September 2, 2018 – Fenway Park, Boston, MA, USA

Pearl Jam Show Notes 9/2/2018:

Band in great spirits from the start. Last line of Sometimes is changed to “You’d like it here…dear god.” After Low Light, Ed mentions Bono “losing his throat” the night before, and thanks him for his work with the Red Campaign and other charitable/philanthropic endeavors, and asks the “Irish” crowd to wish the “Irishman” well. After a blistering Corduroy, driven by Matt, Ed takes a sip of wine and regales the crowd with a speech about the word ‘fuck’:

…you know, it can be used as a noun. Well, it can be used as a verb, which in its best way, you know, is romantic and ‘let’s fuck’. Or it can be insulting like ‘get fucked’…and I’ve got an adjective too…like ’fucking amazing’ like the Red Sox, they’re ‘fucking amazing.’ And anyone from Boston who might be booing, ‘fuck you.’ Or, you can use it as an adjective and a noun ‘you fucking fuck’ or an exclamation, which I’m realizing now because there might be kids in the audience and I’m thinking to myself ‘fuck!’ Sorry, sorry, fuck, sorry.

Before Given to Fly, Ed mentions that this is their 23rd show in Boston and dedicates it to a local named Dick, who worked putting on shows in the area and was recovering from a recent health scare. This version of I Am A Patriot starts off with the slow intro that develops into a raucous performance with a nod to the crowd, presumably full of New England Patriots fans, with Ed proclaiming “this is the one city in the world where you don’t have to introduce this one.” Ed changes into a Red Sox “Vedder 18” jersey during Porch, traversing the front of the crowd.

After the first break, Ed brings out a red Fender Telecaster given to him by Tom Petty, saying “this is only the second time that I’ve taken this guitar out of my house, because a few years ago I gave Tom a guitar that he was looking for…and then a couple months later I got this beautiful red Red Sox color Telecaster in the mail from Tom, and he said ‘this was my baby for the last few tours, but I think there’s a few songs in it.’ So I brought it tonight. He played here in 2014 and he was right, there’s some songs in it. Maybe we can get his attention if we light some lights and make this place look like the church that it is for our dear friend Tom. Please sing along with me. I want him to hear. I love you Tom” leading to an emotional I Won’t Back Down.

Tremor Christ seems to be added on the spot, Ed: “If I talk to the fellas, can we play a little something we don’t normally play? We’ll try it, if we fuck it up it will be my fault and it won’t be the first time and my wife’s here to attest to that.”

After a soaring Black, Ed says that in July of 1991 the band stayed at a Howard Johnson’s across the street, and he and Jeff shared a room together, while Stone and Mike roomed together, and they lit incense and it was “so romantic,” then tells a story of how he snuck into Fenway and took two pictures behind home plate, fulfilling a lifelong dream.

Ed comes onstage after the second break wearing a backwards #23 Red Sox batting helmet, and talks about pot being legal in Seattle, and that they rolled one up with something they found called “The Green Monster.” Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom joins for the debut cover of Taillights Fade.

Out Of My Mind is played for the first time since the final Spectrum show in 2009, Ed making the shocking admission that the song doesn’t have set lyrics and that he just makes them up. Another Red Sox jersey is thrown at Mike during the Alive solo, but he doesn’t miss a beat and wears it on his shoulder for a few seconds before tossing it on a mic stand.