Great city, great band, great time!
A couple of weeks ago I posted that I was about to visit Amsterdam for a few days, during which time I was going to see Pearl Jam, one of my most favorite bands.
Well I am now the other side of that trip so thought I would say a few words about how great it was. First off, Amsterdam is an incredible city on so many levels. It is beautiful to look at, I love the style of the architecture and the majority of buildings have avoided the hand of modernization. Being on a network of canals means that you are never far from the water and the goings on that occur on and around it, I liked that a lot. We stayed in Haarlemmerbuurt which is the oldest part of the city and known locally as 'the Pearl' of Amsterdam, a title it really does reserve. It was incredibly quiet and had a village feel to it, while being only a short walk from the Jordaan and the city beyond.
The other thing which struck me was just how friendly people were. In fact everyone we met were nothing short of lovely. We were made to feel incredibly welcome in each and every shop, bar, café or restaurant that we visited. Not only that, people in general seemed laid back and in much less of a hurry, compared to many other European cities. The pace of life certainly suited us and lent itself nicely to ambling around taking in the sights and atmosphere of this great city.
As for the gig itself, that was nothing short of superb. We had some great seats, directly above the stage, which provided a fantastic vantage point and a great way to experience the show. And what a show it was, they played for roughly two and a half hours and the set list comprised of many my favorite songs from throughout their career, right up to many of the songs from Lightening Bolt. They were tight and every single song was played with absolute energy and vigor, which the crowd clearly appreciated making for an amazing atmosphere. There were certainly a number of hairs standing up on the back of the neck moments. One of the highlights for me was when they began their encore with slower songs, before going on to blow the roof off with some real barnstormers, including Go and Alive and ending the whole thing with Indifference. The band delivered everything with absolute gusto throughout. Mr Vedder had evidently sustained an injury to his knee, but this didn't stop him from delivering a fantastic performance, with lots of interaction with the crowd.
All in all the trip was a heap of fun with too many highlights to list. It is safe to say, Amsterdam is now firmly fixed on our list of favorite places.
The above clip is Even Flow, one of my most favorite PJ songs. It was not shot by me, but was evidently filmed by someone in a similar location to ours!
Well I am now the other side of that trip so thought I would say a few words about how great it was. First off, Amsterdam is an incredible city on so many levels. It is beautiful to look at, I love the style of the architecture and the majority of buildings have avoided the hand of modernization. Being on a network of canals means that you are never far from the water and the goings on that occur on and around it, I liked that a lot. We stayed in Haarlemmerbuurt which is the oldest part of the city and known locally as 'the Pearl' of Amsterdam, a title it really does reserve. It was incredibly quiet and had a village feel to it, while being only a short walk from the Jordaan and the city beyond.
The other thing which struck me was just how friendly people were. In fact everyone we met were nothing short of lovely. We were made to feel incredibly welcome in each and every shop, bar, café or restaurant that we visited. Not only that, people in general seemed laid back and in much less of a hurry, compared to many other European cities. The pace of life certainly suited us and lent itself nicely to ambling around taking in the sights and atmosphere of this great city.
As for the gig itself, that was nothing short of superb. We had some great seats, directly above the stage, which provided a fantastic vantage point and a great way to experience the show. And what a show it was, they played for roughly two and a half hours and the set list comprised of many my favorite songs from throughout their career, right up to many of the songs from Lightening Bolt. They were tight and every single song was played with absolute energy and vigor, which the crowd clearly appreciated making for an amazing atmosphere. There were certainly a number of hairs standing up on the back of the neck moments. One of the highlights for me was when they began their encore with slower songs, before going on to blow the roof off with some real barnstormers, including Go and Alive and ending the whole thing with Indifference. The band delivered everything with absolute gusto throughout. Mr Vedder had evidently sustained an injury to his knee, but this didn't stop him from delivering a fantastic performance, with lots of interaction with the crowd.
All in all the trip was a heap of fun with too many highlights to list. It is safe to say, Amsterdam is now firmly fixed on our list of favorite places.
The above clip is Even Flow, one of my most favorite PJ songs. It was not shot by me, but was evidently filmed by someone in a similar location to ours!
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