October 17th, 2014
iWireless Center
Moline, Illinois

Setlist. . .
Elderly Woman/Sometimes/Hail, Hail/Who You Are/In My Tree/Smile/Off He Goes/Habit/Red Mosquito/Lukin/Present Tense/Mankind/I'm Open/Around The Bend/Given To Fly/ Interstellar Overdrive/Corduroy/Mind Your Manners/Brain Of J/Infallible/Even Flow/Gone/Garden/Porch
Encore 1. . .
Moline/Bee Girl/Imagine/In Hiding/Lightning Bolt/Do The Evolution/Jeremy/Why Go
Encore 2. . .
Eruption/Alive/Fuckin' Up/Yellow Ledbetter

---

Oh the drive to Moline...

It was a long one.

We got to Moline around 2 or 3. Dropped Rob off and went to our hotel to nap. I found a Thai restaurant that was close by with mock chicken...that is what I had for dinner. It was one of the best Thai food experiences I have had - sooooo yummy! Who would've thought - Moline?

It was in the 50s, but very windy so it was quite cold. When we made it back to the venue, doors had just opened and it was one of the biggest cluster ever. They were individually wanding people and it was taking quite a long time. PJ's security actually came out to help get everyone in the door in a quick (and safe) manner.

...and this is where I saw the INSANE merch lines and knew there was not a chance in hell I was getting a sticker or pin. Decided then and there that I was no longer going to stress about merch.

We had second level seats...close to the stage (side), Stone side. We had a lot of punters in our area. We could tell before the show even started.

We had a feeling something special was going to happen. Show opened, unsurprisingly, however, with Elderly Woman. Second song was Sometimes. It was once Hail, Hail was played that Michael and I looked at each other and said..."No Code?" So we were holding our breaths after Hail, Hail. We knew if Who You Are followed, we were in. This band _was_ going to play all of No Code.

Totally love Who You Are in any normal circumstance, but I don't think I ever shouted so loud for Who You Are when it started.

Was this REALLY happening?
Booyah - Moline! This is what happens when you like the band and go to shows. Booyah, booyah, booyah.

Once we got to Smile though, it was very apparent the vast majority of the crowd was not digging No Code. They didn't know the songs and I think they were straight up BORED. I just felt like...fuck 'em...during the entire album.

Given To Fly brought us back to reality. This crowd needed to rock - they had lots of beer in them, so Interstellar into Corduroy was an excellent choice. The rest of the set was a weird mess since Mr. Vedder apparently didn't plan enough songs for the main set. He also made it a point to tell the crowd that yes, Around The Bend was a lullaby, but he didn't want to be a full-on pussy, so he also wrote it from the perspective of a serial killer. That's kind of entertaining...

Mind Your Manners and then Brain Of J (!) Infallible was a welcome Lightning Bolt track (at least for me but I like the album.) Main set finished out with Even Flow, Gone, Garden and Porch.

Ed came out solo for encore one and explained that he just wrote a song about Moline. Was a nice gesture; nothing to write home about. The drunks from Moline really loved it, though. Maybe it was the apology for making them "suffer" through No Code (LOL.)

Bee Girl with Jeffy Poo took us into Imagine (this is when the crowd decided to stand up after a long time of sitting.)

Finally got some In Hiding. Second encore closed with Lightning Bolt, Do The Evolution, Jeremy and Why Go.

The second encore was perfect for the crowd: Eruption, Alive, Fuckin' Up and Yellow Ledbetter.

This was a good show...not sure you can call it "amazing." It was a fan's dream...and the aspect of No Code being played makes this show special, but outside that, the crowd wasn't special. The rest of the set wasn't extraordinary. This is in no way me saying this show sucked - it didn't. But in most people's heads, they probably imagined it to be much more spectacular and the crowd sooooo into it but it just wasn't the case. Regardless of that, I am sooooo glad I was there and I'm so glad I was lucky enough to witness it!
 
 

10.20.14

---