PJ's headlining set Saturday night brought treated one of Bonnaroo's largest crowds to a three-hour, 25 song set. Like Lolla '07, it didn't disappoint, except that it had 100% less Dennis Rodman. EdVed remains a golden god. It's a swig of red wine, a drag of a cigarette, and a farm-filling scream, time and again. I'm pretty sure his larynx is composed entirely of that stuff they make those airplane black boxes out of. It's Pearl Jam so this goes without saying, but there was an extra dose of gravitas hovering over this show. Remember, the band swore off general admission fests after the lethal stage rush during Roskilde 2000, but just as they made an exception for Leeds and Reading in '06, and Lolla last year, they decided to plug in for Bonnaroo in '08. Maybe because Eddie knew Bonnaroo isn't a very lethal and stagerush-y crowd, or maybe because it's an election year and the What Stage makes a damn fine soap box. (He took advantage, trust. I walked away thinking I would totally take steps to change the world. And then I remembered I can barely get through my Netflix queue.)
The set held plenty of gems for anyone that was alive with ears in the '90s ("Alive," "Release," "Porch," "Elderly Woman...," "Daughter," "Animal," "Corduroy," and someone needs to YouTube that "Rearviewmirror"). Also there were a few for those with even older auditory faculties (see: the "Love Reign O'er Me" cover, because they love their Who, the segue to the English Beat's "Save It For Later" within "Better Man," the "All Along The Watchtower" cover). And damn I loved that "Crazy Mary." I left for Sigur Rós after the first encore, when I thought their time was up; they weren't done by a longshot. If you're looking for places that Kanye may anchor his spin cycle, start here. Pretty sure he'll be the only one complaining about that PJ set, though. Setlist and pics await.
01 "Hard To Imagine"
02 "Corduroy"
03 "All Night"
04 "Why Go"
05 "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town"
06 "Down"
07 "Who You Are"
08 "Severed Hand"
09 "1/2 Full"
10 "Animal"
11 "Even Flow"
12 "Daughter"
13 "Gone"
14 "Love Reign O'er Me" (The Who)
15 "Do The Evolution"
16 "Rearviewmirror"
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17 "W.M.A."
18 "Better Man" -->"Save It For Later"-->"Better Man"
19 "Black"
20 "Crazy Mary"
21 "Porch"
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22 "No More"
23 "Release"
24 "Alive"
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25 "All Along The Watchtower" (Dylan)
