2014 Pearl Jam Concerts, Tour Dates & Show Reviews

October 26, 2014 – Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA, USA

Main Set: Better Man, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, The Kids Are Alright, Sirens, Black, Just Breathe, Hunger Strike, Throw Your Hatred Down

Show Notes:

Ed walks onto the Bridge School stage for the 17th time and addresses the crowd by saying “Good evening, campers!” Better Man is performed with a substantial Save It For Later tag for the first time at Bridge. After Elderly…

Show Notes:

Ed walks onto the Bridge School stage for the 17th time and addresses the crowd by saying “Good evening, campers!” Better Man is performed with a substantial Save It For Later tag for the first time at Bridge. After Elderly Woman, Ed thanks the Bridge School for educating them about communication, compassion, possibilities, positive reinforcement and unconditional love before leading into a rare performance of The Kids Are Alright. A slight lyric change occurs in the song to “these kids are alright”, clearly addressing the Bridge School students. Speaking of students, Sirens is a request from Maricor. The performance is tuned a bit higher than usual, but in a rare move, Mike actually breaks out an electric guitar for this version. Black is tagged with a unique, passionate improv including these lyrics:

“Where did you go?
I wish I could’ve talked to you
I wish I could’ve called you one last time to say I miss you.
Good luck, goodbye.”

The remainder of the set would include a trio of guest appearances. Up first, Ed introduces Lukas Nelson (son of Willie) to the stage for a performance of Just Breathe. It turns out that Lukas and Ed are wearing the same hat, to which Ed asks if he got it at the same shop in Hawaii. During Just Breathe, it seems as though Boom is playing on a small child’s keyboard. Following the performance, Ed asks if there are any other good “Chris Cornell-type singers out there?” Cornell enters and joins the band for the second rendition of Hunger Strike in consecutive days. The patriarch of the benefit, Neil Young, comes onto the stage to play Throw Your Hatred Down. Ed states that they wrote the song together, but had to reteach it to him. The Bridge School run comes to a close with a last image of Neil with Pearl Jam on stage thrashing in his seat, taking back and forth solos with Mike, and smiling from ear to ear the entire time.

October 25, 2014 – Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA, USA

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Rain, Sleeping By Myself, Daughter, Given To Fly, Last Kiss, Fuckin' Up, Hunger Strike

Show Notes:

“Good evening! No…it’s a great evening!” Ed says that playing the Bridge School benefit is one of the “honors of a lifetime.” Rain is played due to the local weatherman’s (incorrect) prediction that it would be a cold and rainy…

Show Notes:

“Good evening! No…it’s a great evening!” Ed says that playing the Bridge School benefit is one of the “honors of a lifetime.” Rain is played due to the local weatherman’s (incorrect) prediction that it would be a cold and rainy night. Mike provides some strong backing vocals and Ed imitates the reverse record effect featured in the Beatles original. Daughter is dedicated to a friend named Drew, and afterwards Ed suggests that people may think they might be having an acid flashback seeing Matt Cameron back on stage for a second time, as he had played with Soundgarden earlier that evening. He wishes happy birthday to Matt’s son Ray and a happy anniversary to him and his wife April before Given To Fly, which makes its Bridge debut. Ed introduces Maricor, no stranger to the Bridge School shows, who he says they met 20 years ago when she was 14, adding that she has since graduated from Berkeley with degrees in Psychology and Women’s Studies, and dedicates Last Kiss to her once again. Touching moment during the song as Ed goes up to sing to Maricor and the rest of the kids. With young children in the crowd, Ed says they want to take a chance at something, but were unsure if it was appropriate for the setting. They asked Neil for permission to play Fuckin’ Up, saying there was a Billy Idol Bridge School performance where he sang “ride a pony, fuck a pony,” and Neil gave them his approval saying everyone fucks up, it’s part of the curriculum. To close the show, Ed introduces a friend “who lives in their neighborhood, but they never get a chance to see” to help out on the next song. Chris Cornell comes on stage and Hunger Strike is played for the first time since PJ20. Chris seems a little off during the performance, lagging behind on his vocals and seemingly watching Ed for the lyrics at one point, there would be a much stronger effort on the song the next night.

October 22, 2014 – Pepsi Center, Denver, CO, USA

Main Set: Release, Low Light, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Last Exit, Why Go, Lightning Bolt, Mind Your Manners, Setting Forth, Leatherman, My Father’s Son, Even Flow, Ghost, Present Tense, Do The Evolution, Eruption, Of The Earth, Given To Fly, Sirens, Don’t Gimme No Lip, Lukin, Porch

encore 1: Future Days, Sleight Of Hand, Imagine, Mother, Last Kiss, Breath, Leash, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Once, Black/(We Belong Together), State Of Love And Trust, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Alive, Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetter/(Star-Spangled Banner)

Show Notes:

“Good evening, welcome to the last night of the tour, glad you could make it.” Ed holds the last line of Low Light for 17(!) seconds. Matt quickly transitions from Last Exit into Why Go. Afterwards, Ed mentions the elevation…

Show Notes:

“Good evening, welcome to the last night of the tour, glad you could make it.” Ed holds the last line of Low Light for 17(!) seconds. Matt quickly transitions from Last Exit into Why Go. Afterwards, Ed mentions the elevation and the legalization of marijuana, and how Denver and Seattle are “sister cities on the right side of history.” Lightning Bolt is dedicated to Hannah, who recently had a kidney transplant, and Ed adds “…towards the great mountains…” Before Setting Forth, he talks about friendships built through music, dedicating it to the McCandless family, some of the sisters are in attendance. My Father’s Son is “to all the good fathers out there, for hopefully not becoming one of the bad ones.” After a frantic Even Flow, Ed mentions he was filming for his three brothers and shouts out Pete Cameron in attendance, saying Matt “is one of the greatest humans to ever get behind a drum kit.” Ghost follows, with a nod to Jeff for writing it. Ed goes up to the high register early on Present Tense. Introducing Eruption, Ed mentions the conversation from earlier about building childhood relationships with artists through music. Of The Earth, played for the first time since 2012, has an extended ending. Sirens is for “Todd, Kelly, and a little one named Alex,” adding that the singalong ending will be “the last time we’ll get to hear that for a while.” Stone thanks Ed prior to Don’t Gimme No Lip. Ed plays a slow, beautiful, melodic rendition of Lukin before the band kicks in and plays it the fast way, a very unique performance. Mike breaks one of the orbs during Porch.

After the break, Ed comments “we’ve got lights to break, songs to play, and different ways of saying goodbye,” and points out that the Canadian flag is slightly bigger than the American flag. Future Days is just Ed and Boom, and it’s dedicated to John and Ruth, Ed says “it’s not just the soldier, it’s their whole family.” He sends a wine bottle to the last row before Sleight of Hand. Mike has a wonderful solo on Breath. Ed sings the original “…get out of my fucking face” lines in Leash until about halfway through, when the “lucky face” line reemerges. He thanks everyone for staying, saying “we didn’t know until yesterday that 24 years ago today was our first gig in Seattle,” and as the crowd sings Happy Birthday, he adds “we’re proud to be in a long relationship…had to divorce a couple of drummers, but Jeff and Stone have been together for 30 years, thank you for the ride of our lives.” Mike has everyone hanging on every note of the Black solo, with a plaintive We Belong Together tag. As Boom begins to play Wasted Reprise, Ed continues:

“So I was thinking back today…October 22, we played our first show, not to be self-congratulatory, but October 23, it was a Sunday I think, we went in and recorded the 8 songs we had, or maybe 9 songs…October 24, I went back to work in the gas station in San Diego, it was like a crazy dream, except I had the tape! I had the tape, and working the midnight shift, and I could play the tape…and it really happened, and who knew what would happen, but I will tell you this, October 25 I think was the day I gave my 30-day notice. It’s a good feeling to just be able to say “I’m outta here…”

As Mike intros Baba O’Riley, Ed exclaims “here’s to The Who…50!” Yellow Ledbetter is prefaced with Ed thanking the whole crew, adding

“This is our way of saying goodbye…it guess it has to happen at some point, this is goodbye…no! It’s like Hawaiian-style, you don’t say goodbye, you say ‘a hui hou,’ see you next time, ‘shaka, a hui hou!’”

October 20, 2014 – BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI, USA

Main Set: Pendulum, Mind Your Manners, Corduroy, Lightning Bolt, Baba O’Riley, Brain of J., Faithfull, No Way, Given To Fly, Wishlist, Pilate, Do The Evolution, MFC, Low Light, In Hiding, Push Me, Pull Me, All Those Yesterdays, Even Flow, Sirens, Rats, Setting Forth, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Sleeping By Myself, Just Breathe, I Won’t Back Down, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Got Some, Jeremy, Lukin, Porch

encore 2: Crazy Mary, Black, Alive, Fuckin’ Up, Yellow Ledbetter/(Star-Spangled Banner)

Show Notes:

Red Dot plays over the PA before the band takes the stage, possibly for the first time since the 1998 tour. Before Baba O’Riley (unusual in the early set here), Ed mentions how things are going to be different tonight,…

Show Notes:

Red Dot plays over the PA before the band takes the stage, possibly for the first time since the 1998 tour.

Before Baba O’Riley (unusual in the early set here), Ed mentions how things are going to be different tonight, starting with a guest “from the great state of Illinois…from the city of Rockford, royalty, legend, Mr. Rick Nielsen!” Mike and Rick are playing the same guitar. The celebration starts early, with lots of tambourines and guitar picks flying into the crowd. Ed follows with some call and response with the crowd and then sings the chorus of Surrender, “Mikey’s alright, Rickey’s alright,” and the crowd joins in.

A quick “alright, it’s on,” before busting into Brain of J. Faithfull and No Way follow, and just 3 nights after Moline, it’s the Yield album in full! A few screams of recognition before Faithfull and a few more before No Way, and it builds to a fantastic Given to Fly, before which Ed talks about how there’s royalty in the house tonight, and dedicates GTF to Aaron Rodgers, changing the lyric to “…ran for hundreds of yards…” Jeff is given props for writing Pilate, “words and everything.” Ed says “time to flip the side” before Do the Evolution. Prior to Push Me, Pull Me, Ed says “this was not a…radio single, this was back when we felt like we had the trust of the audience,” and has some fun with it, adding “who the FUCK came up with love…” He tells along, funny story about wanting to try beer as an 8 year old with a friend, they had Hamm’s and Old Milwaukee; he remembers that the slogan was “It tastes as great as its name,” then laughs about how the name isn’t that great of a name and how it’s like “Old Dusty.” After All Those Yesterdays finishes Yield, he teases “now we’re going to play all of an album called Lost Dogs, this is how it starts…” before Stone launches into the familiar Even Flow riff. Mike absolutely rips apart the solo over nearly 3 minutes, maybe the best of the whole tour.

Ed reads a note from a woman named Diane, who had to travel to Korea to take care of her father, to Chuck, saying she’s thinking about you, and dedicates Sirens to him. A cheesehead makes its way on stage, getting a big crowd reaction, Ed jokes it must be a urinal, and says they had a request and that they have to play it “because of…this [points to cheesehead]” and that he can’t put it on because he’s from Chicago, getting a huge cheer from the crowd, and Rats makes it only appearance on the US leg. Ed talks about Aaron Rodgers again, expressing his frustration as a Bears fan:

“You know what would really be great? If Aaron Rodgers… if we can trade him so he can be on the Chicago Bears that would be really great. I did get the chance to say hello to him before the show, and I brought up that theory that maybe we can just do a straight trade of Jay Cutler for Aaron Rodgers. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a grown man laugh so hard. So [I suggested] maybe Jay Cutler and three mini Ditkas?”

They play Setting Forth at his request (Rodgers said after the show that he requested Rise). After Just Breathe, Ed asks the crowd to help him wish Tom Petty a happy birthday, surprising him by going behind a curtain then revealing the entire crowd, then leading the crowd singing Happy Birthday before playing I Won’t Back Down solo electric with the crowd singing every word. Boom throws in some riffs from Paint It Black to the epic Crazy Mary solo. Black is dedicated to Bucks legend Bobby Dandridge, Ed adds some improv lines at the end, “…wish I could call you one last time…just to say…goodbye…” He puts on a “Vedder 10” Packers jersey before Fuckin’ Up, and Stone dons the cheesehead. Green Bay backup quarterback Matt Flynn is lifted up on his linemen’s shoulders during the song. Fittingly, Hummus, the hidden track at the end of Yield, is played as an outro over the PA after the show.

October 19, 2014 – Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, USA

Main Set: Pendulum, Release, Nothingman, Go, Life Wasted, Corduroy, Lightning Bolt, Mind Your Manners, Save You, Even Flow, Sirens, Love Boat Captain/(Jumpin’ Jack Flash), Daughter/(Blitzkrieg Bop), I Got Id, The Fixer, Unthought Known, Given To Fly, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Thin Air, Footsteps, Imagine, Last Kiss, Why Go, Do The Evolution, Porch

encore 2: Black, Setting Forth, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World, Indifference

Show Notes:

Release lyric is changed to “Dear Ron…” Nice solo/jam to end Lightning Bolt. Before Save You, Ed says “this one’s called ‘Get off your knees, motherfucker, I’m your friend and I’m not going to let you die’,” then does a…

Show Notes:

Release lyric is changed to “Dear Ron…” Nice solo/jam to end Lightning Bolt. Before Save You, Ed says “this one’s called ‘Get off your knees, motherfucker, I’m your friend and I’m not going to let you die’,” then does a short call and response with the crowd, going high, and commenting “not bad for a bunch of manly men from Minnesota.” Mike is fluid and expressive on Even Flow. Ed gets more intricate on the Sirens outro, adding some vocal inflections. A powerful Love Boat Captain again opens with a jam intro, and later, during the ending jam, Ed adds some lyrics from “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” before doing the “Love” call and response to end it. Before I Got Id, Ed sees a Canadian flag and mentions that the next song was written with a Canadian friend of theirs, Neil Young. Following The Fixer, Ed praises the University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital for their work on EB, and invites the Dean of the Medical School, Jakub Tolar, on stage. Ed discusses his work and says he gave a tour of the UM facilities to Ed and Stone the day before, so Ed gives him a tour of Pearl Jam’s “facilities” on stage, after which Dr. Tolar speaks and thanks the band, and Ed starts Unthought Known immediately after he finishes. The RVM jam is melodic and atmospheric.

After the break, Ed jokes about how he doesn’t know what day of the week it is and that he’s falling apart, blaming Matt’s drumming for his hearing loss and staring at the sun for his loss of vision. Thin Air is dedicated to Gabriella with “sometimes people are like a fine wine…sometimes, the best ones are Italian.” Ed does a gender reveal for a couple in the crowd, just as Porch begins they find out it’s a boy. Stone starts Alive after Black, and Ed waves him off, leading to a little jazz improv break before playing Setting Forth instead. As Better Man transitions into Save It For Later, Ed urges the crowd on, saying “I know it’s late, let’s keep going!” The house lights go up for Indifference, and before he starts singing, he offers:

“hey, if we ever happen to meet somewhere…Mexico, South America, Texas, Seattle, Chicago…if there’s a way…just tell me you were here, the drinks are on me…”

October 17, 2014 – iWireless Center, Moline, IL, USA

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Sometimes, Hail, Hail, Who You Are, In My Tree, Smile, Off He Goes, Habit, Red Mosquito, Lukin, Present Tense, Mankind, I’m Open, Around The Bend, Given To Fly, (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Mind Your Manners, Brain Of J., Infallible, Even Flow, Gone, Garden, Porch

encore 1: Moline, Bee Girl, Imagine, In Hiding, Lightning Bolt, Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Why Go

encore 2: Eruption, Alive, Fuckin’ Up, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

“We’re gonna do something a little different tonight”, says Ed as the band finishes up In My Tree. In a relatively small venue, after an Elderly Woman opener, the band proceeds to play No Code in its entirety. Who You…

Show Notes:

“We’re gonna do something a little different tonight”, says Ed as the band finishes up In My Tree. In a relatively small venue, after an Elderly Woman opener, the band proceeds to play No Code in its entirety. Who You Are has an amusing start, as Jeff starts playing the bass line to In My Tree by accident before correcting himself. Off He Goes is gorgeous. Mike absolutely destroys Red Mosquito. I’m Open makes its first appearance since 2010. Around The Bend shuffles nicely, with a great melodic McCready lead.

After Given to Fly, Ed says they only have 2 songs left in the main set, which the crowd doesn’t like, so Ed says they’ll play a couple more and then “make some shit up.” He makes good on the promise, with a whopping 23-song main set, including a dedication to Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick, who lives nearby, after Infallible, with Ed teasing a little bit of Surrender after asking Mike if he was playing Rick’s guitar. Ed talks about Around the Bend again after Even Flow, saying that a fan in the front helped him with the opening lyric, and goes on to say that it was written for Jack Irons’ son Zach, but he didn’t want it to be just a lullaby

“…you can hear it as a lullaby or you can hear it as a serial killer singing to the person he just killed…how I want your soul to keep, off around the bend…”

Gone is played for the first time all year, by request. After the break, Ed asks, “We were just in the back, as if it were a kitchen just cooking up the next course…is everyone still hungry?” Then he asks the crowd “Who actually lives in Moline?” and says “I came up with a dish just for you guys,” and plays a new song that he says he wrote 10 minutes before the show, explaining

“it’s a similar song to Better Man…this woman is in a relationship with a complete and utter asshole, prick, abuser, misogynist motherfucker…unlike Better Man, this one leaves.”

Bee Girl is played as a request for a young girl named Allie in the crowd who is at her first show. Ed changes the words in In Hiding to “it seems so fucking simple now…sorry Allie!” Jeremy features a very loud crowd singalong. Mike wails on Eruption, which leads right into a great version of Alive. Matt lays down a great groove on Fuckin’ Up with both Mike and Stone soloing during the ending jam, sometimes parallel. After Yellow Ledbetter, Ed takes some time to give some extra shout-outs and thank you’s.

October 16, 2014 – Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI, USA

Main Set: Release, Oceans, Nothingman, Go, Mind Your Manners, (I Wanna Be Your Dog)/Corduroy, Lightning Bolt, Amongst The Waves, Even Flow, Light Years, Got Some, Dissident, Black, Red, Yellow/(Stranglehold), Lukin, Not For You, Once, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Man Of The Hour, Imagine, Last Kiss, Comatose, State Of Love And Trust, Black, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

encore 2: Do The Evolution, Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, (Detroit Rock City), Spin The Black Circle, Alive, Kick Out The Jams, Baba O’Riley, Indifference

Show Notes:

Crowd is loud from the outset. Release and Oceans are played back-to-back for the first time, nearly 25 years into the band’s career! After the opening trio, Ed relents and states “Alright let’s do this,” leading into an energetic Go…

Show Notes:

Crowd is loud from the outset. Release and Oceans are played back-to-back for the first time, nearly 25 years into the band’s career! After the opening trio, Ed relents and states “Alright let’s do this,” leading into an energetic Go and a breakneck Mind Your Manners. The band jams on the Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog” as an intro to Corduroy, a nod to the seminal Detroit combo. Amongst the Waves is dedicated to couples. Ed promises to play more than 7 songs, “unlike our first Detroit show.” Just like in Memphis, Ed gives his condolences for the loss of Ikey Owens, this time before Light Years. During Dissident, Ed starts to show a little fatigue, drinks some water, and motions to Stone to cut the next song (would have been Swallowed Whole). Dennis Rodman gets a shout-out after Black, Red, Yellow. Ed makes a long-winded dedication of Lukin to Matt Lukin, who’s in attendance. Someone has a sign for Get RIght, and Ed says the band forgot it because it’s about smoking pot. No Modern Girl tag on Not For You, just a hybrid of the original outro with the Modern Girl chords. Ed breaks one of the hanging orbs with his guitar during RVM.

After the break, Ed jokes about Detroit being the “Paris of the Midwest” and paddle boarding to Canada. Band is seated for Man of the Hour. Ed plays Imagine solo, then the band returns to play Last Kiss to the back of the arena. Black has an improv at the end, including the lines “…all’s well that ends well…” and “…I hope I never have to see you again…” Ed and Mike roughhouse at the end of Better Man, and Ed smashes his guitar after some theatrical windmills. “Detroit Rock CIty” is teased before Spin the Black Circle. Ed has a Red Wings jersey during Alive, and Mike goes down in front to play the solo. Ed “collapses” during Baba and revives himself with push-ups. Many thank you’s and cheers to the crowd after Indifference.

October 14, 2014 – FedEx Forum, Memphis, TN, USA

Main Set: Pendulum, Wash, Low Light, Why Go, All Night, Mind Your Manners, Even Flow, Improv, Lightning Bolt, Sirens, 1/2 Full, Garden, Alone, Wishlist, Given To Fly, Let The Records Play, Spin The Black Circle, Black, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Nothing As It Seems, Come Back, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Do The Evolution, Breath, Porch

encore 2: Once, Crazy Mary, Better Man, Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Dave Krusen is in attendance. Early on in the night, Ed comments how he caught a cold at the Austin City Limits show a few days prior, but he’s “pretty sure it’s not Ebola,” hinting that if a bottle happens…

Show Notes:

Dave Krusen is in attendance. Early on in the night, Ed comments how he caught a cold at the Austin City Limits show a few days prior, but he’s “pretty sure it’s not Ebola,” hinting that if a bottle happens to get passed around later in the show, everyone who takes a sip is risking their lives. The band seems to make up for this by absolutely crushing it all night, with Mike in particular just on fire. Pendulum and Wash pair beautifully in the opening sequence, it was raining all day before the show. After Mind Your Manners, Ed comments how the new venue is much nicer than the old Pyramid, and the crowd cheers in agreement. Prior to Lightning Bolt, Ed plays a short improv about getting someone who you’ve lost back in your life. Sirens has a nice extended outro singalong. Ed says Half Full is “about something we love but something that doesn’t give a fuck about us: the planet.” Garden is dedicated to someone named Clinton. Ed tells a funny story about being in San Diego years ago and going outside a venue for a smoke, and the bouncer commenting how he looked like “the singer in that band,” to which Ed replied, “I met that guy years ago and he’s a total asshole!” The bouncer then proceeds to say “Yeah man, he’s a total dick.” Before he went back into the venue, he showed the bouncer his passport, and the guy said, “Oh man, it’s so nice to meet you!” Alone is played for the first time in 2014, “for all you serious collectors.” Wishlist is extended with several lines. Let The Records Play goes out to “Sun and Stax records, and vinyl,” followed by Spin The Black Circle. Ed improvs again during Black, and a stellar Rearviewmirror closes the main set.

After the break, Ed jokes that the band is more than happy to end early so folks can go to last call at the bars on Beale St. (which receives a lot of boos), and the encore opens with Nothing As It Seems. Come Back is dedicated to “Ikey” (Isaiah Owens, keyboardist for Jack White, Mars Volta, Long Beach Dub All-Stars), who passed away during the day. Mike highlights a scorching version of Breath. Ed tells a story about the band taking a tour of the Gibson guitar factory (which was very close to the venue), and the guide saying that the drummer of Pearl Jam had just been there, referring to Dave Krusen. Boom and Mike trade off solos on Crazy Mary and then join together at the end. Ed steps back and lets the crowd sing the Better Man intro, and the song builds to a crescendo ending jam. Mike has some really soulful, playful lines to end Yellow Ledbetter.

October 12, 2014 – Austin City Limits Music Festival, Zilker Park, Austin, TX, USA

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Mind Your Manners, Given To Fly, Lightning Bolt, Immortality, Severed Hand, Daughter/(Mother), Even Flow, Sirens, Do The Evolution, You Are, Unthought Known, Down, Jeremy, Yellow Moon, Black, Lukin, Porch

encore 1: Better Man, Alive, Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetter/(Star-Spangled Banner)

Show Notes:

A week later, Pearl Jam returns to Austin for the finale of the ACL Festival. After Given to Fly, Ed thanks the Replacements, who had again played before PJ. Following a superb Immortality, he calls out Matt, saying he’s “never…

Show Notes:

A week later, Pearl Jam returns to Austin for the finale of the ACL Festival. After Given to Fly, Ed thanks the Replacements, who had again played before PJ. Following a superb Immortality, he calls out Matt, saying he’s “never smoked pot once in his life.” Matt holds up one finger, and Ed responds:

“One time? One time…for about 22 years straight…it’s okay, your kids aren’t here tonight, they won’t hear about this at all… you want to smoke something green instead of taking something that somebody hands you, not knowing where it came from…that happened to me once but at least we got a song out of it,”

This led into Severed Hand. Daughter contains a brief tag of Pink Floyd’s Mother, making its tag debut. Ed gives a shout-out to Stevie Ray Vaughan after Even Flow, and then says that Steve Gleason is here tonight, and he requested You Are for his wife Michel. Black is dedicated to a fan from Peru, Aldo, who had lost his hearing in a work accident and had recently had surgery to hear again. Dhani Harrison joins on stage for Baba O’Riley. Ed introduces Yellow Ledbetter, saying “this song’s called ‘We Love the Neighbors,’ it’s a lullaby and it goes nice with an evening glass of wine” (they had gotten some complaints after the previous show). Mike plays a stirring rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner to cap off the festival.

October 9, 2014 – Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, NE, USA

Main Set: Pendulum, Sometimes, Nothingman, Go, Why Go, Getaway, Corduroy, Light Years, Mind Your Manners, Sirens/(Baby I Love Your Way), Present Tense, Eruption, Even Flow, Infallible, Do The Evolution, God’s Dice, Insignificance, 1/2 Full, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Porch

encore 1: You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Imagine, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Given To Fly, Lightning Bolt, Jeremy, Black, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Smile, Open All Night, Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

First show in Nebraska since 1992. Ed is in superb form early on Pendulum. Sometimes builds up to the intense, passionate peak, Ed adds a “…don’t be shy, dear god…” Crowd is loud during Nothingman, and after, Ed says: “Good…

Show Notes:

First show in Nebraska since 1992. Ed is in superb form early on Pendulum. Sometimes builds up to the intense, passionate peak, Ed adds a “…don’t be shy, dear god…” Crowd is loud during Nothingman, and after, Ed says:

“Good evening! Hello Lincoln…are you ready, Big Red? This is a new building…all due respect to the other bands who have played here…James Taylor and Katy Perry…let’s break this in tonight!”

He grabs a jersey from someone in the crowd after Corduroy and jokes about the football team, saying that the “N” on the helmet is for “knowledge.” Peter Frampton’s “Baby I Love Your Way” is tagged on the end of Sirens, the first time it’s been played at a PJ show. Ed asks for help on Present Tense and gets it, the crowd is energetic and loud. During Do The Evolution, Ed starts a call and response, “…like South America!” There’s a kid in the front named Lewis who’s turning 6, Ed jokes if he wants coffee or wine, then, leading into Insignificance, tells him to tell his teacher that one Tomahawk missile is 1.5 million dollars. During ½ Full, Ed sings the “won’t someone save the world” to Lewis face to face. As Better Man is transitioning into Save It For Later, he dedicates it to Elizabeth, saying “…don’t be depressed anymore, you got this…” Orbs are down for Porch, Jeff and Mike are feeding off each other’s energy, Stone adds a lead over Mike’s solo and they duel for a little bit. Ed goes swinging on an orb, “like Miley Cyrus,” then throws the microphone out into the crowd and smashes the mic stand.

After the break, he tells a funny story about going into a Walgreens and trying to avoid giving the cashier his phone number. When he tells her who he is, she says her daughter is at the show, and she has to pick her up at 12:30. After the two covers, Ed says “Happy birthday John [Lennon].” Jeremy is dedicated to “teachers, teachers” during the intro. Ed tags some lyrics from RVM during an 8+ minute Black(!), before adding a short Time Heals tag as well. “Open All Night” is a debut cover, from Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, fittingly enough. In the first verse of Yellow Ledbetter, Ed’s mic isn’t working, so he jokingly sings into a beer bottle for a minute before finally getting a wireless mic during the chorus, and the crowd erupts with a huge ovation. Mike gets the spotlight for the end of the song and finishes it off sitting on the crowd step.

October 8, 2014 – BOK Center, Tulsa, OK, USA

Main Set: Pendulum, Hard To Imagine, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Breakerfall, Last Exit, Animal, Mind Your Manners, In My Tree, Lightning Bolt, Dissident, Marker In The Sand, Even Flow, Sirens, Given To Fly, Jeremy, Let The Records Play, Spin The Black Circle, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Just Breathe, Black, Crazy Mary, I Believe In Miracles, Blood/(Atomic Dog), Porch

encore 2: Do The Evolution, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Alive, Baba O’Riley, Indifference

Show Notes:

The night begins with an eerie Pendulum. This leads into the only performance of Hard to Imagine on this tour. Small Town has some tuning issues with Stone’s guitar and is quickly switched out midway through. “Everybody good? Everybody ready…

Show Notes:

The night begins with an eerie Pendulum. This leads into the only performance of Hard to Imagine on this tour. Small Town has some tuning issues with Stone’s guitar and is quickly switched out midway through. “Everybody good? Everybody ready to bring it?” from Ed leads into another tour rarity, a raucous Breakerfall. Matt doesn’t miss a beat in the transition to another album opener, Last Exit, which Matt absolutely stars on. The crowd answers Ed’s query, singing full-throatedly in Animal and In My Tree, which has a stellar outro jam, highlighted by Jeff’s bass. Ed notices someone sitting and jokes about “going Kanye on your ass to make you stand up,” then notices he’s on crutches, adding “I got Kanye’d on that. You Kanye’d me.” Lightning Bolt is introduced as “a Seattle rain dance to green the place up.” Sirens ends with an almost spiritual crowd singalong. An excellent, hard-driving, 7-minute RVM closes out a great first set. Out of the break, Ed talks about how they aren’t going to come to Tulsa and only play an hour and a half, plus there’s more wine. He jokes about a sign requesting Garden, and dedicates “Just Breathe” to all the newlyweds including “men married to men, and women married to women,” and specifically calls out seat numbers for the couple who requested the song. Ed improvises at the end of Black with the lines:

“…somebody save me…we didn’t belong together…now I’m here, now I’m there, now I’m gone.”

I Believe In Miracles is dedicated to a newborn baby, Imogene, who was born under “intense circumstances” today. Ed recognizes the back of the arena for rocking out, and asks since they are 100 miles from Oklahoma City, can he talk shit about them stealing Seattle’s basketball team? He then jokes that if he’s pissed, imagine how Jeff Ament feels! Baba O’Riley is prefaced by Ed saying “Hey, this is Nevan right here, it’s his 13th birthday” (Nevan was recognized earlier with a Who shirt and a sign saying he was entering his “teenage wasteland”). Nevan even played some tambourine games with Ed earning a “nice job, man” from Ed following the song. Following an Indifference singalong, Ed’s parting words are “beautiful night…thanks so much…we’ll remember this one…miss everyone so much. See you brothers. Cheers, much love.”

October 5, 2014 – Austin City Limits Music Festival, Zilker Park, Austin, TX, USA

Main Set: Long Road, Go, Why Go, Do The Evolution, Mind Your Manners, Save You, Corduroy, Lightning Bolt, Faithfull, Love Boat Captain, My Father’s Son, Got Some, Even Flow, Sirens, Red Mosquito, Daughter/(Alex Chilton/Atomic Dog), Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Imagine, Come Back, State Of Love And Trust, Lukin, Porch, Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World

Show Notes:

Long Road opens the evening, with Ed donning his Walter Payton jersey and his SG as he and Boom ease the band into the song. A strong and ethereal performance with particularly sharp Ed vocals. The band immediately turns up…

Show Notes:

Long Road opens the evening, with Ed donning his Walter Payton jersey and his SG as he and Boom ease the band into the song. A strong and ethereal performance with particularly sharp Ed vocals. The band immediately turns up the heat with a blistering run through Go, Why Go, Do the Evolution, Mind Your Manners and Save You, the latter of which has Ed unleashing another electrifying vocal punctuated by a jarring “let’s beat it.” Afterward, Ed opines “Have I had too much wine already? I don’t think so.” Ed then gives a shout out to The Replacements, who played prior. As the band gears up for Corduroy, he adds “I reckon this is a pretty expensive bottle of wine, we better work for it.” Corduroy is spot-on, a straightforward run-through with no extended mid-song jam, but featuring a great and melodic solo from Mike, leading to a nice tight jam from the band. Ed points out a fan holding up a flagpole, and implores him to be safe, as “just like Wrigley Field there may be a lightning storm coming,” leading into an energetic Lightning Bolt, with Ed and Stone really playing off each other well in the closing jam. Love Boat Captain again features the extended intro from Cincinnati, and Boom shines on B3 in the outro jam. Ed dedicates Sirens to the Chief of Police, “who I hear is a big fan of the band,” saying he’s never met him, but “drop my name and maybe you get two phone calls.” Photographer Danny Clinch joins the band on harmonica for Red Mosquito. Daughter features a short set of tags, with a nod to The Replacements in Alex Chilton, and a brief vocal riff from Ed on Atomic Dog. As the song concludes, Ed polls the crowd about having shitty dads and moms, then says “…the one good thing about having a shitty dad is you know exactly what not to do. Break the chain.” A ferocious Rearviewmirror closes the main set. The encore kicks off with a seated Elderly Woman and Ed solo on Imagine. A powerful and cathartic Come Back is dedicated to Joey Thomas, who tragically passed away at age 13. The evening comes to a climax with an energetic run of State, Lukin, and Porch. Mike takes his solo for much of Alive touring the fans along the barricade. After introducing the band, Ed says “thank you so much, we will see you…uh…next year” perhaps forgetting they will be back in a little over a week.

October 3, 2014 – Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO, USA

Main Set: Pendulum, Low Light, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Go, Do The Evolution, Mind Your Manners, My Father’s Son, Corduroy, Lightning Bolt, Pilate, Even Flow, Swallowed Whole, Why Go, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Daughter/(W.M.A.), Jeremy, Lukin, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Imagine, Just Breathe, Thin Air, Footsteps, Last Kiss, Once, Down, Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns, Porch

encore 2: Given To Fly, Setting Forth, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Alive, Baba O’Riley

Show Notes:

Small Town is changed to “I’m glad I got to see your place, thank you very much for taking us.” Go starts with a blistering pace and it continues through a sped-up Mind your Manners. Ed says hello to the…

Show Notes:

Small Town is changed to “I’m glad I got to see your place, thank you very much for taking us.” Go starts with a blistering pace and it continues through a sped-up Mind your Manners. Ed says hello to the crowd and says how “it’s too early to celebrate, but if you’re ready, we’re ready,” referring to the Cardinals’ NLDS game that night. After Lightning Bolt, Ed mentions they were just in Cincinnati, and Stone went for a run and ran all the way to Kentucky, calling him an “interstate runner…impressive, even if the hotel was right on the border!” He mentions that the next song was written by Jeff, and says how the song was based on one of the best books in Russian literature, “it was written by Mikhail Bulgakov and it’s called The Master and Margarita and you will be tested about this later,” leading into Pilate. After Daughter, Ed mentions how rare it is to play a place where your friend, who is here in the audience, has a statue outside of the arena, “so here’s to Brett Hull.” During the first encore break, Ed comes out and says how he thought everyone would’ve left to start celebrating before game 2. He tells the crowd if he fucks up the next song he will start it over, but if the crowd helps him he will get through it, which leads into a powerful debut of John Lennon’s Imagine. “This ones for the serious collector, the romantic types,” prefaces Thin Air. Last Kiss is messed up at the beginning, but they find their way through it. After Down, the emotion ramps up as for the only time on the North American leg of the tour, they bust out Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns. Ed takes a very reverent, delicate approach to Chloe Dancer, and Mike elicits a soulful wail out of his instrument during the Crown of Thorns solo. Encore 2 starts with Ed talking about a woman who had to fight her way out of the hospital to be here tonight, and dedicates Given to Fly to her. Setting Forth transitions into Better Man, Ed hands the intro over to the crowd and they run with it, and talks about running away from different places (California, Seattle, Chicago) during the Save It For Later tag before buttering up the St. Louis crowd one more time (“this one’s better”), and the show ends on a triumphant note with Baba O’Riley.

October 1, 2014 – US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH, USA

Main Set: Pendulum, Nothingman, Of The Girl, Mind Your Manners, Lightning Bolt, Corduroy, Spin The Black Circle, Got Some, Even Flow, Sirens, Love Boat Captain/(Jumpin’ Jack Flash), Present Tense, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall (Pt. 2)/Keep It In Motion), State Of Love And Trust, Waiting On A Friend, Jeremy, Comatose, Setting Forth, Porch

encore 1: Sleeping By Myself, Man Of The Hour, Parachutes, All Those Yesterdays, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Given To Fly, Unthought Known, Do The Evolution, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

encore 2: Black, The Real Me, Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter/(Star-Spangled Banner)

Show Notes:

After a nearly three-month break after the European leg, the band was ready to hit the stage hard in Cincinnati for the first time in 8 years. Ed makes reference to the first time they played here, in November of…

Show Notes:

After a nearly three-month break after the European leg, the band was ready to hit the stage hard in Cincinnati for the first time in 8 years. Ed makes reference to the first time they played here, in November of 1991, and by July of 1992 they had played here three times, and he begs for forgiveness for the drop-off over the years. Ed jokingly dedicates Spin The Black Circle to all the fine people at WKRP, which also happens to be a real station in the city. Earlier that day in Ed’s hotel room, while curating the setlist, he heard some noises that sounded like Cincinnati was under siege, but interpreted that as someone making a request for Sirens. A beautiful rendition of the song follows, with an extended outro. Love Boat Captain stretches out to over 8 minutes, with an INCREDIBLE extended jam intro and another long jam in the outro, featuring a tag of Rolling Stones hit Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Following Daughter, Ed reminisces about a time when they played a local venue called Bogarts:

“I was smoking a joint in the alley and this guy asked me for some, I gave him some…and he bogarted my joint!”

He then mentions an instance where during the same visit, a fan greeted him at the movie theater where they went and saw Wayne’s World. The same fan sees Ed that week and asks if he remembers him, saying:

“I didn’t get a picture then and you said we could do it next time, so can we get a picture together? And I said fuck off dude! And I apologized because I mistook him for the guy that stole my joint at Bogarts!”

More Stones connections as Waiting On A Friend is dusted off for only the fourth time ever, Ed introducing it by sharing a story about how Keith Richards pulled a bowie knife on Mike that was half as long as his leg. Setting Forth is dedicated to Dayton, Ohio band Guided By Voices, whose song “Keep It In Motion” was tagged in Daughter earlier. Ed mentions that their short songs provided inspiration for him to write the Into The Wild soundtrack. After the break, Ed says Sleeping By Myself is about being lonely by choice, that you’d “rather be lonely than be with a fucking asshole.” Ed brings up Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose and calls his exclusion from the Hall of Fame an injustice, dedicating Man Of The Hour to him and his son Pete Rose Jr. Given To Fly is for a local EB nurse named Gerri, and for Max and Jason. Better Man closes the set with Ed smashing his Gibson SG into pieces. In the second encore, The Real Me is dedicated to the families of those who lost their lives 35 years ago in a tragic Cincinnati Who concert, Ed explains:

“…it became something we needed to learn about too. They reached out to us when we needed it. This is to Pete and Roger and this was the last song they played that night.”

RITFW has a little ode to the Rush song “Working Man” in Mike’s solo. The show ends with Mike wailing away on the Star-Spangled Banner, capping off the tour opener in style.

July 11, 2014 – Milton Keynes Bowl, Milton Keynes, ENG

Main Set: Pendulum, Wash, Nothingman, Black/(We Belong Together), Go, Brain Of J., Comatose, Save You, Hail, Hail, Mind Your Manners, Do The Evolution, Got Some, Lightning Bolt, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Sirens, Corduroy, Even Flow, Let The Records Play, Spin The Black Circle, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Yellow Moon, I’m The Answer, Footsteps, Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns/(Believe You Me), Better Man/(Save It For Later), Jeremy, Lukin, Porch

encore 2: Rain, Daughter/(War), Blood, Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World

Show Notes:

Ed opens the evening with an acoustic, pre-set Porch before the opener, hardcore band OFF!. Perhaps inspired by them, PJ opens with quickfire versions of Pendulum and Wash. Ed acknowledges the crowd during Nothingman with “I can see you in…

Show Notes:

Ed opens the evening with an acoustic, pre-set Porch before the opener, hardcore band OFF!. Perhaps inspired by them, PJ opens with quickfire versions of Pendulum and Wash. Ed acknowledges the crowd during Nothingman with “I can see you in the sun”. Black returns to the early part of the set for the first time since Stockholm, tagged with Ed questioning “Did we belong together? Did we belong?” During Brain of J., Ed says to the crowd “Look out for your neighbor,” and after the song he again checks on them, adding “…it’s getting a little tight up here. It’s all good if you’re all good. Is everybody looking out for their neighbor? Please.” Comatose is cut short, with Ed pointing something out in the crowd to security, “right here, right here. We’re going to have to stop for a second.” Trying to settle things down, he says:

“I’m gonna say hello, good evening and cheers. I was going to do it in a minute after some fast songs. Is everybody okay there?”

He then pokes fun at the local crowd, asking:

“Would you like some tea? How many lumps?”

Save You is for “to a friend of ours called Rabbit”. During Hail, Hail, Ed is again heard sounding concerned for the crowd, shouting “Look out!” during the song. He compares the weather in Milton Keynes to Seattle; having rained earlier in the day, he now thinks it’s turned into “a beautiful Seattle day” and thanks the crowd for coming out. Again turning his attention to crowd trouble, he observes:

“That gentleman there has no business doing that on top of the crowd, when you’re heavier than three or four of the people under you it’s a problem,”

This prompts chants of “you fat bastard,” leading Ed to tease:

“‘You fat bastard’? Is that what you’re saying? Hey dude, you don’t need to insult him, we’re just trying to tell him to keep his feet on the ground, his head in the sky…and his food on his plate.”

Toasting Chrissie Hynde, he declares:

“tonight will be a long one, but work with me, maybe let females be the ones to float on top, no big giant with the boots. If you’re small enough to think I could kick your ass, you’re fine!”

He then shouts, “all I’m saying is mind your manners!” which leads the band into…Mind Your Manners. After Lightning Bolt, Ed asks the crowd “a man told me you can get four pints for £20, is that true?” which is followed by booing. Attempting to explain the cost, Ed says “you’re paying extra because a man carries it to you…it’s a posh gig, this one!” Before Nothing As It Seems, he says “a stranger told me we haven’t played this song in Europe for fourteen years, so here’s to a total stranger!” He tells a story about the band’s first visit to the U.K. to mix Ten. He explains how a woman who worked at the studio told him she thought Black was “brilliant” after discovering Ed had written it, he was pleased with the praise until she told Stone he was “brilliant” after cutting a slice of bread, which proved to be a lesson in humility. He then thanks Stone and Jeff, “who were the bosses at the time, still now!” Before Even Flow, Ed jokes “this song was written in ancient times”.

Returning to stage after the break, Ed makes a “special toast” to his younger brother who turned 40 the day before, then saying “my tallest brother turned 45 today.” He explains how Simon Townshend “came to Seattle and we played this song, and we’d like to play it for you”. He then invites Simon onto stage to play I’m The Answer, making its PJ debut. Before the song, he adds that Matt Cameron’s brother Pete is 54 today and leads the crowd in a rendition of Happy Birthday. During the intro of Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns, Ed remarks “the moon, the sky…you know Andy would’ve loved it”. Bad Radio’s Believe You Me is played for the first time since 2005, tagged onto Crown of Thorns. Porch returns for a full-band performance, after which Ed introduces the band and jokes “thanks for keeping us up so late”. He adds:

“We paid the rent, but we will be evicted – we’re staying until we are!”

Rain is prefaced with “we learnt this song in case we needed it, we didn’t but we’ll still play it anyway,” Dhani Harrison joins on stage to play along. Daughter is tagged with War, during which Ed makes a passionate plea that people stop engaging in wars:

“We don’t pay our taxes for them to spend it on dropping bombs on children.”

Rockin’ In The Free World closes the show with assistance from OFF! and Ray Cameron. Ed thanks the crowd for “giving us wings so we could fly” and shouts “Mookie Blaylock!” twice, before leaving with “thanks for all that energy, use your powers for good.”

July 8, 2014, First Direct Arena, Leeds, ENG

Main Set: Pendulum, Of The Girl, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Breakerfall, Hail, Hail, Once, Mind Your Manners, Lightning Bolt, Tremor Christ, Wishlist, Who You Are, Ghost, Even Flow, Sirens, Push Me, Pull Me, Do The Evolution, Don’t Gimme No Lip, Army Reserve, Present Tense, Given To Fly, Setting Forth, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Man Of The Hour, All Or None, Fatal, The Real Me, Porch

encore 2: Smile, Leaving Here, Black/(We Belong Together), Jeremy, State Of Love And Trust, Alive, Baba O’Riley, All Along The Watchtower, Indifference

Show Notes:

Ed, with a huge grin on his face, greets the crowd with “Good evening!” There’s an incident in the crowd during Once that Ed alerts security to during the song. Following Mind Your Manners, a smirking Ed jokingly begins reading…

Show Notes:

Ed, with a huge grin on his face, greets the crowd with “Good evening!” There’s an incident in the crowd during Once that Ed alerts security to during the song. Following Mind Your Manners, a smirking Ed jokingly begins reading from a sheet in Dutch, mentioning Werchter, before ripping it and saying “Ah, fuck this, it’s good to be here in Leeds.” After Wishlist, Ed takes a phone from a fan, and a basketball is thrown up on stage, which he passes back to Matt, saying “We’re getting all kinds of gifts tonight!” He compliments a t-shirt he has seen in the crowd and a “nice blouse” that his wife “would look good in…Mike McCready would look good in that blouse!” Turning to take aim at Mike, Ed asks:

“Did you ever get naked in Leeds? I know there’s a bunch of places you used to get naked in…”, Mike takes to the mic and says, “Only in Germany…maybe in England…Dublin for sure!”

This goes down to much laughter from the band and crowd. Ghost is given its European debut and is followed by an apology as Ed states, “I fucked that song up, I went into the last verse quicker…it’s my fault, so I’m going to take a picture of me fucking up”. He takes a selfie of him and Jeff, who also gets some of the blame for “fucking up”, on the fan’s phone he placed on the stage earlier and jokes, “My daughter will like that one.” Present Tense is followed by a crowd chant of “Let Jeff sing!” Ed suggests Fernando by Abba as “all you’ve got to do is start it then they’ll sing”. He theatrically breaks into Fernando, and the crowd do take over while Jeff shakes his head no. Following Given to Fly, Ed tells the crowd he “spent a thousand hours in Leeds with the headphones on,” listening to Live At Leeds by The Who. After another chant for Jeff to sing, he takes to the mic to shout “Abba at Leeds!” to which Ed responds, “it wasn’t as popular as The Who’s!”

The band are seated when they return after the break, and Ed begins by introducing his guitar tech Simon to the crowd. He continues, talking about cancer, paying tribute to doctors, nurses, and affected families, stating how it is often “not a fair fight” and explains how he lost his uncle John days before the tour started. Mentioning his Chicago Bears #34 shirt, a regular sight on the tour, he explains that he was wearing it as his uncle passed away, which is why he had been sporting it so often. Man of the Hour is dedicated to a young man called Jonathan who had lost his battle with cancer. Fatal is added to the set after Ed sees a sign from someone who requested it to celebrate their 30th show. The Real Me is the first of the inevitable Who covers of the evening. Porch is nearly 10 minutes long with an extended jam, the band really in a groove. Ed thanks some of the crew, and brings Karen Loria and Matt’s drum tech Neil Hundt on stage and leads the crowd in Happy Birthday for them. Black is transcendent, everyone leaving it all on stage, and Ed gives some insight before the tag:

So crazy, all the incredibly beautiful faces…

from someone who is the loneliest person on Earth,

then all of a sudden this song gets you to all these beautiful faces, it’s crazy…

Leaving Here and Baba O’Riley finish off the Who portion of the program, and Matt’s son Ray plays guitar on All Along The Watchtower. A fantastic show with plenty of rare songs, great performances, and the band in excellent spirits.

July 5, 2014 – Rock Werchter Festival, Werchter Festival Park, Werchter, BEL

Main Set: Rearviewmirror, Mind Your Manners, Animal, Corduroy, Lightning Bolt, My Father’s Son, Do The Evolution, Given To Fly, All Night, Even Flow, Sirens, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Why Go, Spin The Black Circle, Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

encore 1: Future Days, Mother, Jeremy, State Of Love And Trust, Black/(We Belong Together), Daughter/(Where Is My Mind/W.M.A.), Porch

encore 2: Sonic Reducer, Alive, Rockin in the Free World, (Angie)/Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

RVM opens a show for the first time since 2007. Ed’s first address to the crowd is a call out in Flemish, to which the entire crowd responds in unison with some form of a chant. As the crowd finishes…

Show Notes:

RVM opens a show for the first time since 2007. Ed’s first address to the crowd is a call out in Flemish, to which the entire crowd responds in unison with some form of a chant. As the crowd finishes their part, the band begins a much quicker than usual version of My Father’s Son. During Do the Evolution, the crowd sings along with Stone’s guitar riff, not only in its usual spot, but even goes back to singing it after the band finishes the song. Once again, Ed speaks to the crowd in Flemish, this time for a much longer address, obviously working hard on his pronunciation, drawing lots of cheers and the occasional laugh. Pivoting to English, Ed then begins a short music history lesson on British vs. American popular music, which sets the tone perfectly for what was about to come:

“After liking The Who, and lots of early British bands, there weren’t many American bands that you liked, and then all of a sudden there was Sonic Youth and that was about it. But for years and years it was only The Who, The Beatles, The Kinks, you know, all this great, great music..but it was all 20 years old already in nineteen-eighty-something…but then there was a record by the band called the Pixies, and it was the greatest record that I had heard in years. I just can’t believe that we’re playing at the same time as the Pixies. I just want to toast the Pixies for being, still, one of the greatest bands ever.”

He then introduces members of the band Midlake, who had played earlier that night, and they join for All Night, with extended vocal breakdowns. Matt gets a short but sweet drum solo on Even Flow. Sirens is sensitive and intricate, showcasing the interplay between Stone and Mike. Once again, the crowd continues singing even after the band is done playing. Ed acknowledges this incredible audience participation by saying “thank you for being the best part of the band.” After the break, Ed begins acknowledging the band members, saying:

“Let’s hear it for Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Matt Cameron…he’s played for more people in three days than we used to play to in about a year. In the last three days, of course, he had to play with two different bands in order to add up the numbers, but in three days he’s played to about 150,000 people…once with us, then last night with Soundgarden in Hyde Park, and now here he is. He’s a fucking hero and he’s not even cocky about it, he’s just a great human being…let’s hear it for Matt Cameron!”

Black returns to its usual encore spot, with a “you belong together” tag. The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” is tagged onto Daughter for the first time. After Porch, Ed sees a fan and interjects:

“What’s that? No, I can’t sleep in your tent with you sir. I can’t. The yellow tent with the blue, okay, you’ll be wearing what? Oh, lingerie in the shape of black, red, and yellow uniforms? Hey, Euro Cup two years, you got them. Black, Red, Yellow! We’re still playing. Fuck it!”

The crowd thinks they’re getting “Black, Red, Yellow,” and it seems like that is what Stone thinks as well, but after a jumbled start, Ed stops, turns to the audience, and in a radio announcer voice says:

“Thank you ladies and gentlemen…as the opening band for the Kings of Leon we just wanna thank you very much, thank you. Uh, Stone was taking a piss when we were figuring out what song we were gonna do next, but that’s okay, people gotta piss, that’s what people do, say no more, say no more,”

They end up playing the intended song, Sonic Reducer. Launching into Rockin’ in the Free World, with members of Midlake on guitar and tambourine, Ed changes the first two lines to honor the Belgian crowd:

There are colors on the street,
Black, yellow and red,
There are people on the street,
Oh, they’re crazy in the head…

Ed thanks the crowd again, yelling “Kings of Leon are up next….tomorrow!” Suddenly, there’s a lot of activity on stage, they aren’t sure what to play next. Ed sings “‘I pulled into Nazareth,’ yeah, I know that one, what else do you know? We’ll play here all night!” Mike begins “Angie” as Ed and the crowd sing along, but before you know it, he transitions perfectly into Ledbetter, ending with Little Wing, and Ed joins in to sing the first verse before taking the final bow.

July 3, 2014 – Open’er Festival, Gdynia, POL

Main Set: Go, Corduroy, Mind Your Manners, Lightning Bolt, Animal, Given To Fly, Pilate, Do The Evolution, Getaway, Got Some, Nothingman, Even Flow, Sirens, Jeremy, Unthought Known, Public Image, Lukin, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Porch, Alive, Baba O'Riley

Show Notes:

After some much-needed days off, the night kicks off with a fury of light and sound as Go roars to life. Ed welcomes the crowd with a safety check and some ground rules for front-row moshing. With these instructions, he…

Show Notes:

After some much-needed days off, the night kicks off with a fury of light and sound as Go roars to life. Ed welcomes the crowd with a safety check and some ground rules for front-row moshing. With these instructions, he reminds the crowd to…Mind Your Manners. He shows off his (lack of) Polish speaking skills before Given to Fly, translated as “It’s a beautiful night…it’s a beautiful night…It’s getting chilly…let’s warm up…to each other…bless you.” Afterwards, he dedicates the next song to the promoter Nicolas, saying:

“He had to call someone in Warsaw because one of us didn’t have his passport and couldn’t get in. But as you can see, we are all here and we are very grateful for them trusting us. Thank you, authorities. Usually you like to say, like, “fuck the police,” “fuck the government,” but every once in while you gotta think…like, oh god we will suck their cocks if they just let us get in to play the goddamn show…”

Ed pauses for some creationist criticism around Do the Evolution. After Jeremy, Ed takes a moment to introduce Matt Cameron on the drums and informs the crowd he will be back again the following night playing drums with Soundgarden. Shout outs to MGMT, Jack White and Faith No More (all performing at the festival) as the band begins Unthought Known and blends it into Public Image. After the break, Ed begins listing places in Poland they have played. After mentioning Gdynia twice, he quips:

“…this guy, we saw him four years ago and he still hasn’t put on a fuckin’ shirt! I am not sure….you are either going to get laid tonight…or you are definitely not getting laid, I’m not sure how it’s going to go. What the fuck, you must have a huge…ego. And maybe a small…town.”

And with that, the band moves into Small Town, Better Man, and reaches a crescendo with Porch. Andrew VanWyngarden (MGMT) joins for a closing Baba O’Riley, with Ed telling the fans “Goodnight, ciao…let’s do it again sometime…”

June 29, 2014 – Telenor Arena, Oslo, NOR

Main Set: Pendulum, Hard to Imagine, Last Kiss, Mind Your Manners, Animal, Last Exit, (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Lightning Bolt, In Hiding, My Father’s Son, Sad, Light Years, Garden, Even Flow, Sirens, Not for You/(Modern Girl), Down, Love Boat Captain, Porch

encore 1: Yellow Moon, Sleeping By Myself, Strangest Tribe, Footsteps, Waiting On A Friend, Satan’s Bed, Why Go, Lukin, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Comatose, Leash, Alive, Rockin’ in the Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

The fourth show in five days, and the rigor of the tour has taken a toll on Ed’s voice. Pendulum starts things off just fine, to enthusiastic crowd response, and Hard to Imagine is solid, but the vocal fatigue creeps…

Show Notes:

The fourth show in five days, and the rigor of the tour has taken a toll on Ed’s voice. Pendulum starts things off just fine, to enthusiastic crowd response, and Hard to Imagine is solid, but the vocal fatigue creeps out during the outro. This is where the band begins to step in, with Mike overlapping Ed’s last vocals with a very nice closing solo. No early Black here, but Ed heads into the crowd for a good part of Last Kiss, mingling with the crowd and holding a fan’s hand throughout the last chorus. He quickly asks if things are good before opening up Mind Your Manners. Ed holds his own for the most part, but is short on breath. He starts to crack on Animal, and finally asks the crowd for help. After Last Exit, he greets the crowd with “Hello, Oslo” in Norwegian and briefly mentions the “wear and tear on the voice” before commending the fans who’ve followed them through four cities in five days, and introduces Interstellar Overdrive as “a quick instrumental to give the voice a rest for one second.” After Corduroy, he tries to get a father with a young daughter safer seats, and then better seats. He greets his new friend, Isabel, asks her for a joint, and explains he’s been told everyone would understand English “unless you’re seven or eight, or very drunk.” Mike really starts taking the weight of the show onto his shoulders at this point, and delivers one of his best solos of the night on Lightning Bolt. In Hiding begins with an invitation to help sing, and afterwards Ed quips “…quit drinking after last night, but thought I might have a few more” before asking the crowd to tell Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme “føkk deg” (fuck you) at the Øya festival in August. Boom has an expanded role on My Father’s Son. Sad is teased with a short “Norwegian Wood” a capella. With Ed’s voice now holding on cautiously, aided by strong crowd participation, and Mike leading the band in filling any gaps, this is where this concert lands in its groove for the rest of the night.

On the final chord of Light Years, Ed approaches Stone and points towards a fan in the front row. Immediately we hear someone re-tuning as a change is made to the setlist, which Ed announces as “for this person here, who…she’s got a complaint: 22 shows and we haven’t played a certain song.” After a Garden more reminiscent of the album version than recent live renditions (and with the lucky fan starring on the Jumbotron) Ed takes her empty cup, fills it with wine, gives it back, and tells her “Cheers… 22 shows, I think I can at least buy you a drink, you paid for this very nice wine.” Mike outshines himself once again on Even Flow, after which Ed explains that, as punishment for a mistake made the night before, he has to play Eruption on Mike’s guitar while Mike is holding it. He touches it, makes some noise, then tells the crowd, “this can be our special song that we only play when we come to Norway.” In an emotional preface to Love Boat Captain, Ed mentions the anniversary of the Roskilde tragedy and expresses the band’s appreciation of the victims’ families, present at the previous night’s show in Stockholm, for maintaining a relationship with them. An extra long jam-out on Porch nearly brings the song to 10 minutes.

After a long encore break, they’re greeted with applause after coming back on stage, Ed responds “we’ll take that as a sign of encouragement.” Sleeping by Myself gets botched near the end, Ed takes the blame and plays the final chorus to close it out. The first-ever live performance of Strangest Tribe follows, it is slow, steady, and perfectly dreamy, dedicated to the people who’ve been in the front row over four consecutive nights, whom Ed honors by nicknaming them after the song. Lukin is given its quasi-traditional introduction as a “quiet singalong.” The last set begins with thanks to the crowd and a nod to “getting to play all these different songs.” As Alive transitions straight into Rockin’ in the Free World, “Mr. Raymond Caper Cameron” (Ray Cameron, Matt’s son) is introduced as he comes onstage to play on a Les Paul. The original setlist included Setting Forth, Small Town, Black, Got Some, and Better Man, but were replaced with Garden, Strangest Tribe, and Footsteps.

June 28, 2014 – Friends Arena, Stockholm, SWE

Main Set: Release, Sometimes, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Black/(We Belong Together), Go, Animal, Mind Your Manners, Why Go, Corduroy, Lightning Bolt, Red Mosquito, My Father’s Son, Given To Fly, Daughter/(Hey Jude/W.M.A.), U, Sirens, Even Flow, Green Disease, Jeremy, Spin The Black Circle, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Just Breathe, Oceans, Mother, Once, Supersonic, Sonic Reducer, Porch

encore 2: Do The Evolution, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Alive, Baba O’Riley, Indifference

Show Notes:

The band takes the stage bathed in blue spotlights, easing into the evening with Release into an uptempo Sometimes. Black finishes with Mike reeling off a searing solo, Stone delivering a complementary dance of chords, and Ed asking “Did we…

Show Notes:

The band takes the stage bathed in blue spotlights, easing into the evening with Release into an uptempo Sometimes. Black finishes with Mike reeling off a searing solo, Stone delivering a complementary dance of chords, and Ed asking “Did we belong together?” during the ending tag. Corduroy finishes in a storm of guitar sonics. Ed addresses the crowd before Lightning Bolt, saying “tomorrow I’m going to quit drinking, so TONIGHT…,” continuing in Swedish. Mike is supercharged during Red Mosquito, but the rest of the band gets lost getting to the finish line. The crowd picks this up and tries to guide the band, swaying in time, with Ed even adding “that’s nice, we made a mistake there and you made something beautiful out of it.” Ed grabs a monopod towards the end of Given to Fly and films the stage for a fan. Daughter is tagged with a brief bit of Hey Jude prior to the WMA tag. Introducing U, Ed states to the crowd, “lot of people out there, there’s maybe ten of you who know the next song.” Before Green Disease, he discusses how SwedeBank donated the naming rights of the arena to a youth support organization called Friends that works to prevent bullying. He references Jeremy and how it came about, and how great it is to see a corporation using their ability to promote social good. Rearviewmirror is dedicated to the Hives.

After the break, Ed notices a woman with a sign in the crowd that says “sign my shoe”. Ed manages to get her to throw both shoes on stage, which he promptly hands to a roadie to take backstage. He turns to the mic and deadpans “shoe the shoeless,” a comical nod to the infamous Indio 1993 improv. He then teases the fan, saying “you trusted me…you don’t know me.”

Prior to Oceans, Ed drinks wine from the sneakers before handing them back to their owner. Mike and Stone trade off excellent solos on a fever pitch Porch. Things start to get a little weird on stage as the band looks to kick off encore 2. Finally, Ed reins in the shenanigans with “…sneakers, flip flops, high heels… it’s evolution, baby!” A beautiful, poignant Indifference ends the night, and Ed leaves with another “Shaka” Hawaiian goodbye.

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