We’re gonna take our time tonight….

I’m watching the Pearl Jam “official bootleg” DVD Live At The Showbox , a DVD as you can probably guess of their show from the Showbox in Seattle, captured on December 6th, 2002.

The gig starts off in a mellow place….”Small Town,” “Off He Goes,” and “Thumbing My Way”….how awesome is that?

I email my friend Matt, a former radio co-worker, longtime friend, and huge fan of R.E.M. and Pearl Jam. I have to let him know that I’m watching “PJ right now.”

In a voicemail that he left me about two years ago, still in my phone, he called to let me know that he was “listening to R.E.M. right now, and had to let me know, because I was the only one that would appreciate it.”

I connect with people on different levels and different things musically.

With Matt, we connected on that mutual love of Pearl Jam and R.E.M. He helped me to find the appreciation and love for Pearl Jam’s No Code, and showed me letters that he had gotten FROM Eddie Vedder, handwritten, and with one, a setlist that had art doodles drawn on it by Vedder.

“Love Boat Captain” is a song that hits me like a ton of bricks every time I hear it.

I loved it immediately when I heard the Riot Act album for the first time, and it spoke musically to me at the time of the ongoing mystery of my relationship, and as Jackson Browne says, “my stunning mystery companion.”

Nearly two years removed from that relationship, “Love Boat Captain” remains, part of the musical soundtrack that continues to guide me through everyday life.

The Showbox performance of the song, is an especially good one…check it out, and take your own trip….

Pearl Jam – Love Boat Captain

Friendships and relationships come and go – I’m grateful for those that endure, like the great friendship that I share with Matt.

Celebrate the good friends and good things in your world!