The Show

We actually entered the Wachovia Center at 7:45 missing the beginning of the opening act. We made our way through the crowd and up the steps to the VIP section, and then up the escalator to the spot where the boxes were located. We walked half way around the Wachovia Center to the box number 46 and entered the box to find a bunch of older men in their mid 40's. One of the guys thought that he was going to be the only one in the box and decided to give us a hard time about seeing our tickets and who we knew and how we got the tickets, but I was not about to let someone push me around at the Nova Savings Bank box. I had worked all summer at the bank headquarters and met everyone who worked at the bank, so when this guy who I didn't know tried to push us around, my beer muscles came on, and I gave him just as hard of a time as he gave me and showed him that I was not going to let him run the box. After this brief altercation between me and my knew friend, my friends and I started to get a beer before the Pearl Jam came on.

Finally, PJ came on stage and opened up with great lights and phenomenal energy. The crowd was extremely into the show and it seemed as though the band was as well. Eddie Veddor talked a lot during the show and always said that he loved the crowd in Philadelphia and told us that they originally weren't going to do a show in Philly, but they felt bad when the Atlantic City show sold out so quickly. He spoke very poetically and chose his words very carefully as if every single word meant so much to what he was trying to say. The crowd embraced everything he said with cat calls and cheering.

They played 3 full sets with nearly 11 songs in each set, but the concert seemed as though it was only 20 minutes long, it flew by. After the 3rd encore, they finally got off stage for good. It was a picture perfect night and when I was leaving the incendiary sounds of each note played by the band stayed with me; it was as if they were replaying the show inside of my head. In the parking lot I realized that in the mass confusion before the show I had forgotten to purchase a t-shirt to remember this special day so we sought out a t-shirt guy for almost 10 minutes before we found one. I will always remember that night as a bonding experience with my friends and with the band; I think that after you see PJ live, you gain a new respect for them and for the music that they play. It was incredible.