Select year

2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011

2011 Pearl Jam Concerts

Recap of Pearl Jam's 2011 Live Concert Tour

Expand Show Notes Collapse Show Notes

November 24, 2011 – Foro Sol, Mexico City, MEX

Main Set: Release, Last Exit, Severed Hand, Corduroy, Given To Fly, Brain Of J., Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Faithfull, Even Flow, Setting Forth, Unthought Known, Red Mosquito, Daughter, Of The Earth, Nothingman, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Porch

encore 1: Just Breathe, Off He Goes, Do The Evolution, Black, Spin The Black Circle, The Fixer, Jeremy, Why Go

encore 2: Ole, Last Kiss, Leash, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Indifference, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

The 2011 tour closer kicked off with Ed joining opening band X wearing a luchador mask during Devil Doll. This is their only show played on American Thanksgiving in their history. Release kicks things off in the massive soccer stadium…

Show Notes: 

The 2011 tour closer kicked off with Ed joining opening band X wearing a luchador mask during Devil Doll. This is their only show played on American Thanksgiving in their history. Release kicks things off in the massive soccer stadium with a great sing along. The early set is Vitalogy (Last Exit, Corduroy) and Yield heavy (Given To Fly, Brain of J.) with both album openers bookending the section. A great soaring version of Faithfull gives the crowd another from Yield before a mid-set Even Flow. Ed would do his best translation by introducing “Rojo Mosquito” prior to playing the “Red” English version. The Mexico City fans are given a treat as non-album cut Of The Earth is broken out. The seldom played song has a powerful jam and brings the house down towards the end of the set. Ed changes up the lyrics in the Save It For Later tag. Crowd is wild when they return for the encore as the Just Breathe/Off He Goes combo brings a slow burn acoustic setting to ease back into the set. Do The Evolution has an excellent crowd response and brings a jolt back into the set. The crowd is up for Black as well, very strong on the We Belong Together tag. Jeremy is played with a faster bridge than usual, and Why Go was a thunderous ending to the first encore. Fans chanting “Pearl Jam” and clapping to a beat when the band comes back on. They deliberate on stage and choose to play Ole… which at best is at least appropriate for the setting. Leash gets a huge reaction used in a big spot before getting into your usual end of the set construction. John Doe and X are invited on stage to play RITFW. In a rare occurrence, both Indifference and Ledbetter are played to end the night and the 2011 tour year. Mike tags Little Wing on the backend of Ledbetter sounding top notch.

November 20, 2011 – Estadio Nacional, San Jose, CRI

Main Set: Go, Animal, Corduroy, Unthought Known, Comatose, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Given To Fly, The Fixer, Deep, Jeremy, Supersonic, Even Flow, You Are, Daughter/(Red Rain), Why Go, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Just Breathe, Oceans, Do The Evolution, State Of Love And Trust, Black, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

encore 2: Last Kiss, Mother, Once, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

This marked Pearl Jam’s first time playing in Central America. There is a crowd surge at the gates during Animal where fans bypass the security checkpoint making a beeline for the GA. The crowd is up for Corduroy and Ed…

Show Notes: 

This marked Pearl Jam’s first time playing in Central America. There is a crowd surge at the gates during Animal where fans bypass the security checkpoint making a beeline for the GA. The crowd is up for Corduroy and Ed reacts by shrieking like a madman. After Unthought Known, Ed addresses the crowd in Spanish discussing the band’s venti amos (20th anniversary) and tells them to look out for one another. An oddity of setlist construction finds Comatose as the lead-in to Small Town, where on the latter the line is changed to “we finally see this place.” By the time Jeremy hits, Ed has exhausted just about all the power in his voice. Mike finally gets a moment to shine 12 songs in during Even Flow, a short but expressive version. Daughter has a great call and response on the tag which includes a snippet of Peter Gabriel’s Red Rain. While the crowd continues to sing towards the end, it transitions seamlessly into the drum intro of Why Go. A quick main set finishes with Rearviewmirror, featuring a majestic sounding solo from Stone during the bridge.

Starting the encore, Ed tees up Just Breathe by saying he misses his wife and misses holding hands with her. Matt sings backup vocals on the song without playing at the kit. Oceans is another of many Ten songs played on this night as eight out of eleven are featured at this show. Do The Evolution doesn’t quite have the same participation that the South American crowds present, but they bring their a-game on Black. Mike channels something deep during Black’s solo, absolutely ripping it apart. Mike continues a hot streak into Better Man obliterating the solo before the tag. Last Kiss gets off to a rough start on the technical side, but the crowd saves the performance. Ed continues to exhaust everything he has left towards the end as Once is a bit labored, but another strong performance from Mike on Alive includes a War Pigs tag. Matt’s son Ray joins for RITFW, which happens to be Boom’s best performance of the show, getting time to flourish a bit during the interludes. Little Wing is tagged off Ledbetter, and the crowd showers them with ole chants as they say goodbye.

November 18, 2011 – Estadio San Marcos, Lima, PER

Main Set: Interstellar Overdrive/Corduroy, Why Go, Hail, Hail, Do The Evolution, Severed Hand, Immortality, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, The Fixer, Even Flow, Setting Forth, Not For You, Lukin, Amongst The Waves, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Black, Go

encore 1: The End, Just Breathe, Daughter/(Blitzkrieg Bop)/(W.M.A.), Unthought Known, Ole, Blood, Jeremy, Porch

encore 2: Given To Fly, Last Kiss, The Real Me, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Indifference, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Before Pearl Jam took the stage, Ed took the stage with X singing on Devil Doll to close their set. The band jumps into their first show in Peru wasting no time between the first four tunes kicking off with…

Show Notes: 

Before Pearl Jam took the stage, Ed took the stage with X singing on Devil Doll to close their set. The band jumps into their first show in Peru wasting no time between the first four tunes kicking off with Interstellar Overdrive into Corduroy and capped by Do The Evolution. Ed greets the crowd in Spanish by saying “Now I’m going to say something I’ve wanted to say for a long time: ¡Hola, Lima Perú!” Making the usual ask for everyone to take care of one another and prepare for a long night of music, he signs off with “¿De acuerdo? (All right?) Cool!” before signaling the start of Severed Hand. The crowd sounds excited to hear Immortality, and they deliver a very solid rendition. Ed checks on the crowd before counting off Elderly Woman in Spanish, which gets a strong singalong from the crowd. The enthusiasm keeps rolling as Ed introduces The Fixer as the next song, to which the crowd cheers and continues singing along to the melody. Jeff sounds a little more involved than usual during the quiet part of Even Flow, and Mike and Matt are introduced after the song wraps up. Setting Forth transitions into Not for You very nicely, with Matt already playing the latter’s beat between the former’s final two riffs. After Lukin and amid chants of “olé, ole olé olé,” Ed dedicates Amongst the Waves to all the surfers in the audience.

To start the encore 1, Ed thanks X for opening the concert on behalf of the band and crew, “Our heroes growing up, our heroes to this day,” and goes on to thank the crowd, “I don’t know why it took us so long, but thank you so much for coming.” While drawing out the first notes of The End, he continues: “Tonight, you’ve made us all feel really happy… this was written when maybe I wasn’t so happy.” As if having The End and Just Breathe back-to-back wasn’t contrast enough, Ed immediately erases this somber start with a special dedication (partly in Spanish):

“This song is for my friends who just got married… congratulations on your love, a good friend of ours, a good friend of Neil Young’s… this is for Dustin and Erica. This is their honeymoon.”

He beckons offstage and eventually the newlyweds appear and walk up, Ed presents them to the crowd and motions for them to sit in two red fold-out chairs that just happen to be waiting there. As the crowd chants “¡Beso! ¡Beso!” Ed offers Dustin the wine bottle, Dustin salutes the crowd, and gives Erica a kiss before taking a sip and handing his wife the bottle. After song, sips, and kisses, Ed gives each of them a hug and seems to tell them to take one last swig, as both immediately comply. At the end of Daughter, the crowd starts the usual humming before Ed and fully engages in the “hey, ho, let’s go” callback. Seeming to want to say something about the band’s only song with a Spanish-language title, he gives up and says (in Spanish) “This song… ¡Olé!” After a tight rendition of Blood, the crowd’s reaction and sudden flood of digital camera lights that follow the first notes of Jeremy suggests this was the song everyone was waiting for. Matt loses a crash cymbal stand somewhere in the second verse that gets replaced by the start of the breakdown, enough time for Mike to approach and tease him about it during the chorus. Ed does his mirror-spotlight-crowd number during Porch, and then approaches the left edge of the stage with the crowd going berzerk.

To start the final set, Ed reads a prepared message in Spanish, “This morning I dreamt there were many people standing in a park holding up a gigantic T-shirt and singing songs about Pearl Jam. Then I realized I was awake and it wasn’t a dream,” referring to a group of fans that had prepared an enormous T-shirt that read “We are the fans that waited” and that morning had brought it in front of the hotel where the band was staying. He goes on to thank everyone for the tremendous welcome and for making a dream our reality. During The Real Me, the band makes it look like it’s their favorite song of the night. Mike takes his Alive solo to the same unruly part of the crowd that Ed had teased during Porch. All the members of X wander onstage with tambourines during Rockin’ In The Free World and sing on the choruses. This night, Ed doesn’t introduce the whole band until after Yellow Ledbetter, with his jacket already on and beer and cigarette in each hand, and signs off with “For the first time we can say thank you, muchas gracias, Lima, Peru.”

November 16, 2011 – Estadio Monumental, Santiago, CHL

Main Set: Unthought Known, Why Go, Animal, Do The Evolution, Ole, Corduroy, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Cropduster, Even Flow, Daughter/(Red Rain)/(Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2), Setting Forth, I Got Id, Given To Fly, Nothingman, Public Image, The Fixer, Jeremy

encore 1: Just Breathe, Down, I Believe In Miracles, World Wide Suicide, Last Kiss, Black, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Once, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Crazy Mary, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Indifference, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

With a ‘buenos noches’ introduction, the band takes a loud chanting crowd on the way with Unthought Known as the opener. The intensity continues through the set as the crowd drives the band through the set. Ole works really well…

Show Notes: 

With a ‘buenos noches’ introduction, the band takes a loud chanting crowd on the way with Unthought Known as the opener. The intensity continues through the set as the crowd drives the band through the set. Ole works really well here as a lead in to Corduroy. After Corduroy the crowd leads an Ole chant of their own. This is followed by Ed asking, and then pleading, the crowd to take three steps back to help alleviate some of the people up front. The crowd doesn’t listen at first, which leads to Ed begging the crowd to move, for which they oblige. Small Town is in a great spot after having to tell the crowd to move and look out for each other. Cropduster makes one of its last appearances in a set to date with only three more performances coming after this. Another Brick In The Wall pt. 2 is tagged to Daughter, which causes Ed to say:

“It’s not teacher leave those kids alone, it’s government let the teachers teach, it’s government pay so the students can learn.”

Peter Gabriel song Red Rain is tagged for the first time ever following the Pink Floyd tag. Setting Forth is introduced as ”about a kid named Chris McCandless, Into the Wild” while Nothingman is intro’d by saying “that this one is about a big mistake.” Jeremy is played as a rare closer to the main set. Encore 1 set begins with a beautiful version of Just Breathe and the energy is brought right up with a joyous Down. A quick “Para mi amigo Johnny Ramone, I miss ya” leads into one of the most rocking I Believe In Miracles renditions that they’ve ever played. Eddie says a guy from the crowd who had a sign was going to be on the stage, but he gets tossed up on the setlist as World Wide Suicide is played first. At the conclusion of the song, Eddie introduces Juan Pablo to play along with them on Last Kiss. Ed says that he also asked Mike McCready to marry him! He gets Ed’s guitar and slug of wine before the band kicks in. Ed gives a shout out to X who opened the show before Rearviewmirror ends a stimulating first encore.

Encore 2 seems like they are trying to get in as many songs as possible before a curfew as there is very little chatter in between the songs. McCready and Boom have an excellent back and forth on their solos during Crazy Mary. Alive and Baba are great and lead into the double closers of Indifference and Yellow Ledbetter to cap off a crazy evening in Chile. Ed compliments the crowd calling them a perfect crowd, and the crowd returns the favor with a chant of their own. Ed sends some muchos gracias forever to the crowd on their way off the stage.

November 13, 2011 – Estadio Unico La Plata, Buenos Aires, ARG

Main Set: Release, Go, Interstellar Overdrive/Corduroy, Hail, Hail, Given To Fly, The Fixer, Amongst The Waves, Immortality, Even Flow, You Are, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Lukin, Unthought Known, Do The Evolution, Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Jeremy, Porch

encore 1: Just Breathe, Garden, Last Kiss, Supersonic, I Believe In Miracles, State Of Love And Trust, Blood/(Atomic Dog)

encore 2: Smile, Mother, Black, Better Man/(I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend)/(Save It For Later), Why Go, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

The sound of the crowds in Argentina always makes you wonder if they think they’re watching a one-on-one World Cup final between Maradona and Messi—that’s the level of passion they bring to a show, and this one was no exception.…

Show Notes: 

The sound of the crowds in Argentina always makes you wonder if they think they’re watching a one-on-one World Cup final between Maradona and Messi—that’s the level of passion they bring to a show, and this one was no exception. Humming along to the most recognizable riffs from nearly every song like another of the band’s instruments, they jump right into the first notes of Release. Ed dedicates the song in the third verse “Oh dear John” presumably for Johnny Ramone as he did earlier on this tour. The crowd’s hum, along with the intro to Go, is loud enough to compete with the band, and the next few tunes skip along at an energetic pace, with the crowd humming along unfailingly to every well-known riff. They’re even trying to squeeze their own chants in between songs. Ed either gets distracted or slips up on the last verse of Given to Fly, laughs and jumps back in at “hey, fuckers.” He greets the crowd in Spanish between chants of his name, “It’s good to be back. The stadium looks great, but you all look better,” gets the crowd to take three steps back for safety and announces that they’re live on the radio. As The Fixer wraps up, he seems to reach out, catch something and say de nada, de nada. Here the crowd breaks into an improvised adaptation of a popular football chant—they’ve been trying to do this on and off since the beginning of the show—that translated in English closes with “…oh, Pearl Jam, it’s a feeling, I can’t stop” and repeats. The band lets them go a few rounds until Ed says gracias and Amongst the Waves starts. A solid solo and overall rendition on Immortality, and Matt gets the first band introduction afterwards. The crowd’s energy remains steady and rising, and they even take the lead as Ed joins their riff humming as the breakdown of Even Flow transitions to the final chorus. The usual crowd singalong on Elderly Woman also has an extra energy underneath that swells right back up to the surface with Lukin. Stone gets the second introduction after Do the Evolution, Ed says hello to everyone in the back, and dedicates the Wasted Reprise intro (over some very audible chanting) to comparing the current moment to their small beginnings:

“[we] didn’t really pay attention to the globe or the planet because we knew we’d never get there…. And to come back here for the second time and have this kind of response from all of you is, if you could see what we see right now, you wouldn’t fucking belive it.”

Mike is on point on Life Wasted and the crowd’s energy continues straight through the close of the first set. Just Breathe opens the encore and receives applause during the instrumental part and Garden closes out strong, after which the third band introduction goes to Jeff. Ed flubs the start of Last Kiss and, of course, the crowd picks it up and sings the rest of the first chorus as it is played through before restarting. Before I Believe in Miracles, Ed tells the crowd in Spanish:

[translated] “Fifteen years ago I came to Argentina for the first time with the Ramones. I miss Johnny, Dee Dee, and Joey a lot. They loved all of you very much.”

Blood gets the Atomic Dog tag to fill the breakdown, before “Paint Ed big”—at this point, one has to wonder if he was hoping to start a callback, but this time the crowd doesn’t seem to catch on. Smile starts the second set with a dedication, “this one is for everybody” and afterwards Mike and Boom get their introductions to the crowd. Mother is introduced with “we’d like to borrow a song by someone named Roger Waters” and gets a big crowd reaction at “Mother, should I trust the government?” Black is the standard tour de force, and nearing the crowd still shows no signs of settling down, breaking out into various chants simultaneously, including the adapted football chant from earlier. The band stops and soaks it in for a while, until Ed responds:

“we have no words… maybe next time we’ll pay you”

Ed thanks and re-introducing the members of the opening act, X, and his guitar tech Ricky Ramone, all “to share this energy you give us.” And as the love that’s received is the love that is saved, the energy remains alight and flowing right through Why Go, Alive, the send-off and farewell to radio listeners after Rockin’ In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter with a Little Wing tag at the end, and Matt and Ed pretending to take running jumps into the crowd before they all take a final bow. The crowd even finds time for one more of its new favorite chant: “Pearl Jam, es un sentimiento, no puedo parar.”

November 11, 2011 – Zequinha, Porto Alegre, BRA

Main Set: Why Go, Do The Evolution, Severed Hand, Corduroy, Got Some, Low Light, Given To Fly, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Even Flow, Unthought Known, Present Tense, Daughter/(Blitzkrieg Bop)/(It's OK), 1/2 Full, Wishlist, Rats, State Of Love And Trust, Black

encore 1: Just Breathe, Oceans, Comatose, Light Years, I Believe In Miracles, The Fixer, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Last Kiss, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Crazy Mary, Jeremy, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Indifference, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

A brawny run of Why Go, Do The Evolution, Severed Hand and Corduroy wastes no time hot wiring this lengthy show played under a low hung moon. Low Light cools things down with Ed greeting the crowd in Portuguese afterwards.…

Show Notes: 

A brawny run of Why Go, Do The Evolution, Severed Hand and Corduroy wastes no time hot wiring this lengthy show played under a low hung moon. Low Light cools things down with Ed greeting the crowd in Portuguese afterwards. He mentions this is the fifth and final show in Brazil, and that they have the best fans in the world prior to launching into a raucous crowd singalong to Given To Fly. Daughter is punctuated by Ed letting out a vintage “She will rise abooovve!” scream and the audience perfectly hitting their cues as the song transitioned into It’s OK. The tag was as good as you would imagine from a passionate South American crowd with the call and response sung loud and proud. Rats pokes its head out of the storm drain for its first appearance on this tour and provides a funky change of pace after a leisurely Wishlist. Mike lights up ½ full with Jeff and Matt lurking heavily underneath for a great version of the underplayed gem. Ed caps off the outro using a reflecting mirror on the crowd after the “Won’t someone save the world?” part. Black closes the set with Ed getting crossed up a bit lyrically, mistakenly singing the “twisted, thoughts that spin ‘round my head” in the first verse but recovers like a pro. Mike provides a wrenching, slow boiling solo with Ed nailing the We Belong Together outro with the crowd right there with him.

Encore 1 has Ed donning his Walter Payton jersey as he leads the crowd in a Happy Birthday chant for wife, Jill, segueing into Just Breathe. Then the rarely performed Oceans is played in an encore spot, unusual from its normal spot in the opening sequence. Ed introduces it by simply saying “this was a request”, creating a beautiful pairing with Just Breathe. A heartfelt Light Years is dedicated to Johnny Ramone. As the song concludes, the band leaves some swirling feedback, seemingly to prime the upshift into I Believe in Miracles.

An overstuffed encore 2 features eight songs, all heavy hitters, rewarding the crowd for their endurance. During Boom and Mike’s soloing stand-off during Crazy Mary, Ed invites a young boy up on stage saying “This is Victor. He was down in front all night. We’re going to make him more comfortable” as Ed sets him up with a side stage spot for the rest of the night. This section feels like an endless PJ party with great crowd singing, especially on a deafening Jeremy. The band opted for a monster triple closer of Indifference/RITFW/Yellow Ledbetter to close the show which was a popular set choice for this part of the 2011 tour. Also to note, Ed joined X for a performance of Devil Doll. Overall, this was going-the-distance night of classics highlighted by another screaming cannonball of a South American crowd.

November 9, 2011 – Estadio Parana do Clube, Curitba, BRA

Main Set: Go, Arms Aloft, Animal, Ole, Why Go, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Corduroy, Given To Fly, Dissident, The Fixer, Even Flow, In Hiding, Setting Forth, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Red Mosquito, Got Some, World Wide Suicide, Porch

encore 1: Just Breathe, Off He Goes, Unthought Known, Breath, Supersonic, Black, Jeremy

encore 2: Better Man/(Save It For Later), Leaving Here, Footsteps, Once, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

A South American Pearl Jam show is always packed full of energy, from the band to the audience and back to the band. This show was no exception. The band came out with a bang opening with Go, followed by…

Show Notes: 

A South American Pearl Jam show is always packed full of energy, from the band to the audience and back to the band. This show was no exception. The band came out with a bang opening with Go, followed by Arms Aloft and Animal. The crowd sings along loudly during Animal. The band was already feeding off the crowd’s energy, locking in with a great rendition of Ole. After Why Go, Ed addresses the crowd in Portuguese before starting Elderly Woman. The crowd then erupted with energy as Ed hit the first notes of Corduroy. The band got into a groove with Given To Fly, Dissident and The Fixer. Ed introduced Mike and Stone before Even Flow rolled out. Not for You is played with an excellent extended jam before the Modern Girl outro. Ed cheers the crows with his bottle of wine and the band cranks into Red Mosquito. The first set wraps up with Got Some, World Wide Suicide and Porch. During Porch, Ed has a problem with his guitar right before the first verse starts, which extends the song a bit as the band regroups with Ed singing sans guitar.

After the encore break, Ed checks on the crowd, thanks them for having the band back, and breaks into Just Breathe, followed by a request of Off He Goes. The band then breaks out some rare songs in Breath followed by Supersonic, before breaking out a string of hits with Black, Jeremy and Better Man. Jeremy finds the band at its most energetic of the night with the crowd chanting and jumping up and down with the song. The band follows the hits with Leaving Here, giving Jeff three of the solo riffs towards the end of the song and a Matt drum fill. The set is wrapped up with the reverse Momma-Son Trilogy starting with Footsteps, then Once and finishing with Alive. Baba O’Riley and Yellow Ledbetter are great anchors for this energized 32-song set.

November 6, 2011 – Apoteose, Rio de Janeiro, BRA

Main Set: Unthought Known, Last Exit, Blood, Corduroy, Given To Fly, Nothingman, Faithfull, Even Flow, Daughter/(Blitzkrieg Bop), Habit, Immortality, The Fixer, Got Some, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Why Go, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Just Breathe, Come Back, I Believe In Miracles, State Of Love And Trust, Of The Earth, Do The Evolution, Jeremy

encore 2: Mother, Better Man, Black, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Indifference, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

You can feel the energy in the crowd as Eddie walks out with wine and notebook in hand and grabs a guitar to kick off the night with Unthought Known. The crowd immediately shouts along and claps. While Eddie is…

Show Notes: 

You can feel the energy in the crowd as Eddie walks out with wine and notebook in hand and grabs a guitar to kick off the night with Unthought Known. The crowd immediately shouts along and claps. While Eddie is offstage during Last Exit, the crowd helps out and sings the chorus until Ed comes back. The band and Ed clap and “hey” along during the breakdown of Blood. Only after Corduroy does the band stop for break, and Ed addresses the crowd in their native tongue. The crowd responds with uproarious cheering. During GTF, Eddie lifts the back of his shirt over his head as he and the entire audience scream, “Well fuckers we still stand.” There is a great singalong during Nothingman. At this point the vibe between the band and crowd seems obvious through the interplay of the clapping, dancing, and singing along with one another. Lots of singing along and dancing during Even Flow. During Daughter, the connection between the crowd and band is clear as Eddie plays off the crowd and follows the crowd a bit into an It’s OK tag. Immortality is dedicated to “someone over there,” and Ed seems to lose himself in Mike’s killer solo. The crowd is really into the newer music, and Eddie really gets into the groan on Got Some. During the beginning of Why Go, the crowd and Eddie sing the heys at a thunderous volume.

To begin encore 1, Eddie says “we have to argue about the songs we want to play, because we want to play many more of them.” He goes on to talk about Matt Cameron playing drums in another legendary band. He says that while Pearl Jam is 20, X is 35 and this is their first time in Brazil. Eddie says, “you were perfect!” Ed introduces Just Breathe by talking about an asteroid coming to Earth. At the end of the story, he says that you need to tell the person next you that you love them. The crowd sings along for the entire song almost louder than Ed. The band is super tight during I Believe In Miracles, but the crowd seems unfamiliar; this is one of the few songs they don’t sing along to. During State Of Love And Trust, Mike comes over to Ed towards the end of his solo for Ed to scream “He na na na na, there’s somethin’!” into Mike’s guitar as as he shreds. Ed introduces Of The Earth by prefacing, “you may not know this song,” but the band has a big time jam during the breakdown. Do The Evolution is full of dancing in the crowd and on stage. Mike jumps, Eddie moves back and forth strutting like Mick Jagger and Jeff is grooving and doing some jumps of his own. Even Stone starts dancing during his brief solo. Jeremy continues the sing along section, and the crowd continues singing the “Oh’s” after the song is over. And Eddie says, “From here to there to there from here to there…One of the best groups of people we could ever play for. The most active. Thank you. We’re very grateful for you.”

Ed introduces Pink Floyd’s Mother as a song they’ve never played before a large crowd before, the only time it was covered was for The Tonight Show back in September. During Better Man the crowd provides the perfect vocal accompaniment to Ed’s strumming on the entirety of the first verse until Ed points at himself to say it’s his turn and he holds the note. It’s a beautiful moment. During Black, Eddie and the crowd go back and forth on the vocals towards the end including the We Belong Together tag, and Eddie sways back and forth with his wine bottle in hand. Black Balloons somehow enter the audience before Stone kicks off Alive. During RITFW, Ed throws what seems like dozens of tambourines, guitar pics, and more memorabilia to enthusiastic audience members while the band jams. Ed asks if they can handle one more and they go into Indifference. Ed forgets the first lines and looks to the audience for help and the audience provides confusing direction; Ed picks it up for “One more day in hell.” It was awesome how neither the audience nor Ed knew the first verse at that moment. Yellow Ledbetter ends with Mike seated on the edge of the stage strumming and waving goodbye to folks.

November 4, 2011 – Estadio do Morumbi, São Paulo, BRA

Main Set: Go, Do The Evolution, Severed Hand, Hail, Hail, Got Some, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Given To Fly, Gonna See My Friend, Wishlist, Amongst The Waves, Setting Forth, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Even Flow, Unthought Known, The Fixer, Once, Black

encore 1: Just Breathe, Inside Job, State Of Love And Trust, Ole, Why Go, Jeremy

encore 2: Last Kiss, Better Man/(I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend)/(Save It For Later), Spin The Black Circle, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

The band hit the stage with a blast of energy starting the show with Go followed by Do The Evolution. Stone sets the tone with a blistering solo. From there, the band burned through Severed Hand, Hail, Hail and Got…

Show Notes: 

The band hit the stage with a blast of energy starting the show with Go followed by Do The Evolution. Stone sets the tone with a blistering solo. From there, the band burned through Severed Hand, Hail, Hail and Got Some. Ed addressed the crowd commenting how beautiful they are. The energy slowed for Elderly Woman, but quickly picked back up with Given to Fly and Gonna See My Friend. The crowd got involved singing on Wishlist, carrying the “ah ah oh oh” after the band wrapped up the song. The band continued selecting songs from Backspacer, breaking out Amongst the Waves, and Setting Forth seamlessly transitions into Not For You. The band has back-to-back false starts for Unthought Known and The Fixer, before the home stretch of the first set with Once and Black.

Coming back from the encore break, Ed gives thanks to those in the crowd who came out five years ago to see them. He also thanks X, the opening band, going into a story about his younger days of getting a fake ID to get into a show to see X, ending up on the rail and ending up holding a beer for the lead singer and passing it back and forth to her all night. Just Breathe opens the encore, but leading into Inside Job, Ed shares the first time he heard the song when Mike played it for him in a hotel room in São Paulo. Matt jumps ahead in the set by starting the drum beat for Why Go before the band resets and jumps into State Of Love And Trust. Being in South America, Ole makes an appearance with a lot of energy from the crowd. The first encore wraps up with Why Go and Jeremy.

Starting encore two, Ed leads the crowd in a chant and the band breaks into Last Kiss. Halfway through the song, the band gets out of sync. However, the crowd continues singing the song, allowing the band to regroup and continue playing the song. The set wraps up with Better Man, Spin the Black Circle, Alive, Baba O’Riley and Yellow Ledbetter to end the show.

November 3, 2011 – Estadio do Morumbi, São Paulo, BRA

Main Set: Release, Corduroy, Why Go, Animal, World Wide Suicide, Got Some, Even Flow, Unthought Known, Whipping, Daughter/(W.M.A.), Ole, Down, Save You, The Fixer, Do The Evolution, Porch

encore 1: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Just Breathe, Come Back, I Believe In Miracles, Alive

encore 2: Comatose, Black, Better Man, Rearviewmirror, Rockin' In The Free World

Show Notes:

Night one of this South America 2011 leg is actually the second scheduled São Paulo show after the 11/4 gig sold out. The cavernous Estadio do Morumbi was not quite full for this added show, but the energy and performances…

Show Notes: 

Night one of this South America 2011 leg is actually the second scheduled São Paulo show after the 11/4 gig sold out. The cavernous Estadio do Morumbi was not quite full for this added show, but the energy and performances more than filled it up. Release sounds huge with Ed’s vocals sounding well rested and raring to go for this next tour leg. This version includes an “oh dear John” lyric for Johnny Ramone. Primed by Release, the band offers a classic escalating run of Corduroy, Why Go and Animal to get the crowd pogoing. Ed then leads a brief swirling feedback drenched e-bow jam before the band drives hard into World Wide Suicide with Stone particularly locked in. After Got Some, Ed greets the crowd in some approximate version of Portuguese saying good evening we are happy you are in São Paulo, thank you for being so devoted. Ed misses a lyric in Unthought Known singing the “swallowed whole” part early instead of “working hard”, but stays on beat so it’s barely noticeable. Ed appears to indicate Small Town is next with the “1-2-3-4-2-3” count off, but pulls back as the crowd breaks into an “ole, ole” stadium chant with the band joining behind them for an extended fun jam. Matt then stands out with a controlled pummeling of his kit on Whipping, which makes its sole appearance on this leg. Ed uses a lyric sheet during the strobe heavy South American debut of Ole. Jeff and Stone’s backup vocals in the outro add some frantic energy to the new song. A late in the set Save You highlights the back end with Jeff and Matt throwing down hard. There was no traditional South American guitar sing along in Do the Evolution.

Ed introduces the band at the start of encore 1 in Portuguese leading into a vibrant Small Town. Just Breathe is a full band version and afterwards Ed tips his cap opener X. Ed then switches to Portuguese and mentions The Ramones playing Brazil and says Come Back was composed for Johnny Ramone. Alive features Mike switching over to Stone’s side during his solo to sear both sides of the crowd equally. Black closes with Ed doing a wordless high register vocal and Mike stinging it with a few piercing notes. Better Man is concise with Ed opting for a windmill Townshend finish in lieu of a tag. Ed then remarks:

“Obrigada. You know most Americans are a bit stupid when it comes to languages. We don’t know many. That’s I guess why we are so thankful that we play music which seems to communicate to people just about everywhere… It’s been five or six years since we’ve been here…. we see the Brazilian flag at more of our shows than any other flag, so we are very happy to be back with all Brazilians.”

The show finishes up with RVM getting an under-used nod as an encore 2 anchor before RITFW finishes things out featuring a Brazilian flag lyric reference “There’s colors of the street, green, yellow and blue”. Setlist edits for encore 2 had RVM moving from after Comatose to before RITFW, Spin The Black Circle being switched to Black and Wasted Reprise being cut before Better Man.

September 25, 2011 – Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, BC, CAN

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Hail, Hail, Save You, Animal, Got Some, Given To Fly, Pilate, Unthought Known, Garden, Even Flow, World Wide Suicide, Setting Forth, Corduroy, Unemployable, Present Tense, Wishlist, Glorified G, Lukin, Porch

encore 1: Bee Girl, Just Breathe, Off He Goes, Mankind, State Of Love And Trust, Ole, Alive,

encore 2: Chloe Dancer, Crown Of Thorns, Smile, Search And Destroy, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

The evening begins with the lights going on and a relaxed Elderly Woman. The crowd chimes in with exuberance when Ed belts “I just want to scream….hello”. The crowd does such a great job that Ed hands them the reigns…

Show Notes: 

The evening begins with the lights going on and a relaxed Elderly Woman. The crowd chimes in with exuberance when Ed belts “I just want to scream….hello”. The crowd does such a great job that Ed hands them the reigns for “hearts and thoughts…”. The band moves into Hail Hail with a decidedly classic rock vibe. Ed’s voice wavers and cracks in all the right places, and he’s so into the jam that he backbends with the mic stand. Save You is a passionate stand-out with raw, desperate screams at the end. Mike gets his first featured solo of the night, and the PJ20 backdrop gets a light show during a raspy Animal. Jeff switches out his “Green Noise” bass to back Ed on a very physical Got Some. Ed throws out a nod to the locals “smoked a joint in BC” during Given To Fly. A brief break has Ed talking to the crowd about this being the last stop on the North American tour as well as it being their tenth show in Vancouver. Their first time in Vancouver happened to be their fifth ever show in January 1991 at the Town Pump. He says it’s “Been a great ride and thanks for the fuel in our tanks”. Pilate slows the vibe and Ed grabs his guitar for Unthought Known complete with Canadian Flag sticker. There’s a warmth and richness to the song with Mike and Jeff playing off each other and Matt on backing vocals. The energy gets a bit dark, literally and figuratively with Garden. Ed swigs wine, the lights go out and back on to feature Stone’s playing and then Mike plays a soulful solo with his eyes closed and channels his inner Hendrix. Even Flow has an indescribable prominent twang at the opening, and Stone’s baseline rhythm is unfaltering. We get a signature Ed jump with Mike joining the gymnastics. Mike looks up at the rafters as if looking for early PJ inspiration before taking over for a near four minute solo. Ed hands the last chorus and outro to the audience. Ed points out Mike and references passing through NY en route to Toronto on the anniversary of 9/11 and the ten year anniversary of being at war. He then checks in with the Americans in the crowd, then the Canadians and makes a joke about dual citizenship being a smart move. He continues to reminisce about the last tour East to West through Canada and states “We learned to walk with a limp but it was nice to see people walking freely”. This is a segue into a straight forward World Wide Suicide. Ed pauses to reflect on Chris McCandless (actor and naturist that Into The Wild is based on) and states that Setting Forth is a “request by Matt and the guys”. The tempo picks up with Corduroy with some added echoing to Ed’s voice. Matt is mentioned again and dubbed “one of the greatest drummers” before Unemployable and mentions Matt’s co-writing. The performance is dedicated to “Olivia and her mom” (presumably Ed’s family). The lights go down and Present Tense is sung in near darkness until midway through. Ed introduces crew member Ricky Ramone, spits mid-sentence and doesn’t miss a beat with a dirty joke opportunity re: spit not swallow. We get another studio sounding song with Wishlist, but a wailing Glorified G with Matt and Stone on backing vocals. Lukin is dedicated to “Matt Lukin…if you’re out there…”. The set comes to an end with Porch. Jeff, Stone and Mike have a guitar party while Ed uses his fender to create light beams bouncing off the Canadian Flag.

Encore 1 starts with Jeff and Ed performing an acoustic Bee Girl. We get a glimpse of Boom who helps with a gentle lullaby version of Just Breathe. Ed’s voice is on point for Off He Goes. There’s a campfire feel with the guys taking turns with guitar spotlights. We get a Mankind from Stone and Jeff. SOLAT sounds a bit strained, but Ed stirs up needed aggression for Ole. We get a standard Alive with Ed really trying to get the crowd to step up. A complaint follows where Ed points out the lack of energy in the front row and wishes the wild ones in the back were up front “but it’s okay, we’re all friends”. After taking stock of the audience, Ed issues a big thanks to those that travelled to multiple shows. He dedicates Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns to Andy Wood, and the band joins up in the center to jam together. The stage gets busy as Ed introduces Bruce Fairweather from Green River and Mother Love Bone and George Webb, a road crew member since Day 1, and sings Happy Birthday. There are some cake dodging antics before playing Smile. Ed states his appreciation of the Seattle music scene and “top of the heap” Mark Arm and Steve Turner from Mudhoney for Search And Destroy. Steve Turner and Mudhoney bassist Guy Maddison add more dimension staying on for Rockin’ In The Free World, and it ends with a wicked solo from Stone. Stone continues with the spotlight by taking the drumkit for Ledbetter with Matt grabbing an acoustic and a classic closing solo from Mike.

September 23, 2011 – Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB, CAN

Main Set: Wash, Why Go, Given To Fly, Got Some, Severed Hand, Setting Forth, Not For You, Even Flow, Marker In The Sand, Down, U, Present Tense, Black, 1/2 Full, Last Kiss, The Fixer, Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted

encore 1: Just Breathe, Come Back, Unthought Known, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2)/(W.M.A.), Do The Evolution, Alive

encore 2: Once, Better Man, Kick Out The Jams, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

The penultimate night of the North American leg of the PJ20 tour did not disappoint. The crowd in Edmonton was fired up and the band fed off this, delivering a blistering set. The band enters stage right to the sounds…

Show Notes: 

The penultimate night of the North American leg of the PJ20 tour did not disappoint. The crowd in Edmonton was fired up and the band fed off this, delivering a blistering set. The band enters stage right to the sounds of Pendulum Orphosis, and proceeds to pace through an extra dark bluesy sludge version of Wash. Despite Ed struggling on the high notes of the final chorus, it is a strong opener. The crowd immediately revs things up as Jeff and Stone set the pace for a fantastic Why Go. An early set Given to Fly gets a lyrical twist with – made it into Edmonton had a smoke in a tree. Following Severed Hand, Ed addresses the already raucous crowd:

“At this point of the evening I’d like to say hello Edmonton, cheers. Can I call you ETown? How about I just call you Ed? You can do the same.”

He talks about playing there 20 years ago and not remembering the show. He thinks they played seven songs that night (it was 11. Also, 18 years, not 20) and says they are going to play eight songs tonight and some are real short, leading into Setting Forth. Not for You sends the faithfull crowd soaring. Stone tears this Vitalogy track up while Matt and Jeff drop a stellar groove on the bridge and outro jam. It’s a big highlight. A tight Present Tense is dedicated to Nathan and is the meat of a run from Marker in the Sand through 1/2 Full that showcases Mike firing off some transcendent solos. The main set comes to a close with Wasted Reprise segueing into Life Wasted, with Ed paying homage to his bandmates and how much they mean to him.

Prior to Encore 1 kicking off, Ed has the crowd wish Bruce Springsteen a happy birthday. Come Back is played, and Ed mentions it was written for Johnny Ramone, and they are going to play it for him and a fan that had been holding up a sign. Jeff gets a little lost early in the song leading to some funny onstage shenanigans with him asking Mike what key they are in, Stone laughing and Ed just chuckling in Jeff’s direction. The evening escalates during Encore 2 with Mark Arm taking the mic teasing the crowd before it is time to Kick out The Jams. Arm ends up on Ed’s shoulders for a good portion of the MC5 classic. As the evening comes to a close, the band strides through a powerful take on Rockin In The Free World. Stone lights up the stage with a commanding solo and puts an exclamation on a night where he shined. The curtains close with Mike delivering a passionate run through Ledbetter coupled with a Little Wing nod. The crowd and band delivered on this night.

Ed starts the encore by telling the crowd they’ve really brought it, and that they’ve helped the band cure their homesickness. Pearl Jam rarity, Parachutes, is played for Joe, a guy in the crowd who has been bringing a sign to the last few shows. Ed even invites him to the stage to hold the lyrics. Later, Ed says he recently read an article that there have been no rats in the Calgary area for more than 50 years. “Well, 50 years of no Rats is ending right now,” leading into a great, funky version of Rats. Before RVM, Ed waxes nostalgic before a show-stopping Rearviewmirror encore closer:

“Things weren’t always this good. This (RVM) was written way back when, about way back when.”

Mark Arm and Steve Turner lend a hand on yet another rare one – The Stooge’s Search And Destroy before the band closes with soaring versions of Fuckin’ Up and Ledbetter. Ed is noticeably moved by the crowd and by the band’s good fortune all night long, leading to a truly memorable stop on the band’s 2011 Canadian tour.

September 21, 2011 – Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary, AB, CAN

Main Set: Release, Go, Last Exit, Given To Fly, Lukin, Insignificance, Big Wave, Unthought Known, Even Flow, Deep, Light Years, Daughter, It Happened Today, Setting Forth, Corduroy, Brain Of J., Johnny Guitar, Alive

encore 1: Just Breathe, Parachutes, Rats, The Fixer, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Jeremy, Crazy Mary, Search And Destroy, Fuckin' Up, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

On the day that R.E.M. announced their breakup after 31 years, the band is feeling understandably nostalgic, leaning on a great Canadian crowd to power them through a stellar set full of rarities. Release, Go, and Last Exit get the…

Show Notes: 

On the day that R.E.M. announced their breakup after 31 years, the band is feeling understandably nostalgic, leaning on a great Canadian crowd to power them through a stellar set full of rarities. Release, Go, and Last Exit get the crowd hopping right off the bat. Ed greats the crowd after Given to Fly:

“On behalf of the group, to be able to come up here and play in this part of the world (huge crowd reaction), not just to play here…but we know these buildings…it’s like playing in church! We’re happy to be here in your church. Normally I wouldn’t want to go to church, but when you can go to church with Mudhoney, that’s pretty good.”

Lukin and Insignificance make early appearances with Ed’s solid guitar work sticking out on both songs. Big Wave is dedicated to Kelly Slater, and though Ed botches the lyrics, it’s a fun, bouncing version. McCready and Cameron steal the show on Even Flow, and then the whole band gets really into Deep, a song Ed tells the crowd doesn’t get played very often. After Daughter, Ed says he’s happy about tonight’s great crowd because:

“We got some news this morning from some friends of ours that made for a tricky day. We just want to acknowledge how important they were to us…one of the best groups from the United States. I don’t know if you heard, but after 31 years, our friends, R.E.M., have decided to put it down for a while. I know, I can’t even say it”

For the first and only time, the band plays a cover of R.E.M.’s It Happened Today. It begins in near total darkness with a small spotlight on Ed until the song’s climax where the lights go up and you see the rest of the band come into the background. It was a poignant tribute to their friends and pioneers of alternative music. Corduroy and Brain of J. are wonderful surprises this deep in the main set before Johnny Guitar and Alive close things out.

Ed starts the encore by telling the crowd they’ve really brought it, and that they’ve helped the band cure their homesickness. Pearl Jam rarity, Parachutes, is played for Joe, a guy in the crowd who has been bringing a sign to the last few shows. Ed even invites him to the stage to hold the lyrics. Later, Ed says he recently read an article that there have been no rats in the Calgary area for more than 50 years. “Well, 50 years of no Rats is ending right now,” leading into a great, funky version of Rats. Before RVM, Ed waxes nostalgic before a show-stopping Rearviewmirror encore closer:

“Things weren’t always this good. This (RVM) was written way back when, about way back when.”

Mark Arm and Steve Turner lend a hand on yet another rare one – The Stooge’s Search And Destroy before the band closes with soaring versions of Fuckin’ Up and Ledbetter. Ed is noticeably moved by the crowd and by the band’s good fortune all night long, leading to a truly memorable stop on the band’s 2011 Canadian tour.

September 19, 2011 – Credit Union Centre, Saskatoon, SK, CAN

Main Set: Interstellar Overdrive/Corduroy, All Night, God's Dice, In My Tree, Dissident, Untitled, MFC, Red Mosquito, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Do The Evolution, In The Moonlight, Black, Spin The Black Circle, Setting Forth, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Alive

encore 1: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Just Breathe, Unthought Known, Even Flow, Better Man/(I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend)/(Save It For Later)

encore 2: Running Bask To Saskatoon (Take One), Why Go, The Fixer, Running Back To Saskatoon (Take 2), Porch, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

The band makes their return to Saskatoon six years and a couple of weeks since their first appearance. The energy is high right from the start with a charged up Interstellar Overdrive into Corduroy. A terrific In My Tree is…

Show Notes: 

The band makes their return to Saskatoon six years and a couple of weeks since their first appearance. The energy is high right from the start with a charged up Interstellar Overdrive into Corduroy. A terrific In My Tree is preceded by Ed stating “this is the only beginning, ok,” and an ad lib nod to the local junior league hockey club set to the US national anthem “to the land of the free and the home of the, BLADES.” Untitled lyrics are altered to “everyone’s confused, I just want to get to Saskatoon.” Red Mosquito backed by Nothing As It Seems allows Mike to really flex as the band grooves underneath his leads. In the Moonlight appears for just the second time with an excellent harmony vocal from Matt. Ed makes reference to the band’s prior appearance and that they hadn’t played this song last time and they wanted to make sure to play it tonight, leading to a blues groovy Black. Following Spin the Black Circle, Ed spots a fan, asking “hey who’s this young guy over here?” He gets his name, and says this is for “Dave, he’s ten,” then giving a nod to Dave’s father and Mudhoney as the band takes on Setting Forth.

Prior to the encore kicking off, Ed makes note of the flags he is seeing:

“We just are not going to leave anytime soon, we all got here and we’re all here, I just need a guitar. This is where we start singing together”

This leads into Elderly Woman. Before Just Breathe, Ed gives a nod to Stone and Mike’s significant others who are in attendance, noting it is Mike’s wife’s birthday. A rare encore Even Flow is a scorcher. Better Man closes encore one with Ed inviting the crowd “let’s hear you.”

As encore two begins, Ed introduces the band, but forgets Jeff, which leads to the crowd chanting “Jeff, Jeff, Jeff.” Then the fun really begins. Ed quips:

“It is not unusual for us to play a song by The Who. But it is quite unusual for us to play a song by The Guess Who”

After a failed attempt in 2005, the band takes another hack at Running Back to Saskatoon. Things start off promising, but Ed can’t remember the lyrics. After which Ed states:

“usually I would say oh I fucked that up because I had too much to drink, but tonight I think I fucked it up because I haven’t had enough, I’ll get it next time.”

Ed then asks the crowd to “help me out” as the band kicks into Why Go. Following The Fixer, Ed expresses remorse about the fumble of Running Back to Saskatoon, and asks:

“Is there a male singer in the audience that knows that song, someone handy, who’s got the guts? Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have a volunteer.”

Ed introduces Brian Nenson to the crowd, and the band makes another go at it with Brian sharing vocals with Ed. It was a very cool and fun moment. Porch into Baba and Yellow Ledbetter bring a fun evening to a close.

September 17, 2011 – MTS Centre, Winnipeg, MB, CAN

Main Set: Why Go, Animal, All Night, Corduroy, Arms Aloft, Amongst The Waves, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Wishlist, Daughter/(W.M.A.)/(It's OK), Green Disease, The Fixer, Even Flow, I Got Id/(Cinnamon Girl), Down, Ole, Unthought Known, Once

encore 1: Inside Job, Just Breathe, Present Tense, Comatose, Porch

encore 2: Search And Destroy, Crazy Mary, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Indifference

Show Notes:

The sixth night of the tour found the band in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the MTS Centre, which they had previously played on their 2005 Canadian tour. For the Canadian tour the band brought along Mudhoney, who had also played the…

Show Notes: 

The sixth night of the tour found the band in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the MTS Centre, which they had previously played on their 2005 Canadian tour. For the Canadian tour the band brought along Mudhoney, who had also played the PJ20 festival. For only the 30th time in the history of the band to this point, Matt Cameron’s drum beat and Jeff Ament’s bass begin the show with the rousing Why Go. The crowd chants along with the beat immediately and takes over the first chorus. Right out of the last drum beats they head straight into Animal, beginning a run of songs that start with the letter “A”. The crowd takes over the second chorus as Ed requests they give it a try. The ovation is deafening as the band continues with All Night. Matt’s drums are certainly a highlight of this song along with the vocal harmonies beyond just getting a chance to hear this rare treat. Taking a break from the “A” songs, Ed says “live from Winnipeg, it’s Saturday night” to introduce Corduroy, and the crowd is whipped into a frenzy. The ending to the song is a great, frenetic jam. The crowd shows their appreciation as Ed likens them to waves. This mistakenly prompts him to introduce Amongst The Waves, but it was actually Arms Aloft that was next on the setlist. Ed mentions it being a Joe Strummer song and says they wouldn’t be here without him in both the musical and literal sense, because it was through Strummer (Jack Irons was his drummer at the time) that he met the guys in this group. After Arms Aloft, Ed jokes that they’d like to play a little number that really needs no introduction, which of course is the aforementioned Amongst the Waves. Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town is dedicated to friends, Chris and Meera, and has some great singing from the Winnipeg crowd. In the outro of Wishlist, Ed sings these improved lyrics:

“I wish I was Canadian. You got better choices for president. You got open roads, you got plenty of land. Got open roads and plenty of hands. Gorgeous women and gorgeous men. I can drink as much beer, at least I think I can.”

This is followed by Daughter, which Jeff’s stand-up bass is certainly a great highlight on. The tag begins with Ed giving almost a combination of Sonic Youth’s Androgynous Mind and Dead Moon’s It’s OK, and then morphs into the opening lines of W.M.A. before the more familiar chords for It’s OK. The crowd sings loud and passionately on it. Matt Cameron is truly on his game in this show as he’s the driving force of both Green Disease and The Fixer. Whenever the band makes a trip to the great white north, attention must be paid to their Uncle Neil given he is their native son:

“This was written with a Canadian local. I wanted to start like that, he said no you should start like this. No, not like that. How did he say to start it? uh..Stone Gossard ha ha. Yeah, this is one we did with Neil Young. We did a whole record it was called Mirrorball back in the day. I remember coming in the studio, the guys were working hard, they’d only been in a couple days, I said how’s it going? He looked at me and goes, ‘we got nine, and if you write one we got ten.’ So after having not written a song in like two months, I went up and in like a half hour wrote a song just so he could have 10. But it wasn’t until like 2 years ago that I realized that the chorus is exactly like ‘Cinnamon Girl,’ and he never said a damn thing about it.”

Cinnamon Girl is tagged onto the back end of I Got Shit to prove the point he was making. The end of the set is a mixture of b-sides (Down), new songs (Ole and Unthought Known) and one of their oldest songs, Once, which has a great sing along to finish the main set. Inside Job opens the first encore, and is such a treat given the epic nature of the song and Mike’s double-guitar work combined with the beautiful lyrics. After this, Ed addresses the crowd:

“That right there was a Mike McCready composition, words and music. I was going to tell you I met a really good person before the show tonight. I’m excited as it looks like he’s a part of your new hockey team that’s coming to town. If he’s any kind of representative you’ve got a great bunch of guys coming to play in this room.”

This inspires a crowd chant of “Go, Jets Go,” which the band responds and Ed improvs a little ditty “Go, Jets Go,” which the crowd absolutely loves.

“I’ll toast to that. He was telling me a story about him and his girlfriend, his name is Randy Jones, he’s a defenseman. He and his girl were driving in New Brunswick and it was a 36 hour drive and for 35 of those hours he played Pearl Jam radio station, straight. And it’s a testament to their love and appreciation for each other that it wasn’t until hour 35 she asked, ‘just for this last hour can we play something else.’ So, I appreciate that person already, Stephanie. But in a very strategic move I’d like to dedicate this one of love, hope and happiness to both of them in hopes that we are in her good graces forever. But I do think 36 hours is too much. You got to fit a little Sonic Youth or Mudhoney in there somewhere. So this is for Randy and Stephanie.”

The dedication leads into Just Breathe. Present Tense’s beginning with just Mike and Ed is beautiful, but as the song builds and builds, it reaches a fantastic crescendo, before an equally great finish. Comatose gets out to a rough start as it hadn’t been played in over a year, so Mike takes this as an opportunity to tease Van Halen’s Ain’t Talkin Bout Love before they regroup and burn through the song. This is followed by the set closer, Porch, which starts with just Ed and Matt on the first lines before the rest of the band kicks in. Mike’s solo is just flat out ridiculously great and Ed ventures down to the barrier to sing the call and response leading up to the finish of an always great song and a wonderful second set. Out of the break Ed addresses the crowd:

“If you’re still here we’re still here. Can I just raise a toast to these people right here? Wait, what about those people there? Those people. Everybody in the back, how about that? We’ve only been here once before, it was six years ago almost to the day. Don’t think any of this energy is lost on us, we are grateful at all times to be able to come around these parts to play to this amount of excitable people. It’s a bit intimate from my side, I just want to say that last night, I have three brothers they’re all great, the youngest one last night, he and his wife welcomed a new baby boy onto the Earth’s atmosphere. I just know from knowing his brother, he’s going to be the ultimate punk rocker and I was thinking what song could we dedicate to him. But what would really be nice if the next guy we’re going to ask to come up here, if he could dedicate to him, because as much as my brother likes me, his favorite singer is from Mudhoney, his name is Mark Arm. Mark, could you come up to the stage? Also Steve Turner on guitar. This is maybe one of the origins of punk rock, this next song.” (Mark says) “Congratulations to Eddie’s brother, Mike and Sandy, may this be their son’s theme song.”

This introduces Iggy and The Stooges, Search and Destroy, which Mark takes the first verse and they trade thereafter. It’s a blistering assault coming as close to the original as humanly possible. Ed gives one more shoutout:

“Mr. Steve Turner. Monsieur, Mark Arm. They were picking out names. Do you like Decker? Do you like Ian? I like Decker. It’s a surfer. Deck. Or Wayne Gretzky. I have no idea. This is, if it was a daughter, I’d suggest they name her not only Mary, but Crazy Mary”

Boom and Mike’s duel on Crazy Mary comes off more of a collaboration than a battle, but it still sounds great. The Winnipeg crowd are full participants on Alive, which Ed offers at the last chorus “All of you, we’re all still alive.” They also come through on the “heys” during the outro which Mike incorporates into his solo. A cover of Canada’s own, Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World prepares the crowd for the end with great backing vocals and a strong presence from Boom. The song clocks in at over 8 minutes of epic jamming. Ed offers a quick thank you as the first notes of Indifference begin, and the night comes to a close.

September 15, 2011 – Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, ON, CAN

Main Set: Given To Fly, The Fixer, Severed Hand, Corduroy, Hail, Hail, U, Immortality, Setting Forth, Not For You, Ole, Even Flow, Cropduster, Daughter/(Blitzkrieg Bop), Habit, Push Me, Pull Me, Just Breathe, Jeremy, Why Go

encore 1: Nothingman, I Remember You, Better Man/(I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend), Black, State Of Love And Trust, Porch

encore 2: Brain Of J., Unthought Known, Crazy Mary, Search And Destroy, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

The city was buzzing in the build up with being the fourth and final Ontario show. Eddie speaks often throughout the show about how great the crowd is that evening. The date also marked the 7th anniversary of the passing…

Show Notes: 

The city was buzzing in the build up with being the fourth and final Ontario show. Eddie speaks often throughout the show about how great the crowd is that evening. The date also marked the 7th anniversary of the passing of Johnny Ramone, which will become an overarching theme in the set. The crowd roared as the band took to the stage and opened with Given to Fly. Lyrics are changed to ‘made it to the hammer, had a smoke in a tree’, which is the affectionate nickname for city Hamilton. Severed Hand was roaring, and Mike’s solo got the crowd fired up for Corduroy. After Hail, Hail, Ed compares the crowd to a wave and the band as a surfer and says they are continuing to paddle and catch waves tonight. He then mentions that he was talking to Uncle Neil back in Toronto who said ‘just so you know what people are saying behind your back, you will have fun in Ottawa but Hamilton is going to go off!’ After Immortality, Ed introduces Matt Cameron and declares he picked the next song, Setting Forth. This transitions excellently into Not For You. During the bridge, a snippet of Bang the Gong by T-Rex was blended in. Daughter has a Blitzkrieg Bop tag that begins the nod to Johnny Ramone. Ed’s voice was strong during a rocking version and rare appearance of Habit. There is a bit of a false start during Push Me, Pull Me as Ed states he always gets nervous before it. The main set ends with a strong Why Go.

Ed again compliments the crowd’s excitement to start the encore. After, Nothingman Ed speaks about the anniversary of Johnny Ramone’s passing. He tells heartfelt story of being with Johnny at the end of his life:

“I’m grateful I got to be there with a few other friends and his wife, at one point later in the night he took his last breaths sitting in this chair that kinda reclined, and by the end of the night he was just lying in the chair. He looked like he was sleeping. My little daughter, my first daughter, was only 3 months old and she was bundled up in her little chair and she was sleeping. It was like you look up at the sky and saw John and saw my daughter on the other side of me and said like ok, I fucking get it, ok. Like the circle of life, the cycle of life. I get it. I mean… does it have to be so painful? But that’s the thing with John and friends and relatives, people close to you, still live on inside of you. And in Johnny’s case, inside the great music of the Ramones.”

This leads into an OTOTO cover of The Ramones I Remember You. Better Man features another Ramone tag, I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, into a strong Black with a We Belong Together tag, once again referencing the Ramones.

Encore 2 begins with a fan request via a large sign for Brain of J. After Crazy Mary, Ed conducts band introductions and speaks to the 20th anniversary. Mark Arm and Steve Turner of Mudhoney are brought out to cover Search and Destroy for the first time this tour. The show is wrapped up with Alive into Ledbetter providing a perfect ending to their run in Ontario.

September 14, 2011 – Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, ON, CAN

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Last Exit, Do The Evolution, MFC, Unthought Known, Low Light, Given To Fly, Setting Forth, Whipping, Corduroy, Even Flow, Grievance, Lukin, Breath, Wishlist, Ole, 1/2 Full, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

encore 1: The End, Inside Job, Just Breathe, Off He Goes, Why Go, The Fixer, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Come Back, The Real Me, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

After a couple shows in Toronto, the boys traveled northeast to pay a visit to the nation’s capital. It was their first performance in Ottawa since 2005. Eddie made note of that during the opening song, Elderly Woman, by changing…

Show Notes: 

After a couple shows in Toronto, the boys traveled northeast to pay a visit to the nation’s capital. It was their first performance in Ottawa since 2005. Eddie made note of that during the opening song, Elderly Woman, by changing the lyrics to “my God it’s been six years…” before letting the crowd take over part of the chorus. After the sing-a-long start, they ramped up the energy with Last Exit and then went on to play four from Yield within the next five songs, with Unthought Known was thrown in as well. For the 4th show in a row, the band played Setting Forth off of Eddie’s Into the Wild solo record. A couple fast paced Vitalogy tracks and Even Flow followed. Eddie then points out two flags in the audience and directs the next song to one of them and pledges his Grievance. A typically quick Lukin leads into Breath, where Jeff’s bass work is very noticeable for good reasons. Ed talks about wildest dreams and gives a shout out to the Wishlist Foundation as it was the 5th anniversary of the organization, and thanks the founder. Wishlist is played and dedicated to the founder. An improvised tag is added to the end with these lyrics:

“I wish for nothing cuz we got
so much more than we ever thought
my one desire is no desire
giving gifts gets you so much higher
and actions speak so much louder than words
we hereby thank Laura for hers
we thank you too cuz as good as its been
it’s beyond our wildest dreams”

New song, Ole, is played for just the third time before closing out the main set with 1/2 Full and Better Man. Eddie comes out by himself for the first encore and says that because of the sadness he hopes no one can relate to the next song and plays The End. The band joins him as they go through Inside Job and Just Breathe. Ed asks the crowd if they want another campfire song or if they should get to the rockers? He teases Off He Goes and the cheers lead them to play the full song. As promised, the rest of the encore set is full of rockers capped off with a seven and a half minute version of Rearviewmirror. Returning for the second encore, Ed says that he hopes it doesn’t take six more years for them to visit again, and mentions that the next song was a fan request as Come Back is performed. The band finishes off the night with The Real Me, Alive and Yellow Ledbetter.

September 12, 2011 – Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON, CAN

Main Set: Go, Animal, Ole, Hail, Hail, In My Tree, Sad, Dissident, Setting Forth, Corudroy, God's Dice, Deep, Garden, Wishlist, Even Flow, Present Tense, Rats, State Of Love And Trust, The Fixer, Porch

encore 1: Last Kiss, Just Breathe, I Got Id/(Cinnamon Girl), Light Years, Jeremy, Why Go

encore 2: Do The Evolution, Alive, Kick Out The Jams, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Fresh off of an incredible show the night before where Uncle Neil came out for a 11 minute version of RITFW, the band came out, and with no words spoken, launched straight into Go followed by Animal. At this point,…

Show Notes: 

Fresh off of an incredible show the night before where Uncle Neil came out for a 11 minute version of RITFW, the band came out, and with no words spoken, launched straight into Go followed by Animal. At this point, it would be reasonable for most of the crowd to be thinking they were about to get Vs. in full, but then Eddie introduces the next song as a new one before playing Ole. After Hail, Hail, Ed addresses the crowd:

“Good evening, it’s our last night here in Toronto, Ontario. The first time we ever played here was October 29, 1991. That night we played seven songs. Tonight we’re gonna play at least eight, maybe nine, maybe sixty, or somewhere in between. But either way, we’re going to pace ourselves. Thanks again for filling up the room like you did, we don’t take it for granted.”

Continuing with No Code, the next song is In My Tree followed by Sad and a great version of Dissident that showcases the guitar interplay between Mike and Stone. Ed talks about the Toronto International Film Festival where the PJ20 documentary was shown along with films about U2 and Neil Young. He recalls that the first time he attended was when he provided the soundtrack to Into The Wild, leading into a performance of Setting Forth. Before God’s Dice, Ed mentions that Jeff wrote it while high on something. It’s a particularly special version of this song because of the confusion that takes place after the second verse where Eddie expects to go into the chorus when the rest of the band is going into the bridge. It results in a low key jam that allows them to get on the same page and resume. They admit they fucked it up and joke that it was only their third or fourth mistake in twenty years. Ed suggests they may fuck up Deep as well since they don’t play it often. There is some great interplay between Stone and Mike throughout the song, particularly on the intro. Another mix up happens in Garden before the first chorus, once again leading to an extended jam. Wishlist is dedicated to a local fellow, Toronto Maple Leafs legend and recently inducted Hockey Hall Of Famer Doug Gilmour. Ed changes up some lyrics during the tag:

“I wish I was the President. Make friends with the world again. Find out what diplomacy is for. Keep our country out of needless war. Love thy neighbors and those I don’t understand. Love thy neighbors as much as I can. Run the country like a rock ‘n’ roll band. Love my country like a rock ‘n’ roll band”

After Mike destroys an Even Flow solo, Ed says they are gonna play one that he wrote because his dad is in the audience, and he thanks his dad for Mike changing their lives as a friend and bandmate before digging into Present Tense. Ed does a kooky looking dance with his hands before Rats, and in the time since, it has been turned into a popular internet meme and GIF. After State Of Love and Trust, Ed addresses the recent news about the West Memphis Three being exonerated and released from prison:

“They were in for 18 years, a lot of people didn’t hear about it for a couple of years but some of us were on it for about 15 years. It was an incredibly long 15 years but a lot of people didn’t lose faith and they had a lot of supporters, up here across the border and it actually made a difference. And 26 days ago when I was so grateful to have been able to be there and be part of the experience because it was one of the best experiences of my life, about 26 days ago they were freed. But again, all of the support from Canada and this part of Canada. It was good news and even great news, so there’s faith.”

The Fixer and Porch finish out the main set with the extended jam on the latter featuring Boom in a prominent role. At the start of the encore, Ed says they’d like to flip to the back because it reminds them of a club show, and they play Last Kiss. Ed talks about Neil Young before I Got Id and claims there is a connection between NYC and Toronto… NYC meaning Neil Young Country. As Neil surprised the audience the night prior on Rockin’ In The Free World, Ed says he wasn’t able to make it tonight, but the band tags Cinnamon Girl onto the end of I Got Id. Light Years is played for all of the people they had been thinking about who lost people in significant ways, and Jeremy is immediately transitioned to at the song’s end. Why Go finishes out the first encore.

Do The Evolution is played after the break where Ed jokes about the ‘2010 watch it go to fire’ line being just last year. Instead of saying goodbye after Alive, it is time for Mark Arm and Steve Turner from Mudhoney to join for a rendition of MC5’s Kick Out The Jams. Before they head off, Ed thanks Toronto and says we’ll remember this one.

September 11, 2011 – Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON, CAN

Main Set: Long Road, Do The Evolution, Once, Got Some, Faithfull, Nothing As It Seems, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Setting Forth, Not For You, Given To Fly, Just Breathe, Off He Goes, Daughter/(It's OK), Grievance, Down, Unthought Known, The Fixer, Porch

encore 1: Nothingman, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Leatherman, Black, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Chloe Dancer, Crown Of Thorns, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

Show Notes:

Long Road is perfectly placed as the opener on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and you can feel the energy just exploding in the room. An intense Do The Evolution makes a rare appearance in the 2nd slot, followed by…

Show Notes: 

Long Road is perfectly placed as the opener on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and you can feel the energy just exploding in the room. An intense Do The Evolution makes a rare appearance in the 2nd slot, followed by Once kicking the show into high gear. After Got Some, Eddie addresses the crowd saying the band was surprised to learn they hadn’t played Toronto in five years. The ending lyrics of Faithfull are changed to “What’s a man to do?”. Eddie precedes an ethereal Nothing As It Seems by telling the crowd, “Not to give away the plot, but Mike McCready does some crazy shit on this next one.” Small Town is a full crowd sing along which Eddie acknowledges by telling the crowd “That’s good singing Toronto!”. Eddie talks about how they had been working with Cameron Crowe, who is in attendance, for the upcoming PJ20 release. He says it’s kind of like looking back at Side A of their career and that he can’t help wondering what the last song on side B will look like. He then acknowledges that if you go back to the first record Neil Young was on, they would be calling it NY51 and that “he’s been making records for 51 years and he still seems younger than us.” Not For You features a great solo by Stone and a Modern Girl tag. The heart of the main set features a beautiful string of slower songs such as Just Breathe, Of He Goes and Daughter with a full It’s OK tag. The main set ends with a very interesting string of songs without much banter from Ed – Grievance, Down, Unthought Known, The Fixer and ends with Porch, which features dueling solos between Mike and Stone and a call and response singalong heading back into the final chorus.

Eddie addresses the crowd before the first encore by comparing Toronto to Seattle and that both cities “have large concrete erections” and notes that “yours is bigger, but in our defense ours has kind of a nice shape.” He then notes that all of the bands’ wives and girlfriends are in attendance and thanks them all. The first encore starts with the Man Trilogy. Nothingman, with great crowd participation, starts by Ed telling the crowd “If you got a good woman, don’t fuck it up!” A rocking Better Man features some great pyrotechnics by Mike and a lengthy Save It For Later tag. Black is gorgeous with Mike wailing and Matt hammering away during the jam, and the outro is simply beautiful. A nicely jammed out Rearviewmirror ends the first encore.

The final encore begins with the combo of Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns, showcasing Stone and Jeff locking in the groove perfectly and Mike taking the solos to new heights. This would mark the first instance that Chloe Dancer was played at a show in full. The whole band absolutely crushes Alive, but that’s almost nothing compared to what comes next. The band launches into Rockin’ In The Free World and is joined right before the final verse by Mr. Neil Young himself, unannounced, for an over-the-top ending jam. Rumor has it that only Mike knew this was going down, and the band appears visibly surprised and overwhelmed when Neil takes the stage. Mike hands over his guitar to Neil, and as the band begins to jam, it’s Eddie to the rescue as he flags down one of the roadies to get Mike a guitar so he can join in. They proceed to duel back and forth for what seems like an eternity, and RITFW finally comes to an end after 11+ minutes. It’s a fantastic ending to an absolute piledriver of a show!

September 7, 2011 – Bell Centre, Montreal, QC, CAN

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Last Exit, Hail, Hail, The Fixer, Amongst The Waves, Severed Hand, Setting Forth, Corduroy, Given To Fly, Insignificance, Daughter/(Blitzkrieg Bop), Glorified G, 1/2 Full, Do The Evolution, Unthought Known, Why Go

encore 1: Even Flow, Come Back, Sleight Of Hand, Down, Black/(We Belong Together), Arms Aloft, Lukin, Porch

encore 2: Better Man, Crazy Mary, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

The band officially kicks off their Fall 2011 tour with this absolute scorcher of a show in Montreal. Coming a few nights after the epic two-night PJ20 Festival at Alpine Valley, the show has a fantastic career-spanning set, great band…

Show Notes: 

The band officially kicks off their Fall 2011 tour with this absolute scorcher of a show in Montreal. Coming a few nights after the epic two-night PJ20 Festival at Alpine Valley, the show has a fantastic career-spanning set, great band jams, and a totally raucous crowd. Small Town and Last Exit get the crowd revved up immediately before the band delivers a one-two combo of Hail, Hail and The Fixer to keep the energy level high. Ed finally addresses the crowd for the first time after The Fixer, saying that the vibe at the show already feels “really, really good.” Severed Hand is a blast – punctuated by a great full-band jam at the end. Setting Forth is a request of Matt Cameron’s. Killer, but tight versions of Corduroy and Given to Fly follow put the crowd at a fevered pitch. Before Insignificance, Ed shares his appreciation that Montreal’s electrical outlets are the same as those in the USA. Ed thanks the crowd for their singing on Daughter that featured a Blitzkrieg Bop tag. Before Glorified G, Ed takes a moment to point out that Canada has “good singers and less guns”. The first set ends with a great run of Do The Evolution, Unthought Known, and a bopping Why Go.

Even Flow is a perfect encore opener, pulling the crowd right back into things after a short break. Before Come Back, Ed gives a shout out to Mike McCready (rightfully so). Sleight of Hand is a disaster with Ed barely getting through the first verse before finally recovering. Black, with a We Belong Together tag, is a massive singalong. Arms Aloft makes one of its semi-regular 2010-2011 setlist appearances before Lukin and Porch bring the encore to a roaring finish. Before the second encore, Ed says he couldn’t think of a better place to start the tour. “You guys brought it!” he tells the crowd before telling a funny story about how his horoscope that day said to avoid crowds. Better Man and Crazy Mary feel a little standard, but still excellent. McCready shreds his way through the Alive solo. In his final remarks to the crowd, Ed says he can’t believe it’s been six years since they played Montreal but that it won’t be that long before they return and the band closes with a perfect version of Yellow Ledbetter. 2011 was a hugely memorable anniversary year for the band and coming off the heels of PJ20, the band delivered a powerful, intense tour opener in Montreal.

View More