Pearl Jam Tickets

I’m not the biggest fan of the warmer months.

My skin was not made for the Sun. I always get the highest SPF even though I know after a certain number it doesn’t matter. I actually want to come out with my own brand that just says “Irish”.

My Crohn’s doesn’t like hot and humid weather. Some days, my energy is so low that I just want to lie down with the A/C on full blast.

There’s no hockey. Every year, I wait between the last game of the Stanley Cup Finals and the first game of the next season. And no summer in my lifetime has included a Bruins Stanley Cup Parade (yet).

But, I always try to look on the bright side of things. Just about every summer, I go to PEI. It’s not nearly as hot and humid as Massachusetts and takes many of life’s stresses away. I also go to concerts during these warmer months. Even though less temporary than The Island, they also remove any worries that might be rattling around in my brain.

I’m not sure exactly how many concerts I’ve been to, but I know Pearl Jam is on the list of bands I’ve seen the most. Pearl Jam, Extreme, and Great Big Sea are my top 3, and of those I would have to say Pearl Jam is my favorite to see live. And I obviously love seeing Extreme and GBS concerts too, but there’s just something about a PJ show...

Even though I heard Pearl Jam on the radio when I was a senior in high school (Ten was released August 27, 1991), they really didn’t come into my life until I was battling cancer the following summer. My older brother Jon let me borrow his Discman whenever I was getting chemotherapy, and I listened to Ten as the VP-16, carboplatin, and bleomycin were killing my brain tumor and I liked it…a lot.

But it wasn’t until I was done chemo and moved on to alcohol that I really started loving Pearl Jam. Their anger at the world added to my drinking and anger at life proved to be a perfect and lethal combination (see more about that on my Pearl Jam T-shirt blog from last year). I knew I had to see them play live, and I went to my first Pearl Jam show my sophomore year of college. I was blown away, and have been going to see PJ play ever since.

One of the coolest things about the Pearl Jam website is they have pages for every song they’ve ever played and every set list for all of their shows since 1990. With a few tickets missing, here are all of the Pearl Jam shows I’ve seen…

Boston Garden, April 14^th 1994 – My first PJ show. Went with my friend Jay who lived across the hall from me at BC. His dad had some Budweiser connection, and that’s how we got the tickets.

Great Woods, August 29^th, 2000 – Went with my cousin Matt and friend Jenn. Matt was very happy we didn’t miss a Pedro Martinez no-hitter (He had a one-hitter against the Rays that night).

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Hartford, CT, May 13^th, 2006 – Went with my buddy Ian, and saw my friends Glen and Mark there. I think it was Ian’s first time seeing PJ.

Fleet Center, May 24^th, 2006 – Took one of my best friends Andy to his first PJ show and it was awesome. We’ve played many of their songs together on guitar, and it was great to finally share a live show with him.

Hartford, CT, June 27^th, 2008 – Went with my awesome friend Glen to the first of back-to-back PJ shows, and Glen took a picture of me and Eddie Vedder (see with picture of me and Glen at show with Glen bravely ignoring the unwritten rule of wearing a t-shirt of the band you’re seeing).

Great Woods, June 28^th, 2008 – Eddie Vedder made a reference to Boston fans having endurance : “You waited 86 years to win a goddamn motherfuckin’ World Series, I think you got endurance…”

Fleet Center, May 17^th, 2010 – A year ago tonight, I went with my friend Sherry to the most recent of my PJ shows. Tonight, the building is rocking again, but for a different reason….hope the B’s finish strong and looking forward to my next PJ show!