Garden party, hold the Avocado

There had been a lot of speculation ahead of Pearl Jam's second show at Madison Square Garden. The band had already done two full album shows -- Vs. on Record Store Day in Greenville, South Carolina, and Ten to represent their 10th sellout at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. As the second Garden show is traditionally considered an epic event, rumors ran rampant.

The early money was on the band's third effort, Vitalogy, which has yet to be performed in its entirety in concert. But that sort of fell by the wayside once people started realizing that May 2 was the 10th anniversary of the self-titled album, better known as Avocado. Then anyone and everyone expected that instead. Expectations rose to a fever pitch.

But Pearl Jam didn't play Avocado. In fact, they didn't play any songs from that release. Didn't make a reference to it at all. And that's why I love Pearl Jam. You never really know what they're going to do next.

My fondness for "setlist as art" started with Pearl Jam and Tori Amos in the '90s. I believe that the songs musicians -- and these one in particular -- play during any given concert are the ones that should be played. At this point, I wouldn't even want to recommend a song, if I was asked. Not that I am or anything.



Here's the canvas they painted that night: Corduroy, Mind Your Manners, Once, Animal, Given To Fly, Surrender (with Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson), Small Town, Nothingman, Leatherman, Better Man/Save It For Later, Garden, Even Flow, Sirens, Deep, Jeremy, Leash, Do The Evolution
Encore: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, All Or None, Pendulum, Present Tense, Breath, State Of Love And Trust, Porch
Encore 2: Last Kiss, Driven To Tears (with Sting), Lightning Bolt, Sonic Reducer, Alive, Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner

We were in fan club seats in Section 102, which is all the way across the arena lengthwise from the stage. Now in one of those archaic stadiums, that would seem pretty far, but the way the Garden seats angle forward, it didn't seem quite so bad. Not that I really noticed, for I was rocking out all night -- fast songs, slow songs, it didn't matter.

But first we met the other people in the row. I'll mostly skip over the part in which a couple who had apparently bought counterfeit tickets were ultimately removed, and go to the good stuff. On our left were two fans who had never been to a Pearl Jam show before. I told them to prepare to have their minds blown -- and it wasn't far into the show, maybe five or six songs when one of them leaned over and said, "You were right!"

It was actually a day in which I met a lot of cool fellow fans. Came in the city early to start the adventure, and on the train, I met Rob and Tasha -- who were name-checked by Ed Vedder during a show in San Diego in 2013 -- and their young son ... Eddie, of course! I was on the merch line by myself by a couple of hours, but after that almost fruitless wait, I meandered over to the Wishlist Foundation party at Madison Square Tavern and made new friends very quickly. Newer fan Noosh and veterans Greg and Guy ... it was just a good time talking about the band we all love so much and the shows we've been to. And then my Pearl Jam buddy, Liam, showed up -- I think I've seen four of my 10 shows with him now.

When we made our way over to the arena, I got my show poster and the last event t-shirt that might have been left in the building. Then I had avocado sushi in honor of the album's anniversary. I'm not an avocado eater by nature, but it was quite refreshing.

But not nearly as life-affirming as the set, which started off at full tilt with four rockers, including opener "Corduroy" -- which Liam was hoping for -- and "Once," one of my all-time favorites. That go-for- broke vibe nicely rolled into the always-transcendent "Given to Fly."



And then "the Garden Party," as Ed put it, got kicked up another notch when Mike McCready's buds from Cheap Trick -- Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson -- came on board for "Surrender." A really nice surprise and early too, which seemed to be a recurring theme. A lot of songs I associate with being later in the setlist moved up front -- the "man trilogy" of "Nothingman," "Leather Man" and "Better Man" soon followed.

That didn't take me aback as much as the emotions I felt during "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town." That one really got to me, I'm quite sure I never had tears in my eyes during it before.

As mentioned earlier, this marked the 10th time I'd seen Pearl Jam live. Ed also said it was the 10th time they played the Garden. And we got a lot of tracks from the debut album of that name. "Garden," "Even Flow," "Deep" and "Jeremy" kept everyone's energy at a high level early, and later, the same was true with "Porch" and "Alive."

Got to experience "Sirens" for the first time live, and that's a real nice slow jam to sway along to. Then we rocketed to the end of the first set with "Leash" and "Do the Evolution." I was playing air guitar on my poster tube, that was a new one for me ... and Liam.

The gems were plentiful in the first encore, starting with Ed delivering a charming version of "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" solo. The MSG crowd ate it up. Beautiful ballads "All or None" and "Present Tense" reverberated around the building with such grandeur. And then the piece de resistance, the one-two punch of the band's two songs on the Singles soundtrack, "Breath" and "State of Love and Trust." Again on the first, I got emotional. On the latter, I felt the irresistible beat in every atom of my being.


The second encore started off with the band facing the audience seated behind them, and I never mind that when it's "Last Kiss," a cover song that's not exactly my favorite. Liam and I dramatically were re-enacting the lyrics. There's just not a boring moment to be had at a Pearl Jam concert.

But, oh boy, what came next. I couldn't quite make out the vocals, but it sounded like a Police song. I said as much to Liam, and about 20 or so seconds later, he goes, "Yeah, 'cause there's Sting!" I wasn't even looking at the stage, so wrapped up was I in my dancing. But really a perfect selection when you consider Sting's involvement in world affairs and how that meshes nicely with Pearl Jam's ideals.

Then it was full speed ahead to the end, with the likes of "Lightning Bolt," "Sonic Reducer" and "Baba O'Riley." It's always toughest to hear "Yellow Ledbetter," 'cause you know it's closing time and you won't be running the gamut of emotions again until your next Pearl Jam show. Luckily, mine's in August at Fenway, but that just doesn't seem soon enough right now.