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2012 Pearl Jam Concerts

Recap of Pearl Jam's 2012 Live Concert Tour

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October 3, 2012 – Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA, USA

Main Set: Do The Evolution, Animal, Corduroy, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Wishlist, Got Some, Unthought Known, Given To Fly, Even Flow, Just Breathe, Down, Green Disease, Black, Once, Come Back, Porch

encore 1: Better Man, Alive, Baba O’Riley

Show Notes:

The final show of the year is a corporate gig for Oracle employees, part of the Oracle OpenWorld conference held at Treasure Island in San Francisco. This massive tech conference included a multi-day music fest, tonight featuring X and Kings…

Show Notes: 

The final show of the year is a corporate gig for Oracle employees, part of the Oracle OpenWorld conference held at Treasure Island in San Francisco. This massive tech conference included a multi-day music fest, tonight featuring X and Kings of Leon alongside PJ. Some enterprising PJ fans found a way in by obtaining badges from conference goers who weren’t going to the concert part of the proceedings, creating a crowd mixture of both the faithful and the more casual. The sound isn’t perfect, as Stone’s guitar seems quiet on Evolution and Animal, but Ed’s in fine screaming voice tonight. Jeff’s bass has the word “FREE” scrawled on it, possibly a nod to one of his heroes, Andy Fraser from the English band Free. Ed attempts to give the audience some lines during Animal, but it doesn’t quite catch and he moves on pretty quickly. Corduroy’s outro seems to connect better, as Ed leads a clap before Mike and Matt throw down in expert fashion. He then greets the crowd:

“It’s nice to be here with you celebrating the fruits of your labor…I think we thought we were playing some guy named Larry’s backyard, but it’s a big yard and he’s got a lot of friends…” 

Small Town is dedicated to the 50,000 conference attendees. Wishlist is a setlist addition for Mark, who “can only stay for a little bit because has to work early in the morning.” Unthought Known is a lovely version that Ed sets up by saying “this song was written while staring at a big moon in the sky, and it’s nice to be able to play it and see the muse right there…” Given to Fly is dedicated to the gold-medal-winning US women’s soccer team, who are in attendance. After a pulverizing Even Flow solo from Mike, Ed mentions the corporate nature of the gig and intros Just Breathe by saying:

“…outside of his kids, there’s nothing, Mike McCready, I don’t think he’d rather do than play guitar like that all night long. All day long. So yes, he would do that for free.  But even though he’d do that for free, we are getting paid tonight. And we’re grateful because there’s a lot we can do in addition to good things in our communities, we get to play for some people, something we’d do anyways… we can turn this into something really nice for people who really, really need it. So for that we are grateful and thank you for having us. And one of the things is, there is a close race in Washington state, fight for right for gay marriages to take place in Washington state. We ‘d like to dedicate this to couples in love. Of the same sex, of opposite sex, of tons of sex…this is called Just Breathe…”

Green Disease sounds fantastic with Jeff and Matt propelling the song’s forward-leaning rhythm throughout. Mike’s Black solo features a snippet of a Spanish-guitar-inspired flourish near the end. Once sounds a bit rough, as again Stone’s guitar sound seems to be having issues. Prior to Come Back, Ed gives attention to the Wounded Warriors Project and the mental health issues the soldiers are facing on their return home. Jeff and Matt stand out on an inspired, swirling jam on Porch. After the break, Ed mentions they aren’t the last band on the bill tonight, that X will be coming up next. Ed again tries to give the crowd something, the Better Man chorus, but again it doesn’t quite take and he playfully says “…you should stop. I mean, really quit while you’re ahead,” to laughter. There’s no tag, the band just jams on the outro a bit longer. Alive and Baba close things out with Ed really pushing it on the Baba screams to finish with great energy. By the end of the song, he’s yelling “X is next! X is next” to keep the crowd in place for X’s upcoming set. Later on, Ed pops up during their set to sing on Devil Doll.

September 30, 2012 – Adams Event Center, Missoula, MT, USA

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Corduroy, Do The Evolution, Got Some, Given To Fly, Amongst The Waves, Severed Hand, Unthought Known, Not For You, State Of Love And Trust, Jeremy, Ghost, Daughter/(Blitzkrieg Bop), Know Your Rights, Comatose, Why Go

encore 1: Last Kiss, Off He Goes, Low Light, Man Of The Hour, Nothingman, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

encore 2: Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Fortunate Son, Alive, Kick Out The Jams, Rockin’ In The Free World, Indifference

Show Notes:

Billed as Pearl Jam’s “one and only non-festival US show for 2012,” this benefit for Sen. Jon Tester’s re-election campaign at the Adams Event Center seats only 5500 patrons, leading Ed to say early in the set “this is about…

Show Notes: 

Billed as Pearl Jam’s “one and only non-festival US show for 2012,” this benefit for Sen. Jon Tester’s re-election campaign at the Adams Event Center seats only 5500 patrons, leading Ed to say early in the set “this is about as cozy a place we’ve played for as long as I can remember.” Got Some is the first of many Jeff songs in the set in his home state, after which Ed greets the raucous crowd with “…it’s nice to be literally surrounded by family, friends, Senators, and Mudhoney!” He adds “we are asked to do many benefits…the difficult part is finding a candidate you believe in,” before dedicating Given to Fly to Tester, with the amended lyric “…made it underneath a Big Sky tree…” Jeremy gives Jeff the spotlight again and has the crowd pumping. Ghost appears for only the second time since 2003, Ed says it’s “not one that’s played that often. This is another one that Jeff wrote.” Daughter follows, with an alternate take on “Blitzkrieg Bop”: “hey ho, let’s vote,” before The Clash’s “Know Your Rights” is played for the 3rd time out of 4 shows this month. Last Kiss” opens the first encore with the band playing to the back. Ed dedicates Off He Goes to Jeff and his friends, which is followed by yet another Ament-penned track, Low Light. Man of the Hour is brought back for the first time since 2009 and starts a three-song, alternate “Man” trilogy to close out the first encore, with Nothingman and Better Man. Prior to the second encore, Jeff addresses the crowd, stating “…it doesn’t really get any better than this for me.” CCR’s “Fortunate Son” returns for the first time since 2006 and the last time to date. The crowd goes crazy when Stone plays the opening chords of Alive, which is complete with “Montana look at us…we’re all still alive!” in the final chorus. Mark Arm and Steve Turner from Mudhoney join for a very loud “Kick out the Jams” before RITFW sends the crowd into raptures. Before closing with a slow-burn Indifference, Ed acknowledges the crowd, saying “this is the best American crowd we have played for in I can’t remember how long…”

September, 22 2012 – Music Midtown, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA, USA

Main Set: Why Go, Save You, Animal, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Corduroy, Got Some, Amongst The Waves, Wishlist, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Do The Evolution, Even Flow, Know Your Rights, Nothingman, Supersonic, Jeremy, Porch

encore 1: Crazy Mary, Given To Fly, The Fixer, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Unthought Known, Black, Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World

Show Notes:

First show in Atlanta in 9 years (and last to date), in front of 50,000 people in Piedmont Park, the band gets off to a flying start with Why Go, but there are technical issues as Stone’s guitar cuts out.…

Show Notes: 

First show in Atlanta in 9 years (and last to date), in front of 50,000 people in Piedmont Park, the band gets off to a flying start with Why Go, but there are technical issues as Stone’s guitar cuts out. It’s quickly corrected and he kicks into Save You with no problem. With the downtown city skyline off to the side, Ed says hello after Animal:

“Good evening…it’s been a long time, and I’ve never quite seen it [the city] from this perspective right here…and it’s a beautiful sight…”

He continues, complimenting Florence and the Machine (who preceded PJ on stage) and “their great singer.” He asks for the crowd to help sing along leading into Small Town, and they take the “hearts and thoughts” lines. Corduroy is raucous and wild, Matt especially in fine form. Ed asks “Do you need it? Do you need it?” during Got Some. He wants to explain the next one:

“…there’s a lot of ways to write about love, and then the other side of love is, you know, the other thing, I won’t even mention it ‘cause we don’t have room for that here, but if you have something as deep as love, love is deep, love is as deep as, let’s say, the ocean…and even that first six months, it feels deep, and the next year, but then it gets a little shallow, sometimes, but I’m also talking about the deep, 20-year love, the deep deep ocean love, we have that up here, us guys. Yes that’s right, men can love men…but, with life comes weather, and with weather comes wind, and with wind you get waves, and there’s no way around it, with love there will be waves, big ones, small ones, this one’s called Amongst The Waves…”

After the crowd takes the Better Man intro, Ed interjects “…it’s really pretty from up here, it’s really nice…” and then holds the “Oh” for a long time before jumping back into the song. He improvs and riffs on the Save it for Later lyrics for a while before kicking into the “don’t run away” lines. Matt pounds out a short drum solo after Mike finishes up on Even Flow, and the crowd takes the last chorus. Ed speaks afterwards about the election, saying sarcastically “…it brings out the best in everybody…” but then imploring everyone to vote and bringing up the photo ID law again, adding that a firearms license would also be valid, which gets some boos from the crowd. Ed notices and says that got a bigger response in Florida, but that voting is your right, leading into T The Clash’s “Know Your Rights.” Crowd helps out on a lovely Nothingman and Ed asks for it again on Jeremy. He goes down and runs along the barricades during Porch. He speaks after the break:

“Now that, you know, the stage is built, we’re here, the buildings are all put up, and we’ve got people from front to back, we’re gonna play every second we can until they kick us out…”

Boom takes the whole Crazy Mary solo while Ed goes down to the barricade again and plays around with a cameraman. Given to Fly is dedicated to Steve Gleason. Ed talks about how a lot of PJ records were made in Atlanta with Brendan O’Brien, who is in attendance, and says that their name for Brendan behind his back is The Fixer. RVM has the slow build intro and the “I will forgive” lines during the jam. Ed thanks the local crew during the second break and points out a young kid up front, saying that’s a good sign that everything’s going well. He jokingly offers the kid wine and then adds “…tequila. Okay.” He continues:

“…all of the friends that we have that showed up to be here tonight…you know, if you get old enough you get a lot of friends, and we have a lot of ‘em here tonight. It’s just been a great, great vibe and we got great weather, great scenery, and it’s taken a bit of something to stick together for as long as we have without any kind of real hateful arguments or ever breaking up, and we’ve all supported each other through that…I told this story last night, and I usually don’t repeat it, but I was watching the PJ20 movie with a good friend of ours, and at one point Jeff was speaking, it was about halfway through, and she just said ‘Jeff Ament’s a fucking badass’…she’s absolutely right. You have no idea.”

“This one’s for the moon” introduces Unthought Known. Steve Gleason is side stage for the last few songs. After Black, Ed hurries the band to start Alive with the curfew fast approaching. He speaks quickly after Alive:

“They’re telling us that we only got two minutes…the next song’s, like, we’ll play it as fast as we can, but we gotta play one more…”

Someone from the festival comes on stage to talk to Ed and he says “I’ll pay for it,” referring to the fine for going past curfew, as they start a speedy Rockin’ in the Free World.

September 21, 2012 – DeLuna Fest, Pensacola Beach, Pensacola, FL, USA

Main Set: Oceans, (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Got Some, Once, Given To Fly, Amongst The Waves, Grievance, Even Flow, World Wide Suicide, The Fixer, Daughter/(It’s O.K.), Of The Earth, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Parachutes, Unthought Known, Do The Evolution, Porch

encore 1: Black/(We Belong Together), Comatose, Why Go, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Better Man/(Save It For Later), Lukin, Alive, Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetter/(Star-Spangled Banner)

Show Notes:

Ed joins Gaslight Anthem early in the day for State of Love and Trust. Oceans fittingly opens a hot summer night at this beachside venue. The stage appears a bit smaller than some of the other places on the tour,…

Show Notes: 

Ed joins Gaslight Anthem early in the day for State of Love and Trust. Oceans fittingly opens a hot summer night at this beachside venue. The stage appears a bit smaller than some of the other places on the tour, there are also 2nd level side stage sections with handfuls of fans, adding to a more intimate feel. Beach balls show up in the crowd near the stage during Once and appear throughout the show. Before Given To Fly, Ed notes “…we haven’t been here since 1994, so thanks for welcoming us back,” and points towards the sea during the “…made a trip to the ocean…” lyric. Amongst the Waves continues the ocean theme, with Ed noting beforehand that “…it isn’t often that we get to play next to the ocean, this one suits the mood,” as he waves to some boaters. A muscular version of Grievance is introduced with a mention of the new Florida voter ID laws, Ed adding that if you’re going to swim naked after the show, don’t lose your ID. He mentions Mike just told him he was born in Pensacola, saying “welcome home,” and urging to people to support Wounded Warriors to help support those coming home from their service before tearing into a searing Worldwide Suicide.  Leading into the “It’s O.K.” tag in Daughter, he asks the crowd if they could be loud because “20 years of playing, I can barely hear anything so if you can sing, you have to be kinda loud…” Ed jokes that Of The Earth is “one you might not know, this is one we might not know” and makes its American debut with a crunchy swagger that resolves into a spacey jam. Parachutes is supplemented by a lyric sheet and dedicated to Johnny Ramone and anyone who’s suffered recent loss. Unthought Known is dedicated to the moon and is particularly strong with Ed and the band really feeding off Matt’s heavy hand. Ed gives the crowd a shot at the Evolution riff, which doesn’t quite take, but it’s a strong performance nonetheless. After the break, a gorgeous Black sees Mike, with his new Joe Strummer-style mohawk, looking to the heavens before his solo even starts, and Ed repeating “…baby, baby, baby…” before “…we didn’t belong…together….” Encore 2 features a shoutout to Ben Folds and Guided by Voices, with Ed noting Robert Pollard responded to his invitation to play with “I’ll be there…but I’m going to be really fucked up at that point.” Ed says he appreciated the honesty, which reminded him of Matt Lukin, leading into an interesting Lukin/Alive pairing. Ed wanders side stage during Alive and climbs up some scaffolding, channeling 1994 a little, to the crowd’s delight. Mike adds on the full feedback-drenched Star-Spangled Banner at the end of Yellow Ledbetter. Ed leaves with “don’t forget to vote…goodnight, love you…very kind. Have a great weekend…see you next year!”

September 2, 2012 – Made In America Festival, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Main Set: Go, Corduroy, Save You, Given To Fly, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Unemployable, Even Flow, Got Some, Daughter/(Blitzkrieg Bop), Unthought Known, The Fixer, Nothingman, Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Know Your Rights, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Love, Reign O’er Me, Spin The Black Circle, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Comatose, Black, Alive, W.M.A., 99 Problems, Rockin’ In The Free World

Show Notes:

This is the first time back in Philadelphia for the band since the legendary Spectrum shows in 2009, and Go gets things off to an electric start. Corduroy keeps the energy high. Save You in the third spot sends an…

Show Notes: 

This is the first time back in Philadelphia for the band since the legendary Spectrum shows in 2009, and Go gets things off to an electric start. Corduroy keeps the energy high. Save You in the third spot sends an early signal to the Philly faithful that this will not just be a greatest hits set. Ed welcomes everyone, saying “Cheers! Good to be in Philadelphia. We’d like to thank Jay-Z for giving us wings…giving all these fans wings. Anybody for levitation?” Of course, Given to Fly is next, with the lyric change “…made it to the City of Brotherly Love…” Ed before Unemployable:

“This is a story about a man who had a job, who worked hard, who went to church, who raised his kids. He was an honest, good American. He paid his bills. He did everything he was taught and told to do and this is the sad part of the story…the sad part is that it’s true. This man gets let go of his job along with hundreds of coworkers and colleagues. So we just want you to remember when they are talking about tax breaks for the job creators…it oftentimes happens that they are creating jobs in other countries. We would like to see a few more things made in America.”

“He’s made in America…that’s Mr. Mike McCready,” shouts Ed during Even Flow. As the rain falls, Unthought Known is prefaced with:

“…we are really happy to be sharing the stage with all these people…this song is best played under an open sky. I wish you could see the moon. Maybe it will come out on this one…” 

Following a loud Nothingman, Ed says “…it’s about politics, it’s about childbirth, it’s about music, it’s about art, it’s about love, it’s about me, it’s about you, it’s about us, it’s about them, it’s everything because it’s evolution, baby!” and Do the Evolution gets the Philly crowd going again. Before a fiery Know Your Rights, reappearing in a PJ set for the first time since Mansfield 2003, Ed makes a plea:

“Thanks for singing and using your voice. We would like to talk about rights for a second. The rights that have been acquired and earned and fought for all of these years…there is something interesting that happened, where one of the parties, of which there are only two…and we won’t say which one…it’s the party that shall not be named…they have gone to some great efforts to put things into place where it made it harder for people to vote…one side doesn’t want you to vote. These are rights that have been fought for…only recently by women and minorities have been earned. Due to the amount of effort that they have put into it, it still means something to vote. I hope that their actions actually empower you to make a difference, use your voice and vote.”

To open the encore, Ed says, “He’s also made in America, but from the far end. The last state added to the United States. From the Hawaiian islands, our brother, Mr. Boom Gaspar…” and Boom is featured on the opening notes of Love, Reign O’er Me. As the song builds, a light rain, a little mist, begins to fall again. Big singalong on Better Man. After Alive, Matt’s drum beat teases a little W.M.A. Ed introduces and thanks the band, then starts into W.M.A. and the crowd is both intrigued and fired up. The FULL version of the song is underway…a truly surprise performance at a festival and this late in the set as well. As the song concludes, the surprises aren’t finished as out comes Jay-Z, who bursts into “99 Problems” with PJ as his backing band, Jeff holding it down with the W.M.A. bassline. Ed signs off after Rockin’ with “…have a great rest of the summer. Thanks for letting us be a part of it…keep the love flowing. Philly…love you, goodnight.”

July 10, 2012 – Forum København, Copenhagen, DNK

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Last Exit, Do The Evolution, Love Boat Captain, Corduroy, Present Tense, Push Me, Pull Me, Even Flow, Cropduster, Wishlist, Insignificance, Glorified G, Why Go, State Of Love And Trust, Porch

encore 1: Footsteps, Just Breathe, Given To Fly, Unthought Known, The Fixer, Jeremy, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Smile, Habit, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Crazy Mary, Alive, Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

The final European show of 2012 kicks off with a feel-good version of Small Town, and the crowd’s energy transfers momentum into clapping along to the beat of Last Exit. The building is warm and gets hotter as the show…

Show Notes: 

The final European show of 2012 kicks off with a feel-good version of Small Town, and the crowd’s energy transfers momentum into clapping along to the beat of Last Exit. The building is warm and gets hotter as the show goes on, well above 80°. Do The Evolution has more great participation, as the famed South American-style “whoa-oh-oh-ohs” continue on well past the song’s end. Ed, making an attempt to speak Danish, says they are doing their best to make it a great night after a memorable tour. Love Boat Captain, perhaps the single most important song for Denmark, is uplifting and inspiring with another tremendous call and response section at the end. Present Tense and Push Me, Pull Me are welcome surprises early in the set. Ed takes a minute after Insignificance to say how thankful he is for Denmark being the biggest creator of wind power, and that Seattle has bands, beer, and coffee, and Boeing, a war plane manufacturer.  The last three songs of the main set are played again at a furious pace. Mike adds in a delay effect over his solo on State of Love and Trust that adds a different sound to the song. Perhaps due to the heat, a very quick 67-minute main set. After the break, Ed says he wishes they could turn on the sprinklers. Footsteps opens the encore and brings some balance into the set before building up to the faster songs. Without any Backspacer songs played in the main set, a chunk is played in this section, with Unthought Known providing another great sing-along for this crowd. Jeff’s bass is heavy and vibrant on both Jeremy and Rearviewmirror, both songs putting this set back into the sprint mode that started the night. To open encore 2, Ed tells the story of how Smile was written as a note to him by The Frogs’ Dennis Flemion, who passed away a day before the show, saying the words ‘miss you already’ are exactly what they’re feeling right now, and it’s a messy, haphazard version. A request is made for another No Code song, Habit, the only instance to date where Habit was played in an encore. The crowd continues their strong showing of the night, singing along to Better Man, and we get a rare instance of Ed singing the full Save It For Later lyrics. After a tremendous Mike vs. Boom duel for Crazy Mary, Ed recognizes the faces in the crowd that have been following them around Europe and encourages them to start a band, adding “writing songs is easy, touring is hard…you got the hard part down.” As the band says goodbye to the continent, they go out with thunderous versions of Alive and Baba, and close with a bluesy Yellow Ledbetter with a Mike jam tacked onto the end.

July 9, 2012 – Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, NOR

Main Set: Long Road, Animal, Hail, Hail, Given To Fly, (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Low Light, Severed Hand, Even Flow, Green Disease, Red Mosquito, Daughter/(It’s O.K.), Immortality, Leatherman, The Fixer, Black, Why Go

encore 1: Inside Job, Just Breathe, Breath, Mankind, Do The Evolution, Porch

encore 2: Once, Smile, Mother, Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Mike joins X for “The New World” during their set again. Ed speaks in Norwegian to start off, leading into Long Road. Once Animal kicks in, it’s clear Ed is dealing with some throat issues, dropping some notes. By Corduroy…

Show Notes: 

Mike joins X for “The New World” during their set again. Ed speaks in Norwegian to start off, leading into Long Road. Once Animal kicks in, it’s clear Ed is dealing with some throat issues, dropping some notes. By Corduroy he’s warmed up a little, sounding better, but afterwards he addresses the issue:

“It’s been quite a while since we’ve been here and we appreciate you coming to the gig. I was thinking I wasn’t going to have to say anything, but we’ve had a great tour and we’ve had great crowds and we’ve been excited to get here and I got a bit of a throat problem that started yesterday…I dunno, I must have kissed a sick Swedish boy or something. I’ll take any help you can give me, I appreciate it. I think Mike McCready is going to be taking over with some guitar playing tonight.”

The crowd responds with chants of “let Stone sing!” and Ed reacts positively. During the Even Flow solo, Ed wanders side stage and has security pass a fan’s “Smile” sign up to him. Following Green Disease, Ed says “…this is a request from Moscow…you know who you are,” before kicking into a blistering Red Mosquito, an appropriate song choice for someone feeling under the weather. Immortality begins with the extended guitar intro and sounds extra affecting with Ed’s weathered voice tonight. Leatherman makes its only appearance on the tour and is a fun, tight version. Mike dazzles on the Black solo as Ed leaves the stage for a bit to catch a breather. After the break, Ed doesn’t address the crowd at all, taking an extra few minutes of rest, and Mike starts Inside Job, the long intro giving Ed as much vocal rest as possible. Afterwards, Ed admits:

“It was a hard night last night because I knew I wasn’t feeling well. And then I was frustrated because I know we hadn’t played here in 12 years, and I wanted to be fucking great. And then at about 4 in the morning, and I wasn’t sleeping anyways, I got a call from the States that a good friend of ours had suddenly passed away. It was something no one expected and it happened in an instant. The worst part about it was that it’s been too long since I last talked to him, and I won’t get that chance again. I’m just pointing it out so if there’s people in your life that you care about and you haven’t talked to them in a while, I don’t want you to feel the way I am right now. Make sure you reach out and tell them you love them. Don’t be shy.  Thanks for letting us express that.”

Just Breathe leads into Breath, Ed holding the mic out to the crowd during the Breath intro vocal.  As anticipated, Stone gets on the mic and says “I would like to thank Eddie Vedder for just being fucking fantastic to us all…he doesn’t get thanked that often…” As Mankind starts, Ed starts coughing, the perfect time for a singing break. Evolution is a bit of a chore for Ed, but he gives what he can in an admirable effort. The crowd gives him some help and sings the guitar riff.  Ed’s sipping tea at the start of encore 2, leading to one of his best vocals of the night as the band slams into Once. Smile nods to the sign from earlier, with Ed noting:

“…this next song is fulfilling a request for a young man and a young woman that look about 22 between the both of them. I’m glad you’re safe up front. That says good things about a crowd like this, that the young ones can be up front. And here’s to the parents for having good taste, in each other…”

Rockin’ in the Free World features John Doe, DJ Bonebrake, and Krissy Teegerstrom. Ed thanks the crowd, exclaiming “oh, I feel better now!”  before Mike finishes off Ledbetter with some Van Halen-style finger-tapping in the outro.

July, 7 2012 – Ericsson Globe, Stockholm, SWE

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Corduroy, Got Some, Why Go, Amongst The Waves, Wishlist, Given To Fly, Comatose, Even Flow, World Wide Suicide, Garden, Better Things, Unthought Known, All Those Yesterdays, The Fixer, ½ Full, Jeremy

encore 1: Off He Goes, Just Breathe, State Of Love And Trust, Do The Evolution, Love Reign O’er Me, Porch

encore 2: Once, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Crazy Mary, Black, Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

A relaxing version of Oceans opens the second night in Berlin. The pace suddenly increases with quickfire renditions of Breakerfall and Animal. The crowd is prominently heard on Animal, leading Ed to take a back seat in order to let…

Show Notes: 

A relaxing version of Oceans opens the second night in Berlin. The pace suddenly increases with quickfire renditions of Breakerfall and Animal. The crowd is prominently heard on Animal, leading Ed to take a back seat in order to let them sing the chorus before the solo. The blistering start continues with Save You, the crowd are again heard clapping along throughout the solo. As Stone starts to play In Hiding, Ed interrupts; “No, no, one sec…guten abend. Guten abend. Cheers, I just wanted to make sure everyone is okay up here,” then inquiring “…what’s going on here, what’s going on? One bad person? We’ve got a long, long, explosive, energetic night in front of us.” He then instructs the crowd to take three steps back, “Perfect, danke. I’ll talk to you later,” and In Hiding is restarted. The Berlin crowd once again play a part throughout, with Ed allowing them to sing the “Hiding” during the choruses. After the song, Ed says “the last time we played here, we had such a good time – oh yeah, that was last night!” He then speaks in German, stating he believes it is the band’s 999th show (it isn’t). After Small Town, the band play an improvised jam, during which the guitars seem to briefly duel and Jeff keeps a steady, funk-infused bassline, before transitioning into Corduroy. Ed introduces Mike for the debut of Eruption, and Mike throws in a tease of another Van Halen song, “Runnin’ With The Devil,” at the end. Mike makes a mistake a few bars into the Present Tense intro, prompting cheers and applause from the crowd before he begins again from the start. Ed again addresses the crowd after Evolution, asking them again to take three steps back, saying “this isn’t for comfort, this is for safety. We won’t hit another note until we know everyone is safe.” After making sure there are no issues in the crowd, he explains he is dedicating the next song to the Ramones Museum:

“It’s an incredible little spot here in beautiful Berlin…I went for what I thought would be an hour, but I stayed for seven.” 

He then names and thanks the staff, adding “we have a real-life Ramone working for us, he has for sixteen years…Mr. Ricky Ramone! This next song was written soon after Johnny Ramone had passed, it’s called Come Back…” Returning to stage after the encore break, Ed again checks that everyone is okay before apologizing for “taking a minute,” as they “were trying to figure out what to play.” He goes on to say “I think you’ll like the next song, because we’re very close, right across the street.” It’s “Mother” by Pink Floyd, appropriately, as the song references the nearby Berlin Wall. Following Better Man, Ed says:

“They say this might be our 999th show, feels like maybe longer. Sometimes it’s just hard to believe any of it. To come to Berlin and have this kind of response over two nights in a row and over twenty years…”

Into the second encore break, Ed says “we’ve had two nights to remember here in Berlin…thanks to all the people, all the flags.” He toasts a woman named Mariella, who broke her ankle at one of the shows in Amsterdam, saying “In her honor, we’re going to take another three steps back so nothing like that happens again as it’s getting a little tight.” A celebratory Alive is followed by Baba O’Riley, after which Ed says “danke, thanks for looking after each other” before introducing the band. “This is how we say goodnight, until we meet again” leads into Yellow Ledbetter, during which he observes “…everybody’s smiling!”

July 5, 2012 – O2 World, Berlin, DEU

Main Set: Oceans, Breakerfall, Animal, Save You, in Hiding, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Improv, Corduroy, Amongst The Waves, Even Flow, Eruption, Sad, Not For You, Present Tense, Down, Do The Evolution, Come Back, Hail, Hail, Go

encore 1: Mother, Just Breathe, Nothingman, Better Man, Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Porch

encore 2: Blood/(War), Alive, Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

A relaxing version of Oceans opens the second night in Berlin. The pace suddenly increases with quickfire renditions of Breakerfall and Animal. The crowd is prominently heard on Animal, leading Ed to take a back seat in order to let…

Show Notes: 

A relaxing version of Oceans opens the second night in Berlin. The pace suddenly increases with quickfire renditions of Breakerfall and Animal. The crowd is prominently heard on Animal, leading Ed to take a back seat in order to let them sing the chorus before the solo. The blistering start continues with Save You, the crowd are again heard clapping along throughout the solo. As Stone starts to play In Hiding, Ed interrupts; “No, no, one sec…guten abend. Guten abend. Cheers, I just wanted to make sure everyone is okay up here,” then inquiring “…what’s going on here, what’s going on? One bad person? We’ve got a long, long, explosive, energetic night in front of us.” He then instructs the crowd to take three steps back, “Perfect, danke. I’ll talk to you later,” and In Hiding is restarted. The Berlin crowd once again play a part throughout, with Ed allowing them to sing the “Hiding” during the choruses. After the song, Ed says “the last time we played here, we had such a good time – oh yeah, that was last night!” He then speaks in German, stating he believes it is the band’s 999th show (it isn’t). After Small Town, the band play an improvised jam, during which the guitars seem to briefly duel and Jeff keeps a steady, funk-infused bassline, before transitioning into Corduroy. Ed introduces Mike for the debut of Eruption, and Mike throws in a tease of another Van Halen song, “Runnin’ With The Devil,” at the end. Mike makes a mistake a few bars into the Present Tense intro, prompting cheers and applause from the crowd before he begins again from the start. Ed again addresses the crowd after Evolution, asking them again to take three steps back, saying “this isn’t for comfort, this is for safety. We won’t hit another note until we know everyone is safe.” After making sure there are no issues in the crowd, he explains he is dedicating the next song to the Ramones Museum:

“It’s an incredible little spot here in beautiful Berlin…I went for what I thought would be an hour, but I stayed for seven.” 

He then names and thanks the staff, adding “we have a real-life Ramone working for us, he has for sixteen years…Mr. Ricky Ramone! This next song was written soon after Johnny Ramone had passed, it’s called Come Back…” Returning to stage after the encore break, Ed again checks that everyone is okay before apologizing for “taking a minute,” as they “were trying to figure out what to play.” He goes on to say “I think you’ll like the next song, because we’re very close, right across the street.” It’s “Mother” by Pink Floyd, appropriately, as the song references the nearby Berlin Wall. Following Better Man, Ed says:

“They say this might be our 999th show, feels like maybe longer. Sometimes it’s just hard to believe any of it. To come to Berlin and have this kind of response over two nights in a row and over twenty years…”

Into the second encore break, Ed says “we’ve had two nights to remember here in Berlin…thanks to all the people, all the flags.” He toasts a woman named Mariella, who broke her ankle at one of the shows in Amsterdam, saying “In her honor, we’re going to take another three steps back so nothing like that happens again as it’s getting a little tight.” A celebratory Alive is followed by Baba O’Riley, after which Ed says “danke, thanks for looking after each other” before introducing the band. “This is how we say goodnight, until we meet again” leads into Yellow Ledbetter, during which he observes “…everybody’s smiling!”

July 4, 2012 – O2 World, Berlin, DEU

Main Set: Long Road, Why Go, Given To Fly, The Fixer, Faithfull, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Got Some, Corduroy, In My Tree, Even Flow, Daughter/(Blitzkrieg Bop/It’s O.K.), State Of Love And Trust, Immortality, Lukin, Unthought Known, I Believe In Miracles, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: The End, Just Breathe, Hard To Imagine, Once, Do The Evolution

encore 2: Jeremy, Leash, Black/(We Belong Together), Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World, Indifference

Show Notes:

A rare first song setlist scratch begins the show, with the band opting for Long Road instead of Release. The crowd doesn’t mind, as they execute a perfect call-and-response during the outro. Ray Cameron, becoming a semi-regular guest on this…

Show Notes: 

A rare first song setlist scratch begins the show, with the band opting for Long Road instead of Release. The crowd doesn’t mind, as they execute a perfect call-and-response during the outro. Ray Cameron, becoming a semi-regular guest on this tour leg, joins on percussion for The Fixer. Ed greets the crowd and asks them to take care of each other and to “viel Spaß“ (have a good time). Faithfull makes its tour debut, a particularly rocking version in all of its quiet-loud glory. Ed toasts the crowd’s response to X and mentions having met a young boy named Andrew attending his first show, exclaiming “have a fucking blast, kid!” In My Tree is another highlight with Ed perfectly sitting in Matt’s unrushed groove before the song takes off. Mike’s mom Louise appears onstage and gets treated to ‘Happy Birthday’ by the crowd before Ed introduces Even Flow, joking “this next song is all her fault.” Mike tears the place down, with Ed stating after the solo “look ma, no hands!” Lukin leads into Unthought Known in a unique pairing. Ed says he visited the Ramones Museum for the first time yesterday and lauds the curators, locals Flo and Kathy, stating “It was always very important to [Johnny] that he be remembered” leading to a punchy I Believe in Miracles. Rearviewmirror includes the “I will forgive” lyric in the breakdown, with Ed asking the crowd to back up during the song. He opens the first encore asking the crowd to step back again, joking that “there’s good looking people here…we want to keep them that way.” A delicate The End and a surprise Hard to Imagine, brought back for the first time since 2009, highlight this section. It’s a throwback to the early days in the second encore, and an exuberant Leash is taken out of storage to the crowd’s delight. There’s an enormous banner in the audience calling for Rockin’ in the Free World (on July 4th), and the band obliges, this version bursting at the seams with a call and response section and Ray Cameron returning to help out on guitar. Indifference closes with the lights up, the crowd matching Ed’s volume at points. Lots of tour debuts and an enthusiastic crowd.

July 2, 2012 – O2 Arena, Prague, CZE

Main Set: Sometimes, Animal, Given To Fly, Got Some, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Gods’ Dice, The Fixer, I Am Mine, Corduroy, Even Flow, Setting Forth, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Push Me, Pull Me, Garden, ½ Full, Unthought Known, Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Why Go

encore 1: Of The Girl, Just Breathe, Crazy Mary/(Angie), Once, Do The Evolution

encore 2: World Wide Suicide, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Black/(We Belong Together), Alive, Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Ed greets the crowd in Czech: “Dobrý večer” (good evening), and he encourages the crowd to “…let me hear ya…” as Sometimes opens. Given to Fly lyric is changed to “…made it to the river, had a smoke on a…

Show Notes: 

Ed greets the crowd in Czech: “Dobrý večer” (good evening), and he encourages the crowd to “…let me hear ya…” as Sometimes opens. Given to Fly lyric is changed to “…made it to the river, had a smoke on a bridge…” Ed again makes special mention of openers X, introducing all the band members by name. They play Elderly Woman and afterwards, Ed says that while X were playing earlier in the night, he saw a vision of a god’s eye, and “this next song we’re going to call ‘Gods’ Eye’” before they launch into Gods’ Dice. Jeff is bouncing all over the stage during Corduroy. Matt lets loose on Push Me, Pull Me, which is followed by a haunting Garden. Ed asks to see all the flags in the crowd, saying it is a “multicolored flag audience,” and thanks everyone for having them visit. Ed yells “…what the FUCK?” after “…the haves be having more, yet still bored…” line in ½ Full, and uses his guitar to reflect a beam of light from one of the stage lights out into the audience and around the arena during Mike’s solo. Unthought Known is dedicated to John Doe of X. During Why Go, someone throws a Turkish flag up on stage which Ed drapes over the low speakers in front of him and it stays there for the rest of the show. The first encore begins with a beautiful Of the Girl, played for the first time since 2010. Just Breathe is played as a solo acoustic number by Ed, who dedicates it to two people Stone met: Xavier and Martha, who are about to “engage in a voyage of love together” and get married. Stone cruises around the stage for Crazy Mary, taking time to jam with everyone, and Mike saunters across to jam out with Boom for a fair chunk of the solo section. A brief “Angie” tag is added in at the end. Evolution closes out the first encore, and when the band leaves the stage, the audience keeps singing quietly until they walk back out and Ed joins them for a quick “whoa oh oh.” He tells the crowd that X’s lead singer Exene told him they were “a great fucking crowd tonight,” and thanks her for “starting the dance party.” To kick off the second encore, Ed introduces the band members using his loose version of Czech, saying “kytara” for guitar when he introduces Mike, “basa” (bass) for Jeff, and “bici’” (drums) for Matt. Boom is introduced in English, and because Stone holds Eddie’s notebook for him while he reads out his notes, he says “kytara and paper holder” when he introduces Stone. The crowd joins in and takes over parts of Better Man after Ed requests that they give him a break from singing. The lyrics at the end of Black are changed to “we didn’t belong together…” The crowd goes nuts when Ed starts throwing tambourines out during Baba O’Riley. Ed calls out “…alright Mikey, it’s all you buddy!” for Ledbetter and Mike delivers the goods. Good energy from the crowd and the band is in high spirits.

June 30, 2012 – Main Square Festival, La Citadelle, Arras, FRA

Main Set: Release, Go, Severed Hand, Do The Evolution, Better Man, Low Light, Amongst The Waves, Even Flow, Wishlist, Lukin, Corduroy, Nothingman, Arms Aloft, Unthought Known, The Fixer, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Given To Fly, Breath, Just Breathe, Black/(We Belong Together), Jeremy, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

After playing this festival two years earlier, PJ returns to headline the weekend. Ed’s voice, despite having played in Belgium the night before, sounds great on Release to open. The pacing of these first few songs is perfect and almost…

Show Notes: 

After playing this festival two years earlier, PJ returns to headline the weekend. Ed’s voice, despite having played in Belgium the night before, sounds great on Release to open. The pacing of these first few songs is perfect and almost slowed down from the frenetic pace that can sometimes be expected. It seems counterintuitive to call Go ‘slower’, but it is not at the breakneck pace that the song usually reaches, taking nothing away from the intensity. Ed thanks Florence and the Machine for:

“bringing the sunshine…literally and figuratively. And she also spoke incredibly great French, of which I will not even attempt to do.  We’re just going to keep playing…”

Ed tees up Low Light with “…this is just for this time of the evening. It’s just the perfect light for this song,” As Mike begins his Even Flow solo, Ed directs the crowd to “check this shit out right here…” Tonight’s Lukin joke is Ed imploring the crowd, “everyone sing!” They tear right into Corduroy without missing a beat, and the ending jam is one of the absolute highlights of the show.  Ed addresses the crowd after to give a bit of a break from the pace.

“…there’s a lot of flags from all kinds of different places here. It’s exciting to see. It’s nice to see a global community getting along. I wish the bankers and politicians could see how it all could work. We were going to play a quiet song, but I don’t know, the band in the house next to us, they might be louder than us. Maybe we should come back to the quiet one…we’ll try it. We’ll need your voices singing along to drown them out…” 

The close proximity of the festival, perhaps, leaves bands within earshot, however, the crowd obliges with their voices.  He talks about Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros before Arms Aloft and how it’s been 10 years since Joe passed. Unthought Known is “especially good under an open sky…” After Given to Fly, Ed gives a bit of a history lesson:

“Mr. Mike McCready, he wrote that part. All those years ago…we’ve been playing a long time, but before we even started, when I was still living in a gutter, writing songs in my bedroom, these two, Mr. Jeff Ament and Mr. Stone Gossard, were in a band. They’ve been in a band for almost 30 years. And if you’ve ever been in a band, any kind of relationship, for 30 years, that’s really incredible. Something to look up to as a monument. The new guy in the group, he’s been with us for 10 years, Mr. Boom Gaspar on the B3. Where are you Boom? Smoking pot on the job? And then years ago, before we were a group, or after Jeff and Stone’s second group, they got together and were putting together some songs, some of them ended up on a record called Temple of the Dog, some of them ended up on our first record, called…I can’t remember. But the first song that Jeff and Stone and this here drummer here played was this next one. This was the first song that Matt Cameron ever played with our guys here. Mr. Matt Cameron, who’s not only touring the world with our band but also another incredible band called Soundgarden. He’s officially the hardest working man in show business. Although that’s not what we call this. This is a song called Breath…”

After Breath, Ed segues “from Breath to Just Breathe…” Ed checks on the crowd’s ability to hear, as the other stage is likely coming through, and decides that if the crowd forgot the band’s first record as well, they’ll reintroduce them, beginning with an epic Black, capped off with We Belong Together. He encourages everyone to sing on Jeremy, which is highlighted not only by the crowd joining in, but Jeff’s amazing bass playing. “Can I just say this is the most memorable bottle of bordeaux I’ve had in my entire life,” offers Ed before Alive, and “…this is how we say au revoir” introduces Mike on Yellow Ledbetter. Ed adds a quick “I wanna stay all night” right after the first “I don’t want to stay” line. A huge ovation and Ed closes out the night:

“…merci beaucoup.  We’ll see you again I hope. Have a great weekend. Have a great life. Have a great rest of the night. Let’s make it so the world don’t come to an end. We’ll see you again I hope. Thank you. And we want to thank the other band, I don’t know who they are, but I just want to thank them for being part of the show. You guys go all night, have a great time, thanks for having us be part of it, cheers, good night, we love you. Au Revoir!”

June 29, 2012 – Rock Werchter Festival, Werchter Festival Park, Werchter, BEL

Main Set: Do The Evolution, Got Some, (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Given To Fly, World Wide Suicide, Comatose, Even Flow, Olé, The Fixer, Spin The Black Circle, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall (Pt. 2)), Just Breathe, Why Go, Jeremy, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

encore 1: Unthought Known, Public Image, Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

The show kicks into high gear with Do the Evolution to open. Ed addresses the crowd in Dutch before Got Some, and then the song has a false start. Ed tells the crowd that playing a big festival show is…

Show Notes: 

The show kicks into high gear with Do the Evolution to open. Ed addresses the crowd in Dutch before Got Some, and then the song has a false start. Ed tells the crowd that playing a big festival show is a lot of work and jumps into Interstellar Overdrive/Corduroy. Another false start on Olé follows, with Ed joking after the false start that the song is called “O.” Spin the Black Circle is dedicated to Jack White (who was on the bill for this festival) for keeping vinyl records alive with Third Man Records. The crowd starts singing the first verse of Better Man before Ed and he stops, commenting “Normally, I…sometimes…some guys come up and they ask for too much singing, but goddamn if you don’t sound good!” before starting the verse. At the start of the encore, Ed gives a shout out to some of the other musicians that played the Festival: X, Mastodon, Jack White and Gossip. He continues:

“…for everybody out there who’s a musician, all I can wish for you, well I wish you a nice, healthy, happy, long life…don’t stay in school. Sorry…oh, my kids aren’t here…”

He also talks about the beautiful view and finishes off with “…red wine has never tasted better…” before Unthought Known. Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads joins on stage for Rockin’ in the Free World, and Jeff and Mike switch instruments. There’s a mini stage invasion as some fans make their way onto the stage and are led off by security. No “Little Wing” tag on Ledbetter tonight, that streak comes to an end.

June 27, 2012 – Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, NED

Main Set: Wash, Last Exit, Animal, State Of Love And Trust, Severed Hand, Corduroy, I Got Shit, Daughter/(W.M.A.), Nothing As It Seems, Got Some, Dissident, Once, Glorified G, Deep, The Fixer, Bugs, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

encore 1: Release, Hail, Hail, Alone, Footsteps, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Crown Of Thorns, Sonic Reducer, Alive, Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

There have been guest contributors to setlists in the past, most notably the crew choosing the set in April 1994 at the Orpheum. As we would come to find out, tonight’s set was created by Brian Farias. Brian was an…

Show Notes: 

There have been guest contributors to setlists in the past, most notably the crew choosing the set in April 1994 at the Orpheum. As we would come to find out, tonight’s set was created by Brian Farias. Brian was an original member of the Mother Love Bone fan club, who was then grandfathered into the Ten Club. His reward for such loyalty was to not only attend both shows, but to help create the setlist for night two. Rolling Stone interviewed him and reported that 90% of his dream setlist was used that night. Following the house lights going down and the walk-on music of “Metamorphosis 2” by Philip Glass, it’s the familiar chords of Wash, the first of 11 tour debuts, 7 of which would not appear again on this tour. Ed’s voice, showing no ill effects of the previous night, hits the screaming lines at the end and the show is off and running. Matt Cameron’s driving beat powers Last Exit. Animal is next and the crowd gets a chance to take on lead vocals. If Wash was the first hint at something special, State of Love and Trust as the fourth song of the night is further proof. Following, Ed says:

“Last night I tried to speak a few words in a great language…I tried in Dutch. Today, I met somebody who said I spoke it in an absolute wonderful way. So I’ve met at least one liar in Amsterdam. But maybe he was just feeling sorry. I’m not going to speak in Dutch tonight. Another thing that happened last night, somebody at some point vomited and didn’t clean it up…this building is now an official rock and roll building…”  

The Ziggo Dome has only been open for three days, and Pearl Jam are the first rock band to play it. Corduroy has a ton of energy with great crowd involvement and great full-band jam to finish it off. After I Got Shit, Ed offers a toast:

“…to someone very special to us who is here tonight, someone who we’ve known all her life. She’s part of our family. She’s one of the coolest girls in all of Seattle and she’s here celebrating a birthday from being 11 to the magnificent age of 12. This is dedicated to Lily [Cornell Silver]. Happy birthday Lily, we love you.” 

There’s a lyric change in the first verse of Daughter, “…make her mama proud…” The original set list has an “It’s O.K.” tag listed, but W.M.A. is played instead, and the spacey guitar work by Mike carries the tag to another level, leading him to get a shoutout from Ed. Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers appears as Stone’s guitar tech during Nothing As It Seems. “You guys got some?” is how Ed introduces…Got Some. Dissident makes its only tour appearance next, and the next song on the setlist was Hitchhiker, which would have only been its second appearance, having made its debut in Manchester a week earlier. Instead, however, Once is played. After the song (and a little delay for the crowd ovation), Ed says:

“You can’t spend a couple days here and look around and not have a high level of admiration for seeing as many bikes as you do on the street. I wish back home we could trade in all the guns for bikes. You know, if you get mad at somebody you could try and run them over…this one here is dedicated to the states of Arizona and Florida, who seem to be in an arms race together. This song’s called Glorified G…” 

Ray Cameron helps out on percussion during The Fixer. One of Brian’s main requests had to be negotiated a bit, as Ed forgot to pack his accordion for the European tour, but it’s Bugs, the first one since the Spectrum in 2009, but this time it’s Ed on solo electric guitar! The crowd takes over the first verse of Better Man, to which Ed offers “thanks for that…” Out of the break, Ed again thanks the crowd, adding “It’s a little bit of a different setlist tonight…we had some help making it. This is one we don’t usually play here…” and Release opens the encore. “I think this is one for the serious collector…” introduces Alone, the first performance in over two years. A thunderous finish to a nearly 8-minute version of RVM closes out a unique and exhilarating first encore. “We got a few more, you all good?” asks Ed as the band returns. As a nod to Brian’s fan club status, Crown of Thorns begins the third set, a poignant and powerful performance. The crowd chanting to the beat during Alive as Mike plays his outro solo is wonderful. After introducing the band and thanking the crew, Ed finally lets us in on the evening’s plan:

“We’d like to thank also…you, come. [Brian comes up on stage] We had a little bit of help making the setlist. There [were] some people, a guy called Brian. He’s from the northeast part of the United States. He’s been with us since we played a little tiny club that was about from here to the barricade. He’s been listening to us ever since, and between the last two nights, we’ve reached…he kept a list…we’ve got him to 2500 songs played over the 20 years. So thanks for sticking around and making us think that we’re doing something important. Here’s to Brian everyone…”

Mike continues the run of LIttle Wing tags on Ledbetter, and Ed leaves with “…thank you Ziggo Dome…thank you up there. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

June 26, 2012 – Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, NED

Main Set: (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Why Go, Given To Fly, Brain Of J., Amongst The Waves, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, In Hiding, Even Flow, World Wide Suicide, Rats, Lukin, Not For You, Better Things, Nothingman, The Fixer, Do The Evolution

encore 1: Last Kiss, Just Breathe, Comatose, Unthought Known, Porch

encore 2: Smile, Green Disease, Love Reign O’er Me, Black/(We Belong Together), Rockin’ In The Free World, Indifference

Show Notes:

During the opening chords of Given to Fly, Ed holds the mic stand and pumps it up into the air, almost like an extension of his fist. He sings “…made it out to Holland, smoked a joint in a tree…”…

Show Notes: 

During the opening chords of Given to Fly, Ed holds the mic stand and pumps it up into the air, almost like an extension of his fist. He sings “…made it out to Holland, smoked a joint in a tree…” Mike looks rather suave in a dapper suit jacket. Ed greets the audience with his gravelly “hello” after Amongst the Waves. He follows with “Goedenavond Amsterdam” (‘Good evening Amsterdam’). He talks to the crowd in broken Dutch and it roughly translates to

“This is our twelfth time playing in Holland. I hope it’s the best ever. This is the first rock and roll show in this new venue. Let’s write history together. The rest of the show I’ll speak English as my Dutch is fuck.” 

Mike is introduced as ‘Mike David McCready’ before Even Flow kicks off. During the second chorus, after he sings “thoughts arrive like butterflies,” Ed clasps his hands together and motions butterflies fluttering away. He introduces “a nice quiet one for a singalong” and they belt out Lukin, going straight into Not For You without taking a beat. The audience covers the first two lines of the second verse when Ed appears to forget the lyric. He watches them, says “got it” and jumps back in for the second half of the verse. He also changes the lyrics to “…with no power and so much to prove…” After Not For You, Ed addresses the crowd again:

“It’s a little different tonight, and pretty special for us. The first time we ever played here, a long time ago, we were kids, and now we HAVE kids. They’re all here tonight, all the kids came. They’re just getting old enough. They’re pretty wise and worldly and of all the places they wanted to come, it’s pretty obvious why they wanted to come here. And I’m just gonna leave it at that so as not to incur any suspicion from the authorities concerning our parenting. We’re gonna play this next one for the kids. It’s a Kinks song, called Better Days.” 

The song is in fact called Better Things, but nobody’s correcting him, and it’s the live debut! Ed messes up the verses of Evolution and it comes out as a mishmash of both with a made up line: “…wanna say I wanna do it again yeah..I’m at peace with my lust…” At the end of Last Kiss, Eddie plays a little of “Pulled Up” by the Talking Heads. Smile and Green Disease are crowd requests, with Ed saying Green Disease is “about a scourge, a disease on the planet…the disease is greed.” During Rockin’ in the Free World, the band are joined on stage by John Doe of X and Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads, who both play tambourine and sing back up, and Ray Cameron, Matt’s son, on guitar. At some point Mike takes his shirt off, loses the guitar, and plays tambourine instead, while Jeff and Ed launch themselves into the air in unison as the song closes out. In his usual signoff for the evening, when he mentions all band members by name, Ed precedes Mike’s name with “He started off the night fully dressed, he looked quite natty, now he’s close to naked, Mr. Mike McCready…” He also gives a special mention to D.J. Bonebrake, X’s drummer, and the rest of the band, who opened the show. The house lights come on as Indifference closes the show with a slight lyric change: “I might change direction, and I might change my mind…” Ed tells the crowd “be good, be well, be strong…” before exiting.

June 23, 2012 – Isle of Wight Festival, Seaclose Park, Newport, Isle of Wight, ENG

Main Set: Unthought Known, Last Exit, Hail, Hail, The Fixer, Rain, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Supersonic, Given To Fly, Untitled, MFC, Even Flow, Setting Forth, Corduroy, Arms Aloft, Jeremy, Why Go

encore 1: Got Some, Daughter/(Blitzkrieg Bop), Just Breathe, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Porch

encore 2: Blood, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

Isle of Wight Festival organizer John Giddings referred to this weekend as his “American Trilogy” with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen, and PJ headlining the 3 respective nights. The set begins with an uplifting Unthought Known, the last…

Show Notes: 

Isle of Wight Festival organizer John Giddings referred to this weekend as his “American Trilogy” with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen, and PJ headlining the 3 respective nights. The set begins with an uplifting Unthought Known, the last time (to date) it has opened a show. The vibe is contrasted abruptly with a smash and grab version of Last Exit, and a muscular Hail, Hail follows, with the crowd enthusiastically taking the clapping section. Ed then checks on the crowd, asking “Good evening, everybody got their boots on?” referencing the muddy festival grounds. A full cover of the Beatles’ “Rain” is debuted as a nod to the wet English festival weather, with Ed’s vocals here more laid back than future versions. Jeff really stands out here with his take on the McCartney bassline flowing rich and steady. A heavy and tight Supersonic is introduced by Ed as “this one is about live music being your favorite drug.”  Untitled sees Ed weaving the weather into the lyrics:

“Got a car, got some gas…

let’s go camping in the rain and the mud,

and get out of here fast.

We don’t need no things…

I got pounds and friends and guys that give us free beer.

I want to go but I don’t want to go alone.”

He mentions Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros after Corduroy, saying “…you know who would’ve loved this? Joe Strummer, he would have loved this fucking place…this is a song he wrote years ago after going to a few festivals himself,” before cranking into Arms Aloft. The crowd may not have been familiar with it but the band wins them over by the end with a fierce performance, and they close the main set with a double dose of Ten in Jeremy and Why Go to get everyone singing along again. In the encore, Ed talks about hearing Willie Nelson’s version of Just Breathe and what an honor it was, and says he can only hear Willie’s voice singing the song now, even doing a short impression of the country legend, adding “…he sings it better than me.” He uses his own voice during the song, however, which is dedicated to “Rebecca and her boyfriend…I hope they made it, and thanks for my guitar.” Ed improvs a little on the Save it for Later tag:

“Wherever you go, take me with you…wherever I go, I need you here,

wherever you go, please take me with you…wherever I go, I need you near”

Encore two opens with Ed mentioning some of the other bands at the festival and asks the crowd to say hello to ‘Uncle Bruce’ for them. He continues:

“I don’t know how this applies, something that Jeff said to me that bears repeating, ‘give a man a gun and he’ll rob a bank. Give a man a bank and he’ll rob the world.’ We gotta keep an eye on them. Justice for some of these people that are making a lot of other people suffer and they just don’t care at all. This song is called Blood.” 

Blood scorches loud and hot before leading into a big singalong for Alive, and for the second show in a row, Mike adds a tease of “Little Wing” into the Ledbetter solo.

June 21, 2012 – Manchester Arena, Manchester, ENG

Main Set: Go, Animal, Hail, Hail, I Am Mine, Wishlist, Even Flow, Lukin, Not For You, Down, Amongst The Waves, Daughter/(W.M.A.), Deep, Present Tense, Once, Save You, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

encore 1: Inside Job, Off He Goes, Just Breathe, Hitchhiker, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Alive, Sonic Reducer, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

Night 2 in Manchester opens with ripping versions of Go, Animal, and Hail, Hail to set the pace for the night ahead. Ed applauds the crowd for having “more energy than all the bankers and all the accountants that must…

Show Notes: 

Night 2 in Manchester opens with ripping versions of Go, Animal, and Hail, Hail to set the pace for the night ahead. Ed applauds the crowd for having “more energy than all the bankers and all the accountants that must have come to last night’s gig,” and says that the “beautiful rainy day…reminds us of Seattle,” before transitioning into I Am Mine. Later, Ed introduces Mike as “one of the best friends you can have in your life” before a three-headed attack on Even Flow, with Mike pulling out his bag of tricks, then Stone takes over with a melodic lead, and Matt brings it home with a thunderous drum fill. Prior to Deep, Ed talks about how he thinks assholes are put here so that we don’t become like them before recounting the song’s origin:

“I was walking in Seattle, I’d only lived there less than a year, and a lighter kinda fell out of the sky onto the sidewalk, and I looked down and I looked up to see where it was coming from, and about four stories up there was a guy, real skinny, kinda scabby-looking dude in a windowsill with a band around his arm, putting a needle into his elbow, the inside of his elbow, and man, once I saw that I just knew I would never fucking do that, it was the most pathetic-looking thing I’d ever seen…”

The theme of troubled souls seeking affirmation continues throughout the set with stirring versions of Down, Present Tense, and Save You. Stirring crowd participation on the Better Man intro. In the encore, Just Breathe is dedicated to a couple, Lisa and Tobias, who met at the 2010 Hyde Park show. Ed talks about all the firsts that have happened in Manchester, the first railway station, splitting the atom, and says they’re going to try something less important but just as hard, and it’s the live debut (and only performance to date) of Hitchhiker! The band ably performs the song, which has a slightly extended jam/bridge, even with Mike checking to see what the other band members are doing and Stone laughing about the whole thing. The final encore concludes the narrative around the theme of escapism turned to progress with Life Wasted and Alive. Comic moment after Alive as Mike, without looking, holds out his guitar for the tech to take, but no tech comes, leading him to have to put the guitar back on quickly as Sonic Reducer starts. He throws in a short “Little Wing” tease in the Ledbetter solo and after finishing, goes out into the crowd and gives someone his “NUDEDRAGONS” shirt, returning to the stage shirtless for the bow and then using his camera to film the crowd, as he’s the last to leave the stage.

June 20, 2012 – Manchester Arena, Manchester, ENG

Main Set: Release, Do The Evolution, Corduroy, The Fixer, Given To Fly, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Pilate, Even Flow, Unthought Known, Nothingman, 1/2 Full, Insignificance, Why Can't I Touch It?, Immortality, Got Some, Why Go

encore 1: Just Breathe, Black/(We Belong Together), State Of Love And Trust, Arms Aloft, Porch

encore 2: Better Man/(Save It For Later), Come Back, Jeremy, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

Show Notes:

Ed’s voice is in good shape already on this, the first night of tour, with a soaring Release to open and the crowd heartily singing along. Just before the Corduroy solo, he shouts “you got it!” across to Mike. Ed…

Show Notes: 

Ed’s voice is in good shape already on this, the first night of tour, with a soaring Release to open and the crowd heartily singing along. Just before the Corduroy solo, he shouts “you got it!” across to Mike. Ed reminisces after Given to Fly:

“…the first time we played Manchester was February 21st, 1992…we played about ten songs, that’s all that we knew…we know more than that now, and there’s more people here now.” 

He introduces his guitar tech Pete, saying “I thought he might have been from Manchester but he’s from Cornwall – good surf!” After Even Flow, he introduces “Mr. Mike McCready on the Fender Stratocaster,” then adding an introduction to the guitar he is holding: “…this here is a Fender Telecaster.” The Buzzcocks’ “Why Can’t I Touch It?” is briefly covered for the first time in the band’s history not as a Wishlist tag. Ed then begins Immortality but makes a mistake during the intro, leading him to say “Please present me with another guitar – as much as that guitar tries, it’ll never be as good of a friend to me as this one.” After the break, he gives a “special toast to the back” and states how he usually gets healthy on tour, as “the doctors and scientists agree that a bottle of wine a day is healthy for you…oh, a glass? Fuck that!” Just Breathe is dedicated to Liz and Tim who got married the previous week, and toasts Liz and Simon, part of the crew who were recently married. He goes on to toast “all of the newlyweds, particularly all the men who married someone called Liz” – and then states it must be good, as “Richard Burton married Liz [Elizabeth Taylor] twice.” Following Arms Aloft, Ed acknowledges “one of the great songwriters and humans to ever walk the earth, Mr. Joe Strummer,” then offers yet another toast, “to Joe, we’re still thinking about you man.” He mentions the recent stage collapse in Toronto in which Radiohead lost a crew member: “it’s a tragedy, our crew are our family and I’m sure it’s the same for them,” sending their love and thoughts to Radiohead, their family, and crew. Ed explains Come Back will be played after a request from a fan he met the previous day, because “life is fragile – if you have a request, make it known.” A vibrant Alive sees War Pigs tagged onto the solo. Closing the proceedings with Rockin’ in the Free World, Ed shouts during the intro “we’ve never played this one in Manchester before!” During the song there’s a call-and-response chant with the still-vocal Manchester crowd and “Mr. John Doe from X!” is introduced mid-song to join in. Ed leaves the stage with “…thanks for having us, it’s good to be back on the road, alright Manchester!”