Remembering our 1st Pearl Jam Show!

Guest Author - Mark Lebresco

If I think back 14yrs ago today – April 8^th was a Friday, I was a Senior in High School and drove (in the blue Honda Accord) down to Towson University for the weekend. It was Chris' and my first PEARL JAM concert held at The Patriot Center, George Mason University in Fairfax Virginia. Mudhoney was the opener.

We had floor seats – probably about 25 rows back (maybe a little further.) I was wearing my tan shit kickers, thermal socks, cut off khakis pants and a t-shirt. What a grunge poser.

When I arrived on Friday afternoon, Chris and I hung out at his dorm, went to the campus gym to work out. I specifically remember not being able to bench or lift much b/c I was nervous/excited for the show. We then went to the café to get a quick bite then back to the dorm to get ready.

No tailgating whatsoever – that was kind of weak, but oh well. We went right in and sat thru the Mudhoney set.

Here is the PJ setlist:

1994-04-08	Fairfax	Virginia	Patriot Center
Set 1	Release, Go, Animal, Dissident, Why Go, Deep, Jeremy, Daughter/(Hey Hey My My)/(American Pie), Even Flow, Breath, State Of Love And Trust, Footsteps, Black, Alive, Porch/(Tearing)
Encore 1	Rearviewmirror, Corduroy, Not For You, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Blood
Encore 2	Indifference, Rockin' In The Free World

This just happened to be the day that Kurt Cobains body was found – I actually remember driving thru one of the toll booths on I-95 and hearing it on the radio.

PJ almost stopped the show after Daughter, but obviously did not.

Corduroy and Not For You were played for the first time live. (before it was even released on a CD)

After the first encore the lights came on and people started for the exits / not us and when the band came back on, we ran up the aisle and got to about the 8^th row dead center. I ended up crowd surfing up to about the 4^th row during Rockin In The Free World.

Only 22 songs – how pissed would we be if we got that now.

That’s about it.