August 22, 2016 – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL, USA

Show Covered by Podcast

Show Notes:

Ed walks out onto the stage and proclaims that “it’s gonna be a looooong night,” setting the tone for the final show of 2016. The first 13(!) songs are all from the 90’s, paying service to the long-time fans that…

Show Notes: 

Ed walks out onto the stage and proclaims that “it’s gonna be a looooong night,” setting the tone for the final show of 2016. The first 13(!) songs are all from the 90’s, paying service to the long-time fans that have made Chicago such a memorable place to see them play. Unique setlist construction in the beginning of the show, as Footsteps, Off He Goes and Better Man are played in the 2, 3, and 4 spots. Ed gives a shout-out to the folks on the rooftop at Wrigleyville, saying it was there that he witnessed a “certain smoking utensil” for the first time. Prior to Corduroy, Ed’s voice fills the air with a snippet from Jane’s Addiction song “Summertime Rolls” for the first time since touring Lollapalooza in 1992 24 years ago. After Animal, Ed toasts the crowd and says they are so grateful for being asked to play there again. When they were asked, Ed responded “we’d have to sleep on it…when I did, I woke up in the middle of the night and had a dream that the Chicago Tribune headline said ‘lightning strikes twice,’” calling back to the infamous weather delay from the 2013 show. Black, Red, Yellow is played for only the 7th time, dedicated to the Chicago Bulls. Bulls legend Dennis Rodman joins them on stage and attempts to recite his answering machine playback line featured on the studio version. I Am Mine breaks the streak of 90’s material. Another rarity is broken out later in the set, as the unreleased Of The Earth makes an appearance. This version has a ton of power behind it, with a jammy and explosive bridge creating a euphoric, thunderous moment when the bridge transitions back into the lead riff. The momentum comes to a halt during Lukin, as Ed stops the song to call out an overzealous fan shoving his fingers in a woman’s face. The fan is escorted out by security as the crowd gives him the “hey hey goodbye” treatment. Then they pick up exactly where they left off, finishing Lukin with intensity. In the encore, Ed jokes that the fan who was kicked out looked like Steve Bartman (infamous Cubs fan known for interfering with a fly ball during an important playoff game), and makes mention of the flags around the ballpark, dedicating Throw Your Arms Around Me to all the travellers. A fan named Bob gets to sing along during Even Flow and gets some credit from Stone, before Stone takes the mic himself to sing lead on Don’t Gimme No Lip. The encore ends with more throwbacks to the early 90’s, ripping through loud and furious renditions of Sonic Reducer and Blood. Boom’s B3 is prominent on Crazy Mary, as he matches the sound of the Wrigley Field organ during his solo and tags the Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black. Ed tells a story about the late Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks and how during the 2013 Wrigley show, Ernie asked to keep Ed’s mitt which he said had a lot of love in it. Ed received his mitt back that night and proclaimed that a lot of magic is gonna happen there in the next few months (the Cubs would break their 108 year World Series curse that October). Ed’s Cubs anthem All The Way is played for the final time, as after the Cubs won the World Series he stated that he’d never play it again. A cover of Time Has Come Today, originally performed by The Chamber Brothers, is debuted late in encore 2. Rockin’ in the Free World has a lyric change, “Cubs colors on the streets,” and I’ve Got A Feeling, the song that closed out the show from The Metro, just down the street from Wrigley, in 1992 closes out this show. An instant classic, full of fun covers and 90’s fan favorites.

Written by: Randy Sobel


August 20, 2016 – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL, USA

Show Covered by Podcast

Show Notes:

The first of the two Wrigley 2016 shows starts off with Low Light, as Ed pleads with the weather: “clouds roll by…” Immediately after, Ed shares “the last time felt like a once in a lifetime experience…and then when the…

Show Notes: 

The first of the two Wrigley 2016 shows starts off with Low Light, as Ed pleads with the weather: “clouds roll by…” Immediately after, Ed shares “the last time felt like a once in a lifetime experience…and then when the lightning hit, I was hoping it was a once in a lifetime experience…but nature is working with us tonight, and I think you’ve earned it…is there a guy named John in the front? Where’s John? Just want to point out someone here up front because he was the first guy in line two days ago…four days ago…and he wanted to be in front for this song because it meant a lot to him and he’s going through some stuff, and we’re gonna help him out,” leading to an emotionally charged performance of Release. After Release, the band launches into a cover of The Beatles’ Rain, another not-so-subtle nod to the weather the last time they played Wrigley. When Lightning Bolt starts, Ed remarks “gutsy move playing this one…” Amongst The Waves is dedicated to “Lake Michigan on a windy day.” Before Light Years, Ed wishes Gord Downie, the singer of the Tragically Hip who had recently been diagnosed with brain cancer, well on the last night of their farewell tour, saying “I just want to send them our energy from our gathering up to their gathering and wish the best to Mr. Gord Downie, we love ya.” Masters of War is performed electric, which gives the typically folk-tinged ballad an ominous, harder-edged feel. During the Save it for Later tag on Better Man, Ed hilariously goes off on a fan in the front row wearing a Whitesnake t-shirt, luckily the women next to him were wearing a “Janet Fucking Weiss” shirt and an “Unfuckwithable” shirt, which Ed gushes over.

After the break, Ed talks about the meaning behind the song Bee Girl, and how kids are exposed even more now, referring to Instagram as “Instaounce” and wanting them to be unfuckwithable, referring to the shirt again. During Just Breathe, Army Sgt. Kyle Johnson proposes to his girlfriend Amy, assisted by Ed, who changes the line to “he’s a lucky man.” Let Me Sleep is introduced as “a little number from a long time ago…it was written in Seattle the first winter I was there and it was snowing, which is rare for Seattle but the song was actually informed from experiences here, and growing up waiting on that fucking L train at 2:30 in the morning with 25 below windchill, thinking I was maybe not gonna make it through the night and wishing I had money for a cab.” Steve Gleason is brought out before Inside Job and delivers a message to the crowd, inspiring a powerful performance:

If you want my opinion, this stadium and this field are most sacred ground. Like all of you, I’m inspired and strengthened by the music of these guys. Mike and I have been friends for almost fifteen years and I’m grateful for the relationship that my family has with the Pearl Jam family. This next song is one of my all-time favorite songs ever. Everyone who has a heartbeat will face adversity but when you experience those moments, like the message in this song, please remember this, how we choose to feel is how we are and personally, I feel fucking awesome.

Before Comfortably Numb, Eddie thanks Steve and talks about being young and living in Chicago, saying:

“I was young and broke but I would get a bottle…and a cassette Walkman and headphones and sit there on the rocks and look at the water and look at the sky and look at the stars…I was looking in the sky and seeing like a whole world of possibilities, you know I was young with a whole world of possibilities but what were the options? You just didn’t know where any thread to any kind of future would be and this music was something that helped me and probably you too. It helped us imagine the possibility.”

Prior to All The Way, Ed waxes poetic about the Cubs, then a triumphant Baba O’Riley closes out the night.

Written by: Paul Wirt


August 7, 2016 – Fenway Park, Boston, MA, USA

Show Notes:

The vibe around the park was buzzing after Friday night’s set. Pendulum, now seasoned as an opener, sounds huge and beautiful bouncing off the Green Monster. Ed wastes no time getting conversational tonight, saying “things are gonna get moving real…

Show Notes: 

The vibe around the park was buzzing after Friday night’s set. Pendulum, now seasoned as an opener, sounds huge and beautiful bouncing off the Green Monster. Ed wastes no time getting conversational tonight, saying “things are gonna get moving real quick later on, but want to be sure to savor the moment,” prior to launching into a great trio of Off He Goes, Nothing as it Seems and Nothingman.  Wishlist is a revved up version before the night kicks into second gear with Corduroy, with a prologue of Interstellar Overdrive. Many in the crowd wanted to try and grab the 2nd to last verse, but the band had the early call and response jam for Ed built into this run. A spirited In Hiding is played as the sun disappears to summer twilight, and precedes a blues-drenched Even Flow performance by Mike. Sirens soars, Ed opines “life is short” prior to the opening lyrics, this comes up again as the band brings the song to a gentle close. Ed mentions how he and Jeff were talking earlier about the fragility of life, and how it feels there is more to lose these days. Red Mosquito is scratched from the set for Tom Hamilton to join the band on stage for an encore of Aerosmith’s Draw the Line. Mike wails on an epic Immortality. After the break, Ed gives a nod to the crowd and their energy through the years. The crescent moon has, at this time, been making its way up over the Fenway facades, prompting Ed to talk about the recording of Lightning Bolt and the Boston Marathon bombing tragedy, and Yellow Moon opens the encore, written in reference to the event. Angel is for “the serious collector,” played for only the 2nd time since 1994, and reworked with a full band arrangement. Footsteps follows as the “veteran, more your Carl Yaztremski/Ted Williams…” ‘Small hands’ Donald Trump helps bring a cake on stage to help celebrate crew hand Simon’s birthday as the band prepares to play Smile. Love Reign O’er Me features an excellent keyboard intro from Boom, on a night where he is mostly subtle and in the background, given the set choices. Matt and Ed tease a bit of Temple of the Dog’s “Wooden Jesus” before launching into Breath. With the ballpark lights on after Alive, J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr) joins the band on guitar for Rockin’ in the Free World, sporting a Cookie Monster t-shirt. Mike hands off his Les Paul to Ray Cameron during the first jam, and heads up to the drum riser to assist Matt, before eventually finding his way to Jeff’s bass, which Jeff trades for some cowbell. As the breakdown jam continues, Ed grabs his glove and proceeds to play catch with the crowd. Prior to the closer, Ed introduces Dick, who they have known from the Boston shows over the past couple of decades. Yellow Ledbetter is awash in feedback by Mike, closing with the Star-Spangled Banner. Ed reminds everyone “now don’t get ejected or arrested…goodnight.”


August 5, 2016 – Fenway Park, Boston, MA, USA

Show Notes:

Pearl Jam’s first ever show at Fenway Park opens with the 1-2 emotional punch of Release and Long Road. The mellow opening sequence continues with Elderly Woman and a stellar version of Low Light where Ed holds the final note…

Show Notes: 

Pearl Jam’s first ever show at Fenway Park opens with the 1-2 emotional punch of Release and Long Road. The mellow opening sequence continues with Elderly Woman and a stellar version of Low Light where Ed holds the final note for what seems to be an eternity. All Those Yesterdays features an incredible moment for the hometown fans as Ed points out all of the pennants hung around the park as the band all sings during the ending jam. Daughter has a short “Another Brick in the Wall (Pt. 2)”  tag after W.M.A., with an enthusiastic crowd joining in. Faithfull is dedicated to David Ortiz, and Down is preceded by Ed giving a shout out to “the greatest American historian in our lifetime…one of my favorite Bostonians who didn’t wear a Red Sox uniform”, Howard Zinn. Continuing the Red Sox theme, former pitcher Bronson Arroyo is brought on to play Black. Mike goes crazy on a fiery Masters Of War (played for the first time since 2008), followed up by a full band, rocking version of I Am A Patriot. After the break, Ed says “this thing might go extra innings tonight” and shows some Polaroids from early area shows, showing how small the crowds were, and tells a story about breaking into an empty Fenway Park to take Polaroids of the field. The ultra-rare Strangest Tribe opens the encore, followed by the Into the Wild track Society, each played for only the 2nd time at a PJ show.  Before Sleeping By Myself, Eddie asks “Can I get a uke up here?”, and a ukulele is promptly brought out by yet another Red Sox player, Kevin Youkilis, to the delight of the hometown fans. A tight SOLAT is followed up by a fabulous version of Comfortably Numb, and the extended Corduroy ends the first encore. The band borrows a song from 70’s Aerosmith as they begin encore 2 with “Draw The Line,” covered for the first time. After an energetic Alive, Ed introduces Stone as “the guy that writes most of the songs and is way more handsome than he thinks”, calls Matt “our batter,” and says Mike “throws a no-hitter every time.” I’ve Got A Feeling is played for the first time since 2004 in Boston (Ed mistakenly says it may be the first time since the 1994 Orpheum show), and is dedicated to a fan, Matthew Plummer, who had recently lost his father, via sportswriter Peter Gammons, who comes on stage as well. An epic show full of classic rock covers, rarely played songs, and baseball.


July 17, 2016 – Pemberton Music Festival, Pemberton, BC, CAN

Show Notes:

A throwback to the early 90’s as a staggering 8 songs are played from Ten and another 2 from the era! The band begins the show seated for Release and Footsteps, echoing the relaxed feeling of the setting.  Daughter is…

Show Notes: 

A throwback to the early 90’s as a staggering 8 songs are played from Ten and another 2 from the era! The band begins the show seated for Release and Footsteps, echoing the relaxed feeling of the setting.  Daughter is initially tagged with the song “Dream Baby Dream” by Suicide, before “Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2” takes over, with a lyric change: “leave your fucking guns at home.” Present Tense begins with Ed pointing out a tree as “that one” in the first line. Ed makes an impassioned speech about evolving prior to Do the Evolution. Following Lightning Bolt, Ed toasts Alan Vega, a founding member of the 70’s New York band Suicide, who had passed the night prior, saying that he “influenced everyone from Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Ramone I know talked about them a lot, and I bet Jack White with his two piece band…so I’m just thinking about him and thanking him for leaving such good things behind for us to keep forever,” leading to the one time, one time only full cover of Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream,” perhaps inspired by the previous Daughter tag. Ed fumbles the last lines of Wishlist, offering “I let you down,” and then doesn’t do the familiar E-bow ending. The unreleased Of the Earth is played for only the 12th time.  Out of the encore break, Ed dedicates Oceans to “my good friend Margaret and her good man Daniel.” Funny moment during State of Love and Trust as Ed tosses the mic to the crowd but misses, and has to retrieve it himself and finish the song. The crowd helps out on Comfortably Numb and Ed plays the piano at the end. Black features Ed singing “Goodnight moon” during the outro. After Jeremy, He wishes Stone a happy 50th birthday, which leads to a rendition of “Happy birthday” for Stone from the crowd. The cake is then inevitably smashed into Stone’s face, then Ed’s, and then the crowd! Ed adds, “Thank you Pemberton, you’ve made it all great. Take care of each other underneath the stars,” which leads to Alive.  During the solo, he takes a trip around the stage to view the crowd, adding “Look a baby, hey baby. Dream baby dream.”


July 9, 2016 – Ride Festival, Telluride Town Park, Telluride, CO, USA

Show Covered by Podcast

Show Notes:

Nothingman opens a show for the first time ever, as the show begins with a sit-down set that lasts 9 songs, perhaps a callback to Red Rocks 1995, also in Colorado. Ed cheers “Here’s to the thin air!” leading to…

Show Notes: 

Nothingman opens a show for the first time ever, as the show begins with a sit-down set that lasts 9 songs, perhaps a callback to Red Rocks 1995, also in Colorado. Ed cheers “Here’s to the thin air!” leading to the eponymous Binaural track. A kid in the front row gets one of Ed’s picks after Off He Goes. Just Breathe is stopped in the middle due to lights in Ed’s eyes. Afterwards, he introduces the next one as a “rare occurrence,” and Angel is played for the first time since 1994! The Into the Wild track Society is played with the full band for the first time, in honor of the setting. Jeff gets a shoutout before Low Light. Afterwards, Ed thanks locals and the people who found this spot (without the help of Google Earth) and decided to stay, and encourages everyone to pick up after themselves so they can be invited back. Unthought Known is dedicated “to the big sky.” After the break, another ultra-rare track is dusted off as Santa Cruz is played for only the second time, just Ed on the acoustic. It’s introduced as “a song written about a place, and then I realized if the words were adjusted, it would illustrate how we’re feeling.” The lyrics are changed to “east” instead of “south,” “I need the mountains to set me free, waterfalls to wash my soul,” and “I’ve got a feeling I just can’t hide, pulling into Telluride.” Ed plays I Won’t Back Down solo as well, but electric. Smile is dedicated to audience member David and his friends, in honor of a friend who passed away. Given to Fly lyric is changed to “made it to the mountains…” Ed references the show programs and “great faces on the back” who are in charge of the festival, and dedicates Comfortably Numb to festival organizer Jennifer (it’s her birthday). After Black, Ed compares the stars to the ones you can see from the Hawaiian Islands, leading into Crazy Mary, with Boom and Mike trading solos. Ed ends the thank-yous with “sleep good…there’s a lullaby…” and Yellow Ledbetter ends the night.

Written by: Joey Goodsir


June 11, 2016 – Bonnaroo Music Festival, Manchester, TN, USA

Show Notes:

“Good evening! Past your bedtime?” Ed asks to open the show. A frenetic Go opens the set, and they don’t let up through Save You and Corduroy. Following Nothingman, Ed comments on “some candidate’s” proposed wall, telling the crowd a…

Show Notes: 

“Good evening! Past your bedtime?” Ed asks to open the show. A frenetic Go opens the set, and they don’t let up through Save You and Corduroy. Following Nothingman, Ed comments on “some candidate’s” proposed wall, telling the crowd a wall should be built around the candidate instead, a “5×5…a little cinder block window in there,” and then the energy picks back up with Mind Your Manners. Wishlist is dedicated to a couple in the audience who met 10 years ago at Bonnaroo. Four songs from Ten close the main set, and Oceans opens the encore. A touching moment follows, as Ed says he has a birthday cake for a girl but no candles, and asks the crowd to hold up their phones to serve as the candles. It’s for his daughter, Olivia, who’s celebrating her 12th birthday at the show, and he sings Happy Birthday to her along with the crowd, and the ‘candles’ are ‘blown out.’ Better Man nearly reaches 8 minutes, and then Brendan O’Brien joins onstage to play keys on an epic Black, that does go beyond 8 minutes. A throwback show, with 16 of the 22 songs from the band’s 1990’s albums, including 7 from Ten.


June 9, 2016 – Third Man Records, Nashville, TN, USA

Show Notes:

Nashville, TN Ten Club members woke up to an email this morning telling them to show up at Grimey’s, a Nashville record store, for something special. The first 30 Ten Club members received tickets for a show to be played…

Show Notes: 

Nashville, TN Ten Club members woke up to an email this morning telling them to show up at Grimey’s, a Nashville record store, for something special. The first 30 Ten Club members received tickets for a show to be played that night at Jack White’s Third Man Records store. Due to the small size of the Blue Room at Third Man, only 200 lucky fans were in attendance, including country star Keith Urban and Third Man Records artist Margo Price, as well as NBA star Chris Bosh and Nashville mayor Megan Barry. As a tune-up for the recording, Interstellar Overdrive opens, leading into Corduroy, but the performance is not included on the final release. Rough start to Pendulum, as the organ wasn’t set up, causing a bit of a delay.

The break between sets is needed to set up the acetate machine for side two, and the band uses the delay to hang out and talk with audience members. Side two is full of rare performances, as Jack White joins for Of the Earth, trading solos with Mike, stretching the song out to 10 minutes in length. Hard to Imagine follows, and to close, Let Me Sleep is played with the full band, and for only the 5th time ever. A unique show in an intimate venue.

Written by Nick Smith


May 12, 2016 – Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON, CAN

Show Notes:

Jeff is wearing a t-shirt that reads “WE THE NORTH WEST,” a running theme started at the first Toronto show two nights before. The greeting comes before the callback in Corduroy with “welcome to the last show,” describing it as…

Show Notes: 

Jeff is wearing a t-shirt that reads “WE THE NORTH WEST,” a running theme started at the first Toronto show two nights before. The greeting comes before the callback in Corduroy with “welcome to the last show,” describing it as feeling like the “last day of school, let’s make a night of it.” During Brain of J., Jeff ducks and then laughs as Ed rushes to catch something dropped from above. After Animal, Ed says “good things been happening in this building in the last couple days,” in reference to the first Toronto date and the NBA playoff game the previous night, and toasts to being able to play the last show in Toronto. Following Garden, Ed mentions the victims of the forest fires in Alberta and Manitoba evacuated days earlier and that the band will continue to “send some dough their way” from concert proceeds, and dedicates I Am Mine to “being safe and secure, however temporarily.” Good crowd participation during Nothingman. After Cropduster, Ed explains the origin of the line “let the fluency set it down” as coming from drinking wine with an Italian who didn’t speak perfect English, he figured he was trying to say “‘go with the flow’ or something…but then I thought ‘that’s really kind of amazing,’ so I’ve been letting the fluency set it down for quite some time now.” He goes on to tease about most big cities having their own “monument or erection…of course, you here have the band Rush, that’s a monument…we’ve been playing for 25 years and if we wanted to learn a Rush song we’d probably have to play for 25 more,” to which Mike plays a few chords of “Fly by Night” followed by Jeff and Matt with “Cygnus X-1”. Ed returns to monuments/erections by citing the Space Needle and introducing Even Flow as being written right below it. A drum solo by Matt tops off another impressive solo performance by Mike. Ed switches the lyrics to “white male Canadian” during the W.M.A. tag. Prior to Alone, Ed thanks the crowd for their singing and teases “Right now we’d like to play the whole Binaural record for you.” Ed promotes EB research funding during the break and thanks Dr. Elena Pope at the U of T-Hospital for Sick Children for signing onto the effort. On being shown a French flag, he recalls the terrorist attack at the Eagles of Death Metal concert in Paris the year before and dedicates Just Breathe to a fan and victim, Pierre-Antoine Henry, and his kids. Breath is dedicated to their friend Michele (Anthony), who “specialized in working with difficult artists, and we wouldn’t be here without her.” During the Porch breakdown, he lifts up his guitar under a stage light and uses it to reflect light onto people all throughout the audience. The second encore starts with another compliment, “you make it very difficult to leave,” before trolling the audience with “whatever happened to the Toronto Maple Leafs?” During Better Man, Ed holds the song in a loop and banters for three minutes about looking forward to going home, having just taken a quick shot of tequila backstage, a driver on the first stop of the tour speaking offensively, the contrast between that start to the tour and the end in an exemplary city. Boom is introduced before Crazy Mary, Mike jams alongside him on a fiery solo while Ed enters the crowd to mingle. Toronto native Donna Grantis is again introduced to join the band for Baba O’Riley (after also playing at the previous show), and Ed acknowledges Geddy Lee at the side of the stage, to which the band plays a bit of Cygnus X-1 again. Ed signs off with a personal “see ya, JP” to a fan he sang Thin Air with at the first show, before addressing the entire crowd: “We the northwest, a pleasure being in the north,” and signs off as Geddy Vedder one last time.

Written by: Eric Stevenson Gonzalez


May 10, 2016 – Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON, CAN

Show Notes:

Crowd erupts as the intro of Go is played just like on the album. A thunderous Mind Your Manners precedes the Binaural set, with Ed mentioning that they have the next night off (the second Toronto date was pushed back…

Show Notes: 

Crowd erupts as the intro of Go is played just like on the album. A thunderous Mind Your Manners precedes the Binaural set, with Ed mentioning that they have the next night off (the second Toronto date was pushed back a day by their NBA playoff game). He then talks about how the first time in Toronto they played seven songs, and then auctions how many they’ll play that night, “nine, 10… can I get a 13… 18 in the back.” A longer solo from Mike on Breakerfall helps tear open the album set. Evacuation is introduced with a reflection about fire alarms and expecting to be told it’s a false alarm, remembering the over 88,000 people evacuated days earlier due to wildfires in northern Alberta. Ed introduces Thin Air by explaining that it’s one of his personal favorites of Stone’s: “if we ever had a popular song, this would be the one” and describes how he’d imagined a love song-style video. Near the end, he visits the crowd, takes a fan’s hand, and puts his arm around him while they both sing the last chorus together, essentially recreating his idea for the video. Back onstage, Ed quips “What’s your name? JP? Meet you after the show, handsome.” Ed enters Sleight of Hand too early, Stone stops playing immediately and Ed gestures to the band to start over while pointing to himself to accept the blame, then turns back and tells the crowd “the thing about vinyl records is sometimes they skip…let me clean the needle.” The song is restarted and finishes strong. Soon Forget is prefaced with “it wasn’t written about anybody in particular…now I realize it’s exactly about Donald Trump” before going on to muse about the band moving to Canada and Ed changing his name to Geddy Vedder in honor of Rush. The crowd whistles back at the “we’re all whistling” line and Ed eggs them on, hanging on to that chord. Ed holds out the last note in Parting Ways for several seconds amidst guitar feedback, pick scraping, and resolute drumming. Corduroy has an extra burst at the end, and a breakdown jam on Rearviewmirror featuring a Jeff and Matt standoff. The second set opens with Ed checking on the crowd and counting off all their good memories of Toronto, including all the other bands they’ve seen play, and joking about how good Soundgarden’s drummer was as a prelude to introducing Matt. Here he announces the band will donate money from their Canada shows to help wildfire victims in Alberta and lists the benefitting groups, before asking the audience to light up the room with their phones for the cover of Imagine. Let Me Sleep is played as a nod to the cold. Even Flow picks things back up and sounds like it has an extra groove to it: Mike puts the guitar behind his head and ventures out to the crowd for the first part of an extended, feedback-laden solo that earns Ed’s applause, and Ed tosses the mic into the crowd for fans to sing the last chorus. Down is dedicated to Howard Zinn, “the ultimate ‘positimist,’ that’s not a word, but….” Ed teases the crowd with a long pause and a swig of wine before a sustained “ohhh-oh-oh” to open the second verse of Better Man. Matt, Jeff, and Ed fling, headbutt, and practice boxing with the lamps that have lowered to stage level during Porch, and give the first encore an amped-up finish with Ed mingling in the crowd and sipping a fan’s beer. Ed starts the second encore with the observation “if they got a crowd tomorrow with this much energy tonight they might win it all” and identifies the band and Toronto as both being from the north: “there’s power in north, north points up.” After Given To Fly, Ed calls everyone’s attention to a fan who’s spent the entire show in a bright orange ski mask and references having worn one at a show by Jeff’s band RNDM but “I didn’t last three songs in that fucking thing…I commend you” and jokingly introduces the fan as Matt Damon (who was evidently in attendance in a different part of the arena).. Black winds down with the Todd Rundgren “Time Heals” tag. The Real Me is introduced by Ed saying “We borrowed a couple of great songs tonight, we’re gonna borrow one more.” Toronto native and Prince guitarist Donna Grantis is welcomed onstage to close the show with Rockin’ in the Free World and steals the show, earning a “we’re not worthy” bow from Mike.

Written By: Eric Stevenson Gonzalez


May 8, 2016 – Canadian Tires Centre, Ottawa, ON, CAN

Show Notes:

Lightning Bolt opens for only the second time, and includes the line “…towards the Great White North…” Ed greets the crowd before Small Town, talking about Trump, the fires in Alberta, and “the fact that Canada doesn’t have a team…

Show Notes: 

Lightning Bolt opens for only the second time, and includes the line “…towards the Great White North…” Ed greets the crowd before Small Town, talking about Trump, the fires in Alberta, and “the fact that Canada doesn’t have a team in the NHL playoffs” as signs of the end of the world “so let’s do some singing and try to make the world right tonight!” Love Boat Captain includes the “let the show begin” line. A fan in the front gets to sing on Faithfull. After Even Flow, Ed mentions that Into the Wild author Jon Krakauer is in the crowd tonight and how his books had a profound effect on him, leading into Setting Forth. Big Wave is played for the first time since 2014 for all the surfers in the crowd, Ed saying he knows that there are at least two. 3 songs from Ten close out the set, and during the encore, Ed makes a toast to his brothers Jason and Chris, who are in attendance. A few rare songs are broken out after the break, beginning with Bee Girl, and the tour debuts of Speed of Sound and Parachutes. Not to be outdone, Love, Reign O’er Me is played for the first time since 2013. Encore 2 starts with Ed playing part of the U2 song “All I Want Is You” on the acoustic guitar. Mike and Stone really bring it during Black, blistering solos by both that bring the crowd to a crescendo. Matt goes nuts at the end of Alive, bashing everything in sight. Fuckin’ Up is for their “favorite Canadian” (if you have to ask at this point…) Great energy from the crowd and band all evening on what most would consider Pearl Jam’s 1000th show.

Written by: Ryan Franke


May 5, 2016 – Centre Videotron, Quebec City, QC, CAN

Show Notes:

Of the Girl opens, the first of 4 Binaural songs in the main set. Matt jumps the gun and starts Last Exit after Small Town but stops and Once is played first. Ed introduces Pilate by saying “alright, this is…

Show Notes: 

Of the Girl opens, the first of 4 Binaural songs in the main set. Matt jumps the gun and starts Last Exit after Small Town but stops and Once is played first. Ed introduces Pilate by saying “alright, this is going to be fun…” Light Years is dedicated to a man and his family. Stone grooves on a powerful You Are. After the first NAIS since 2014, Ed makes a long speech about life and love and dedicates Given to Fly to Valerie and “her great man Jan, who’s still here in the next song.” I’m Open is a nice little gem to break up the pace and breathe after SOLAT, and takes the place of Untitled, flowing naturally into MFC. An almost 8-minute Better Man ends the main set, with Ed riffing on Save it for Later. After the break, Ed says, “I’m going to play a song by Uncle Neil. And to sing like Neil, you gotta sing high, but you don’t have to sing perfect. So I’m going to keep that in mind, and you keep that in mind too in case you want to join in… Neil, one of the things he taught us, if it ain’t perfect, it’s perfect. I’m sure this is going to be a perfect version,” and plays a solo version of The Needle and the Damage Done. The band then joins Ed on stage for an amazing Thumbing My Way. Wash comes out of nowhere to transition out of the mellow section. After Lightning Bolt, Ed sees a kid with a sign in the front row and brings him up on stage, saying “I saw him play this song with his pop” (his mom had sent a video of him playing it) and introduces 10-year-old Noah Keeley. Noah plays along to Sad, and does a great job! Stone plays right next to him and Mike comes over to play the solo beside him. Noah gets a huge ovation as he leaves the stage, and Ed remarks, “Noah, you are a badass. That took a lot of guts,” then continues, “We’re going to play one for Noah’s mom and dad” before launching into Surrender. After the second break, Ed speaks about the Capitales, a local baseball team, and sports a jersey made for them to celebrate 25 years together. He then introduces Daughter, saying “He is gonna start this next song. He wrote it. He wrote all the good ones…Mr. Stone Gossard.” McCready is unreal on the Black solo, pure and powerful. Ed concludes the evening by saying “We will never forget this one.”


May 2, 2016 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA

Show Notes:

Ed mentions that he can feel the stage rocking during the Corduroy outro. Following Given to Fly, Ed notes it’s their 36th time in the city and 10th at the Garden, and continues, “…here with this garden party you never…

Show Notes: 

Ed mentions that he can feel the stage rocking during the Corduroy outro. Following Given to Fly, Ed notes it’s their 36th time in the city and 10th at the Garden, and continues, “…here with this garden party you never know what’s going to happen, like this next thing we didn’t know was going to happen until not too long ago…” He then introduces Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick, who were “newly anointed, appointed, indentured” (according to Ed) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, leading to the first full performance of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender.” After the song, Rick Nielsen is seen taking a picture of the crowd to which Ed notes, “this is amazing…Rick’s been at it so long, I didn’t know he’d know how to work an iPhone.” Nothingman begins the “man” trilogy, played for the first time in nearly 5 years, and 10 years since they’ve done it in this order. Before Leatherman, Ed talks about the Leatherman and equates it to Chris McCandless from Into the Wild in the early 1900’s, noting “I know that’s exciting…history.” Ed plays to the crowd during the Save it for Later tag, with a frantic finish. Mike is playing out of his mind on the 2 ½ minute Even Flow solo, and then Matt also takes a solo! Ed throws the mic into the crowd for the finish. Sirens is dedicated to Lance Corporal Tom Rorke who “lost his life tragically last year at the age of 23 and he’s got a lot of family and friends here tonight, like a lot, maybe a hundred of them. He put himself in harm’s way in a dignified manner, and tragically got lost in a crazy accident.” Big moment as the crowd gets loud at the end of Jeremy. Ed slips one “get out of my fuckin’ face” in the middle of Leash. Stone gets a spotlight for both solos in Do the Evolution. After the break, Ed jokes about going to Canada next, and how “they might not even have the internet up there.” You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away is Ed solo with the harmonica. Mike gets soulful on the underrated All or None solo. A fantastic Present Tense leads into both songs from Singles, with the crowd getting another chance to grab the microphone during Breath. Last Kiss’ is played to the back. Surprise guest Sting comes on stage during the first chorus of Driven to Tears and takes over the rest of the song, after which Ed gushes “let’s hear it one more time, that’s incredible…that’s all time favorite singer, favorite bass player, favorite activist, favorite humanist…that was a real honor…what do we do next?” House lights are up for Baba O’Riley, and at one point, Ed chastises someone for not giving a tambourine to a kid, muttering “give it to the kid you fuck.” Mike plays a long, feedback-drenched The Star Spangled Banner tag to close out the evening.

Written by: Nick Smith


May 1, 2016 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA

Show Notes:

Go opens with the classic album version intro. Ed mentions towards the end of the extended Corduroy that “I can feel it rocking,” referring to the infamous 2003 Garden performance. Following Given to Fly, Ed says he was going to…

Show Notes: 

Go opens with the classic album version intro. Ed mentions towards the end of the extended Corduroy that “I can feel it rocking,” referring to the infamous 2003 Garden performance. Following Given to Fly, Ed says he was going to request that the crowd shake the stage again, but it already happened! Low Light features a ridiculously long hold on the last note. Release makes a rare mid-set appearance, dedicated to Jen and Tim. For the last lines of Even Flow, Ed throws the mic to someone in the crowd for the last chorus, getting it back at the end, saying “yeah, you’re in the band man.” Matt is introduced as “the assassin, the thoroughbred, the Lamborghini,” and then Ed points out Kenneth, the fan who sang on Even Flow, on background vocals: “Nice job Kenneth…in about 2 and a half hours you might have to sing a couple because I might be gone…I’m glad I got back up.” An extra line is added to In Hiding, “…cracks along the walls…I was tripping balls.” Rats is dedicated to Enrico Salvatore “Ratso” Rizzo, Dustin Hoffman’s character in Midnight Cowboy. Ed sings some of “Dangerous Business” (from Ishtar, another Hoffman film) before Wishlist, in which Ed gets political during the outro. Before Do The Evolution, Ed says, “Alright this is the song, this is where we get seismic…see if we can feel it,” and almost immediately he mentions they can feel it bouncing. After some South American-style call and response, Evolution goes right into Why Go without missing a literal beat. RVM features some forgive/forget improv by Ed. Out of the first encore break, Ed is sporting a Marathon Man shirt, another Dustin Hoffman film. The End is played for the first time since 2013. Future Days is dedicated to Kevin, who’s fighting an autoimmune disease, and his wife Kim. This leads Ed to talk about EB, and says the song was written about his wife, leading to a piano-driven, sparse performance of the song. Crowd is singing loud and strong for Chloe Dancer, and continues into Crown of Thorns. “Takin’ It to the Streets” is an unusual choice, Ed says it was requested by an old friend, saying “Happy birthday Jack, you motherfucker,” and they run through just a couple of minutes of it. Ed goes off on the Townshend guitar windmills at the end of the Save It For Later tag. Small Town is played to the back of the arena. Black is haunting and beautiful over 8 minutes, with an epic solo by Mike, who then takes a trip into the crowd during the Alive solo, getting close to the top of the first level. Matt Cameron’s son Ray gets Mike’s guitar roughly halfway through RITFW, leaving him to help out on tambourine duty. Mike gets the guitar back for Indifference, using a bow to add some effects.


April 29, 2016 – Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Show Notes:

After coming on-stage to the “Master/Slave” intro music, Once opens for the second night in a row, but instead of moving on with songs from the various albums, Even Flow and Alive follow, and they proceed to play all of…

Show Notes: 

After coming on-stage to the “Master/Slave” intro music, Once opens for the second night in a row, but instead of moving on with songs from the various albums, Even Flow and Alive follow, and they proceed to play all of Ten in order for the first time since 3/13/1992 in Munich, Germany! The crowd starts to figure out where things are headed when Alive, normally played at the end of the show, shows up as the third song in the set. Black is an early highlight, with a beautiful We Belong Together tag, building towards a huge crowd swell at the end of Jeremy. Ed doesn’t address the crowd for the first time until after Deep, sharing a heavy story about love and loss and the healing power of music, and an emotional Release is introduced as “…one of those healing songs.” With the album complete, Ed addresses the crowd again: “Alright, there ya go…cheers, everyone…alright, we did that together,” adding that they chose to do this on the fly after hearing they were getting a “10” banner hung in the Wells Fargo Center to honor their 10th sold out show in Philadelphia. Ed then does a fantastic Bruce Springsteen impression, teasing that they have a long way to go to catch up to Bruce’s streak. Breakerfall restarts the set after Release with a rare mid-set appearance. Ed talks about WMMR before Let the Records Play, saying “There’s a place in town that’s been spinning records for 48 years…send one out to Pierre, Matt and Nick…keep playin’ the records, man!” After the break, the crowd, after the huge high of the main set, seems quiet. Ed notices, asking “Where are you? You still there?[…]Need to get home early? You got babysitters? I need to feel it, we need to feel it!” Big cheer from the crowd before Bee Girl, as Ed tells the story of he and Jeff being drunk on the radio years ago and coming up with it. He shows off his impression skills again before Just Breathe, doing a pitch-perfect Willie Nelson, who covered the song. All or None is played for the first time since 2014. Mike has a soul-crushing solo during Comfortably Numb. Jeff and Matt propel a breakneck RVM. Last Kiss is played to the back after the second break, with the crowd taking it over at the end.  Stone is shredding on the acoustic during a tight Better Man, with the crowd singing along loudly. Leash is loud, dirty, and energetic. Smile is on the setlist, but is scratched in favor of Throw Your Hatred Down. Sonic Reducer and Baba O’Riley follow quickly, capping off a fantastic covers trifecta, not surprising considering they had played all of the usual Ten encore songs earlier in the night! Mike closes out the historic evening with a Hendrix-style Star-Spangled Banner at the end of Yellow Ledbetter.


April 28, 2016 – Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Show Notes:

The show starts hard and fast, the band doesn’t come up for air until Low Light. A tight, pulverizing version of Gonna See My Friend is an early standout. An extended jam serves as an intro to Love Boat Captain,…

Show Notes: 

The show starts hard and fast, the band doesn’t come up for air until Low Light. A tight, pulverizing version of Gonna See My Friend is an early standout. An extended jam serves as an intro to Love Boat Captain, similar to what they had done in Tampa. In the Moonlight is rusty but amazing, and it leads right into a thumping version of In My Tree. Matt Cameron has a great night, from Even Flow to Education he is just totally spot on. Ed opens the encore with a solo cover of Tom Waits’ “Picture in a Frame,” played for the first time since the Vic Theatre show in 2007, and dedicates it to a couple, Pat and Eden, who got married during the show. False start for Oceans, and the band turns it into an impromptu snippet of the Rolling Stones’ “Angie,” before Oceans is restarted. Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns is an emotional highlight of the night, with Ed saying after the song that “Andy would have loved this, here, tonight.” The RVM jam is triumphant, Who-esque. Somehow the second encore is even more raucous, with the band seeming to not tire as the night goes on. They return with a vicious Save You, and Small Town is played for the people in the back. Boom and Mike take no prisoners on Crazy Mary, Boom continuing the Stones theme with some riffs from “Paint it Black.” Fuckin’ Up belongs to Stone Gossard, he absolutely shreds the final solo in a way that would make Uncle Neil proud. Indifference ends the show on a joyful, but haunting note. Often overshadowed by what happened the next night, this show stands on its own, great crowd, great energy.

Written by: Gabe Spece


April 26, 2016 – Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY, USA

Show Notes:

Pearl Jam hits the Rupp Arena stage hard and fast with Lightning Bolt, a nod to the storms earlier in the day). Jeff’s 12-string bass snarls and growls during an energetic Why Go, and then a surprise, as Satan’s Bed…

Show Notes: 

Pearl Jam hits the Rupp Arena stage hard and fast with Lightning Bolt, a nod to the storms earlier in the day). Jeff’s 12-string bass snarls and growls during an energetic Why Go, and then a surprise, as Satan’s Bed makes its once-per-year appearance. Ed thanks UK basketball coach John Calipari (with some boos) and the Kentucky Wildcats for having so many banners hanging in the rafters. Crowd is loud for the ‘Hello’ in Small Town. Education is dedicated to all the “university intellectuals,” and then Ed asks the band if they graduated from college, and says Mike was writing the next song while he should have been graduating, and then they kick into Even Flow. Ed says that it’s obvious how Kentucky loves our

horses, but “we have a thoroughbred every night,” referring to Matt, calling him “the stallion!” A very charged up Spin the Black Circle rocks the arena, Mike all over the stage. Mike shows off on ½ Full, throwing bits of flamenco-style guitar in the solo. He and Stone trade off on a breakout Swallowed Whole Matt bashes it out during the RVM jam. After the break, Ed comes out solo, attempting You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away…a few flubs, but the crowd picks it up and he gets through it. Just Breathe is dedicated to Matthew, who passed away a few days before the show, and his sister Lindsay. Mike highlights a haunting Comfortably Numb. Intense back and forth between Mike, Stone, and Jeff on the Porch jam. Stone is rocking the rhythm on Black, and Mike is on fire. Ed holds the note on the word “be” for a loooong time. The crowd takes over the first verse of Better Man, to Ed’s surprise, and he exclaims “fucking great, man…, ” inspiring a uplifting performance. Mike changes into a UK t-shirt for Ledbetter, Ed takes a swig from his beer and dribbles it all down the front of him. Mike lingers on the outro, almost like he doesn’t want it to end.

Written by: David Ritter


April 23, 2016 – New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, New Orleans, LA, USA

Show Notes:

State of Love and Trust opens a show for the first time since 1992! The theme continues as the Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros cover Arms Aloft is brought back for the first time since 2012, with the lyric altered…

Show Notes: 

State of Love and Trust opens a show for the first time since 1992! The theme continues as the Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros cover Arms Aloft is brought back for the first time since 2012, with the lyric altered to “We were arms aloft…in New Orleans…” Ed addresses the crowd after God’s Dice, talking about how colorful they look, and references his arrest there back in the early 90’s. Matt shines on a dynamic, upbeat Setting Forth, which serves as an intro to Corduroy. Ed addressed the crowd again after In Hiding, talking about the recent passing of Prince, saying “We were lucky enough to be surprised to find out he actually did a version of this next song a couple of years ago…we were selfishly very honored to hear it, and he played the shit out of it, so we are going to try to play the shit out of it in his memory right now,” leading into a cathartic, impassioned Even Flow, with Mike wailing for nearly 3 minutes. Long Road is dedicated to Michael, who lost his brother John. Unusual Daughter, with no tag, jam, or call and response. The unreleased Of the Earth is prefaced with Ed saying “This is our version of jazz…about as close as we get…” The encore opens with a heavy-hitting Go, after which Ed then introduces Steve Gleason, and how they are honored to meet and play for him, and dedicates a powerful Inside Job to him. Mike carries that energy over into stellar versions of Given to Fly and Lightning Bolt. Ed takes a moment to gush about some of the other artists playing the festival, including Red Hot Chili Peppers, Van Morrison, Beck, and Stevie Wonder. Following Alive, Ed welcomes a horn section to the stage, including Seattle-based saxophonist Skerik (Tuatara, Mad Season), Drew Baham, Carly Meyers, and Big Sam Williams (Dirty Dozen Brass Band). With the full brass accompaniment, the now 10-piece Pearl Jam stomps through a faithful, raucous version of The Real Me. The special guests keep coming for the final song of the night as RHCP drummer Chad Smith and Kings of Leon’s Nathan Followill join for Rockin’ in the Free World, leaving Matt to play guitar, and Skerik takes the final solo on saxophone. A diverse, unique setlist and a celebratory finish to the evening.

Written by: Scott Hetherington


April 21, 2016 – Colonial Life Center, Columbia, SC, USA

Show Notes:

Oceans leads off, making its tour debut, as Low Light and Small Town make for a mellow opening. Mike has a fluid, expressive solo on Lightning Bolt, after which Ed does some a cappella call and response with the crowd.…

Show Notes: 

Oceans leads off, making its tour debut, as Low Light and Small Town make for a mellow opening. Mike has a fluid, expressive solo on Lightning Bolt, after which Ed does some a cappella call and response with the crowd. Plenty of jokes from Ed about “cocks” on the night, referring to the University of South Carolina, on which the venue is located. Immortality also makes its tour debut, with the soft, arpeggiated intro. Mike uses a delay/echo effect on his solo, and there’s a short jam on the ending led by Matt. Mike’s Even Flow solo is dark and mournful, perhaps inspired by the news that broke just hours before the show that Prince had passed away. Ed comments afterwards, saying 

 

“all of us on this stage can tell you…that guy loved music so damn much, never stopped playing, never stopped creating…,” and continues, “…as musicians…and you just saw some great guitar playing…Prince was probably the greatest guitar player that you’ve ever seen…amazing…he will be missed.” 

 

Much of the crowd on the floor has purple pieces of paper that they hold up in tribute, and Light Years follows. Marker in the Sand is a mid-set surprise, having not been played since 2014. Ed talks about climate change and not trusting politicians before Infallible. Powerful ending to the main set, beginning with an energetic Jeremy, Matt bashing away at the end and Ed leading the singalong. Jeff is a machine during the spacey RVM jam. After the break, Ed comes out solo with a mandolin, and there’s a sweet moment as Ed talks about how it’s his mom Karen’s birthday (and Glen Hansard’s), and asks the crowd to sing her Happy Birthday so he can send her the tape after the show. They oblige, and are treated to the first performance of Rise (from Into the Wild) at a PJ show. Ed thanks his mom again, saying that she had sold her wedding ring to pay for his first guitar, and talks about how the “clip-on world” line in the next song was inspired by his job at a drugstore in San Diego, and Sleight of Hand is dusted off for the first time since 2014. Corduroy makes a rare encore appearance. Ed takes the opportunity to talk about the cancellation of the Raleigh show (it was supposed to have been played the night before this show) before Wasted Reprise, to mixed reactions, saying that “it wasn’t taken lightly…we were truly and honestly trying to do everything we could do to play…we apologize…it takes a certain amount of sacrifice to take care of other people and their rights when they’re left out on their own, cause it could happen to you, it could happen to me…” Porch stretches out to over 9 minutes, Matt machine-guns the final beats. Ed calls out Jeff’s “Unfuck the World” t-shirt, and Jeff says he got it from singer-songwriter Angel Olsen, who is in attendance. Mike and Matt break into a little “Purple Rain” jam before Chloe Dancer, during which Ed says “Thinking about Andy…Andy Wood.” As Crown of Thorns comes to an end, he goes over and gives Stone a hug, then crosses the stage and does the same with Jeff. Black has the “time heals” improv. Mike pays one last tribute to Prince during Ledbetter, incorporating Purple Rain into the final solo of the night.


April 18, 2016 – Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, VA, USA

Show Notes:

Before Pearl Jam’s first ever show in Hampton, fans who waited outside the venue were delivered the unfortunate news that the show scheduled for Raleigh two days later had been cancelled. Ed speaks about the situation during the break, to…

Show Notes: 

Before Pearl Jam’s first ever show in Hampton, fans who waited outside the venue were delivered the unfortunate news that the show scheduled for Raleigh two days later had been cancelled. Ed speaks about the situation during the break, to mixed reactions from the audience:

“We had to make a real tough call about what we would do about the situation in North Carolina, because they’ve got a law there that broadly discriminates against a whole group of people…and I can’t tell from here if you’re booing North Carolina, if you’re booing us for having to decide that we’re not going to play there…I would understand that too. It was a hard process because we thought we could still play and make things right and that we could fortify all the people on the ground working to repeal this despicable law. We thought we could take the money and give it to them and still play the show, but the reality is, there’s nothing like the immense power of boycotting…and it’s a shame because people are going to be affected that don’t deserve it, but it could be the way that ultimately is gonna effect change so again, we just couldn’t find it in ourselves in good conscience to cross a picket line when there was a movement…we apologize to those in Raleigh, we apologize to those who were going to Raleigh, we apologize to the locals who probably believe in the same things that we do…they have a reason to be pissed and we’re pissed off too but we gotta be pissed off at the right people and get them to change their minds cause they made a mistake, a big mistake, and they can fix it.”

The show gets off to a quick start with a 1-2 punch of Why Go and Mind Your Manners. Brain of J. and Faithfull back-to-back are a bit of a tease coming after the full Vs. performance in Greenville at the previous show. Ed talks about how beautiful Hampton is, and how they were in nearby Virginia Beach after Roskilde and wrote the next song in a hotel room, leading to I Am Mine. Carine McCandless (sister of Chris from Into The Wild) is acknowledged before Setting Forth, and Ed mentions that she lives in the area. Inspired soloing from both McCready and Cameron on Even Flow. “It’s O.K.” is tagged onto Daughter, and feels especially poignant, given both the band’s decision to cancel the Raleigh show and the previously referenced Virginia Beach 2000 show. Plenty of dedications on the night, as Long Road is dedicated to a local teacher, Habit is for a fan named Andrew who is at the show with his brother, and Ed  introduces Given to Fly by saying “this one goes out to the local guy who just got out of prison after thirty-three fucking years on April 8th…Keith Allen Howard…I wish I could buy that guy a drink.” The RVM jam gets a little spacey. After the break. Ed makes another dedication, this one for a father who lost his son Nathan in the military, and plays I am a Patriot solo electric. Sleeping By Myself is a trainwreck and has to be stopped twice, Ed can’t remember the words, but they make it through eventually. Continuing the dedication theme, Come Back goes out to Dr. Michael Richter. A fan gets the microphone during Breath to sing the last line. During the second break, a crew member named Liz joins the band on stage and everyone sings Happy Birthday to her. Small Town is played to the back. Ed dedicates the first performance of Inside Job since 2013 to Jennifer Jaff, an activist who had recently passed away. Short, restrained We Belong Together tag on Black. Indifference returns to its usual closing spot after being in the middle of the main set at the previous show.

Written by: Paul Wirt