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

Pearl Jam Show Notes 8/7/2016:

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.”