Pearl Jam SRO at Chicago's Vic Theater

Not only did the fan club members get a show for the ages last Thursday in Chicago's famed Vic Theatre, but they were treated to a remarkable opening act.

When Eddie Vedder came out and played an acoustic set of rarities, songs from his imminent solo CD and even a tribute to the never quite close enough Chicago Cubs, the fans were enthralled.

But the night just took off from there when Pearl Jam launched into their eclectic set list. With the North American concert debut of the Who's "Love Reign O'er Me" and a rare appearance/guest performance by Ben Harper, who Like PJ was in Chicago for an appearance at Lollapalooza, to end the set, it just couldn't get any better.

So with a great event poster, and new shirts made from organic cotton or bamboo to memorialize the affair, the crowd left beyond satisfied, another affair for their Pearl Jam scrapbooks etched into their souls.

The Greatest Flew Through The Air

It was a sense of pride for all the Anthillers to have been chosen to operate the touring merchandising concession to Cirque Du Soleil's inaugural arena touring show, Delirium, now in it's second year and about to make its European debut in Holland.

And with the announcement that one of the Cirque's most famous touring tent shows, Saltimbanco was being reformatted to tour arenas throughout the world, it was again rewarding to know Anthill is again part of the traveling team.

Last night a captive audience in London, Ontario witnessed the shows debut performance which reinforced for all just why since it's inception Cirque Du Soleil has been considered the most creative and innovative family entertainment in the world. With performers from 19 countries including a cracking band, the show exudes greatness.

With audiences of all ages the products memorializing the show have to be equally formidable. Masks, dolls, dvds, hats plus programs compliments of Quantum and an array of brightly colored shirts from the always ready to please New Buffalo Shirt Factory were all well displayed. And loved by all.

The Saltimbanco tour will bring the wonder of CDS to many markets for the first time. It is not to be missed.

Catching a Few Z's

Could there be a better venue than Toronto's famed concert theater the Hummingbird Centre ( that's Canadian for center!) for acoustics and ambiance? Probably not.

And could there be a better audience than the several thousand aficionados that started arriving hours early to share stories of Frank as they awaited the opening of the venue's doors? Again, not likely.

Could there have been a better selection of Rockware awaiting them featuring the newest styles and designs memorializing the tour and the legend in all sizes and colors (colours if north of the border)? Of this, there is no doubt.

But what made the entire affair so noteworthy was the sensational group of musicians accompanying Dweezil Zappa in the 2007 version of the Zappa plays Zappa world tour. Collectively they performed a cross section of Frank's best music including several show stoppers like Suzy Creamcheese, and selections from Hot Rats and Joe's Garage. Dweezil has perfected the reproduction of the original recordings and "would have made his father proud" according to show promoter Riley O'Connor. And on a couple songs, with the aid of technology, the video screen above the band featured historical live concert footage of Frank himself performing with the ZPZ band actually playing alongside . Gotta love modern science!

With just a handful of shows under their belt and months of shows on the global itinerary on the horizon, anybody who calls themselves a lover of music has got to set aside 3 hours for this very special show. But don't go eating no yellow snow. Concert reviews welcome and postings on the Anthill blog assured.