June 20, 2012 – Manchester Arena, Manchester, ENG

Pearl Jam Show Notes 6/20/2012:

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!”