It's a little hazy now. I was like, 17, and I remember my friends Thijson and Jeremy had somehow scored tickets to the show. That was huge back then because Pearl Jam tickets where hard to come by since the band wasn't using Ticketmaster as a distributor. Anyway, I remember feeling so honored my friends where going to let me take one of those tickets. They had a band and I was their roadie and anyway I felt more like a lackey than anything else. So its a school day. The show is at a baseball stadium somewhere in Fort Lauderdale. I think Cameron drove.
I remember I had all of these chains attached to me. I had a chain wallet with like a second chain I had made out of various key rings and hardware and shit. I also had a metal dog leash for belt, and the security at the show wasn't going to let me in with all that metal on. I didn't hesitate; I took all the chains off and handed them to the guy, I was like "no way I'm letting this stop me from going there, fuck it, you can have 'em!" I was so excited.
We get down to near the stage. The place already smells like weed and beer. I don't remember Ben Harper opened for them. I had never heard Ben Harper before, but Jere had. He was really excited -so I got amped too! They where awesome!
Then It was Pearl Jam time. Now this is where it gets really fractured. I was pretty active in the pitt. Then this big guy looks at me and gestures up. I look at him for a second and then realize he wants to give me a boost up to do some crowd surfing. I was like "Oh hell ya!" I think I spent the majority of the concert going back and forth. Basically the crowd would try to throw you over the barricade and the body guards would pull you down, and you'd be forced to walk around and try to work back through the crowd.
Towards the end of the concert, during Porch, Eddie climbs the rigging. He got way up there. I remember just watching him. Like holy shit dude. That's way up there. Then he starts telling this story about watching the TV and about the Hurricane coming. about a black lady on the TV being God and telling him it's going to be "just fine".
I think that was the first concert where I witnessed that kind of interaction with a live band like that. I mean I had seen other shows, but never had I experienced this level of originality. I could tell that this is the only show that will be like this. I wish I could go back and go to every show. I envy fans that have been able to follow these guys around. I'll never forget this show. Fucking nuts.