Dawn and Kevin

Our last Pearl Jam show was three months ago.  When they announced the midwest fall tour dates, we decided that once again, we would attend the tour kickoff, if possible.

An early birthday gift to me, the first show was in Cincinnati on October 1.  Neither Kevin nor I had ever been, so we were going in blindly.  I did some quick research and learned that direct flights to CVG are very expensive, the fare would be more than we paid for our flights to and from Dublin!  Fortunately, we have accumulated many frequent flier miles and were able to book flights that worked perfectly.

One of the greatest parts of traveling to a show are the other fans you meet along the journey. We cleared security and made our way to the gate, and were not surprised to find other people sitting there wearing Pearl Jam shirts, giving us knowing looks as we walked in. Pleasantries were exchanged – “Have a great show” and “See you there!” It was a relatively small plane, seating about 50 passengers, of which at least 6 of us were going to the show that night.

I had reserved a room at the brand new Renaissance in downtown Cincy, within walking distance to the arena.  We caught a bus that would drop us 1 1/2 blocks from our hotel and there were only two other passengers on it.  They were two guys who had flown in from Baltimore for, you guessed it, that night’s Pearl Jam show.  We had a great chat on the ride to downtown Cincy, comparing stories from shows we’d been to.

The hotel was stunning, our room was ready, so we dropped off our bags and headed over to the arena to get in the merch line, arriving there shortly before 1p.m.  Though the stand wasn’t scheduled to open until 1, there were already a couple hundred people in line for the obligatory t-shirts, stickers and posters.  As we waited, we chatted with people around us, again comparing stories of shows we’d attended and making new friends. Once we finished making our purchases, we headed back to the hotel to drop off our goods and ran into the guys we’d met on the bus.

It was now 3p.m., and we were famished.  In my research I was made aware of the Moerlein Lager House, which looked like a great place to grab a meal.  We sampled some of their brewed beers and enjoyed a lovely meal out on the terrace.  It was surprisingly warm for October, actually, it was hot!  But we had a great time and meal.

The Great American Ballpark is located between the restaurant and the arena, so we stopped by to take a look at it before we made our way back to the Renaissance and stopped into the concierge lounge for a drink.

Finally, it was showtime.  Doors opened at 6:30, and we headed in shortly thereafter, found our seats, and met up with friends that we’d seen earlier in the day. We were treated to an energetic show that lasted 3 hours and 10 minutes, a 34 song setlist consisting of old favorites as well as an unexpected Rolling Stones cover. The band was in great form, they seemed genuinely happy to be back on tour.

It was a fabulous start to the tour, we had an incredible time, and were on our way back home less than 24 hours after we’d arrived at CVG.