Another Passion...

To know me, is to know my love for Pearl Jam. It has been nearly 20 years since I first got into them. I never out grew them... there was a period of time after I got married where I kind of forgot about them, but it didn't take long for me to realize that and to catch up! Their music constantly evolves yet their original work is still awesome and timeless. I have my brother Jac to credit for influencing me with PJ's music. Without his loyalty to PJ I probably would've lost mine - his passion came from having seen them live several times in their earlier years. I didn't get to see them live until I was 25, but wasn't moved by them until the show I went to three years ago with a good friend, Ari. That show was my 3rd and it was just magical.

Ari and I went to see them in Camden at an outdoor place (formerly known as "Tweeter Center") on June 19, 2008. It was a full moon, the weather was as perfect as you could hope for in an early summer night. Breezy, comfortably warm/almost cool. The energy of the crowd feeds so well into PJ and they sense it and return it, it's a beautiful relationship! It honestly feels like there becomes a mass consciousness at their shows. It's just incredible. That night hooked me in big time and I quickly became obsessed! I then went to see them again in October of 2009 in Philadelphia- they were closing down the Spectrum and PJ was the final show for the life of the building! It was a famous building, home to the "Rocky" movies, it was a sports arena and lots of significant musicians played there as well. It was an honor for PJ to close out that building and I was thrilled to be apart of it, even though I had never been to the Spectrum before! My husband and next door neighbors, as well as most kids from the So. Jersey and Philly area all had their first concerts there! PJ did 4 shows in 5 nights the last week in October, 2009. I was fortunate enough to attend last two, on Oct 30 & Oct 31. The last one was over FOUR hours long. They promised at that show that they never plan to play that long again, ever! At one point, they came out dressed up as Divo and played "Whip It" .

After checking out that video now, I feel I must come out with the truth and just say it-- if Eddie Vedder asked me to run away with him I would probably say "YES!" in a heartbeat. But maybe it'd just be a weekend affair, and that really would be fine! ;) I love him !! Not only is their music nice on the ears, but the lyrics are thought provoking and spiritual! They are just an awesome package and I had to include them here in the blog because they mean SO much to me!! :D

Oh, one more thing; I saw them again in May of 2010, the week of my birthday. Twice. Once in Newark with Ari (again, but this time it was her first post-baby concert!) and a few days later on May 21 with my big brother Jac! We bonded over the music, it had been a long time since he and I could connect as the friends we used to be a million years ago. He was practically my best friend for a long time and I really looked up to him. Somewhere during college he came off of the pedestal I had him on since I was 14. Then we both got married and had kids and don't live all that near to each other. Life happens. But to be shoulder to shoulder with him at our favorite band live at MSG in NYC? That was really awesome. The most favorite part of that show was Betterman. The roar of the crowd in MSG is like none I've ever experienced. We truly all shared in something special that night and the Betterman singalong just is a manifestation of that connectedness! :)


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