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We got back from Chicago yesterday evening. The trip to Chicago was uneventful. It was crazy hot. We stayed in a hotel in the Gold Coast district of Chicago, which was new to us. We headed out around 5:30 to get to Wrigley Field. For whatever reason, we decided to take the train. Bad, bad idea. We have only ever taken public transit in Europe and can I just say, they seem to have their s.hit together over there. We arrived at Wrigley to a giant swarm of people wandering about. Once inside I made my way to the merchandise booth while Scott went to take a pee or something. There was absolutely no order and I found myself pressed up against people. At one point a drunk guy started talking to me. He started out saying that his beer may get spilled on me. Then that he may get sweat on me. As we inched forward he told me that if he got to the front of the line before me he would let me get in front if him because that seemed like the polite thing to do. Then he swigged the last of the beer in his cup and said, "I may have to start taking f.uckers out." I assured him that he didn't, and I eventually got to the front so that I could purchase my overpriced shirt.
Our seats weren't anything special. We were seated to the left of the stage. There were 4 people in front of us who had the biggest and most comical joints I've ever seen. They were like the size of sharpies. Pearl Jam came out around 8:15 and played 7 songs before telling us that a severe thunderstorm was headed out way so they needed to take a break and wanted the field cleared in case the stage didn't fair well in the wind. General admission people who have fought their way to the rail do not give up their spots easily, but eventually security did in fact clear the field. So we sat. We sat through wind, rain, lightening and thunder. Then it eased up, but the band didn't come back on. Then another round of storms came through. At this point it was around 11:30 and the rain delay had stretched on for 2 1/2 hours. Scott and I fully expected them to call the whole thing and reschedule, but they came back on around 11:45 and played past 2 AM. It was an amazing show. The set consisted of 34ish songs. A far cry from the 40 on the leaked setlist, but still a whole hell of a lot of music. They played "State of Love and Trust which was the one song that I really wanted to hear them do live. Well, that and "Rearviewmirror". I was a happy camper. Before going into the hellish return trip to our hotel...here is the entire setlist:
Set List
"Release"
"Nothingman"
"Present Tense"
"Hold On"
"Low Light"
"Come Back"
"Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town"
"All The Way"
"All Night'"
"Do The Evolution"
"Setting Forth"
"Corduroy"
"Faithful"
"Mind Your Manners"
"Lightning Bolt"
"State Of Love And Trust"
"Wishlist"
"Evenflow"
"Leatherman"
"Present Tense"
"Eruption"
"Bugs"
"Why Go"
"Unthought Known"
"Rearviewmirror"
"Future Days" w/Brendan O'Brien
"Mother"
"Chloe Dancer"
"Crown Of Thorns"
"Porch"
"Wasted Reprise"
"Life Wasted"
"Black"
"Rocking In The Free World"
So for whatever reason we thought that getting a taxi back to the hotel would be an easy feat after the show. There were no cabs to be found. We started walking with the rest of the herd of people through a rather subpar area of Chicago. I'm fairly certain we passed several prostitutes. There were sex shops all over the place and lots of stores to purchase fine bongs and other drug paraphanalia. We find our way to the train... and wait. And wait. By the time we got back to the hotel it was roughly 4:00 AM and I was epicly grumpy. Slept until 2:30 PM. Went to Giordano's for deep dish pizza, went back to sleep. Had Chicago hotdogs at Portillo's and then headed home. The concert was amazing. I hope to see them again in the fall.
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