Dr. Rock's Music Adventures: Pearl Jam at Joe Lewis Arena, Detroit, Michigan October 16, 2014

I have listened to quite a bit of Pearl Jam music over the years, but had never seen them live. So when the 2014 tour was announced, I knew I wanted to go see them. That proved a little tricky. Ultimately, my best bet was to see them in Detroit on October 16, 2014 at Joe Lewis Arena. I love a couple things about the Detroit area: 1. Dearborn Music for CDs and LPs and 2. Buddy's Pizza (Dearborn location) for delicious pizza. I am grateful I was able to get to the store, the pizza restaurant, and the show. Nice!

VENUE: The Joe Lewis Arena in downtown Detroit has seen some amazing sporting events (the rafters are filled with Red Wing banners) and concerts. I am happy I was able to see a show here before it closes in a couple years. Eddie Vedder mentioned they were excited to play here and thought the banners added to it's excellent acoustics. I was sitting "center ice" in the 7th row in the lower bowl. Nice seats.

MERCH: Wow! These guys have more t-shirts at a show than anyone! I love Springsteen, but often the t-shirts are mediocre and I have to decide if I would ever wear it later. With the Pearl Jam merch, the issue is not spending too much as they have a lot of cool stuff -- one-of venue posters, great t-shirts, and more. I bought a nice tour shirt for $30.

I have seen Bruce Springsteen 18 times and have 1879 (!!) Bruce Springsteen with/without the E Street Band songs on iTunes (most of those live shows). If Bruce plays something obscure in concert, I get excited -- and at least on one occasion, cry tears of joy with the guy I just met sitting next to me. When Pearl Jam opened the show with two songs I was not familiar with, I got a little nervous. But fear not, as the show unfolded, they played one great song after another. And they played great songs I wanted to hear ("Alive", "Corduroy", "Dissident") and some awesome covers ("Detroit Rock City", "Baba O'Reilly", and "Kick Out the Jams"). I was very impressed. The fans loved them, the band seemed genuinely excited to play, and the show lasted three hours. Everyone -- band and fans -- seemed spent at the end of the show. I am guessing everyone went home happy.

My rating: If I had the fortune to catch a guitar pick or get a set-list, I would rate this a 5. But I am trying to save those 5s for the "blew me away" shows. This was close. I rate it a 4 out of 5.