Pearl Jam

Yesterday Robert was able to cross something off of his 'things to do before I die' list...we went to see Pearl Jam in concert. The show was general admission (which I thought was funny because they have assigned seats in movie theaters) and the doors opened at 18:00. We arrived at the Bern ice hockey venue little after 19:00 to a mid to upper 20's crowd guzzling down cheap beer in the parking lot (remember - it's legal at 16 here). We were a bit disappointed that the show was inside given what a nice evening it was, but we got in line for the pat down, snagged some ear plugs from some teen volunteers and headed for more expensive cheap beer at the concession stand. By the time the opening band was packed up there were about 5,000 people on the floor and in the stands. We bypassed the mosh pit for comfy concrete seats on the second level - center stage. Alas, gone are the days of lighters illuminating the pre-show darkness, they have been replaced with the blue glow of cell-phone screens through the familiar haze of smoke (some things never change). Eddie and the boys were fantastic - they played a lot of their older music from the 80s and they are still hard-rockin' as ever. The obligatory 1.5hr wait to exit the parking lot came at no extra charge =)