August 6...
Saturday, Aug. 06, 2016 - 20:31

In 2012 I hadn't seen Pearl Jam in six years and I remember the moment they first walked on the stage at the one show I went to that year - I could see the particles in the air between me and them, lit up by the lights - you can listen to a record but you don't have just dust in the air between you and the band.

On Friday, as the sun was going down and a seagull was flying in the air over the ballpark, the strains of Baba O'Riley started up and the band walked onto the stage and all the people in Fenway Park started roaring and the band started playing Release. I'm not going to divulge too much because I am uncomfortable sharing personal details in such a public diary but it doesn't ever get any less spectacular seeing a Pearl Jam show. I suppose I can admit to getting a little teary-eyed when they first started playing Release, and then Long Road, and then Elderly Woman, etc., and I suppose I'll tell you that I can't help but think of the thousand lives I've lived since the first time I saw them one-thousand years ago, and I suppose I'll tell you that traveling does that to me anyway and I got all teary-eyed on my way to the airport before I even left here.

Of course you know I'm exaggerating and I have not lived 1,000 lives since the first time I saw them, I've lived more like three lives or maybe four. Somewhere between three and 1,000 lives. Also it wasn't 1,000 years ago, it was 16 years ago. This was my 30th show and it is true that it doesn't get any less spectacular.

I am tired not from jet-lag but from simple sleep deprivation. I've had a million cups of coffee today and I normally only drink one, but the coffee hasn't done anything to make me feel anything other than tired.

I flew over the puppy and his roommate but couldn't see them because it was cloudy. If it hadn't been cloudy I'd have been able to see them and I'd have waved. The puppy would have wagged his tail slowly.

After this I'll be telling you about raspberry jam and peppers and pickling and all that stuff, and about how I somehow got a mean bruise on my head and on my bum. But right now the sun is going down here and it's humid because a rainstorm came through right before we landed and I'm too tired to eat. If I'd actually gotten to see the puppy and his roommate for even a second I'd be crying right now.