I Wish I Was a Messenger and All the News Was Good - Pearl Jam Sans My Morning Jacket

I'll never claim to be a big Pearl Jam fan. But I like them. I liked them a lot before Ten was discovered by retarded white hats. Then I thought they were just ok. Some songs are better than others. Some songs sound alike. I have a few of their CDs. They're ok.

But I love to see them live. They put on a decent show and the crowd is interesting to watch. Besides the retarded white hats, you have displaced dead heads, nerdy people, normal people. There's a good mix and a good balance.

I went with my sisters Lori and Tracy (who is visiting from CA) and Lori's husband Stevie to this one. The show was in Camden, NJ. I typically drive right into Camden (and drive the fuck right out after a show because it's a little rough after dark), but Lori and Stevie were driving and wanted to take the ferry from Philly. I never took the ferry before and figured this would at least be an experience. I could decide if it's a better choice for the next show that I'm going to in Camden.

It probably would not have been so bad if there hadn't been an all day Ween concert at Penn's Landing that day. That's right. Those "Push the Little Daisies and Make 'Em Come Up" fuckers screwed us. There was nowhere to park to catch the ferry. We were turned away from lots and garages for several blocks before we finally got some parking at Dave and Busters. We all had a beer in the garage when we got there to settle down a bit while Stevie said, "Ferry" and we all laughed. Maybe you had to be there.

We walked and walked, still not entirely sure where we were supposed to pick up the ferry. We finally found it and got to the end of a very long line. After waiting in that line to get tickets, we got to the back of another long line to get on the boat. By this time it was about 7:30, the time that the opening act was to start. But that's ok. I'm sure this will probably get me kicked off of myspace, but I can't think of a single My Morning Jacket song anyway. I've heard of them. I just can't think of anything they do. Anyway, the ferry ride was fairly short and smooth. As we walked to the gates, we heard the last of My Morning Jacket. We got frisked and then my sisters and I waited in the very long Yuengling line.

"But Chrissy! Aren't you boycotting Yuengling because of the issues surrounding their union?"

Sssssssssshhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Anyway, we got beer and made it to our seats. If you've ever been to the Tweeter Center, you know that there is a general admission lawn area and a covered amphitheater type seating area. We were in the very last row of the amphitheater. This was nice because we had a little breeze going. We could turn around and look at the moon and the stars. And we could kick the people trying to jump the wall to get from the general admission area to the amphitheater.

There was a couple sitting in front of us. They got drunk and started making out. Then, towards the end of the first set, they both sat a few seats away from each other, each with their heads in their hands. I told Tracy, "I think they just realized that they're first cousins or something."

As for the show itself, the setlist can be found here. I was happy that they played "Given to Fly" because that if my favorite song that they do live. Although, the audience didn't seem as into it as the other times that I've seen them. We toasted to Mike McCready's balls for some reason. I didn't recognize "Garden," although I was spacing pretty bad at that point. They also played "Crazy Mary," which is my favorite cover song that they do. But I would have liked to hear "Harvest Moon" or some other Neil Young song. And Eddie psyched us out. He said, "We're going to dedicate this next song to one of our friends and mentors," as we all geared for a Neil Young song, "Mr. Dick Cheney." People laughed as they broke into "Glorified G." They kept up with this trend that I've noticed where all bands have to play either "Baba O'Riley" or "Won't Get Fooled Again" close to the end of the show. They finally finished with "Yellow Ledbetter" and an impromptu "Star Spangled Banner" guitar solo. As I looked in front of me during the national anthem, I realized that the female half of the couple that was making out in front of us was now a few rows ahead on top of the guy's shoulders flashing everyone. God bless America! We fought our way out, waited a long time for the ferry and drove home.

All in all, it wasn't bad. I was happy to hang out with my sisters more than anything. Looking over the setlists, the night before was probably a little better, but that's ok.

I know that this is long, but what can I say? I'm procrastinating from doing my homework.