November 11, 2011 – Zequinha, Porto Alegre, BRA

Pearl Jam Show Notes 11/11/2011:

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.