September 19, 2023 – Moody Center, Austin, TX, USA

Pearl Jam Show Notes 9/19/2023:

For the first time on this run, Ed comes out before Inhaler and plays Throw Your Arms Around Me, thanking everyone for coming early, adding “since summer’s ending, although you may have summer weather all year long…here’s one more for the sky.” He changes the lyric to “…the blue Texas sky…” Wash is the 8th different opener in the 8 shows this tour. On Sometimes, Ed changes the lyric to “…you got big hands…like a Texan” and “…put you on the list, dear god…” He holds the last note of Low Light until the song ends. Another incredible Black performance, the 600th, with Mike somehow still staying seated and Boom sounding fantastic at the end. Ed points out that this is the last night of the Gigaton tour, because:

“…we’ve made a record for next year, and I don’t want to give anything away, but what I can tell you is if you like the musicians in the group…it just came out really good, you’re going to hear them playing at the highest level, so we’re excited about that and to see the end of summer with you all…”

He conducts the band on the powerful ending to Retrograde, Matt and Josh bringing the thunder and Mike bringing the lightning. Ed hangs on the mic stand and conducts with it again during Once. Never Destination makes its tour debut, another showcase for Mike. Prior to 1/2 Full, Ed says “this song is about saving the world, might as well start in Texas…” The Daughter tag is “Poor Girl” by X. He introduces the first Unemployable since Pittsburgh 2013:

“…we’re gonna do a song we don’t play a lot. it’s a song about religion, greed, dedication to a job…when it doesn’t work for you, the bottom line is you still get the shaft…”

Who You Are returns for the first time since Philly 2016. Double shot of Vs. closes the main set with Glorified G and RVM. The 10-song encore (!) starts with Ed asking for the fireflies for Imagine, adding a quick “…thank you, John,” afterwards. Ed does the “…hold me closer, Chloe dancer…” tease before Boom starts the Chloe intro on piano. Ed dedicates it to Mike’s wife Ashley. After Jeremy, he asks for a woman named Monica in the crowd, saying that in Dallas he had reached into the crowd and she gave him a book:

“…I didn’t know what was going to be in it, sometimes, you know, it’s a little scary to open up a homemade book…I’m glad I took the challenge, it’s just filled with incredible stories and beautiful stories…of her hearing the band in ’96 when she was 15, and the journey begins. And she’s from Poland, she waited for us to come there, she was young, she couldn’t just be traveling around by herself, meeting friends which became family, which is these people here [points to them in the crowd], and it really illustrates the power, the pictures of all of you together, waiting in line three days before the damn show…we really care about the people that come and travel and it makes us work harder and we really try to make everyone happy, it blows our minds and the best part is you all get along and have an experience and the music is just an excuse to be out in the world and traveling…we appreciate the support, we love you, we’ll miss you until next time. Monica, it’s a beautiful book, by the end she’s had two incredible kids…a great job, a really great life, and it started with just a fifteen-year-old who happened to hear a couple of songs…”

As he starts Better Man, he adds “oh, and the art’s good too…” John Doe of X (who lives in the area) and Inhaler join for Rockin’ in the Free World. Ed throws in a “…happy birthday Tom…” as he finishes Ledbetter, and Mike adds a pair of Stevie Ray Vaughan tags on the end – “Couldn’t Stand The Weather” and “Scuttle Buttin”. Ed tries to get “Little Wing” going but it doesn’t materialize. 10 more tour debuts tonight, ending an incredible, too-short 2023 tour.