June 27, 2012 – Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, NED

Pearl Jam Show Notes 6/27/2012:

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.”