On Monday night I was lucky enough to see Pearl Jam live for the forth time. I'd seen then once when they played in Melbourne in 1998, and twice in Melbourne in 2003. Their second show I caught in 2003 (with was their third Melbourne show for that tour) was something of a religious experience for me. It was probably a combination of factors, both personnel and performance wise, but that show will always stand out as one of the greatest I've ever seen.

Kings of Leon were the support act (at least for the Melbourne leg of the tour), and they rocked out with a relatively short set of 1970's inspired rock. Have to confess, I hadn't heard much from them before Monday night, but from what I saw they are well worth checking out.

Pearl Jam hit the stage at around 8.40pm, starting off with the soft introduction of the 'Wasted Reprise' from the new album before kicking in with some rock with 'Life Wasted', 'Animal' and 'Spin The Black Circle'. Eddie Vedder's voice was in fine form and the band were tight. Running through some of their new tracks, plus a virtual 'best of' set, my stand out songs for the night were 'Animal', 'Betterman' (due to the audience participation), 'Come Back' (off the new album and really translates well live), 'Once', 'State of Love and Trust' and 'Alive'.

When the house lights came on for 'Rockin' In The Free World' (a Neil Young cover) I thought that it was over, but then the band kicked into 'Yellow Ledbetter'. With that song drawing to a close and everyone but Mike McCready putting down their instruments I thought it was all over (for the second time. Then Mike started noodling on 'Little Wing' (a Jimi Hendrix song), which prompted the band to pick up their gear and kick out a 'Little Wing' cover. Awesome stuff, but unfortunately Little Wing was the end of the road (for Monday night at least).

All in all, Pearl Jam played 8 songs from the new self titled album, a good mix of their classics, and were on stage for what must have been close to 2 1/2 hours. Unfortunately they didn't play any songs from 'Riot Act' (I was hoping they'd play 'Save You' or 'Thumbing My Way') and there was no 'Last Exit' (one of my all time favourites), but you can't have everything I suppose. Did it match their 2003 Melbourne epic? Maybe not, although it certainly was close... then again, they may always top it at Thursday's show!

If your interested the full set list is below.

Pearl Jam with Kings of Leon supporting.
November 13, 2006 - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia. 

Set List: Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Animal, Spin The Black Circle, Corduroy, Severed Hand, Jeremy, Given To Fly, Marker In The Sand, Even Flow, Insignificance, Army Reserve, Daughter/Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2 (Pink Floyd), Leatherman, Do The Evolution, Better Man / (Save It For Later), Rearviewmirror

1st encore: Inside Job, Once, Come Back, Black, Alive

2nd encore: Dead Man, State Of Love And Trust, Comatose, Why Go, Rockin' In The Free World (Neil Young), Yellow Ledbetter/Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix)