Man, What a Night

LOCATION: Train en route to Berlin
Last Night's Show: Prague (Sazka Arena)

Set List: MFC, Last Exit, Animal, Life Wasted, Small Town, World Wide Suicide, Insignificance, Marker In The Sand, Unemployable, You Are, Sad, Whipping, Even Flow, Daughter, Alone, Jeremy, Do The Evolution

1st encore: Dead Man, Man Of The Hour, Nothingman, Leatherman, Better Man/Save It For Later, Alive
2nd encore: Bu$hleaguer, Comatose, Given To Fly, Rocking in the Free World, Yellow Ledbetter


I was dead asleep when our bus pulled into Sazka Arena at about 2am. A few hours later, daylight broke and I was woken up by the alarm clock that Gitte had set for me the night before. I wanted to make sure I’d be up in time to see the sights, since I would be in Prague less than 24 hours. Jason, Monica and the Swedes (Johan and Petter) said they wanted to go into town with me, so I was in charge of waking everyone up and getting us out.

We took the subway into the center of town and headed toward my hostel, Dhoula Pension. I was the only with a reservation, but they all needed a place to spend the night so we took our chances and ventured over in hopes that they’d have room for them as well. When we found Dhoula, I was blown away - and not in a good way. This place was straight out of Quentin Tarantino’s Hostel, and even though I was advised not to see the film before my trip, I was sure it could double for the one in the movie. It was adjacent to the Roxy nightclub, which became the focal point of most of our jokes that morning. The entrance to THE DHOULA was a concrete walkway that had just been mopped yet looked anything but clean. I checked with reception, and thankfully they had a room available for everyone else. The staff was the complete opposite of the hostel’s physical appearance: they were warm, friendly and incredibly welcoming. Monica, Jason and I stayed to check in and sight see while the Swedes headed back to Sazka to secure a spot on the rail.

The three of us spent the day taking in the major sights in Prague. The city is absolutely stunning and on every corner there are architectural jewels. Even if what’s housed inside isn’t of great significance, each building’s structure and facade is breathtaking. It was my first time in Eastern Europe, and the entire place had that old Russian, Anna Karenina vibe - it was amazing. We saw the astronomical clock and then took a walk onto Charles Bridge, which I was really looking forward to. I was a bit disappointed because of the hordes of tourists that crowded it. I couldn’t get one decent shot of the bridge without throngs of tour groups blocking it. I read that years ago, Prague was the ultimate place to see because it was seldom visited. I would have loved to see it at the time, but no such luck. We headed up to the famous castle and into a gorgeous cathedral, and wandered around the palatial grounds. I’d heard that Franz Kafka’s house was on a street called Golden Lane and really wanted to check it out. It cost us 2 Euros just to be able to walk onto the 'lane' and into the houses (yeah, we’re suckers just like the rest of ‘em!). The house was another disappointment. Instead of being a museum dedicated to the writer, it is a gift shop. A gift shop that costs 2 Euros to get into, so basically, you’re paying for the opportunity to buy. See? Capitalism does benefit everyone.

After having burgers and Czech beer at a restaurant in the Old Town, we headed over to Sazka. Monica and Jason got a hold of tickets and then went off to find their friends, Cali Joe and Katie, while I made my way to my seats. I actually had a seated ticket for this one, so I was able to relax a bit since I wouldn’t have to scheme my way in. During the opening act, which, by the way, no one could make sense of, I saw a number of empty seats down towards the rail. I was already on Mike’s side of the stage, so I thought it’d be great to try and get as far down as I could (yup, still scheming!). After the opening band was done, I headed down as far as I could go without being stopped. By pure luck, I was able to get down to the front row, which gave me the best seat of the tour so far. A few minutes later, who should appear but Jason, Monica and Cali Joe! They ended up sneaking their way in, too, and we were all able to sit together. This luck is so over after Europe!

I’ve been asked what's been my favorite show so far, and although I’ve said Milan has my #1 spot, Prague has managed to tie it. Although the crowd could not be compared to the one in Milan, the show itself was unbelievable. They opened with MFC (not Go, thank goodness!) and from that first song, we all knew it was going to be a hell of a show. It’s funny because in Italy, there were so many Americans that had gone to see all five shows, but there weren’t as many here. It was in Prague that this type of sentiment hit us; all we could say was, ‘We’re in PRAGUE. Seeing Pearl Jam!!’ It was so surreal - much more so than in Italy. Another thing that really hit was that we were in the Czech Republic, so far from our home, yet there was a piece of it right there on stage. We were on foreign land, but it felt like we were hanging out with old friends from the neighborhood and we were sharing them with the Czechs! It sounds bizarre, but somehow we made some kind of sense of it.

The entire main set was a non-stop party; the band gave as much as they did in Italy, but something was different. The whole atmosphere was far different than it had been in the previous shows, and I swear the lack of DVD cameras had something to do with it. Whenever you bring that type of medium into an environment, it automatically changes the nature of the scene (yeah, I say that as I upload pictures into my computer). But its different when you have a video camera on stage in the guys’ faces - it just felt as they were completely letting go and taking their audience with them.

When Ed came out alone at the beginning of the first encore, we all looked at each other and wondered what he was going to do. He then sat down and began Dead Man - I thought Cali Joe was going to fall off the rail he was so ecstatic. It was my first time hearing it live, and it was awesome. He then went into Man of the Hour and at that point we knew that something really cool was going to happen. When Nothingman began, it was confirmed. Nothingman always gets me - it is such a deeply sentimental song, and when it's live its even more special. We couldn't help but put our arms around each other and sing along - much to our neighbor's amusement (or was that a look of pity?!?) After Betterman, we were so psyched about what we had heard, we couldn’t really come up with a name for it....was it a man ‘quintet’, ‘fiveology!??!?’ We were coming up with the most ridiculous names, having the best time ever. I thought of Warren because Ed tagged Betterman with Save it for Later, which is his favorite. He swore I wasn’t going to get anything great after Milan (because he wouldn’t be there) and I could only imagine what he was thinking as he read this on the message board from his desk at work, all the way in New York City. (Awww, Warren.).

The rest of the show was as great as the beginning. One of the best things about tonight, in addition to the setlist and the show itself, was that we got so much love from the band. Now, I know you’re reading this thinking, ‘yeah, yeah, everyone gets love from the band.’ But, we REALLY did. We were so close to Mike and throughout the entire show, he kept pointing at me and giving me the peace sign - just me! The girls next to me kept squealing every time he did it thinking it was for them, but c’mon, we know what the deal was! It was so obvious, Cali Joe kept saying Mike was flirting with me. Ok, ok, he wasn't flirting....but a girl can dream ;) During Evenflow, Monica, Jason and Cali Joe have an inside joke involving ‘pushing butterflies away,’ and at one point Ed looked over to them and laughed with them. I of course missed that because I was doing what? Taking pictures.

After the show, we all met up in the parking lot, said our goodbyes to our friends on the European Touring Bus and headed into town. I learned that Katie lived 12 blocks away from me and was amazed that I had come all the way to Prague to meet a crazy cool (crazy AND cool) girl who lives in my neighborhood. We all jumped on a tram that was beyond packed with the drunk traveling Scotsmen, singing PJ fans and very confused locals. When we got to my hostel, we decided to go and get ‘one’ drink, until I realized it was 1 am. I had to be up at 6am for the train to Berlin, so Cali Joe insisted that I could not go to sleep at all.

We found a bar nearby and drank there until they closed up and kicked us out. I still had a good three hours to go, so we ended up at a place called Bombay Bar. There, we spent the entire morning drinking from a vat of Long Island Ice Tea, among other things. Again I say, I come all the way to Prague for a Long Island Ice Tea? See? I can leave New York but New York will never leave me. After finishing this seemingly endless pit of alcohol, I was eager to see if PJ fans really knew how to shake their asses. At first the boys were hesitant, but we somehow managed to sway them onto the dance floor. I will never ever forget the sight of Cali Joe, with his PJ Patriot cap on, tearin’ it up to Kanye West’s Golddigger, which I had requested to the delight of the locals. Damn, those Czechs dig Kanye!. Who ever would have imagined? Tonight tied Verona as the highlight of my trip. I had the best time dancing and hanging out with these cats! Although I had just met them, it really felt as if I had known them for years.

At 5:45am, we headed out to THE DHOULA, where I had apparently booked a room just to hold my luggage. I was off to catch a train to Berlin where I'd see my last show of the tour.

Bombay Bar logo before the bottomless pit of Long Island Ice: (Photo Credit: Katie Zraly)

Bombay Bar logo after the bottomless pit of Long Island Ice Tea:



Good times.