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THE GORGE
July 22, 2006
The Gorge
Hot Hot Hot 116 deg

This was it, the hometown show, the big finale, the big party, the freakin Gorge. After the memorable show that was just one year ago, these were the most anticipated shows of the tour. The Touring Van alone could not transport the number of van crew members to this magical venue. Thus, some reinforcements were required. Stefan and Tak rented a van, Touring Van 2.0, and picked up Lester, who was also making his return to the Gorge with the Van, then Spencer and his buddy followed Stefan down from Vancouver in his car, and both met us in Seattle to go all together. Already with 6 passengers in the Touring Van, I picked up Holly at the airport the night before the show, and then picked up Venassa and Tyler the morning of. We were set, 3 vehicles, convoying towards one of the top concert venues in the continent to see the best band in the world.

On the way there, we stopped off at a grocery store in Ellensburg and loaded up on way too much food and not enough booze. A shopping cart full of alcohol and we were not satisfied, so we found a liquor store to fulfill our need. Unfortunately, we were denied service due to our rowdiness and other unknown reasons. Oh well, it was getting late so off to the venue went.

We arrive at the exit to the Gorge off the highway, and the line up is already backed up. About an hour later, we finally arrive at the venue. A few of us jump out to grab their tickets and head to the show, as the line was just enormous and the time was already 7pm. We drive up to the camp site, near the very back of it all, selected a spot, and then went straight to the venue. The line up just to get tickets was massive, so we kept walking towards the front. Tom and Ingrid spotted us, so we joined them in the lineup.

The line was moving slow and I saw a few people I recognized, so I moved back and forth to say hi. When we get to front, the power tripping security guy pulls me aside and accused me of budging in line. He went off to talk to his partner, and as he did, I went up to grab my tickets. The guy wanted to do something, but I was trying to explain to him, that I was merely saying hi to friends and that I was in the original place in line as I started. Meanwhile, the show has already begun, opening with wash. He kept me there for about 5 mins and then finally let me and Holly through. That what you get when you have a haircut that everyone recognizes. Nonetheless we were in about 4 or 5 songs in.

We run to our seats right beside Stefan and Lester, as usual, and we start rocking out hard. Then Daughter begins. At the Hollywood show, Ashley, Mike McCready’s wife, asked if I needed anything. I said not really, but it would mean a lot to me for the band to play the It’s Ok tag at the Gorge during Daughter. This is because Holly was flying in for the shows, and it was her song, our song, it is rarely played anywhere. I didn’t think she could really do anything about a song request, but I asked her anyways. “The Shades go down… The sun goes down…..” Then Ed starts a speech about how hot it is, how the world is fucked up, and how it’s hard to think that everything will be ok. Was this it? Were they gonna play it?

“It’s getting harder and harder to say It’s Ok. So I need your help to remind me, when I say It’s Ok, you say It’s Ok.” Holy shit, this was happening. They were actually doing it. I doubt Ashley had anything to do with it, but it’s still a good coincidence. Holly is so happy, she is frozen and just watches silently. I was so happy and so happy for her. It was truly the greatest moment of my Pearl Jam concert experience, and being able to share this with the sweetheart. The rest of the show was pretty much a blur, but memorable nonetheless. Last kiss was performed on top of the sound board, and then Dirty Frank. Wow. What a treat.

Ledbetter closed the show with Mike playing Jimi’s Little Wing and then the full band gets into the song. Totally rocking. And then of course it goes into the Star Spangled Banner. Great show, great moments, great venue, great experience. We were dead tired after the show, but tried to party at the campground. After some bbq veggies, Holly and I passed out in the van, while the others were up till 5 o 6 am, outside camping in tents

The next morning was another hot one. Many campers in our area had left after the one show, so we were a little isolated. It was real lazy morning so we decided to take a drive down to the Columbia River and take a dip. It was cool refreshing swim, we took some beautiful pictures and was nicely refreshed and ready to rock out one last time.

The second Gorge show was not as great as the first and it seemed kind of anticlimactic, but it still an amazing show. An emotional night for me, as this was the end of a long journey, one the brought me to 40 shows across Canada and the US, beginning and ending at the Gorge. We did a round table discussion on what this all meant to us, and I was too emotional to say much. In fact, I stood frozen when Yellow Ledbetter was played for the last tim. We were all up late after the show until 6am, slept for an hour, then had to drive everyone to the airport in Seattle. Stefan and Tak joined me in a final check off for the Gorge and then off to the airport.

My van had everyone flying out of the SeaTac airport, everyone else rode with Stefan back to Vancouver. As I’m leaving the Gorge, I get one final speeding ticket, complete bull shit. Then as we are heading to the airport, the van begins to sputter a bit again, but we made it fine. Holly was flying out late that night, so we were able to spend the day together after dropping everyone off. A nice relaxing day, just by ourselves, that ended with a typical westcoast sunset. When it was time, I let her go air the airport. Extremely emotional, but I will see her soon again. I am so thankful to have met such an amazing girl out of no where. It was as if we were meant to meet.

So I leave the airport by myself, and the van sputtering like crazy, I think I barely made it to airport the last time. I pull off the highway into a mall parking lot and the van just dies. How fitting. It had served its purpose, brought many people joy, and now it was finished and has nothing left to accomplish. The only thing was that I was still there, it would not let me go home. I spent the next few days in Seattle bullshitting with mechanics, having put in a new exhaust only to be left with the same problem. On the third extra day, I’d had enough and called AAA to tow the van back to Vancouver, where I will have more time and connections to deal with the problem. The van had driven close to 40,000kms over 2 tours, carrying almost 40 different passengers to the show, and it was fitting that it was needed to be towed back to Vancouver. The van will lay and rest peacefully where it belongs, or perhaps it will be resurrected for another trek in the future.

July 20, 2006
Portland
Hot and Sunny

After a long day of driving up the coast of California and Oregon, we eventually found a beach to camp for the night. The van was run decent, however, as the end of the night approached, the van started having signs of deteriorating again. A little sputtering here and there. When we woke up the next morning, the van was yet again losing power. This was not good. We were in a little town just inside of Oregon, and we were about 4 hours away from Portland where the show was that night.

Driving through town, we decide to pull into a mechanic shop that we spotted. The shop was fully booked, but he recommended us go to his buddy’s shop Gil at Precision Automotive just a block down, so we do. When we pull in, Dana uses her charm and explains our situation and needing to get to Portland for the Benefit concert. Gil takes one look at the van, “Is that and 89?” I said “yes.” “I use to have one of those, let me see what I can do.” Wow, in the middle of no where, desperate to find a mechanic, and we find a guy that use to have the exact same van and knows it inside out.

Gil spends about an hour and a half on it, replaces a few parts in the emission system with random spare parts specifically for the van that he just happen to have lying around. Apparently he goes to the junkyard and loads up on parts that typically causes trouble for the Dodge Rams. This was incredible, this guy really knows this van. He is the master of the Touring Van. With a few new parts the van sounded a lot better, even though Gil didn’t seem to know what the problem was. But it appears that it will run fine. Dana comes back from the bakery with some bagels, and hands one to Gil. We ask him how much we owe him, but he wouldn’t accept our money because he doesn’t feel he did anything, the problem was not fixed. What a guy. The van sounded many times better and we drove off feeling a lot smoother and better than it ever has. Thank you Gil.

With the Van fully fixed, we were running strong to the show. Tonight we rock Portland. Along the way, we were going through the redwoods, and then there was a sign “Drive through a tree.” What? We pulled off and drove up to this tree that had a square box carved out of it about 6ft high x 6ft wide. Could the Touring Van fit through it? We approached the 1300year old tree assessed the situation, and proceeded to drive through it, slowly. Me and Joe were in the front seats and Dana got out of the van. There was about an inch on Joe’s side and less than an inch on my side. But we kept pushing through slowly. The previous vehicle and the gift shop people were all watching us, could we get through? Well we did, barely. The gift shop lady said we were the biggest van she’d ever seen go through that tree. Touring Van makes history again, for the first time.

When we arrived to the city, we pull up right in front of the venue where all of the fans are waiting. There was a preshow party held by the CCFA for people that bought the tickets directly from them. A little meet and greet with Mike McCready and Ashley OConnor. Monica and Brad were at the preshow, so we decided to make a thank you card and added some flowers to give to Monica, who could give them to Ashley thanking her for helping us get into the Hollywood. Monica gives her the card and flowers, as Joe was standing by. Ashley was happy to received the flowers and asks Joe if we needed any tickets for the show that night. Joe said he thinks that we are good but he was not sure. She then reaches into her pocket and hands over 6 tickets to Joe. The seats were scattered, but they were the CCFA tickets that cost $500 each. Wow, what a women, we try to thank her and she gives us upgraded tickets.

The venue holds less than 2700 people, and we already had 10 tickets, with a few extras. Now we had 16 tickets, and these were going for a fortune with the scalpers. We distributed the tickets out to everyone and sold off some to friends and we still had 4 extras remaining. Joe and I take the extra tickets and head back to the preparty to return them back to Ashley. However, she wouldn’t take them back and told us to give them away. Well, we ended up selling them to fans and will be donating the cash back to the CCFA for the fundraiser. Thank you Ashley.

At the show, I sat in the balcony with Dana at the seats that she had originally purchased. This was a great show, at a great venue, and to top it all, it was Stone’s birthday. We got to hear Pearl Jam sign Happy Birthday to Stone, very special moment. He accepts his cake by tossing it on top of his head, and then they let him sing Don’t Give Me No Lip. It was a lot of fun. The concert ends with Rockin in the Free World with the opening comic David Cross and the opening band, tonight only, for the last time, Sleater Kinney on stage. The show is over, and everyone is walking out, then Mike runs back on about 5 minutes later and picks up his guitar. Of course, Yellow Ledbetter. Dana and I are at the bottom of the Balcony at this point so we slid into the 2nd row, and then there’s Ashley standing right infront of us for Ledbetter. Mike makes an “I Love you sign” to Ashley, or was that directed towards us? In anycase, we thanked Ashley again and told her that we loved her, and again, she thanked us and told us that it was probably her favourite show she’d ever been to. It was a great show.

There was an after party at a close by bar which we checked out. Free food and free drinks. It was me, Dana, Joe, and Monica, and we just gotta pissed drunk. We stumbled back to the hotel, a long walk that included drinking from a 4 way fountain and some objects being thrown onto the streets. When we got to the hotel, the drinking continued. I had a full bottle of Jagermeister and there was a 4 pack of Red Bull in the cooler. Jagerbombs! I kept feeding myself and Monica and we both were just plastered. Monica tried to walk in a straight line, then she fell asleep, and then we’d wake her up for another drink. Good times in Portland. All Monica could remember the next morning was trying to walk in a straight line and not pushing the butterflies away during Even Flow. Haha, that was too funny. We will now always push the butterflies away, just for her.

July 17, 2006
San Francisco
Hot and sunny

With the van all fixed up, including the power steering, we were all excited about taking it for a spin around the city. The big highlight was gonna be driving down Lombard street, the crookedest road in the US. So we get in the van and drive out of the lot, but then it all of a sudden had no power again. The same problem was there. This can’t be, they just fixed it yesterday and I drove back fine. Well, not fine, it was very powerless. So I drove it back to the shop and they spent the day re-fixing it, replacing a hose that was worn out. We weren’t gonna let this ruin our day though, so we walked over to little Italy for some lunch, going by Lombard Street on the way.

After lunch, I met up with Dana from Brooklyn, who had just flown in and was joining us all the way to the Gorge. Immediately the fun begins, as she brought a bottle of Jameson whiskey for me, yummy. She also brought home made cookies too. The first thing I do with her, however, was bring her to the mechanic shop to see if the van is ok. The mechanic did his job and didn’t charge us anything. I took it for a drive and it seemed to be fine, so everything was back to normal. All the bad karma that Dana claimed to have given to the van on the first leg, has turned to good karma, now that she’s officially part of it.

Back at the hotel back and the preshow party, we all gathered around and made some donations and bidded on some items. It was a great job done by Anna and Lydia on the San Fran fundraisers. For the show, we strolled in to the back of the line up at around 6pm just like the last show, and like the last show we found our way up to the front just behind the people along the rail. This show was even more rough than the previous, but again we held our positions and rocked out to another great set. After the show, my shirt was just drenched in my own sweat and possibly other peoples sweat. Not good when you’ve been fight a cold the past week.

Monica caught a ride back home to Sacramento, but was flying into Portland to meet us. We finished the bottle of whiskey and finished the rest of the beers in the room and then passed out. The next morning we drove out of the city, but before we left we stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge where Dana did the check off. 4 days in the same city seemed like a month. Guess this is the feeling you get when you’re always on the move. Thank you San Francisco, you’ve been great.

Jul 16, 2006
San Francisco
Hot and sunny

The next morning I had to drive Stefan out to the airport to fly back to Vancouver, but he’ll be back at the Gorge. As I pull out of the parking lot, the van stalls. I start it again and take off but it feels very weak. The van had become gutless, no acceleration, barely going up a hill, no power at all. Strange. It had been running perfectly up till that point, including the long day of driving on the previous day, and now all of a sudden, it breaks down. I parked the van on the side of the road and we took Stefan to BART transit for a quicker way to the airport.

When I got back, I started the van and there is some power, so I was able to drive it up the hill. Then it started to sputter and lose power again. I drove it back to the parking lot and parked it because it was a Sunday, and there wasn’t any shops open. After all these kms I’ve put on it over the last 2 tours, almost 30,000kms in total, and this was the first real problem. I guess if the van had to break down at some point, this was the perfect situation since we had a few days in San Francisco. We had lunch in china town for some shark fin soup and walked back to the hotel. Along the way we see Boom standing on the streets, so we stopped and chatted with him, got a photo with him, and Joe got his famous hat autographed. Like the others I’ve met, Boom was also a really down to earth guy. He said he was living a dream everyday and gives lots of thanks for everything. As we were standing there chatting, this bum walks up to Boom and asked for some change, it was pretty funny. Boom told him he had no money and that was it.

We then went to the bar back at our hotel, where the pre show party was being held. After a few rounds of drinks including some Jagerbombs, we were off to the show. It was about 5:30pm and the lineup was already insane, then we bumped into Tom and Ingrid and lined up with them.

When we got in, we were able to get pretty close to the front on Stones side. Everyone was forced to sit down on the floor where we met and chatted with some new pj fans. Just as we sense Ed coming on for the preset, we stood up and made a quick slip into the front 2 rows just behind the rail. Here I was almost dead center one row back from the rail beside some people who had waited in line the entire day. But to stay at this spot was tough. The constant pushing in the confined space caused by only a few created some chaos. This girl beside me, Veronica, who was in front of me before the show started, was being protected by me and a few others around her. She was safe. We were fighting through it though. But it was manageable and I wasn’t letting anyone get through me or push around anyone in my area. The crowd was so tight that we would be jumping up and down together as one unit, and there was also a group “swing” during some of the slower songs. All in all, it was an experience and definitely a cool way to see this band that puts out so much energy.

The next day we had a day off and wanted to explore more of the city. But first the van had to be fixed. I drove it to a small mechanic shop just down the road from the hotel to get it checked and we went on our way to explore the city. For some reason the entire transit system in San Fran was free for the day. It was as if the city knew that our van was down and wanted to help us out with transportation. So we headed to fisherman’s wharf and attempted to get on a tour of Alkatraz. It was completely booked up, however. So we just hung out and then headed back to the hotel to check on the van. The mechanic did a full tune up and I was able to drive the van up a block back to the hotel. I was fully relieved it wasn’t something big. Now that everything was settled, it was Tatiana’s turn to leave for the airport. She was going back to Brazil, but she won’t be back at the Gorge, the very reason why she came on the tour. But it was very good to see her again nonetheless.

After yet another emotional goodbye, we were off to the baseball game, San Fran Giants vs the Milwaukee Brewers, Tom and Igrid’s team. The game was relaxing and turned out to be big blow out for the Brewers, but we found our way down to the bleachers where all the hecklers sit. We crept down to the front hoping to heckling Mr Bonds, but just as we got there, the manager takes him out of the game. Too bad, though there were some good heckling moments, including one against Brian. He was wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey and then he was flashing his chest to the upper deck where Monica, Tom and Ingrid were still sitting. All of a sudden, a voice comes out “Hey Boston, get a tan!”

It was a Good way to spend a day off.

July 15, 2006
San Francisco
Hot and Sunny

We had a late start leaving Los Angeles, but we drove up the California coast until the sun was set. When it was too dark, we pulled off the highway to look for a place to camp for the night. The first campsite was full so we drove around hoping for another nearby. We seemed lost at this point so we asked went into a liquor store to ask for directions and followed them. This would take us through a dark and narrow road through the fog. Could there really be a camp site here? There was no traffic on this quite drive and then out of no where a pickup truck parked on the side of the road, and a guy standing a little further down by himself off the side of the road. This was like something out of a horror movie. And just when things started to get creep, the camp site appears. We set up camp and assembled the new bbq. When grilling began, we were joined by a couple of relentless raccoons. They would appear, runaway, then comeback. I had to bring out the hockey sticks to defend the van crew. Eventually they stopped sneaking up on us.

The next day we drove further up the coast towards San Fran. We saw some elephant seals and a gathering of porsches at the same place. After a relaxing late lunch at the beautiful town of Monteray, we were pushing hard towards the venue. Van was running so smoothly and got us to the Bill Graham Center at around 6pm. The line up for the show was insane, due to it be completely general admission. After sorting through our ticket situation we checked into our hotel and went to the show.

Since it was a rare occasion to get the entire van crew sitting together for a show, we took this opportunity to put all 6 of us together on the 3rd row of the balcony at Stone’s side. We rocked the balcony hard together. The people behind us actually asked Tatiana to sit down, but we ignored that comment, we’re at a freaking rock concert. The show was excellent, lots of energy from the crowd, lots of energy from the band.

When we left the show, we notice fans lining up for the next show already. That’s correct, fans lining up for a show on the following night. They had their sleeping bags and air mattresses ready. It was hardcore and pretty ridiculous.

July 13, 2006
Santa Barbara
Hot and Sunny

The Hollywood show was so good, how could they possibly top that. How about a show at the Santa Barbara Bowl? We drove up early to Santa Barbara and ate at this highly recommended Mexican place by Cali Joe. Well, maybe he didn’t recommend it, but he said it was one of the top 5 Mexican Restaurants in the states. So we check it out. The first thing we noticed was no actual Mexicans eating at the restaurant, in a town full of them. Bad sign already. Everything was totally bland, no taste, and not very good at all. We gave him so much shit afterwards for the recommendation.

After chilling at a beach, we drove back to the venue. Driving through the city, we spotted an abundant amount of other ‘touring vans.’ Dodge Ram vans were everywhere. If we ever needed another van, this was where we’ll find it. There was even one almost identical to ours except it looked newer.

For this show, we were surprising Tatiana with a front row ticket transferred from Brad. The only catch was, the tickets were transferred to another girl who we had to meet to pick up the ticket. She hadn’t arrived yet, we all had our tickets and Tatiana was anxious to get in for the preset, but I couldn’t give her any of the 6 tickets in my hand. She was really confused and wondering why I couldn’t give her a ticket. So I had to break it down to her. After finding out her new seat situation, she was excited and eventually got her ticket.

I watched the show with Lydia from San Francisco and we rocked out this amazing show that Ed called the mini Gorge. Rare songs were busted out including Hard To Imagine. What a great outdoor venue. And the sound quality was spectacular. Lydia had some of the most energy I’ve ever seen from a fan, and I’ve seen a lot of them. All I could do was try and keep up, it was really fun.

Joe had treated his mom to the show as well as his boss and his boss’ wife, so it was a special show for him. They all enjoyed the show and couldn’t believe how energetic the band and the fans were. Afterwards we drove back to Los Angeles, and Joe’s mom had the honour of riding in the van. We dropped everyone off. Tamara was flying back to Vancouver, but she will be back for the Gorge. The next morning Monica did the checkmark in the daylight.

July 12, 2006
Los Angeles
Hot and Sunny

The next day we had a day off, but Tak was flying back home, but will be back for the Gorge. After dropping him off, we decided to pay the people at KROQ radio station a visit. They were putting on a contest winners only concert with PJ in Hollywood for the next day, and the only way to get it was to win tickets on the radio. Ten Club only gave out 25 pairs of tickets to local residents, so there was no way of us to buy tickets.

We drive up to the address which we were given, and it did not look like a radio station. So Stefan calls in. “Is this KQOQ? Are you located at this address? Look outside! Come see our van!” The DJ, who we had heard was a big time PJ fan, can out and said hi and loved our van. She said there was nothing she could do now, but if we showed up early before the show, she will see what she can do. We pull away, and about half an hour later, she mentions us on the air. “There are these PJ fans driving around in a big blue van, going to all the shows, now that’s dedication.”

The next day, even before we could find out if we could get into the secret show, we decide to hit up Disneyland in the morning, as Tatiana had never been. It was a fun day in the park including a ride on the teacups. Around 1:00pm we had to leave and get to Hollywood early. Tatiana did not want to go and got a stamp on the way out so she could return at night, in case we don’t get into the show. “We’re leaving Disneyland? But it’s the happiest celebration on earth. We better get into that concert.”

We get to Hollywood just before 3:00pm and were able to park directly across from the Fonda theatre. Already there was a crowd lining up with out tickets. Someone started a list, so we put all our names on it, not thinking anything of it. In the meantime we began a full redecoration of the van with some electrical tape. This lasted a little while, but in the end, hockey tape is what was needed. We put “tonight we rock the Fonda?” not knowing if we’d get in.

The crowd grew and the lineup grew as show time neared. A few of us stood behind the venue and saw Boom and Mike just chilling by the tour trucks. Mike eventually came up to us and the crowd to sign autographs. I had nothing except for my touring van Canadian Flag, so I had him sign the flag. As he sees the flag he asks me “So how’s the van running?” I told him really good, not believing he still remembered me. Tatiana got her Brazilian flag signed, Joe his hat, and Tamara got a picture taken with him with us not knowingly intruding in the background. Back to the lineup we went. Monica found a friend that had a spare tenclub ticket so she was already in standing dead center on the rail. The KROQ DJ was right beside her with a single ticket for us but they couldn’t make their way out to give it to us. So we were waiting still.

It was a hot afternoon, so I slammed back a few lemonades, and then there were these trucks that stopped by the line up handing out free samples of some energy drinks. By this point I needed to go, so I ran to the little restaurant a block down for their washrooms. It was occupied, so I waited. As the woman came out, she looked at me and said “I know you! I met you in Canada last year!” It was Ashley O’Connor, Mike McCready’s wife. We chatted for a minute, and then I relieved myself, then we chatted some more. She had heard that I picked up the van and was doing this whole US tour and was totally into what I was doing. She asked if I had tickets for the show, and I said no, but we are all lined up and it looks good that we might get in. “Do you need anything else?” I told her that my girlfriend was flying in to see the shows at the Gorge with me and it would mean a lot with the band would play the It’s Ok tag with Daughter at the Gorge. That was her song. “I’ll see what I can do” she said.

So I get back into the lineup and it doesn’t look good. There was a screen set up outside the theatre showing the concert from inside and Sonic Youth had already finished their set, then Tamara got in. It didn’t look good. I see Ashley walk by the line up and I turn to Stefan and said “there she is, should I ask for tickets?” We hesitated, both didn’t want bother her and ask her. It seemed kind of desperate, but I guess we didn’t really have a choice. So we ran after her and just before she walked in, I called her name. I told her there were 7 of us and if there was anything she could do. She told us no guarantees but she’ll talk to her husband.

We walk back to the lineup and then we see that PJ is taking the stages. One song done, Cordouroy. Then Jake, the security announces he was picking people to get in and he grabs the list that we put our names on. A few names later, he calls mine out, so I’m in. He directs us to the balcony where all the VIP people were ‘sitting.’ I walk into during severed hand and was rocking it out big time, couldn’t believe I got in. I hope the others are picked. I run down to the 2nd row on the balcony but was quickly told to sit down. This was bullshit. I was in my seat with the VIP people in a half full balcony during a few songs including even flow. Here I was at this intense small venue show, about 1000 capacity, and I was sitting. I tell the people around me that if we all stand, they really can’t do anything. So we did and we stood for the rest of the show.

During the encore break, I heard someone yelling my name. It was Stefan and Brian down on the floor. All of them were down there, and inching closer to the stage. Turns out that Ashley had come back and found Stefan in the crowd, asked him how many tickets he needed, then she returned with that exact number of tickets instructing the security to let them in. Unbelievable! They got pretty much the last tickets into the show early. The rest of the crowd eventually got in, but some did not get in until the encores. Ashley, thank you so much for going out of your way to help us out. The concert was just amazing, the intimacy of the small venue, and the energy of a general admission crowd. The rest of the guys ended up working their way up to basically the 2nd row, just behind the people on the rail.

After the show, we wanted to wait around to thank Ashley, but nothing was happening behind the venue. Apparently Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth walked right by us, but we didn’t even notice. So back in front we went to the van. We notice security standing in front of the venue so we waited by our van for a few moments. Then a van pulls up, and Boom walks out of the venue and gets in, then Mike and Ashley come out. We yelled thank you to her, she sees us and blows a big kiss towards us. Mike sees us and says hi, then turns to his friend beside him “hey there’s the van, I signed that thing.” Joe and Tamara stayed longer behind the venue and eventually met Stone. Joe got his hat signed and Tamara got a picture with him with Joe blatantly intruding in the background.

What a show. Tatiana didn’t regret leaving Disneyland early. It was the empty feeling of having no chance of getting in, to the complete opposite feeling of we’re in, it rocks, the venue’s so small. The Touring Van rocked Hollywood tonight.

Jul 9, 2006
Los Angeles
Hot and Sunny

On the day of the first LA show, we were still in San Diego at Jill’s place. We drove up to LA and dropped off Venassa at the airport, she’d be back for the Gorge. When we arrived at LAX I noticed that the van caught the attention of the cops. When we pulled out, I pulled over at the first opportunity to meet up with Brian, who drove up with Stefan. As I pull over, a cop pulls in behind me and asks for my license and registration. First cop encounter of the second leg. Stefan took some pictures and video, and they had nothing on us, so they let us go and said “welcomed up to LA.”

Next we went to Universal Studios to watch the World Cup final. Joe had recommended we watch it there since he wasn’t aware of any Little Italy in LA. As we pull off the exit, there was a little Italian café that looked pretty hopping, but we drove right by it to watch it at Universal City. There was a large screen setup in the middle of the food court and a little crowd formed around it, but the Italian café probably would have been a lot better. Nonetheless, it was a great game with my Italian team pulling it off for once.

We checked into our hotel, the Goodnight Inn in Malibu Canyon which was closer to where Joe lived, Tamara and Phil ended up staying by the venue and the airport. After a dip in the pool at the hotel, Joe met us and we headed to the venue with Cali Joe at the wheel. We had a little tailgate action, met some fans, and saw some familiar faces, then we slammed back some Jagerbombs and into the show we went.

The show featured about 18 repeat songs that were played at the San Diego, but it wasn’t as well put together, and thus didn’t have the same feel. In fact, it might have been the worst show of the tour. Still enjoyable though of course, I sat with Tatiana and she’s always got the energy.

After the show we chilled out in the parking lot as usual, and then went to try out In and Out Burger for the first time. It was the first fast food I’ve eaten all tour, but it tasted very fresh and was not bad at all. Everyone was tired, so we went back to the Malibu Canyon.

The next day we wanted to do it all in LA, so we were going to see Santa Monica, Venice Beach, and then Hollywood. Well, we totally misjudged LA traffic. We saw the pier and beach at Santa Monica then picked up Phil while Tamara stayed behind. We drove up to Hollywood to meet with Jill, but by the time we toured Hollywood it was 4:30pm, and we had to get back to the hotel to pick up Brian and Joe to head to the venue. There was more of the same tailgating action as the first show with only a handful of people, but we made the most of it and stayed until the last possible moment. By doing this, we missed out on the poster, and what a poster it was, a great surfing one that I will probably buy off ebay at some point.

The show itself was much better than the night before, with some of their rarities appearing, including the Mamesan trilogy again, and I got shit. I rocked it out with Stefan at this show, and it brought back memories of the Canadian tour. After the show, Tamara did the check mark and we chilled out for a little while. We finally found Monica, who will be joining us for the rest of the way until the Gorge, and we headed back to In and Out Burger. This time Joe and I did a competition each getting 4×4 burgers and animal fries. Joe beat me by finishing his 4 patties first, probably because of the experience in the situation. That was it for the night.

Jul 7, 2006
San Diego
Sunny, Warm

For our drive to San Diego we added Tamara and Phil from Vancouver, but we lost Holly. She left in the morning, and had to get back to work, it was a sad day for me, but she’ll be back for the Gorge. After we finally got our act together to check out on time, we hit the road. This time we had a second vehicle joining the van as well, with Brian driving his car along side. I was not feeling well this day, so I asked Stefan to drive the van, while I rode with Brian and got away from everyone to get some alone time. Well, alone time with Brian driving. We probably got on the highway around 2pm and it look like it would be pretty tight making the show. Then there was a small little storm, not a big deal.

Well actually, the small amount of water caused a little puddle which pooled up in the middle of the highway. This little puddle turned out to be devastating to the traffic. We were backed up for miles in stop and go traffic just because a vehicle couldn’t hit it at any high speed. Once we passed the puddle we were on our way, until we hit the local rush hour on I-5. To make things worse, Brian missed an exit while following the van, so we had to back track to the exit and play catch up with the van, not that it was a huge effort to catch up, but with traffic, it was a good hour and a half before we saw the familiar blue beast.

In the mean time, I was getting phone calls from everyone trying to figure out our ticket situation as we still needed 1 or 2 more. A conference call was needed, but I was getting all the calls. Already a sad day for me, my head ache continue to grow. We finally arrive at the venue at 8:30pm and quickly park, pick up our tickets, and head on in, just before the band takes the stage.

I was rocking with Venassa tonight for a show she had been looking forward to, with San Diego being her home away from home. But even with the energy of this girl beside me, I was still not into the show. My head was else where and I was not feeling up to it. And then the encore hit, and they played perhaps the best version of Long Road ever. This made me even sadder, and the Come Back, and this was not helping. But it did however, get me into the show. By the end of it, my emotions were getting so into it, I began to enjoy it. And then they played Big Wave for the first time, just as Tim had said when he talked to Ed. To top it all off, legendary surfer Kelly Slater came out and played guitar on Rockin in the Free World to end the show.

As a few of us waited outside for the band to come out after the show, Venassa did the check off. We got tired of waiting and left. Turns out that Ed came out about 20 mins after that to shake people’s hands and sign autographs. After wondering around looking for a hotel and being unsuccessful, Jill called us and asked us to stay at her apartment just outside of the city.

San Diego was perhaps one of the best shows I’ve ever been to, the way the songs flowed, the selection of songs, and the bands energy level. Too bad my head wasn’t into it for most part.

Jul 6, 2006
Las Vegas
Overcast and warm

Vegas was the big reunion. Stefan and Tak were flying in from Vancouver, Cali Joe from Los Angeles, Tatiana from Brazil, Tom and Ingrid were driving down from Wisconsin, and Venassa from Calgary. But first we had to get there. The drive through from Denver was an amazing drive. There was so much for us to see but so little time because we had to be at the airport to pick up Tak and Tatiana at around 4 pm. At 4pm, Holly and I were still in the Grand Canyon amazed by the scenery. We went to the 4 corners, where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona all converge at one point, we checked out the lovely Antelope Canyon as recommended by Holly, and then we drove through the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. If only we had more time. Nonetheless, it was a magical drive for the both of us.

We get to the airport at around 7pm to see the 2 strangers standing and waiting at the departures section. It was great feeling to see Tatiana again, not so much for Tak, I saw him a month ago before the trip. We drive into town and down on Las Vegas Blvd towards our hotel for the night, the Imperial Palace. Holly is filming all the hotels, as we drive down the road, and when we get to the MGM we stop at the red light. She gets a good shot of the venue for the show, and just as we mention Pearl Jam, the video screen in front of the hotel plays their promo on the show. Perfect timing.

As we walk into the casino of the Imperial Palace, we are offered free dinners instantly for couples. Too bad we didn’t qualify because we did not live together. But we checked into our room and go back downstairs for a drink and to wait for Venassa. She shows up with her friend Raphael from Vegas, and after bringing her stuff to the room, we proceed to Magaritaville for some for drinks. It was actually July 4, but we somehow missed the fireworks. Oh well, not a big deal, we were partying it up on our own. The night was one big drunk fest, as is always the case in Vegas, but this was just a sign of things to come.

The next morning we woke up and chilled at the pool before we had to check out. Holly and I got a bucket of beers for the hot tub so the day can start off right. After checking out of the Imperial Palace, we checked into the MGM where we would stay for the next few nights. Originally we had booked a regular celebrity suite, but when Holly and I went up to check in, the lady thought we were such a beautiful couple that she gave us a massive discount on their top level suites. We ended get an amazing suite on the 27th floor for a discounted price. The lady also told us that Pearl Jam just checked in as well, and we figured they were staying at the penthouse suites one floor up from us.

The room was just amazing. Full living room with a washroom, then there was the bed room with its own washroom, shower, and Jacuzzi. We were definitely living like rock stars now. After we finally calmed down from the excitement for the room, we went down to check out the pool, and what a pool it was. There was a lazy river that you can ride on for a good 20 mins behind looping around. It was so much fun.

After exploring the strip, we get back to the hotel to meet up with Stefan and Cali Joe. Next Brian from Lethbridge and Jill from San Diego joins us, and before we know it, there was little party at our suite. Venassa slams down a bottle of vodka and heads out with her friends from vegas while we continue to party it up in the suite. What a reunion, what a night. Later in the evening/morning we decide to go down to the casinos and lose a little money. Finally we decide head back to the room where the night/morning continued until we basically passed out.

The next morning was a complete write off. By the time we were all up, we headed down to the pool again with many magaritas. We all did the lazy river thing again, but this time the music they played was all Pearl Jam. We were drunk, going down the river, and singing PJ songs like maniacs. There were some weird looks, but it was an unforgettable time for us. Walking back through the hotel to our room, the MGM was continued to pump out the PJ tunes. Now we were strolling through the MGM singing PJ songs like maniacs.

On the way back we pick up our tickets at the box office and were told that the merchandise table would open at 5pm selling outside of the venue. We wanted a poster so we made sure that we were back in time. After a few errands and some chips and salsa, we were in line up for the poster. There wasn’t a lot of movement, and by the time 6:00 came the merch stand was shut down and we would need to get the poster inside. We were all a little ticked off at the time wasted in the line up for nothing. Nonetheless we went back to our suite and took a very long shower. It felt unbelievably good and made up for everything. When we got out, there was Tom and Ingrid chilling with everyone else. The reunion was complete. Everyone from our Montreal to Toronto crew from last was in the room all together. We did some catching up and before we knew it, it was time for the show.

The show was rocking as usual. When Sonic Youth was on, we all gathered on the standing room area just above the stage and watch the show together. Now we had been drunk all day. We woke up drunk and we just continued drinking through out the day. So what do we need when we’re inside the show? More beer. It was funny that the security allowed us to bring our own booze into the show as long as it was converted into a plastic cup. So out of all of us, the most plastered was definitely Mr Cali Joe, he even forgot his ticket in the room and we around with him about it for a while.

After the show, he was wrapped around in the touring van Canadian flag and a mysterious pink tape. He had no idea where he obtained this tape. But we found out the answer through the beauty of photography. The tape was used for boundary markers on the floor, and we discover photos of Joe picked it off the floor and wrapping it around himself. It was one of the funniest moments of the night. There were many drunken funny moments. After the show, we partied up our suite again. Tamara and Phil came by as well as Jill with her friends Mark and Sue-ann. Mark picked up Joe’s guitar and started playing all our requests. It was like a mini concert in our room, very chill. Brian did the checkmark the next morning. Vegas, what a show, what a party.

Jul 2, 2006
Denver
Hot, Hot, Hot

For the start of the second leg, I drove down to Atlanta, where I was originally going to stay in between legs, and picked up 5 passengers heading to Denver: my buddy Kyle, and his friends, Mandy, Tony, Louis, and Ashley. It was going to be a long drive and we were doing it all in one shot. It was great though, because these Georgians basically took over all the driving, so that I can relax and enjoy the ride for a change. Driving through Kansas was perhaps the biggest torture I’ve been through in the van. The intensity of the heat was insane, and the straight road and little to no attractions made the drive very uneventful. Luckily, I was stuck in the van with a good group, as usual. 28 hours later and we arrived in Denver. We stayed with 2 more of Kyle’s friends, Jeffery and Kelly. They were great hosts and had excellent backyard for a BBQ.

The next day was July 1, Canada Day. I was with 8 Americans, so I tried to celebrate the special day when they weren’t watching. We took a drive out and checked out the Red Rocks venue. It was an amazing site, perhaps one of the top 2 venues, along with the Gorge, in North America. I can’t believe Pearl Jam was not playing here. Afterwards we loaded up on booze and food, including a keg, and heading back to the house for a little party. I picked up Holly from the airport and headed back to the party. We drank, we ate, we watched the Storey Tellers broadcast on VH1, and then we slept in the van on Holly Street.

We woke up early to get organized and then we went to the Pepsi Center. The left over keg was brought to the parking lot where we tried to tailgate, but other tailgaters were not to be seen. We parked right next to some Tom Petty fans who had a real bbq, so we ended up grilling burgers using their facilities. There was a CCFA benefit put on by Joy at a bar directly across from the venue, so we went to support the cause. We met some more fans and bought some raffle tickets. There were many prizes available but the one prize that kept catching my eye was this plain jar of honey. Kyle ended up winning a 2003 Santa Barbara poster, donated by one of the fans, and then Holly won a Pulp Fiction DVD signed by Quentin Tarentino. I was so happy for her. A few minutes later she comes back to me with the jar of honey. “Honey, I got the honey for you.” Turns out she traded her DVD plus some undisclosed cash for the jar of honey just for me. Awww, now that is true love. The best part was turning the jar over and seeing the tag for $4.99. I love her for doing this, and the honey will be put in good use.

The show was a bit odd with Pearl Jam opening, but it was a decent show all around. This was the first show together for me and Holly and ironically it was both our 30th show individually, so it was extra special. Pearl Jam played for around 90 mins, and then Tom Petty played his usual set with Ed joining him for American Girl at the end. The show was good but I couldn’t see Tom Petty play the exact same songs again, and seeing Pearl Jam opening was just not right. All the guys from Atlanta were seeing the second show and flying back home, while Holly and I were skipping out and driving on to Vegas. After hoisting the empty keg like it was the Stanley Cup, Kyle did the biggest check mark in Touring Van history for Denver. After another night on Holly Street, we were on our way.

June 2006
Carolina, Florida, Maryland, New York
Showers, hurricanes, flooding

With the first leg of concerts over, and a whole month before the second leg begins, it would have been good time to relax and take it real easy. This was not the case. I drove the van down to Florida for the sun and surf, and made it all the way to the Key West. Checked out Miami and Orlando and went to Disney World as well. Along the way I ended up seeing 2 Stanley Cup Final games between Edmonton and Carolina in Raliegh, North Carolina, game 2 and game 7 without a ticket beforehand. Game 7, the mother of all hockey games, was extra special when I lined up all day at the box office hoping for the release of more. There were media filming us in the lineup, including an ABC report interviewing me about the ticket situation and then finding out about the Touring Van and asking me about Pearl Jam. Someone actually saw my interview on the 5 o’clock news and recognized me from the Touring Van and then somehow found me in the parking lot tailgating afterwards. The van received more attention at the tailgates than some of the Hurricanes vehicles. I met a bunch of Canadians in the lineup that flew down to cheer for the Oilers and they were like most in the line, skeptical about getting tickets. In fact, many left after waiting it out for a few hours. I reassured the Canadians about getting in and they hung around. Good thing.

About 5:00pm an NHL official comes out and announces the release of 20 more tix, and these were not just any tix, they were the VIP premier center ice seats for face value. We bought 8 in a row for all of us. As we approached our seats, we noticed a group of people in suits filling up the seats in front of us. Seemed kind of odd, and then we look further down the row, and there he is, the commissioner Gary Bettman sitting right in front of us. I said hi and got a picture. A few moments later, Cuba Gooding Jr sits down a few seats beside me. Wow, we were really in the VIP seats. For the game itself, the crowd was standing the entire time and was relentless with their cheering. Never have I seen this. Carolina ended up winning, and man Rod Brind’amour had the honour of accepting the Stanley Cup from the commissioner. What a moment for me. This was probably every Canadian’s dream. If you weren’t playing in game 7, you’d want to be at game 7.

The rest of the time, I spent relaxing in Maryland with Holly. Then I went back to Jersey to appear in court for the ‘recycling’ charge. On the way, I visited Dana in Brooklyn and she took me to this karaoke bar in Manhattan. But this was a rock n roll Karaoke with a live band playing behind you. It was very fun even though we did not get a chance to participate. For the court case I ended talking the prosecutor down to the minimum fine, still complete bull shit. But at least it is over, and I can continue with the second leg.

June 3, 2006
E Rutherford
Overcast, mild

For the last show, we got into E Rutherford early and headed to the CCFA fundraiser organized by Chris. We were in need of 4 tickets for this show so we needed to talk to some people. We stayed for about an hour and then we headed to the venue. As we pull into the parking lot, a crowd of people come up the van. Within minutes we were offered 3 tickets and then another few just a few moments later. We were set. I was waiting for Dana who had her extra ticket for me, and then about an hour later she shows up and they are great seats.

The tailgating was as fun as always with even more people coming up to have a chat. Gregg came over and we had a little surprise for him. We gave him one of the McCready Tshirts and Brad gave him his extra ticket, row 2 center. He was stoked. We all enter the show at the usual time of 8:45, just before PJ takes the stage. What a final show. The set was unbelievable with Hard To Imagine, Don’t Give Me No Lip, and Leavin Here.

As the show ends, Newfie Joe goes up to the head security JT and says good bye to him, cause it might have been his last show in a while. JT said he hardly doubts that but good luck with everything. As Joe turns around, Brad forcefully tells Joe that JT has a setlist in his pocket, ask for it. Joe calls out JT, and just as he turns around there was the setlist handed to Joe. Pretty cool souvenir for Joe’s last show. They even had a version of Daughter with It’s Ok tag slated in, but never made it.

After the show, we let Gregg do the check mark for his home town, after a swipe of screech of course. Everyone clears out of the parking lot, but we are still partying hard. Ben’s strumming the guitar and everyone is having a good time. Then Ben starts wondering through the empty lot and comes back with a lit bbq, and some burger patties and buns. We were elated, and start grilling out. He wonders again and find some hotdogs, chips, and mustard, and even some desert. This was hilarious. Here we are 2 hours after the show had ended, still in the parking lot and having a good ol’ tailgating bbq.

The tour busses start to board and moves on out, so we give them a big wave thinking the band was in there. Then we noticed there was still one other car in the lot, directly behind us. There’s this guy sleeping in his front seat. We try to wake him up by knocking on his window, and playing him pj songs, but no success, so we start. Newfie holds up a sign and that’s says “thanks for the memories bro” and places on his windshield. Then Dana takes some ketchup and makes a heart on his driver side window. It was truly a fun fun night and a great way to end the tour.

We drive back to Brooklyn to stay with Dana for the night, sort of. Cali Joe had to fly out at 7 am, so we basically chilled at her place until it was time and then we drove Joe to the airport. Another goodbye, but we’re gonna see him again on the 2nd leg. He’s always reliable for coming back. Back to Dana’s and we all had a good long sleep to rest up. Thanks for everything Dana, you’re awesome. Great show, great leg, can’t wait for the west coast to start.

June 2, 2006
Philly
Rain, heavy at times

So we had a day off in between the E Rutherford shows, and Radiohead was playing a second of 2 shows in Philadelphia at Tower Theatre, a small 3000 seat theatre. This is apparently the place to see a concert and only an hour and a half away, so we thought why not go down and try to get tickets. It was Cali Joe, Newfie Joe, Ben, and myself, and we arrived around noon time to line up at the box office, hoping more tickets would be released. Newfie Joe was 7th in line, Cali Joe, 8th, Me 9th, and Ben 10th. Then at 1pm, they announced that 8 tickets were released. Newfie Joe got front row, and Cali Joe got a balcony seat, and I was next in line. An hour later, the ticket lady said there was one more ticket. I purchased it to find out I had ticket number 1, row 1, dead center, unbelievable. I then see the tour bus arrive so I walk to the back of the venue and see Tom Yorke. I wave at him and he smiles. Meanwhile, Ben is next in line hoping for another ticket. But it never came. I got the last one.

We go back to the van and have a few beers, did some laundry, and was basically just chilling before the show. The show starts and the seat is amazing. After the opening act we walked out to the smoking area outside and Ben is still standing there. The gate was wide open so we told him to sneak in through here. Just as Ben approaches, security closes of the gap. Shitty. We go back in and Radiohead comes on with these unbelievable drum beats. 3 of the members are beating on drums, and the sound was just incredible. And my seat, wow. The barriers were directly in front of the stage so I was literally a foot away from Tom. Newfie Joe had it pretty good too, front row right in front of Johnny. After the second song, Joe gets a tap on the shoulder and it’s Ben. He got in. We thought he snuck in, but turned out a guy sold him an extra just as the band took the stage cause his friend was not showing up. So there we were, 3 of us in the front row at a Radiohead concert, which we had 0 tickets for just a few hours earlier. The shows just blew us away with a great mixture of new songs, b sides, and classics. I could see why these guys are considered a rival to PJ to live performances. What a great way to spend the day off.

After the show, rain was just pouring down. So we rushed to the van and sat in it for close to an hour, having a few more beers. We gather up the empties from that night and from the tailgating the night before and stuff it a bag for recycling. So we were about to leave Philly, when we had this final craving for cheese steak. We go down to South St and try out the only spot remaining, Jim’s. This was the winner, easily the best we’ve had. Better than Gino’s, Pat’s, and Sonny’s. That settled it.

After fulfilling our hunger, we headed back up to Jersey to Tim’s place. We had taped a garbage bag on the roof to seal it up during the rain, but it was starting to blow off. We get into Jersey on the Garden State Highway and I was starting to fall asleep. So I pulled over to get some fresh air and climb up on top of the van to fix the roof. Joe takes the opportunity to come out and take a piss on the side of the rode. Then a few minutes later, a car pulls up behind us. It was a cop. Cop encounter #4.

“What are you guys doing?” he asks. I tell him I was fixing the roof, and one of us was taking a leek. Then Newfie Joe steps out of the van shirtless, just waking up, and reeking of alcohol. “What’s the deal with him?” I told him he just woke up. So he then proceeds to search the van. “The van reeks of booze and there’s like 50-60 cans in there.” I told him we were recycling them. He says he could tell that I’m not drunk but my eyes were red. I said I was tired. So he does a little test on me and says I pass, but he could take me down to the station to see if I was on anything. I told him I’m just tired. So he says, “ok, I’ll be right back.”

He comes back with a ticket that summons me to pay a fine for having open or unsealed alcohol in the vehicle. I ask him do I need to go to court, and he says no, just call the number to find out how much and you can send in the payment. A few days later I call the court and they tell me I must go back to Jersey at the end of the month to appear in court. That is where they will determine my fine. This was complete bullshit. We had 50-60 empty beer cans that we were recycling from the tailgate parties the past 2 nights. I now must go all the way back up to Jersey and show up in court. If I need to come back, I will be fighting this. We get to Tim’s place, who was all worried about us, and tell him the story, and he’s like, “Typical Jersey Cops.” Jersey Cops suck shit.

Jun 1, 2006
E Rutherford, New Jersey
Sunny with a few shows but warm

After a nice night of camping in Gregg’s backyard, we woke and headed towards the venue. On the way, we stopped by Liberty State Park to get a shot of the statue of Liberty with the van. I drive by a cop car, heading towards the end of a dock. There was a good view of the skyline of NY, so I stopped and got out of the van. Within seconds, the cop races up to us and asks what we were doing. I told him we were trying to take a picture. He told us to move on. So we circled the park, got a decent shot of the sky line, but did not get a good view of the statue. So we scrapped the idea and headed to the Continental Airlines Arena.

We pulled in and was instantly hand a few beers. Some fellow Canadian fans from montreal were coming up to us and asking if we had extra tix, but we still needed a few ourselves, but we had now turned into searching for tix for others as well. Ben stood outside the box office the whole time waiting for more tix to be released. Cali Joe met us there and was sharing his extra ticket with me.

We were eventually offered a pair of tix in row g section 5 which seemed to be better than Joe’s tix of row v section 7, so we took those and sold the others to the Canadians. The tailgating was fun and crazy once again, but then it started to pour. We all rushed into the van then went inside for the show. It turned out that our seats were in the second section on the floor just in front of the sound board, while our original tix were in the first section stone’s side. We downgraded. Oh well, we got to see an amazing show.

Ben’s patience paid off and was able to score 2nd row on the floor. Amazing. The show was probably the best setlist to date with I got shit, Footsteps and closing with Indifference. After the show, I find out that the Carolina Hurricanes had won game 7 of their semi finals against Buffalo. This means I was going to Carolina to watch a Stanley Cup final game.

We get to the parking lot and there is a huge crowd gathered around the van. Everyone was waiting for us to come back to start the after tailgate party. We hung around for a little while, then we decided to go to CBs bar in Manhattan. 10 of us sitting in the van, including one sitting on the cooler. We drive around and all of a sudden, the roof flies off. We search around for a while, but it was lost, we now had a permanent sun roof.

As we get into Seacauscus to drop of Melissa, a police car started following me. I missed a turn, so I pulled into the next parking lot to turn around. Just as I am pulling out, the cop comes in front of me and blocks me in. Another one comes out of no where and flies behind me. “License and Registration please;” I give him my license and tell him that the registration was in my bag in the back. So he asks for it. Newfie Joe goes to get it but could not see because of the sirens on the car behind us. He asks the cop if he could turn it off so that he could retrieve the bag for me. The cop says no, then goes back to check on my license. Meanwhile, there is still 10 people in the van, a few with half drinking beer cans sitting by their feet. The cop comes back and says, “ok everything is fine, you just have a broken tail light.” That was it. Cop encounter # 3.

We get to CBs and notice it’s closed. All that for nothing, so we all went or separate ways to rest up for the night,

May 31, 2006
New York
Cloudy and warm

We woke up early rounded up the troops to get the hell out of DC. Easier said then done. We drove around for a good while and it seemed impossible to get out of the city. Seems that it was designed that way on purpose so terrorist or anyone would have a tough time getting out if they attempted anything. But we did manage to find the way.

As we were entering the Jersey Turnpike, I hear a honk beside us. I see a car drive by with last nights setlist plastered on the window. It was Mandi and Chris who we met at the previous shows. Very cool.

We drop off Tim and Gord and head straight to New York City for the Story Teller Gig. None of us had tickets but we thought it would be kinda cool to go hangout. We recognize some faces, and did some interviews on camera. Sony’s photographer came over and talked to us and took a few pictures, he then said he could try to get us in and took down my number. Then PJ’s cameraman started filming the crowd from across the street where we were parked. I told him he could stand on top of the van to film if he wanted to, and he did. He then took some footage of the van and interviewed myself and Brad.

Brad ended up getting a ticket from a friend, and then my phone rings. 3 rings and I pick up, but it hung up by then. That was the call, we were gonna get tix, but I missed it. Oh well, it was only a hour long show anyways. One interesting note, this girl came up to me as we were walking away from the venue and says, “If you guys don’t get in, then it’s fucked.” Her name was Dana, and then a few days later she offered me her extra ticket for the 2nd Jersey show. I took it. We spent the rests of the night walking the city, and then we drove out to Jersey to stay with Gregg for the night.

May 30, 2006
Washington, DC
Sunny and extremely hot in a van with no air conditioning

We dropped off Rachel at the bus station in the morning for her to get to New York to fly back home. It was great to have her on the trip and she enjoyed every moment of it. We then picked Tim’s friend Gord and headed towards the nations capital. The drive was long and hot. Everyone was dying of heat in the van. I wonder what it will be like for vegas in july? We get to DC and drop of Tim and Gord, then Joe and I went on a one hour tour of DC and saw everyone, we did well.

We met up with everyone at the preshow party at the bar across from the Verizon Centre. Aussie Ben was back with us and will be joining the van crew through Jersey. Also Holly, who we met at the Camden show, offered her place for us to stay after the show. Because I was using Brad’s tix tonight, they were right up front in the 2nd row, I decided to bring in the Canadian flag and taped Touring Van on the leaf.

The show was another good one, but extra special because I was so close. What’s more, Brian had a pair of seats right beside Brad’s, so we had 4 in a row in the 2nd row center. Newfie Joe and Ben were using Holly’s tickets and they were 1st row behind the stage. We were facing and could see each other clearly, so Joe and Ben were in charge of taking pictures to the flag.

During Alive, at the end of the first set, Mike was staring at me for a long time probably trying to recognize me without my red hair. I hold up the flag and he smiles and points just before going into the solo and the end of the song. Then during the encore, they played fuckin up. Joe and I had been signaling to each other trying to get a good picture of the flag. Joe wanted me to hold the flag up when the song start, I said hold for a sec, and we both start rocking out to the song. When the solo came, I signal to Joe and the flag was up. We were so in synch with each other that I didn’t even notice Ed pointing at me. Apparently he pointed at the flag then pointed to his heart. When Ledbetter came on Mike ended it with the US national anthem. I thought about chucking the Maple leaf on stage, but though better of it.

After the show we meet up with a whole wack of people, all of whom were following us back to the van, which we didn’t remember exactly where it was parked. Amongst all the commotion, we lost Holly, who was chatting with a friend. We finally find the van and Brian did the check mark for his hometown show. We chilled around the van, had a few drinks and then most everyone left except for Michelle and Jennifer. Holly still hasn’t shown up at this point and I was getting worried. We were suppose to stay with her that night, so I decide take a drive to look for her.

I was driving all over the city of DC to look for this girl and had no idea where she was. Her phone had not been and was not working. It seemed like a lost cause. I ended up finding another guy, Trey, who I met in Kitchener last year and actually emailed me a few days before I left for the trip. He hops in the van and starts chatting with me about how he just moved to DC and what an honour it was to ride in the van, and lots of other stuff which I was not really paying attention to. I was getting really worried cause Holly was relatively new to the city. Block after block and nothing. Meanwhile, Trey’s chatting ways just became nonsense. Over an hour after picking him up, I was about to give up and was driving Trey back to his car. Then as I drive down the last street, at the corner of my eye I spot her. I quickly pull over and then my phone rings and it’s her. She speaks frantically about losing her phone, how scared she was and asking where I was. I step out of the van and tell her to turn around and it was shear joy at the point. I believe in miracles. We go back to the parking lot where the others were gathered, took some pictures, and had a few more drinks.

We were just packing it in when a cop car pulls into the lot and tells us to pour out our drinks. They sit there for a while, so we go up and tell them that the driver did not drink and we were going for a walk to get some food and when we get back we would leave. The cop says, “ok, we’re cool” in sort of a sarcastic way. Police encounter #2. When we got back, they were gone, and so we took off and crashed at Holly’s sweet pad.

May 29, 2006
Sea Side Heights, NJ
Sunny and hot.

We woke up early to drive Cali Joe to the airport. He was leaving us, but we wouldn’t have to wait long to see him again. 3 more days and he’s back for the ride in Jersey. Next we picked up Tim, he was taking us back to his place in Sea Side Heights on the Jersey Shores. We chose to have a relaxing day there instead of the original plan of doing all of NY city. And a great choice it was. Joe and I decided we’d take a break from drinking that day after all we went through at the tailgates. Well, that didn’t happen. The second we arrived at Tim’s place, we cracked open a beer. In fact, we ended up filling up Tim’s recycling bin full of empties just from that day.

Got to the beach, and it is pretty nice, eventhough you had to pay $5 to get on it. The whole beach area has a long board walk full of amusement parks, fair games, pizza places, and bars. The city has a population of around 75,000 and on the memorial day weekend there was estimated 250,000 people, a very popular getaway place for young kids from the New York area.

Joe bought his first pair of shorts ever and didn’t stop wearing them for the rest of the tour. Jumped into the atlantic ocean and it felt really good. We spent a few hours napping on the beach and then we walked back 3 blocks to Tim’s place. Next Danny Clinch came over and had a photo session with us and the van. Danny, a good friend of Tim’s, is PJ’s photographer and filmed the promo for the new album as well. So that was really cool. We even got to meet Danny’s kid who met Ed the night before. A very neat experience and definitely made the trip to Jersey well worth it.

May 27/28, 2006
Philly
Sunny and extremely hot

Heading from Boston to Philly was where the Touring Van rides really begins. We stayed at Tim’s hotel the night before, so he rolled out with us to pick up Brad and then Melissa. We got on the Jersey Turnpike and this was the beginning of all the Tolls we paid. Got to Philly at around late afternoon, dropped off Melissa and Tim, then we stayed with Brad at the Marriot where we put the Touring Van through valet parking. They still parked it on the streets though. We walked down the street to meet up with Tim and had a quick drink and bite before we back at the hotel to crash early. As I was going by the van I see this note on it. It was from Brandon, who I was suppose to meet in Boston. Turns out he was staying at the Marriot as well, he’s from Vancouver.

The next day, Joe went for a quick walk around the city, while Brad and I went for a 2 he long run in the heat. Really cool scenery though. There are abundant amount of statues, and fountains and historic buildings all over the town. On Ben Franklin Way there are the flags of every country leading up to the City Hall building, which centers to downtown area. We did the Rocky run up the steps of the Art museum. Next we went down to south Philly to get our first taste of Philly cheese steaks at the famous Ginos. As I was ordering I asked if they were better the Pats (other famous place right across). The guy responded hesitantly, “of course we are.” More to come on this saga. The sandwich was kind of bland but still tasty. It was definitely no poutine.

We roll to Waterfront Tweeter Center in Camden, the biggest ghetto in the US. Most people killed per capital than anywhere else, 5 a night. Newfoundland gets something like 5 a year killed. Well we roll into the parking lot around 4 pm and it is already packed to the roofs. I tell the parking attendant that we are part of the CCFA fundraiser, but the best she could do was let us in the 2nd lot. She didn’t charge us the $15 parking fee though.

I roll in gets some great reactions. When I get out, the first thing I see is Cali Joe walking up towards the van. What a surprise, he had told me that he wasn’t able to book any flights so he’d see us in Jersey. Then he was calling all day asking where we were, cause his friend wanted to see the van. Sneaky guy. It was a surprise, but then I showed him a bigger surprise by revealing the return of newfie Joe.

The whole tailgating thing was insane here. More than 4 or 5 lots full of PJ fans grilling food, drinking beers, playing drinking games, tossing footballs. It was quite a sight, something you’d have to see for yourself.

I called the opening song wash, and the rest of the show just kicked ass, including another dropping of the leash. The amplitheatre was really cool with the way the stage was setup and the lawn seating in the back.

After the show, we chilled and hung out until everyone had left. The lot was just filthy with trash and bottles. Disgusting sight indeed. Then the Camden police rolls up to us and tells us that we should leave now or it will get ugly in a second. He then sees the license plate and says “you guys travel around to see PJ?” Newfie Joe explains the whole story and the cop gets a kick out of it. He even got a picture taken with the Camden police, possible the toughest forces in the country. We roll back for more cheese steaks, this time at Sonny’s. Much better than Gino’s. Cali Joe likes.

The next day we got our shit together early and got into the first parking lot at a good spot. It was amazing how clean the lot got after the disaster that was left the night before. This was when the van became the star. All the parties slowly shifted towards the van and it was just incredible how many people were gathered around. We had guitar players coming by and performing infront of the van. So many people that I don’t remember half of them. But, nonetheless, good times.

Another great show, and another dropping of the leash.

After the show, Jason Lyons did the check mark. He’s from Philly, it was his birthday, and also his 75th show. That choice was a no brainer. The party continued through to the night and once again, we were the last to leave. We headed back to south Philly for more cheese steaks, this time at Pats. When we get to the front of the line, Newfie Joe asks who was better, Gino’s or Pats. The guy was pissed. “Don’t you start that shit around here, go to the back of the line.” Talk about cheese steak nazi. Apparently, Joe was lucky he wasn’t in more trouble. In any case, my verdict favours Pats.

May 24/25, 2006
Boston
Sunny Warm

We headed straight to the TD Banknorth Garden in the morning and found a parking lot right beside the venue and a giant Celtics banner. After finishing off decorating the van we headed to the Harp bar where one of the many preshow parties were taking place. It was a mellow start but by the time this cover band, Backseat Lover, came on, the place was jam packed. The entire street of bars was hopping. PJ dvds being played at other bars, everyone in the PJ spirit getting ready for the show. A bunch of people recognized me and said hi, we had a few drinks and we were pumped for the show.

My Morning Jacket opened, and was not very impressive in a large arena. Small venues are where these guys sound best. Then PJ took the stage and opened with Release. The sound for the show was alright, but it didn’t matter. All of the crowd was into it. Sing a longs were the loudest I’d ever heard. And the setlist, wow. Brad and Brian had made up some Stone and Mike T shirts, based on the guitar picks, to give away for people to donate to the CCFA. Then during the show, after a shirt was thrown on stage, Jeff comes out wearing it at the encore. Brad just goes crazy. Then Eddie points at Rick who’s standing next to Brian in the front row and Rick that’s his shirt off and chucks it on stage. Ed puts it on for the song and then throws it back. The shirts are a hit. People were coming up to us wanting to buy them for large sums of money.

After the show we hung out at the parking lot, where Brian was showing us the tambourine Ed handed him during the show. We hung out for a while and Rachel did the check mark for Boston. We drove back to Melissa’s place, this time with her directions and set up for the night. As Joe and I were hanging out in the van, one of the neighbours pulled in and gave us a strange look. 5 mins later a police car drives by and taps on our window. Joe goes out to talk to him telling him what we were doing, and the cop was cool and says he can’t charge us for following Pearl Jam on tour, then leaves. Police encounter #1.

The 2nd show was more of the same. Preshow parties were crazy as usual. And everyone was wanting to buy the Stone shirts. We hid a whole bunch in the van for the next few shows. Then this guy Tim, came up to us and told me he was a writer for Relix magazine and a good surfer friend of Ed. He was writing an article about PJ on the road said that the PJ people instructed him to go find the Canadians. Well he found us. And now he’s in on the ride for the first leg.

The show was all a big anticipation for that one song that was rumoured to have been sound checked the night before. Crowd was loud yet again. We waited and waited, and then they dropped the Leash. What a moment. Young souls unit. Wow, the crowd was going nuts. And when Theo Epstein came on to play Rockin in the Free world, the crowd just about lost it. Great show yet again.

We go back to the van afterwards, this time it was parked on the streets infront of Hooters. The manager shows Joe some pictures he took of the Hooter girls and the van while we were in the show. With the van more visible this time, we got a lot of visitors coming by to say hi. I recognized a few faces from the Canadian tour, and then this guy from Quebec asked if we had a Canadian flag. I said no, and he said, “you do now” and hands over his large flag. Boston was a lot of fun.

May 21, 2006
Between St Johns and Boston
Showers

We left Rachel’s and went into Hollyrood, Newfoundland to pick up Newfie Joe. 10 hours later and were on the night ferry at Port Aux Basque. We slept in the van for the 7 hour ride and was refreshed for the long drive ahead. The drive to the border from Nova Scotia was about 6 hours. We stopped by at the duty free, exchanged some currency and loaded up on the max on liquor to bring in. The border was a bit of a hassle and did their check on us and the van. We were all asked questions together and separately. Guess our story would seem a bit odd what we’re doing. Dogs jumped into the van, left their paw marks and even bit into some bananas we had. All was good and we were in the states.

A few hours into Maine our power steering began to stiffen up and was eventually completely gone. We stopped at a town called Bangor and booked a mechanic for the morning and stayed at a hotel across the street. They changed 2 belts and the van was now back on the road with no more hiccups.

We arrived into Boston mid afternoon where I finally received reception on my cell phone. I was setting up an interview with Theo Epstein of the Red Sox about PJ fans but by the time I was able to contact him, it was too late. He was hanging with the boys and the whole band was in his box for the game. Could have been us. We walked down to Fenway Park anyways hoping for cheap Yankees vs Red Sox tickets. Nothing available, so we just scoped out the town. A very nice night and a very nice city, but the streets are all fucked up. We were staying with Melissa who will be riding with us to Philly afterwards. After getting lost through Newfie Joe’s navigation, we finally arrived at Melissa’s place an hour later. We crashed in the van for the night to rest up for show 1 the next night.

May 18, 2006
St John’s, Newfoundland
Foggy, overcast, cool

This was it, the start of the journey. I woke up early in the morning and started packing for the 2 months on the road with Pearl Jam. It took me about an hour to get everything together and then I went down to transfer my insurance on my car over to the van, the Nissan will be put in storage for a year. It’ll miss it. My flight was for 1:30pm so I arrived at the airport an hour and a half earlier. When they weighed my giant hockey bag, it was over the limit, but I was able to transfer some clothing into a plastic bag and check in 2 bags of lower weight. The flight would require a transfer through Toronto which turned out to be a big gong show. There was a thunder storm that shut down the airport for 3 hours which delayed all the landing and departing flights. We landed safely but were caught in a lineup to off load. When we finally got off the plane, the flight to St John’s was delayed for 2 hours and wasn’t leaving until 1:00am. Finally we got on the plane, and another adventure began. As the plane flew over Newfoundland, we hit severe winds and we were in for a rough ride. The plane before ours had to be redirected to land in Halifax, but we fought through and landed safely at 5:00am I hung out the airport for a few hours until 9:00am and then I took a cab to the garage where the Van was kept.

The beast was sitting in the middle of the lot all by itself. All the decorations were faded away including the 2 signatures, but this can be resurrected. The battery was completely dead and one of the tires was flat so I recharged the battery and added some air and the van was good to go. I drove into the familiar scene of downtown and memories of September came back to me. I met up with Rachel, who will be coming with me to the first few shows and she was totally stoked. She was at work so I strolled around town on my own and decided to put in a call to Newfie Joe’s parents place to see if he was around. I left a message with his Dad saying I was in town for the weekend, but I didn’t think I’d see him this time around. Then as I’m out wandering the streets later in the night, I hear this guy yelling at me, never seen this guy before. But then I looked closer and low and behold, it was Newfie Joe. He came looking for me on the street and found me. We went to a few bars had a few drinks, and that’s all it took to convince him to come on board for the first leg..

The next 2 days was spent at Rachel’s place where I met her family and parents. I got the van checked out of by a mechanic and changed all the fluids, and we started the decorations. The van looking good and the trip was ready to begin.

With most of the dates finally official. I have decided the route that the Touring Van will follow. We are heading back to the Gorge, where it all started a year earlier. But before that, there is a little tour in between that the Van will stop at.

I’ve attached the itinerary for Legs 1 and Legs 2 for the tour, click on the pdf files.

Leg 1 Itinerary
NOTE: Jason needs tickets for all Leg 1 shows, if you have an extra please contact him.

Leg 2 Itinerary

Basically going from Boston to Jersey, and then Denver to the Gorge and again offering rides during the tour. I will also need some people to help out before and inbetween tours.

So if you need a ride from :

St John’s to Boston before leg 1 or
New York down south to Florida area
or anything along the way, let me know.

visit the website www.touringvan.com or email me jason@touringvan.com for more information

2006 will be big year… the UK is next!

thanks
Jason

Touring Van is please to announce their plans for Leg 1 of Pearl Jam’s 2006 world wide tour. The van has been sitting in Newfoundland since the end of the Canadian tour, and it’s time to bring it home to the west coast. On the drive back, we will be traveling to the shows and once again be offering rides along the way. Look for us!

View Press Release

Stay tuned for Touring Van’s plans for Leg 2…

Jason