September 18, 2023 – Moody Center, Austin, TX, USA

Pearl Jam Show Notes 9/18/2023:

Nothingman opens, the first of many Vitalogy tour debuts. Ed, sounding fantastic, stands up early to get the crowd going, and they do, continuing into Small Town, where they take over vocals at the end. Ed comments after that it’s their 10th time in Austin, but it’s been 10 years, so they’re going to “play some songs we don’t usually play.” He continues, noting that everyone in the band’s wife is at the show except for his, and it’s their anniversary. Thumbing My Way is played for the first time since Fenway 2018. Mike has a lovely solo on Footsteps and is the first one out of his chair on Present Tense, leaping up and stalking around his side of the stage. Ed’s timing is off a little on Who Ever Said, but it gets worse on Save You, which is a complete trainwreck and is almost abandoned before Stone rights the ship and gets it home. Corduroy again has the angular jammy intro, this time with Matt adding some touches as well, and reaches the 7-minute mark. Josh gets a shoutout after, Ed points out that his two favorite bands growing up were the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, and he’s gotten a chance to be involved in both. The first solo in Quick Escape is different, moodier, but Mike absolutely demolishes the ending in feedback and chaos. Ed points out that Matt has “Fuck off COVID” written on his drums, and Matt flips the double middle fingers out to indicate his feelings on the matter. Ed continues, telling a story about the band going to London to mix Ten in 1991, and says one of the engineers, Tim Palmer, is at the show tonight, and he’s found and shown on the screens. Mike, having an absolutely outstanding show, smokes on Even Flow. Ed teases the next one:

“I’m guessing, and I haven’t been to ALL the Pearl Jam shows, but I’M guessing that we’ve played it less than 5 times? 3 times? The lyrics were never even written, they were just sung…okay, that’s the clues! It’s been a few…decades, but I absolutely still relate to what it’s saying…”

For only the 5th time, Out Of My Mind is played, and Ed is looking down at lyrics, but it’s a full, complete, rehearsed version, complete with a little guitar solo section! In My Tree is a request, dedicated to Jeff and Laura who’ve been together for 20 years. Josh is again the unsung hero on this song, adding guitars and then pounding out extra percussion at the end. Mike extends his guitar out to the front row at the end of Porch. The phone fireflies are out after the break, and Ed comes out and puts on the sparkly jacket and mirrorball helmet for Wishlist, with Ed, perhaps blinded a little, asking a few times for only one light on himself. He points out someone with an Oklahoma Sooners shirt on, to boos from the Texas crowd, and they play Smile to the back, Ed adding “usually we’d play this one tomorrow…but we miss you already.” He brings up a woman’s right to choose, noticing all the women and girls up front, and how they’d have to leave the state to exercise their right, closing with “I hope you can fix that soon,” leading into Whipping. A furious Spin the Black Circle is dedicated to the people with the sign from Fort Worth, and Mike goes out front again. Ed calls out “Austin…Texas…you’re still alive!” during Alive, and Mike and Jeff groove together for a long time. The house lights are up for Baba, and they build up to a big finish as Ed introduces the band one more time, leaving with “Goodnight…we love you.”