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

Pearl Jam Show Notes 10/1/2014:

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 the Rolling Stones’ “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.