In Retrospecticus

I've been on a major Pearl Jam kick of late; throw in an ill-advised downloading session yesterday morning and the fact that it's been exactly a month since my seventh and final Canadian show and I figured it was a good time to bring Touring Steve 2005 to a rest with a restrospective of the seven gigs I attended. In the end, I didn't end up writing about Thunder Bay. I actually started a review, but eventually discarded it; in the end, I decided it was better that way. But since this whole crazy adventure warranted one final statement, here it is: the seven shows in summation, plus the top 25 things I'll remember from my two weeks on the road with Pearl Jam. Enjoy!

• Thunder Bay. Imagine your wildest dream coming true. For me, it was seeing Pearl Jam in the building where I grew up - and on Friday, September 9. 2005, it came true. So what if it wasn't the best show I've ever seen? As I wrote somewhere else, "One day, I might see another Buffalo '03 - but I will never see another Thunder Bay." That, in essence, says more about this gig than any 2,000-word review ever could. (Tonight's PJ virgin: Brad...along with at least a half-dozen of my closest friends who were scattered around the Gardens.)
• Kitchener. An absolute piledriver of a set was almost ruined by an acoustic first encore featuring, in order, "Small Town", "Daughter" and "Black". Still, it'd be hard for me to hate on any show which featured both "Long Road" (my #1 all-time Pearl Jam song) and "Baba O'Riley". (PJ virgin: Dan Sundy.)
• London. First, I got to take Bri's Pearl Jam virginity; then, I got to hear "Hard to Imagine" live; and afterwards, when I thought I'd seen it all, Stone Gossard (replete with outrageous plaid pants) shook his ass for 8,000 people. My favourite show of the tour. (PJ virgin: Bri. But you already knew that.)
• Hamilton. Just a killer show start-to-finish, replete with a shock "Porch" opener, the Pearl Jam/Sleater-Kinney Lounge Act (i.e., "Harvest Moon") and the best version of "Rockin' in the Free World" I've ever heard Pearl Jam play. Having Corin Tucker on stage in a Wayne Gretzky Team Canada jersey didn't hurt, either. (PJ virgin: Heather Johnson.)
• Montreal. Scene of the underrated 2003 Riot Act gig...but despite a raucous crowd, the band was subdued (which I'll attribute to the one-year anniversary of Johnny Ramone's death; Ed, in particular, seemed on the brink of tears the entire night). Two Cat Stevens covers and a wicked version of "Crazy Mary" redeemed things somewhat; plus, Cam and I got to hear "Man of the Hour" together, which was a pretty special moment. (PJ virgin: Cam.)
• Ottawa. Where did that come from? Ottawa got a setlist for the ages, one in which "Wash" (which opened) wasn't the rarest song played. "Sleight of Hand" came totally out of left field, while "Rockin' in the Free World" had the Corel Centre shaking louder than it's ever shaken...because really, the resident hockey team doesn't have the kind of fans who make a building shake. A push between Ottawa and London for the setlist of the tour; probably my second-favourite show. (PJ virgin: Talia, while Jon and Lindsay were also in attendance.)
• Toronto. Some fool in a cowboy hat running on stage during "Rockin' in the Free World" are proceeding to mutter a bunch of gibberish into the microphone. Rumour has it he's in another band. (Aside: seeing Eddie and Bono sing a duet on "Ol' Man River" at U2's fourth and final Toronto show was the most surreal two minutes of my life as a music fan - bar none.) (PJ virgin: Jen.)

And the top 25:

1. The entire gestation period, from Jeff's subtle allusion to a Canadian tour in the Christmas newsletter to Sherkin's frantic "they're playing 'O Canada' on the Ten Club site!" to rumours of a gig up in Thunder Bay...which, if you'll recall, I dismissed without a second thought.
2. That Morning (a.k.a., Tuesday, April 26), when I awoke at 7:30am to find a tour announcement in my inbox. After scanning the dates, I woke Bri up; in retrospect, this probably imperiled our relationship, but at the time I seriously didn't care.
3. Four-and-a-half brutal months of anticipation, during which I started this blog, prayed nightly that "Long Road" would open the Thunder Bay concert and drooled over the prospect of seeing my favourite band seven times in eleven nights. Learning that Sleater-Kinney would open six of the shows almost made me foam at the mouth.
4. The entire Thunder Bay experience. I couldn't have imagined this happening in a million years.
5. Standing in the Fort William Gardens vestibule and hearing Ed's voice drift out.
6. Seeing the Pearl Jam travelling circus set up shop in my hometown; I actually own a poster with the words "PEARL JAM" and "THUNDER BAY" written on it.
7. "Present Tense" opening the Thunder Bay concert. Sure, I'd been lobbying the Big Guy for "Long Road" - but still, if consolation prizes exist in the realm of "Pearl Jam opening songs" then "Present Tense" is definitely it.
8. Ed climbing to the back row of the Fort William Gardens, then singing "Last Kiss" to a stunned audience. Afterwards, Eddie Spaghetti's son Quattro practically upstaging the entire proceedings with his ad-libbing during "Rockin' in the Free World".
9. "Long Road" opening the Kitchener gig on the anniversary of 9/11.
10. The Kitchener set. I was literally breathless by the time it finished.
11. Driving to London with Bri after two hours' sleep and four hours in class - and then, after Bri made a new best friend, we heard Ed open the show with a cover of "Growin' Up" and then Pearl Jam start their set with "Oceans".
12. "Hard to Imagine". I'd been waiting five years to hear this one live, and was assuming it was either never going to happen - or happen totally out of the blue. (For the record, don't think I didn't see the very obvious Labatt joke.) It happened in London; when the first notes hit I fell to my knees in supplication, grabbed Bri in a massive bear hug, raised my arms in the general vicinity of Eric Sherkin and then took it all in. ("Hard to Imagine" was actually on the written setlist in Thunder Bay, of all places, but got cut.)
13. Stone's dance.
14. "Porch" opening up the Hamilton gig. (By the way, Heather Johnson does the greatest concert dance I've ever seen. I plan on seeing many more shows with her if for no other reason than watching her dance like that again.)
15. The Pearl Jam/Sleater-Kinney Lounge Act. At the time, it felt spontaneous; by the time we'd heard it at four consecutive shows it felt cliched, but that couldn't detract from the first playing.
16. A "Rockin' in the Free World" that made Copps Coliseum shake like it hasn't shaken since Gretzky-to-Lemieux in September 1987.
17. Mine and Sherkin's three days on the road, with nothing but our opinions and Sherkin's iPod. Finding a good road trip buddy is a challenging proposition...and since we're on the subject, did you know that Sherkin and I met in line at the cash register of the Fireside Grill during frosh week? He was carrying a backpack with a Pearl Jam patch on it; I was in a talkative mood, one thing led to another and we've seen Pearl Jam together thirteen times. And shockingly, we haven't sat together once.
18. Cam and I hearing "Man of the Hour" together. (On a personal note, hearing "Man of the Hour" and "40" within seventy-tour hours was pretty special.)
19. Hitting the town following the Montreal show, then making our way back to Cam's apartment, where I informed my professors I wouldn't be coming back to teacher's college. I left a message on my dad's answering machine the following morning, along with the news that I'd scored tickets to three Leaf games; I'll let you guess which portion of the message never made it to mom.
20. Crazy Dancing Hippie Chick in Ottawa - just the perfect complement to Sleater-Kinney's set. (For the record, their best show was easily Montreal, followed by Toronto; not sure where I'd rank Ottawa in the greater scheme of things, but this tour did nothing to dillute my love of all things Sleater-Kinney). Then, we got a Pearl Jam gig in which "Wash" opened, "Don't Gimme No Lip" was debuted and "In Hiding" was played with me in attendance (first time in eighteen shows). Plus, "Sleight of Hand"...seriously, this was a gig for the ages.
21. Meeting Domesticated Jon for the first time, then eating Pogos with him and Lindsay. Sometimes, it's the little things you remember.
22. If you'd have told me before the tour began that I'd hear Ed and Bono duet on "Ol' Man River" (from the musical Show Boat) during U2's September 17 Toronto show, I'd have given you a strange look. When I saw Ed wander on stage I shouted, "That's Eddie fucking Vedder!" (being for the benefit of Miss Johnson, who is virtually blind without her glasses), then stood mouth agape for the rest of the night. Oh, and U2 was pretty good as well.
23. Toronto, a.k.a. the last of my seven shows. Getting a call from the Hockey Hall of Fame offering me a job while I was waiting for the GO Train, then getting to the Air Canada Centre three hours early to score myself a poster. (Oh: and this made my day.)
24. Ed's playful U2 references all night long, including a "Bad" riff which almost induced cardiac arrest in me. Still, when Bono ran on stage, grabbed a tambourine and started ad libbing during "Rockin' in the Free World", it was totally unexpected. I know I tend to speak in superlatives, but I've literally never seen a building go off like the ACC did when this occurred--just an amazing moment. Oh, and finally having "Yellow Ledbetter" close a Pearl Jam tour for me; heard it live six times in Canada and never got sick of it.
25. Outside after the gig, letting it all sink in.

With that, Touring Steve 2005 is officially retired. To anybody who's stopped by, thanks for reading; knowing at least some people were interested in my travels made it that much easier for me to write about them. When I started this blog, it was with the view of conveying just how much Pearl Jam means to me - and while I'm not sure I've done an adequate job, I needed to give it a shot. Hopefully by the time Touring Steve 2006 gets up and running, I'll have improved enough as a writer to fully plumb the depths of my inner being; in the meantime, I'm glad to have Touring Steve 2005 as a lasting testament to the best trip I've ever taken. Here's to the next time.