Since I’m still trying to wrap my feeble mind around what I experienced at Pearl Jam’s 20th anniversary destination weekend at Alpine Valley, I’ll just do this in list form:

• Our 6 hour drive was one of the shortest as people drove from both coasts and flew in from all over the world, including Australia, Sweden, Israel, France, Haiti, Italy, and Japan!
• The billboard you see above was a corporate advertisement for vitamin water on Friday before two artists who make PJ gig posters appropriately modified it throughout the weekend
• Glen Hansard sets which included him pulling a poncho-clad audience member out of the front row and on stage to help with the encore and then the next day had a forgetful famous guest
• Liam Finn’s dance moves
• Only took an hour and a half to get out of the parking lot Saturday night!
• Surprise appearance (and super tall & gangly in person) by Chris Cornell on stage, forming a rare Temple of the Dog reunion
• Over 60 Pearl Jam songs in two nights, with only two repeats
• Dennis Rodman and Hyde from “That 70s Show” were in attendance
• There was a Pearl Jam museum with rare memorabilia - people waited in line without hesitation for 2-3 hours to see it
• Ended the night with a Neil Young cover with help from a stage full of Queens of the Stone Age, Strokes, Mudhoney, Glen Hansard, Liam Finn, John Doe, Dhani Harrison, and Star Anna before we walked to our car to the final notes of Yellow Ledbetter