November 28, 2015 – Foro Sol, Mexico City, MEX

Show Notes:

The 2015 tour ends in Mexico City with a proper send off. The crowd is ready to explode from the outset, and a back-to-back Pendulum and Release opener only builds the tension. Small Town feels more like a large city…

Show Notes: 

The 2015 tour ends in Mexico City with a proper send off. The crowd is ready to explode from the outset, and a back-to-back Pendulum and Release opener only builds the tension. Small Town feels more like a large city singing along, and the pot finally boils over during Why Go and Do The Evolution, prompting Ed to scream “Hola, Mexico!!!!” Speaking in broken Spanish, he says “We are well and this is the last night of the tour.” After Even Flow, he intimates “…this is a great crowd…it’s like surfing…great waves.” Daughter is next, and the It’s O.K. tag is sung in both Spanish and English. The band then breaks into a cover of I Want You So Hard by Eagles of Death Metal for the 3rd and final time to date, a tribute to those impacted by the Paris attacks. Lightning Bolt features a nice little jam at the end. Matt is on fire during the RVM jam, pounding and bashing throughout. After the break, Ed introduces Throw Your Arms Around Me as “a request for newlyweds.” The ukelele is brought out, Ed stating  “[it’s] shy and small and doesn’t want to come out in front of a lot of people.” Imagine is played to honor both John Lennon and the victims of the Paris attack once again. The stadium is once again ready to boil over with energy after a soaring Comfortably Numb, and the pop happens this time with Animal in an unusual encore spot. Ed follows by saying “We got a nice letter from a little 12-year-old girl from Atlanta…where we made many records. She wrote that she has the best dad. That is her favorite song, and she said her dad was at this show and she wanted to dedicate that song to him. That was Rebecca writing for her dad, Michael. She is a pretty cool kid with a pretty good dad.” Faithfull is played for a young woman in the front who has a flag requesting the song, Ed adding “We’re going to change the program for the woman right there.” Ed drops out during the Porch intro to acknowledge the crowd, who’s singing every note, a powerful moment. After Jeremy, Ed wishes Matt a happy birthday and leads the crowd in singing to him. More palpable energy from the crowd as they almost drown Ed out during the Better Man intro. Ed leaves by saying “this is the end…gracias…we’ll go home with this in our hearts, and our suitcases, and in our minds. Thank you everyone for tonight. It’s really hard to leave. Thank you so much,” before Yellow Ledbetter closes the show and the year.

Written by: Justin Goulet


September 26, 2015 – Central Park, New York City, NY, USA

Show Notes:

Ed greets the crowd with a “Good evening…I think a toast is in order, here’s to New York City, here’s to Central Park, here’s to you,” before hitting the ground running with Mind Your Manners and Do The Evolution. Before…

Show Notes: 

Ed greets the crowd with a “Good evening…I think a toast is in order, here’s to New York City, here’s to Central Park, here’s to you,” before hitting the ground running with Mind Your Manners and Do The Evolution. Before launching into Given to Fly, Ed says, “Hey, this one’s for Malala” (referencing Malala Yousafzai who had been on stage just prior to Pearl Jam). Before a beautiful Unthought Known, Ed tells the story of how the song was written:

Just so happens that four or five years back, between about 4 or 5 in the morning, overlooking Central Park right over there in that corner…I was still awake at four in the morning and I saw the most beautiful evening sky over Central Park, the streets were empty, the stars were out which was very rare, I’d never seen it. and then, and then, I should have been gettin’ some sleep but I started scribbling lyrics and it felt like you couldn’t walk out of there, I couldn’t go to sleep because there was magic happening in front of me…and um…and then I got to see the sun rise over this beautiful part of this great city. And when I woke up in the morning, I thought it was just going to be a bunch of scribble and uh, which it was, but I was actually able to record a bit of it and and it was kind of nice to play it back and it wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever done…it could never capture what I saw that night but to have the opportunity to play it in the middle of the thing that inspired it is something I would have never anticipated.  

Stone starts to play the opening lick to Alive, and then Ed promptly stops him, saying I just wanted to say something before he played that song. You know this is really an incredible experience, because you’re surrounded by all these incredible activists on stage, in the back, world leaders, heads of business, people who have chosen to become resolved and decide to make change, but never before have we played for an audience full, 100% full of activists, and it’s an incredible feeling and we just want to thank you for making this wave of hope that can ride and it can grow and I hope it smashes on the shore of cynicism and apathy and we make global poverty…that in the near future, we make global poverty a thing of the past…so, uh, thanks for having us here, it’s been a blast…

Ed unsuccessfully tries to lead the crowd in the “yeah” (fist pumping) chant during what was an incredible solo by Mike, perhaps due to their inexperience (by PJ standards). After a short break, Ed comes out with an acoustic guitar and gives a very heartfelt tribute to John Lennon before playing Imagine. Beyoncé is introduced as the crowd erupts, and they play Redemption Song, its first appearance at a PJ show since 1995! During the bridge, Ed continues strumming while Beyoncé does some improvisational scatting and a video of Nelson Mandela’s famous “Make Poverty History” speech plays in the background. Ed thanks Hugh Evans, the organizer of the festival, and invites “everybody that wants to come play, come play, good night, this is it!” and as the band launches into Rockin’ in the Free World, the stage fills up with people, including Sir Richard Branson, Kerry Washington, Olivia Wilde and so many more, with Stone getting a real kick out of one-time Seattle resident Bill Nye fanning his fingers during the solo.