
X Footsteps
O Wash
O Dead Man Walking
O Strangest Tribe
O Driftin
O Let Me Sleep
X Last Kiss
X Sweet Lew
O Dirty Frank
O Brother
X Bee Girl

OTHER SINGLES
X Breath
X State Of Love And Trust
O Man Of The Hour
O Long Road
X I Got Shit
X Out Of My Mind
X Crown Of Thorns

COVERS
X Love Reign O’er Me
X Rockin In The Free World
X The Real Me
X Crazy Mary
X Sonic Reducer
X Baba O’Riley
X Whip It

THE NUMBERS
135 total songs played over the 4 shows
101 were unique
94 out of 128 of their own original songs were played (no covers)
85 out of 112 of them from studio albums (minus Lost Dogs)
2 songs were played for the first time ever

PERSONAL ANALYSIS
I only saw the final 2 shows but was still curious about my own checklist of songs, so I went further into the analysis to discover that I am up to 91 shows now and have gotten 140 out of 150 of all their original songs that they have ever played. The songs that I am missing and the number of times they have been played are:

Mankind 35
Evacuation 28
Rival 19
All Those Yesterdays 12
Help Help 9
Angel 4
Push Me Pull Me 4
Fatal 3
All The Way 1
Let Me Sleep 1

5 of these were played in the first 2 Philly shows and the last 2 songs almost doesn’t even count. Quite interesting to say the least.

So looking through all of this, it would appear that my Pearl Jam career is nearing the end of the road and I will be ready to retire from shows when I’ve seen all of the songs or hit 100 shows right? Not a chance. There is a reason why I do not keep a checklist like this or keep track of how many shows, it is not important. It really doesn’t matter what they play on any given night, if the crowd is good, and the energy is there, the show will be great and that is all that matters. Variety is appreciated and sure, all of the rarities and oddball songs are a bonus but they are not played that often because they are not their best songs. In general, I just look to have a good time at each show.

With that said, the final 2 shows had an excess amount of energy and were pretty special to be a part of. Looking around the complete sellout of a crowd, not a single person was in their seats. I can’t remember the last time I saw an event where every person was on their feet, even up at the end of the 3rd balcony. I finally heard Sonic Reducer for the first time, a song that I’ve been wanting hear for a long time. It was kind of anticlimatic at this point however, but fun nonetheless. And as if anything else was needed, the Halloween costumes brought the fun factor up even more. I was Wayne and Stefan was Garth.

The Halloween show had a similar feeling to the final Nine Inch Nails show that I saw at the Wiltern in Los Angeles a month prior, matching it, if not surpassing it in epicness. Both will forever stand out in their own way for me and I feel privileged to have been in attendance to witness the history being created. What a great few months of concerts. Of course, I do give the edge to Pearl Jam due to the intangibles that come with their shows. Philly was a great time, the shows lived up to their seemingly uneclipsable hype, the Flyers won, the halloween costumes were fun, but the people and company were once again what made the trip, not to mention the 5 Philly cheese steaks I had over the 3 days. Glad to see everyone once again and sorry to those who I missed, it’s much harder to coordinate and do these shows without the van. Can you believe that I didn’t tailgate at all? Time is always an issue and there was just way to much happening that weekend, but we will connect soon again. This will be hard to top, but we all know it will be. Whip It Good!