Pearl Jam Tour Diary #5: Please Don't Play The Hits

You've probably read on the site that Bono made an appearance at Monday night's Pearl Jam gig. Our touring fan had a different take on the incident than those of you who lost your shit when the Bononator took to the stage... he's just happy the U2 frontman didn't ruin the whole night.

Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto
After being reinvigorated by the Hamilton show, Montreal kept the momentum rolling with a fantastic Pearl Jam performance. With rare covers such as "Don't Be Shy" and "Trouble" by Cat Stevens, the Montreal show eliminated any doubt I had about the trip.

Despite losing a tug-o-war contest with security over a poster tube, the Bell Centre was just as great as I remembered it from my first Pearl Jam outing there in 2003.

A quick two-hour drive to Ottawa the next day gave us enough time to drop our stuff off at a friend's house, and throw ourselves into the mess that was the drive to the venue. I am not alone in wishing that Mapquest would adjust for traffic, am I? What should have been a 22-minute drive, took over an hour. Luckily we had departed with lots of time to spare and were greeted at the venue by several other touring fans we had met in Montreal, as well as a huge downpour of rain.

The discomfort of my soaking wet clothes was forgotten when Pearl Jam took to the stage after an incredible Sleater-Kinney set. The setlist was my favourite of the tour so far, opening with the ultra-rare b-side "Wash" with many rarely played songs following.

Along with their explosive enthusiasm, the band even chose Ottawa for the debut of Stone Gossard-fronted "Don't Gimmie No Lip" much to the delight of the majority of the people in the building.

With two days off following the Ottawa show, Jeremy and I were able to spend the Saturday exploring Ottawa's fantastic sights, and even found ourselves lucky enough to catch a Cuff The Duke show that evening.

Sunday, we drove to Toronto for an exciting Jays/Yankees battle.

An unusual visit to the Hockey Hall Of Fame started a great day to celebrate my 20th Pearl Jam show. What made this visit unusual was that I spotted almost as many Pearl Jam shirts at the Hall Of Fame as I did hockey jerseys.

In classic Toronto fashion, as the show approached, we were forced to dodge ticket scalpers all the way from the doors of the subway to the doors of the venue. Once we were in, the memories of my first Pearl Jam show were in full effect.

Almost five years ago to the day, I saw Pearl Jam for my first time at the Air Canada Centre. While both shows were pretty great, what this show had that the first one did not was a guest appearance by old sunglasses himself, U2's Bono.

I had considered the possibility of this appearance months ago, as I knew of U2's presence in Toronto. With Eddie's guest spot at the U2 show, consideration turned to expectation. Now, I do not consider myself a U2 fan. I was actually dreading this appearance, but the fact that Bono came out only for one song and did not really hijack Pearl Jam's set made me appreciate the opportunity to see him live.

Aside from that appearance, the show was decent. While I am not tired of seeing Pearl Jam, after 13 shows this month, I am tired of seeing some of the songs that make the setlist most nights. I understand that the majority of the people at the show were going to see Pearl Jam only once, so they would want hear the hits, but "Even Flow," "Daughter" and "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town" among others have found their way onto a few too many setlists for this touring fan's liking.

Overall, these three shows were really great. Toronto may have let me down a bit, as my expectations had been high after two great shows there in 2000 and 2003 but the fact that Ottawa was a surprise hit made for a happy Ontario Pearl Jam series. Hopefully, Quebec City's show can match or exceed Montreal's show for a similar outcome in that province.