Kitchener Pre-Game

Eventually, I'll write what promises to be a rambling, incoherent review of last night's Thunder Bay concert. I scribbled a few nights on the flight home this evening, the upshot of which is as follows: I can't describe what I experienced. Seriously. On an empirical basis, it wouldn't even crack the top five Pearl Jam concerts I've ever seen; subjectively, however, it was above and beyond any concert-going experience I've ever had. My notes say something along the lines of, "I might eventually witness another Buffalo '03; I will never have another Thunder Bay '05." That, I think, sums it up better than anything else: last night's show was simply once-in-a-lifetime.

For that reason, writing about it will prove as elusive as...well, hearing "Hard to Imagine" live, for instance. So until that time, here are a few random notes on tomorrow night's Kitchener show--staged, as last night's gig was, in an intimate venue (c5,000 seats, give or take):

• Tomorrow is September 11. Pearl Jam has never played on September 11 since...uh, September 11; its previous 9/11 gig was the legendary MSG 2 show in 1998, where "Breath" was pulled out for the first time in four years and Eddie wound up hanging over the stage from his microphone chord. No telling what this could eventually mean.
• Predicted Opener: "Long Road" (still hasn't opened a show yet, for what it's worth), although "Love Boat Captain" has obvious thematic relevance
• What I'd Like to Hear Open: "Long Road"
• Predicted Closer: "Rockin' in the Free World" (again, seems relevant...more relevant than, for instance, "Why do I keep fucking up?")
• What I'd Like to Hear Close: "I've Got a Feeling" (oh, why not?)
• Five Songs I'd Love to Hear: "Footsteps", "In Hiding", "Tremor Christ", "Hard to Imagine", "Insignificance"

Also, tomorrow will be Dan Sundy's first-ever Pearl Jam show. I'm proud to say that I'm slaying a grand total of seven Pearl Jam virgins in 2005. Last night was Brad Jorgensen's turn; tomorrow it will be Dan's turn, and Monday night my BHBHGGFBJ loses her Pearl Jam virginity, as well. Trust me to insinuate that taking people to see Pearl Jam is somehow equated to sexual virility.