Best concerts ever part two

Pearl Jam at Memorial Drive, 1995

Went along to this with Gav, and Boris. A number of reasons why this makes the list - it was my first concert ever, and Pearl Jam possibly at their peak as a heavy rock band after releasing Vs and then Vitalogy in 1993 and 1994. I remember standing in line for this one from the early afternoon, and then the mad rush for the gates as they opened. I was excited that we were in great position to see the band, although about 15 minutes after the show started I ran into my cousins, and was slightly disappointed to find out they'd arrived an hour or so ago, and just pushed their way to the front.

I also have vivid memories of Boris crowd surfing into the sealed off area up front. This was well before the concert had started, that's how much everyone loved crowd surfing back in the early nineties. I tried it myself a few times that night, and didn't fare so well, seems Pearl Jam fans aren't the strongest of people (I may have been carrying a little extra weight, I can't really remember).

The highlight of the show was during Blood - a relentlessly intense song, during which Eddie destroyed his mic stand. This was obviously back in the days when he was a little more active, and didn't spend the entire show gradually getting drunk on red wine and mumbling stuff about the President.

I've seen them three times since - once at Thebarton Oval on the No Code Tour (an underrated album by the way) and then twice at the Entertainment Centre. Not once have I been disappointed, and I'm pretty sure I'll see them every time they tour here. And I'm not someone who listens to Pearl Jam a lot anymore either, but live they are always good. If I had to rank the remaining three concerts I'd put the first Entertainment Centre one (attended with Alen) next, followed by Thebarton Oval (Ando and Ash) and then their Entertainment Centre show last year (Narelle).

Here's the guys doing Blood at a different show.