Eddie and Chris

I left the farm and the herd on Saturday afternoon and went to Boston to see an Eddie Vedder solo show. It started out slowly, but was just what I always wanted, just to hear him sing. When I go to Pearl Jam concerts everyone sings along. Especially the drunk guys.



I was feeling a bit odd that I drove up and got on the subway. It is always such a shock to go directly from Wellfleet to the city. I'm sitting in the theater surrounded by a million kids that look like Jonathan, baseball cap and all. I felt old and out of place and then Eddie introduced his friend Howard Zinn (who has a house in Wellfleet and we all see him around). I suddenly felt much younger, since he's about 100. Next time I see him, I'm going to tell him we should have carpooled.



Eddie sang an interesting mix of songs, some from the soundtrack from Into the Wild which I haven't liked after a few listenings, but also James Taylor, Dylan, Cat Stevens, Bruce, and more I wasn't sure about. He didn't always sound like "Eddie Vedder". He played the guitar really well, adding a bit of grunge to a folky ballad.



I felt glad I took the trouble to go this concert. It was intimate, even though I was in the nose bleed seats, and it made me smile.


I drove back to Wellfleet on Sunday morning. I spent the day and Monday afternoon went back up to go to the Coldplay concert at the Garden.


The two concerts could not have been more different. I'm not a big fan of the bulk of Coldplay's songs, but I love Chris Martin's voice and dorky sweetness. And as some reviewer said, the guy can write love songs.


I've been going to rock concerts for forty years. Forty. I don't think I've ever been to a concert that was as beautifully produced, staged, and had such incredible art associated with it. Also the sound mix was perfect. The mix wasn't good for Springsteen or Pearl Jam despite the similar seats in the Garden.

What ever people say about Coldplay, and they say plenty, this concert was joyful and fun. I really thought I got my overpaid StubHub's money's worth. (Don't ever buy StubHub tickets.)

There was a near riot just before Coldplay came out when some people across the stadium took their seats. It was Seinfeld and his wife, Gwyneth and her mother Blythe Danner, Steven Speilberg and Kate Capshaw. Tom Brady sat somewhere else. Fifty people were crazy on top of each other trying to get photos of the celebrities. It was embarrassing. Boston doesn't see that many famous people and that is a lot at once.


Maryann called during the very loud opening act and I told her I was busy. She started laughing and it's great when Maryann laughs. She asked if PopPop Belding was there with me. Bitch.

Later