September 7, 2023 – United Center, Chicago, IL, USA

Pearl Jam Show Notes 9/7/2023:

After Daughter, Ed says “We missed you….hello front row, hello back row, hello other back row” (pointing to the back of the arena) and asks for the spotlight on him to be turned down, joking “I feel like I just got pulled over” and asks for the lights to be like “excuse me for saying this, maybe we’re about to…fuck.” Come Back has a very poignant dedication to David and Susan and Laura and Max, Ed calls it “a little prayer.” Afterwards, a middle finger is shown on the screens towards a Trump building, which gets a big crowd roar, and Ed tells a story about Dennis Rodman meeting his grandma and the ESPN documentary The Last Dance, leading into Present Tense. Mike is already standing and hurls his chair back off the stage at the earliest opportunity. During Who Ever Said, clips from the visualizer video are shown on the screens. Ed says “this is a request” and Tremor Christ is a huge surprise! It’s a little rocky at first, but they figure it out. Crowd takes the last chorus of Even Flow and Matt gets a shoutout from Ed during the song. Ed says it’s time for another request and it’s Green Disease…keep making these requests please! Mike takes over Immortality. Another deep cut returns next, Marker in the Sand, the first performance since 2016! Night 1 was light on Ten, but they make up for it on this night, with 8 songs off the record, including 3 of the last 4 in the main set. Ed does a little improv after the We Belong Together tag on Black, with the lyrics “Chicago…I saw the sun rise…” After the break, Ed brings Chris Chelios out (who had pretended to be a guitar tech on night 1), and talks about the recent passing of Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, asking for the phone fireflies to come out. Ed says that Wirtz wanted one last thing, and a Chelios highlight reel is shown on the screens and then it’s revealed that Chelios will get his jersey in the rafters in February 2024. The whole band comes out on stage wearing Blackhawks #7 jerseys, Mike quickly throws his into the crowd, and Given to Fly is dedicated to Chelios. Mike goes down to the front row during Once, and afterwards Ed talks about the 9-year-old girl with the sign from night 1, saying she knew every word and wishing her a happy birthday. Smile is played to the back. Garden makes its tour debut after being one of the stories of 2022. Prior to Street Fighting Man, Ed talks about Charlie Watts and what a loss it was when he passed. Josh plays guitar on the Stones classic. Mike and Ed chase each other around the stage during Baba, Jeff thinks about joining them but decides better of it. As the song ends, Ed slams his mic stand on the stage over and over. Mike brings the evening to a close with a gentle Ledbetter outro and then exits the stage on the wrong side and has to run behind to catch up. 12 more tour debuts tonight, with a third of the set from Ten.