Because you don't give blood and take it back again

[debs]

November 2nd, 2000. Five days before I voted in my first presidential election I drove up to Portland with my friend Helen to see Pearl Jam for the first time. The country was coming out of a time of prosperity and heading into an era of uncertainty, and it's almost surreal to think of how at the time Paul Allen was the main source of concern for Eddie Vedder. There was a definite tension to the show; Pearl Jam has always felt like they're fighting something, and at the time I'm not sure any of us in attendance would have guessed where our country would be today. "Grievance" was the first single off the new Binaural album, and it remains pertinent.

"Grievance" by Pearl Jam

and bonus because this is one of the songs that I always think of when I remember that show.

"Soon Forget" by Pearl Jam, live at the Rose Garden, 11.2.00