Pearl Jam? Traffic jam? Well, both, actually, as our post-work marathon drive south from The OC to San Diego on this busy Friday night, though probably the lesser of two evils (the alternative being a drive north during weeknight rush hour to catch the band at one of four recent L.A. shows), found us literally crawling most of the way to our sister county down south. Even our carpool status didn't buy us much favor with the traffic gods.

Somehow, though, we made it, with only moments to spare, and entered through the “Pearl-y” gates to the Viejas Arena (formerly the Cox Arena and, more formerly, the site of SDSU’s outdoor football stadium, where I once saw the bands PIL and Roxy Music back in the 80s), just in time to catch phenomenal opening act Ben Harper and Relentless7. Being on time turned out to be a really good thing, as we were able to witness, at only the second song of the opening band’s set, Pearl Jam front man (and demi-god) Eddie Vedder walk on stage to sing along with Ben Harper for an amazing cover of Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure"...a thrill for any fan of music; a mind-blower for any fan of Eddie Vedder.

Oh, and what fans we are. Gary, an inaugural member of the Pearl Jam fan club and audience to the infamous ’93 Indio “shoe show”, and I, a long-time lover of their music, have been fortunate enough to catch several of Eddie’s solo gigs recently (including last year’s tour showcasing his inspiring soundtrack to Sean Penn's movie Into the Wild). We were also extremely fortunate to be up front for the television taping of last summer’s VH1 Rock Honors The Who, when Pearl Jam belted out a flawless and intensely moving performance of The Who’s “Love Reign O’er Me” (and where Eddie so proudly posed for us, by his own suggestion, for a pre-show photo with our Surfriders' issued "Save Trestles" sign, a cause both he and we ardently supported).  

This night, however, it was time to see the band together again, performing their own immortal music. An hour after our hasty arrival, Pearl Jam took the stage with force at the nearly-sold-out venue. Touring in support of their newest album, Backspacer, Pearl Jam, made up of original members Vedder, lead guitarist Mike McCready, rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard, bassist Jeff Ament, and new member and Soundgarden alum drummer Matt Cameron, performed nearly three full hours of unforgettable music.  

Admittedly, the current stage show is, as expected, less angst-ridden and has fewer on-stage antics than their shows twenty years ago (even though Vedder did, on this night, still tug sips off his customary wine bottle throughout the show), this more mature (but definitely not dull) Pearl Jam thrilled their devoted fans (and this devoted writer) by playing songs that literally covered their entire album catalogue.  Many of those songs, such as "Even Flow" and "Black", were from my favorite album - 1991's Ten (seriously, they had me at Ten), and a great sampling from the rest of their nine studio albums, six live albums, cover tunes, and endless authorized (and unauthorized) bootlegs.  

And making this show even more special, part of Pearl Jam was triumphantly returning home... Cameron is a San Diego native, and Eddie Vedder lived there from the 1970s until his move to Seattle in 1990.  Honoring that past, the band brought Vedder's first guitar teacher and Cameron's drum teacher on stage with them to sit in on a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing”, a definite crowd-pleaser. Vedder later praised the home crowd for all their support by saying, “You’ve made us look good in front of our friends and family, so thank you.”

When the band finally closed out their second encore (yes, two full encores were demanded by the crowd) with their greatest out- take-turned-hit "Yellow Ledbetter", it was, sadly, time to walk away from a most memorable night.

I have to admit, though, we didn’t speed away from the venue the way we’d sped toward it earlier that evening. Instead, we, along with a few other avid fans, waited after the show for any glimpse of the band. We were handsomely rewarded with the thrill of a lifetime when Eddie Vedder himself had his driver stop the car, got out, thanked us all for waiting patiently for him, and took a few moments with each shocked fan, shaking hands and letting us pour our praise all over him.  

As we got back on the now-empty roads and headed north, with the night’s events flowing through my head, I realized how great it is to be, as Pearl Jam sang nearly twenty years ago, still alive.