This also wasn't the brooding, wine-fueled, politically-charged Vedder of the recent past. This was the PTA-member, campfire singalong, father-and-husband version of Vedder that may strike some as weak. But he's really not.

The show gets tedious, especially when Vedder tries to wrench out Pete Townsend-style flights of noise on an acoustic guitar. Towards the end of the night everything sounded like "Pinball Wizard." The times when he did pick out his electric piece were the brighter spots. I get it, the uke is the necessary evil with some of the material and you have to roll with it.

The set reached great heights with standouts like the criminally overlooked "Just Breathe" from 2009's Backspacer, a fiery recitation of "Porch" off Ten, and "Immortality" from 1994's Vitalogy.

(Thanks for "Immortality," Ed.)

The biggest crowd reaction came from the first few strums of "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter In a Small Town" off Vs., which has been a radio staple since the first Clinton administration. If novices haven't been paying attention to PJ or Vedder since the '90s, they would have been largely in the weeds Monday night.

Opener Glen Hansard -- a marquee name in his own right -- helped out during the last half of the show, along with frequent Hansard stagemate Moji, winning out on the widescreen "Hard Sun."

Vedder and company play again tonight at Jones Hall, and I would suggest fans brush up on the Into the Wild material and Vedder's recent Ukulele Songs LP to get up to speed. Otherwise, don't scream "Animal" and "Jeremy" and get pissy.

Now if only Vedder will report back to the next band meeting and bring PJ proper around Houston. If Monday night (and tonight) was intended to be a test of PJ love around here, then I think the Bayou City passed.