June 28, 2022 – Festhalle, Frankfurt, DEU

Pearl Jam Show Notes 6/28/2022:

The band takes the stage without Ed and starts Inside Job, the first time it’s opened a show since 2006. Ed enters just before the vocals start to huge applause. No double guitar for Mike, Stone actually takes a lot of the early leads. After Last Exit, Ed jokes with the crowd in German. Fatal is a MASSIVE surprise, played by request for Regina. It’s an electric, not acoustic, version, sparse, with a little staccato rhythm. Ed has a “Free Ukraine” sign that he holds up after Garden. Buckle Up transitions nicely into Better Man. Ed has the mirrored guitar for Porch and reflects light all across the upper level of the arena. After the break, Ed sits at the pump organ:

“I wonder, if we didn’t read the news in the morning…I wonder if we’d live better lives, I wonder if we wouldn’t get so upset to read about what just happened back home in the United States, where they’ve just taken women’s rights and the ability to plan for their future [mixed crowd reactions], I wonder if we wouldn’t be…disgusted by the gun violence that happens every day back home in our country, it’s so frustrating, harrowing, sad, sickening to be honest…if we just woke up and came and did this and was around you people like tonight, it would be the greatest life in the world, but if we did that, or if we were even tempted to do that, we would be ignoring some of the issues that our fellow humans are going through, and it’s very important to be aware and it’s very important to be active and it’s very important to send your energies to the people who need them, because you never know when you’re going to be the one who needs other people’s energies…”

The crowd is nearly completely silent during the beginning of River Cross, seemingly transfixed by the performance. During the last verse, the guitars start to take over and get heavier, and Ed gets up from the organ and goes to the microphone, encouraging everyone to get involved. The lights go down and everyone has their phone lights on. During Alive, someone in the crowd has a sunflower and hands it to Ed. Mike starts his solo and then halfway through, takes off his guitar and hands it to Josh, who finishes the solo in fine fashion while Mike walks around the stage, thanking the crowd and throwing out picks. Indifference closes the show for the first time since LA 2. Jeff is draped in a Ukrainian flag after the show. A great setlist in a beautiful arena.