2024 Pearl Jam Concerts, Tour Dates & Show Reviews

November 23, 2024 – ENGIE Stadium, Sydney, AUS

Main Set: Garden, Why Go, Brain Of J., In Hiding, Even Flow, Tremor Christ, React, Respond, Dark Matter, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Wreckage, Save You, Dissident, Given To Fly, Hunger Strike, Immortality, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: No Surrender, Spin The Black Circle, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Something Special, Black/(We Belong Together), Alone, Porch, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)

Show Notes:

Before the show begins, there is a cultural performance which has been a staple of the Australasian leg of the tour, this time entitled “Welcome To The Country & Smoke Ceremony”, after which the band takes to the stage. The…

Show Notes:

Before the show begins, there is a cultural performance which has been a staple of the Australasian leg of the tour, this time entitled “Welcome To The Country & Smoke Ceremony”, after which the band takes to the stage. The thirty-seventh, and final, show of the 2024 Dark Matter Tour, opens with Garden, the fourth time it appears as the opening song on the Tour and, only the fifth time ever it has featured at number one. Before Why Go, Ed shouts, “We’re in Sydney, why go home?”. Ahead of third track Brain of J, Ed says “61st anniversary” – alluding to the fact that, due to time zones, the 61st anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy was being observed in the US. Ed then addresses the crowd for the first time, of many during what is an Ed-centric show:

“Well here we are, good evening. Alright, for one last time in this whole, long year, we got some guitars, we got some amps, we got some lights, we already had the Pixies, we had Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers. I flossed my teeth especially just for you, I’m so happy to be here. And this is not just our last show in Australia, this is the last show of the tour. So, we’re going to miss everyone, we’re going to miss each other, we’re going to miss our crew but we’re going to miss you so let us celebrate. We got work to do, we didn’t come here to fuck spiders as they say but thank you all for being here tonight. Tonight and always – thank you.”

The band then play In Hiding during which, after the line, ‘Soon I was seeing visions, and cracks along the wall’ Ed shouts, “to be honest, I was a little bit high”. Ed then talks about the previous few shows in Australia and the Australian climate,

“There’s a children’s story about three bears, which also is a great surf spot south of, in Western Australia I think, south of Perth maybe…Three Bears? Anyways, we’re going to play this one for the surfers but here’s the deal, so Gold Coast – thunder, lightning, danger, we worked with the authorities, the crowd was incredible, they took care of themselves, they took care of each other, we could pull it off but it was intense and then Melbourne was intense, another great crowd but hot as fuck, 92/93, that’s upper twenties for you. And then we get to Sydney and it’s just been fucking perfect. So, cheers to you Sydney.”

Prior to playing Even Flow, Ed asks, “what you got tonight, Mike?” Then after the song he shouts, “let’s hear it for Mike McCready, let’s see you”. He picks up a sign from the crowd and asks the band if they see it. He gets into talking about wine, pondering why he’s drinking Spanish Barolo when one of the best wines in the world, Penfold, is made in Adelaide. A guy named Nathan had brought him a bottle that he plans to drink later. Ed then holds up the sign which reads “TREMOR CHRIST” and they break into the song on Vitalogy’s 30th anniversary. Ed checks in on a situation in the crowd before React, Respond starts up, and non sarcastically says ‘I was responding’. Ed praises the crowd singing along to Small Town and opines “ahh, we’re going to miss this” as he conducts the crowd for one final chorus before the band go straight into Wreckage. Ed shouts out a bunch of people prior to Save You – Donna, Gabby, Digger, Luke and Dr. Ota, and says this one is about friends who help friends in need. Dissident is played by request, and the last line is changed to, “Escape is never the safest path, but sometimes you’ve got to fucking do it anyway”. Before Given To Fly, Ed makes a passionate speech about school bullying and teenage suicides:

“Before we start this, something I know a little bit about, I heard locally and I think it happens all the time and all over the planet and it just needs to freaking stop and the only way it’s going to stop is for there to be better parents out there and better school administrators but there’s like school bullying and bullying over texts. You know, it’s like a pandemic, with teenage girls especially. Committing suicide aged twelve, thirteen, fourteen, because of being bullied at school and being bullied online and it’s a bunch of shit and someone should stop it. It needs to be paid attention to and there’s no room for it in modern society, there’s no room for it, this is a time on this planet for acceptance and support. We have a lot of challenges we need to face as a human race, stop this division and especially stop it at a young age between teenage girls and boys, thank you very much.”

Given to Fly has a lyrical change to reflect the local area, “made it down to Manly, had a smoke in a tree”. Speaking to the crowd again he says, the reason this next one’s going to be played is because you have great voices here and we’d like to have you use them with us. They play Hunger Strike for the first time in ten years with Ed singing both verses and the crowd taking Chris Cornell’s parts during the chorus. It’s powerful, impassioned, and one of the biggest surprises from this Australian run. Another Vitalogy song is played in Immortality and the main set closes out with a massive Rearviewmirror wrapping up a strong run of songs at the end. When Ed returns to the stage, the screens are showing shots of the crowd before the camera focuses on someone holding a picture of Ed. When he sees that he jokes, “I was going to say look at all you handsome people until I saw that”. Taking the opportunity for a brief rest, he speaks to the crowd about the tour and teases a return to Australia. He shares that they’ve had an amazing time with family members traveling down and even the crew members got suntans. He then talks about Bruce Springsteen and his current tour:

“You know what’s interesting, I wanted to share. Back in Vancouver, a great friend of mine and brother of mine he’s playing his last show of his long tour tonight and if I’d been in Seattle I’d have been there to see it, but when I saw the dates, I said, Bruce I’m going to be, you’re playing on the 22nd, the last show of the tour and we’re going to be playing on the 23rd in Australia on the last show of the tour. I was texting him this morning and I realized those are the same days, we each just played the last shows of our big, long tour on the very same day. But everything about that guy is magic and he ends the tour in Vancouver and that’s where we started it. He makes magic and he works hard to make magic and sometimes it’s easy for him to make magic. He also has songs of strength and songs that we have been able to depend on. For him, as well as us, it’s been a tricky time in our nation back home, we’re going to be okay, it’s just going to take some time, a bit of a reset but we will lean on music. So, I’m thinking about my brother.”

Ed then covers The Boss’s No Surrender, only the third time the song has appeared on a Pearl Jam setlist and its first appearance since 2006, with both previous renditions coming in Springsteen’s home state of New Jersey. After the song he thanks Bruce, and turns his attention back to the crowd and thanks a guy who gave him the hat he was wearing. He recognizes the Vitalogy anniversary as they play two from the record back to back, Spin The Black Circle and Better Man. Ed then invites Josh Klinghoffer to the front of the stage and dedicates Something Special to all of the parents in the crowd. This performance meant that every Dark Matter song got played on this seven-show leg of New Zealand and Australia. During Black’s solo, he asks the crowd to put up their candles and their lights and says “let’s see the stars”. Afterwards, Ed says we got a random one for the serious collector as Alone is played here. The band then go straight into Porch which features lines of The Stooge’s TV Eye added during the bridge. Matt Cameron beats the hell out of his snare drum during it, breaking it for the first time in a while. Alive brings the crowd together as it signals the end is nearing on both the night and the tour. Before Baba, Ed invites the entire crew out onto the stage, thanks them all and calls them family. During the performance, Ed finds a young fan with a sign challenging him to rock, paper, scissors in exchange for a tambourine. The kid selects rock, Ed goes with paper to win, but the kid receives a signed Aussie Rules football. Little Wing is tagged onto Yellow Ledbetter to close out the night, and close the book on an extremely memorable 2024 tour year.

November 21, 2024 – ENGIE Stadium, Sydney, AUS

Main Set: Release, Even Flow, Given To Fly, (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Nothingman, Scared Of Fear, Dark Matter, Wreckage, Daughter/(It's OK), Come Back, Waiting For Stevie, State Of Love And Trust, Running, Jeremy, Faithfull, Lukin, Porch

encore 1: Last Kiss, Animal, Do The Evolution, Black, Sonic Reducer, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Indifference

Show Notes:

Close to 45,000 are in attendance on a warm spring evening out in Sydney’s west. Following Dark Entree, Release’s droning riff rings throughout ENGIE stadium (home ground for the AFL team the GWS Giants), the band silhouetted against a minimal…

Show Notes:

Close to 45,000 are in attendance on a warm spring evening out in Sydney’s west. Following Dark Entree, Release’s droning riff rings throughout ENGIE stadium (home ground for the AFL team the GWS Giants), the band silhouetted against a minimal white and blue background. “Here’s to a special one,” announces Ed. There’s barely a pause as Pearl Jam rip into Even Flow, an energized Ed bearing a huge grin as the crowd belts back the chorus at him. The band are clearly stoked to be back in Sydney after an absence of 10 years, and to be playing to such a big audience. Dedicated to a beloved fan, Stuggs, who sadly passed away before he got to attend the show, Given to Fly (“in Australia.. off a record called ‘Give Way’”) is once again a highlight of this leg, no small thanks to magnificent drone footage of the Blue Mountains, Sydney harbour and the New South Wales coastline. It provides the perfect backdrop for the rousing anthem. Interstellar Overdrive rings out into Corduroy, continuing the run of high energy hits. The outro doesn’t quite take off, Matt missing Ed’s cue and Mike coming in late with the solo. Nothingman is sublime, however, making its first appearance in Sydney in 18 years, before Dark Matter and artist Rob Sheridan’s incredible visuals finally enter the set via Scared of Fear. In the bridge, Ed changes ‘again they’re calling’ to ‘like in Footsteps calling’. Daughter is introduced with “When the people have spoken, it’s ok”, referencing requests for the Dead Moon tag. It lacks the element of surprise as was the case in Melbourne, but it’s a powerful addition nonetheless. Come Back is particularly poignant, Ed mentioning a fan who has lost a brother, and, as a father of girls himself, two young Australian victims of drink poisoning in Laos. After State of Love And Trust, he comments, “34 years ago.. we thought, ‘Ok, that’s got some good momentum, that song. 34 years later, we can play faster,” leading to a tight version of Running. He takes a few moments after Jeremy to mention the Australian arm of EB fundraising, and the involvement of players from the Giants football team, photos of whom are shown on the screens. Faithfull is a detuned but welcome rarity, while Porch closes out what has been a solid main set, Ed stepping down to sing the final chorus to those on the rail.

Encore time, and Ed reads out some of the signs fans are holding. “This is like an eye test, so far I’m doing fairly well I think.” he quips, before reading another. “Please play Black – is this something you’d like to hear?” The huge cheer doesn’t go unnoticed. A sign for Bugs sees him give a shout out to revered recording engineer and producer Nick Didia, now an Australian resident, who “sings on Olympic Platinum, for all the serious collectors.” Solo on the acoustic, he unites all for a singalong to Last Kiss, before Animal sees the band return to the stage. Since it’s detuned half a step, it doesn’t pack anywhere near the punch that is needed, but a stellar Black (replacing Upper Hand after the crowd response) more than makes up for it. The song belongs to Mike, his epic solo reaching the heavens to elevate the classic ballad once again. McCready, eyes closed, is still in a faraway place as Ed wakes him out of his trance. “We belong together…me and you, me and you,” he sings, gesturing back and forth between himself and his cherished bandmate of 34 years. The house lights illuminate the stadium for the final chorus of Alive, Ed exclaiming, “Sydney you’re fucking beautiful! Look at ya!” As Mike solos, he brings out old friend and legendary surfer Mark Richards to the front of the stage to look out at the celebratory scene. But it’s Mark’s son Nathan who then makes an appearance on Ed’s telecaster, modestly strumming away next to Stone on Rockin’ in the Free World. Over the opening notes of Indifference, Ed says, “Until we meet again – and it won’t be another 10 years.” It caps off a triumphant return to the Harbour City after far too long an absence.

November 18, 2024 – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, AUS

Main Set: Better Man, Last Exit, Given To Fly, Porch, Wreckage, Daughter/(It's OK), Scared Of Fear, Dark Matter, Even Flow, Light Years, Waiting For Stevie, Jeremy, Won't Tell, Do The Evolution, Deep, Black, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Setting Sun, Animal, Once, Unthought Known, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

It’s a much cooler night in Melbourne at Marvel Stadium for night two, but still over 52,000 are in attendance for another massive show which Jeff would later dub as one his standout shows from 2024. Prior to Teen Jesus…

Show Notes:

It’s a much cooler night in Melbourne at Marvel Stadium for night two, but still over 52,000 are in attendance for another massive show which Jeff would later dub as one his standout shows from 2024. Prior to Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers commencing their set, Ed walks out to take photos of the crowd. He graciously lauds the Canberran quartet, who had to give up their set on the Gold Coast due to the storm delay. Following the Dark Entree intro track, Pearl Jam take to the stage, the familiar opening notes of Better Man ringing throughout the stadium. It kicks off a run that replicates the opening three from the same date – November 18 – in Sydney, 2006. During the breakdown, Ed, sporting his Walter Peyton jersey again after its absence on night one, greets and riles up the crowd, just as he did in Sydney, some 18 years prior. He praises those who were in attendance on Saturday for “a very, very, very memorable night.” “Well, records are made to be broken,” he continues. “Let’s fuckin’ bring it tonight!” Finally, he drops the bizarre Aussie colloquialism: “We didn’t come here to fuck spiders you know!” Given to Fly soars once again with the magnificent backdrop of drone footage, taking the crowd on a scenic journey to the Great Ocean Road, a Melbourne beach, a skate park and finally, into Marvel Stadium. A concise Porch makes an early appearance, while Wreckage is dedicated to the resilient conservationists working to protect Australia’s reefs. Fittingly, its emphatic, Learning to Fly-esque outro is combined with vision of waves crashing. Daughter follows seamlessly after, and before he leads a typical call and response, Ed straps on his guitar. “This part is a request – from daughter Alexis, to dad Darren,” he announces, before strumming the opening chord to It’s OK, the first time it’s been played in six years. It’s as emotional and moving as ever, and, accentuated by Mike’s lead lines, makes for one of the highlights of the 2024 tour.

A powerful Dark Matter demonstrates that the band has truly found its groove with the track, and afterwards Ed shares photos he took of the crowd, including a guy with a sign that reads, “Hard to Imagine for this dickhead”, eliciting cheers and laughs from the Golden Circle. Mike throws his strat behind his head during his Even Flow solo, but afterwards, things take a more reflective and poignant turn as Ed dedicates a beautiful and tight Light Years (played for only the second time that year) to a fan named Pam, who has sadly passed away. Commercial radio station Triple M is thanked for their airplay of Waiting for Stevie whereas in the ‘90s, Pearl Jam was adored and broadcast live by Triple J. It is a perfect flowing set, with an epic rendition of Jeremy igniting the Marvel crowd. It prompts Ed to lovingly acknowledge Jeff and say, “He can play a four-string bass, he can play a twelve-string bass, he can play a six-string guitar, he can play a twelve-string guitar.” As Jeff grins widely, he goes on. “He can play a lute, he can play a banjo, he can play a mandolin, he can play a harmonica. He can play a harmonium, he can play a mouth harp… and he once made sushi out of a wallaby, but that part I didn’t confirm. But he did write this next song.” This leads to Won’t Tell, the only time it will be played on the Australian tour. Do the Evolution once again features the arresting backdrop of Todd McFarlane’s animation on the center screen, while a stunning Black hits its emotional peak as Ed stretches out the “all I’ll be” line. He adds, “let’s see your phones… give me some stars to sing to”, and the crowd respond, lighting up Marvel Stadium in a breathtaking sight. As Mike’s solo soars, Ed watches on in admiration, before a lullaby tag from Nick Cave’s Ship Song: “We make a little history, baby… Every time you come around”. Next, Rearviewmirror. Ed plays the opening riff but lets the band take over for the verses and chorus. But despite occasions where he’s not playing, it’s the perfect setlist choice to ignite the crowd and signal the encore break.

Ed fondly recalls his encounters with Aussie surfers in San Diego, whom he notes were always so carefree. “I thought, I can’t imagine a whole country full of Australians – I’d love to meet them someday. And look – we’ve become friends!” Bizarrely, Setting Sun is played for the only time on the entire tour Down Under, but, set to Rob Sheridan’s incredible visuals, it perfectly closes out the Dark Matter material. Animal, down-tuned a half step, and Once provide a nostalgic punch, while Unthought Known is stopped midway through the first verse to address a security concern in the back of general admission. With the house lights on, Alive sees a sea of smiling faces beamed up on the screens as tambourines get thrown out, while those expecting Baba O’Riley, which was originally on the setlist, are surprised by yet another Rockin’ in the Free World. With a considerable gap between the rail and the stage, Ed runs past the front row to the tune of Stone’s solo, while Josh jams with Jeff who’s sporting a Pixies stickman shirt. “Fuckin’ beautiful!” he returns to the mic to announce, in response to the crowd’s participation. The boys say their goodbyes, take a bow and are about to walk off, but a band huddle is met with a rousing cheer. “Alright this is how we say goodbye,” he says, a cheeky smile cast to Jeff, before strumming the opening riff to Porch, acting as if they didn’t play it earlier as Jeff feigns bewilderment. Mike is on hand to end things proper, and it caps off a triumphant two-night stand in Melbourne. “I miss you already-ready!” Ed sings before leaving the stage.

November 16, 2024 – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, AUS

Main Set: Why Go, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Given To Fly, Hail, Hail, Corduroy, React, Respond, Dark Matter, Wreckage, Garden, Even Flow, In My Tree, Running, Jeremy, Wishlist, Not For You, Mind Your Manners, Porch

encore 1: Just Breathe, Inside Job, Do The Evolution, Better Man, State Of Love And Trust, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

It was a very hot day in Melbourne, so Ed came out dressed to the weather with shorts and much lighter top than his standard Dark Matter tour Walter Payton jersey. Marvel Stadium was packed out, and you could feel…

Show Notes:

It was a very hot day in Melbourne, so Ed came out dressed to the weather with shorts and much lighter top than his standard Dark Matter tour Walter Payton jersey. Marvel Stadium was packed out, and you could feel the love and excitement oozing through the place. Why Go opened with Jeff’s extremely thick bass grooving through the speakers. Jeff was a standout on the whole Australian tour, and he doubled down on this. Ed spoke a lot earlier than he normally would, and really set the vibe for the whole night by saying:

“If you could see what we see now… good evening Melbourne! Well if it ain’t good to be in Melbourne on a Saturday night… it’s been a while, it’s been too long… They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, we’re feeling pretty fondly right about now. Look it’s been a long hot day, we just wanna pace ourselves, and just check and make sure everyone’s dong ok, front to back… this is much better than lightning (referencing Gold Coast show delay) but it is pretty hot, in fact I’m wearing shorts tonight, not because I’m feeling nostalgic, just ‘cause it’s really fucking hot…”

Elderly Woman, which tends to always be a staple of Melbourne shows, crooned in, and Given to Fly was huge, like it had been all tour utilizing the video displaying all of the scenic elements of Australia. Hail, Hail was very groovy and the crowd was jumping to every beat. Corduroy was, as always, immense and powerful, into React, Respond which was a crowd favorite from the new record. After Ed mentioned, “The incredible Mr. Matt Cameron” Dark Matter pounded in and sounded huge in the enormous stadium with Matt filling the whole space, which was followed by a face-melting Mike intermission into Wreckage with the huge screen filled with incredible pictures. Garden came next, a real highlight of this section of songs, which fell into a Mike mind-bending Even Flow. In My Tree thundered in with Matt opening it up, crowd went silent for the drums, which was amazing given there was over 70,000 people packed in, a quite heavy sounding and feeling version. The standout thread of the next five tracks was Jeff, giving an absolute powerhouse bass masterclass across the run of Running, Jeremy, Wishlist, Not for You and Porch, which closed the main set.

The encore kicked off with Just Breathe as a tribute to EBRP’s work and all those impacted, with the whole stadium encapsulated by Ed. It had been 18 very long years since Inside Job was played in Melbourne, a hypnotic version kicked off with Ed saying, “We would like to do this one written by Mr. Mike McCready”. Then the party started. The run of Do The Evolution, Better Man, State Of Love And Trust, Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World and finally an incredible Yellow Ledbetter, which all could have been picked by popular vote, put a fire in the venue, much hotter than the weather.

November 13, 2024 – People First Stadium, Gold Coast, AUS

Main Set: Corduroy, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Given To Fly, Why Go, Quick Escape, React, Respond, Dark Matter, I Am Mine, Wreckage, Even Flow, I Got Id, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall (Pt. 2)), Got To Give, Severed Hand, Black, Porch

encore 1: Man Of The Hour, Do The Evolution, Breath, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

Show Notes:

After a weather delay which led to the opening band not being able to play and the Pixies only playing a 30-minute set due to time constraints, Pearl Jam wastes no time getting into the hits at the first show…

Show Notes:

After a weather delay which led to the opening band not being able to play and the Pixies only playing a 30-minute set due to time constraints, Pearl Jam wastes no time getting into the hits at the first show in Australia since 2014, leading off with an almost 7-minute long “Corduroy,” featuring a long Mike solo. During the bridge, Ed says “…we went from People First Stadium to Safety First Stadium…everybody good?” “Given to Fly” has drone footage from around the area playing on the screens, including forests and, of course, surfing. Ed again emphasizes the “fuckers” line. “Quick Escape” returns for the second time on this leg, and during the breakdown Ed points at Jeff and repeats “Jeff Ament!” Mike lets loose on the “Dark Matter” solo. “I Am Mine” is dedicated to “all the surfers…because surfers believe in equal rights…and equal lefts!” Ed calls the next song “one of the longest song titles we’ve ever had…it’s called ‘I Don’t Know The Rules Of Cricket And I Don’t Know If I Ever Will, It Looks Like A Great Game But It Confuses The Shit Out Of Me,’ it goes like this…” and they tear into Even Flow. As “Daughter” transitions into the tag, Ed repeats “…can you let us know you’re out there?” three times before going into a call-and-response, and then the familiar Pink Floyd tag, with the added “politicians leave the girls alone/a woman’s choice is her own” line to close it out. “Got To Give” returns for the first time since Vancouver, only the second performance. Stone takes the solo and finishes it off nicely. Ed goes backstage during the “Black” solo and returns with a guitar, playing rhythm during the end of Mike’s powerful, emotive, outstanding solo. Ed repeats “…come back, come back…” as the song is winding down and then improvs “…I’ll be waiting, oh I’ll be waiting/all along I’ll be waiting, I’ll sing this song while I’m waiting…” before the song’s delicate conclusion. Mike, Jeff, and Stone all gather around Matt for the driving “Porch” jam.

After the break, Ed makes a bunch of dedications and then talks about the sudden loss of his brother a few years back, adding:

“…everybody in this band knows what it’s like to lose somebody overnight…shocking, it hurts, a long long time…they live in us, that’s the one thing we can provide them, is a home, and have it be almost like they’re still here, because they’re here in us.”

He finishes by talking about a man named Greg who died trying to save others in Indonesia, saying this was the song his family would play for him, “Man of the Hour.” Jeff is on stage along with Ed, playing upright bass. “Better Man” stretches out past 8 minutes, just like “Black” did, and transitions right into “Alive.” “Rockin'” appears for the 5th show in a row, Mike goes down to the barricades and plays to the front and Ed thanks the crowd during the breakdown, adding “…thanks for a night we’ll never forget!”

November 10, 2024 – Go Media Stadium Mt. Smart, Auckland, NZ

Main Set: Release, Low Light, Once, Do The Evolution, Scared Of Fear, Wreckage, Waiting For Stevie, Better Man/(Don't Dream It's Over)(Save It For Later), Dance Of The Clairvoyants, Mind Your Manners, Even Flow, Amongst The Waves, Jeremy, Upper Hand, Unthought Known, Black/(We Belong Together), Porch

encore 1: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Smile, Animal, Rearviewmirror, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Just like on night one, local group Te Whare Karioi performs a traditional Haka, but this time it’s just before Pearl Jam takes the stage with “Release.” Ed holds the last note of “Low Light” for seventeen seconds, then says…

Show Notes:

Just like on night one, local group Te Whare Karioi performs a traditional Haka, but this time it’s just before Pearl Jam takes the stage with “Release.” Ed holds the last note of “Low Light” for seventeen seconds, then says a quick hello before they launch into “Once,” making it two out of the first three from Ten on a night when seven in total are played from that record. There’s a delay on Ed’s vocals during “Once,” giving it a unique echoing effect. “Do the Evolution” is early tonight. Before “Wreckage,” Ed sees a sign in the crowd for someone who wants to come up and play guitar, joking “…but what are you going to do for me?” He adds that Friday night was “one of the best crowds we’ve ever played for,” and says that Sunday night can be tough but it’s Saturday night in Seattle (due to the time difference). He compares Auckland and Seattle, calling them sister cities, and asks if the band would be welcome if they wanted to move there. Mike performs a guitar solo by himself afterwards, not “Eruption,” but in a similar vein. “Stevie” is heavy, with a thick guitar tone, and hits a little rough patch in the middle but they get it back on track. Ed mentions how the band was nominated for a Grammy award yesterday, to which Mike points out that it’s actually three. Ed lets the crowd take the “Better Man” intro, almost dropping out completely. He sings a little of Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over” (“…never let them win…”) during the tag before getting into “Save It For Later.” Before “Even Flow,” Ed talks about long relationships, building up to Jeff and Stone’s forty-year musical partnership. He adds that Ten was he and Mike’s first record they had been on, but it was already Jeff and Stone’s fourth. Mike’s solo is a showstopper, as usual. After, Ed lists all the records since No Code, and says that none of them would be possible without the lifeguards who saved his life back in 1995 when he was carried out by a current while surfing and tells the story. He draws a parallel between the kid in “Jeremy” and the person in the next song, saying they “never had…the upper hand. Come with us on this bit of a journey, will you please.”

After the break, Ed speaks:

“It’s been a very intense week…it’s a bumpy world we live in, and it felt like we fell off a highwire the other day, and you provided us with a reminder of hope, strength, and provided us with a safety net, and that we will never forget.”

He promises to be back “much sooner” than the 10 years it’s been since they’ve played New Zealand, and says he learned about New Zealand not from geography class, but from reading the liner notes of a record, and brings out Neil Finn on stage. He then sees the sign for the kid who wants to come up and play guitar again, and jokes “I’m sorry kid, it was either you or Neil Finn…I got my eye on you.” Neil and Ed duet on a beautiful rendition of “Throw Your Arms Around Me” with Neil on acoustic guitar and Ed on his electric. Ed introduces “Smile” as “a song I’m feeling deeply right now…miss you already.” During the “Alive” solo, Ed exclaims “…can I just say…this is the most energized back of the floor…I can ever remember playing for!” The young person with the sign, Leon, finally gets a chance to come up on stage before the second verse of “Rockin’,” gets a guitar, and immediately starts bouncing and rocking out. Ed adds “…as you!” to the “never get to be cool” line, looking over at him. Leon’s having the time of his life, going over to Jeff and Mike and laughing, going up to Stone’s mic and singing backups with him, and dancing with Ed. Stone misses a few notes on “Ledbetter,” causing Jeff and Josh to laugh. Ed leaves with “…seriously chills right now…we love you.”

November 8, 2024 – Go Media Stadium Mt. Smart, Auckland, NZ

Main Set: Given To Fly, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Why Go, Corduroy, React, Respond, Eruption, Dark Matter, Wreckage, Daughter/(Monkey Gone To Heaven)(Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)), Even Flow, Won't Tell, Jeremy, Quick Escape, Wishlist, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Spin The Black Circle, Lukin, Porch

encore 1: Just Breathe, Habit, State Of Love And Trust, Hard To Imagine, Do The Evolution, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

Show Notes:

Local music group Te Whare Karioi leads a traditional Haka before Pearl Jam takes the stage for their first show in New Zealand in ten years. Ed exclaims “It’s been awhile!” as “Given to Fly” opens with a visual of…

Show Notes:

Local music group Te Whare Karioi leads a traditional Haka before Pearl Jam takes the stage for their first show in New Zealand in ten years. Ed exclaims “It’s been awhile!” as “Given to Fly” opens with a visual of waves crashing, the ocean, and drone footage from the area. Ed yells the “…hey FUCKERS…” line with extra emphasis. He adds the “…I’m glad I saw this place, thank you all for taking me…” line in “Small Town.” He leads a call-and-response chant of “Alright” a few times, then adds “…it wasn’t feeling alright not that long ago, right now it feels alright,” perhaps alluding to the recent US election results. Another line change in “Corduroy,” “…absolutely everything’s changed.” Stone is rocking up and down at the end as the band surges. “Eruption” is added to the setlist after “React, Respond.” Before “Wreckage,” Ed talks about playing it at soundcheck the day before and how the song took on a new meaning to him because of “events in the world, events in your life” as he was singing it, another allusion to the election. There’s an incident in the crowd, Ed says the crowd is happy because they got rid of a “bogan” (slang term for an unrefined individual) and says “…bogans beware.” “Daughter” has two tags, “Monkey Gone To Heaven” by opening band the Pixies, followed by “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2),” with Ed improving about politicians and women’s rights. The crowd is loud on “Even Flow,” and Ed does the “we’re not worthy” bow to Mike after the solo. He compliments the crowd on their singing after “Jeremy,” and tells the story of “Quick Escape,” tongue-in-cheek calling it “…a work of complete fiction.” “Wishlist” sees “all of Auckland’s hands upraised.” “Not For You” is extended, with the crowd chanting during the bridge, the band seems like they’re not sure how to get out of it, it’s a little different-sounding. “Spin the Black Circle” is dedicated to Zane Lowe, the New Zealand radio DJ who had interviewed the band earlier in the year. Ed thanks the crew, including the local crew, for getting everything set up and continues:

“…Growing up, you know…the one bright idea I stumbled on, and I think we all did around the same time, we find ourselves needing a guitar, needing an instrument, needing a way to express ourselves, and I found a guitar…and Jeff found a bass, Stone found a guitar, Matt found some drums, Boom Gaspar found a keyboard…Josh Klinghoffer must have lived in a music store ’cause he can play every fuckin’ thing…we found these instruments, but we also found our tribe, and now all these many years later, when the shit hits the fan, you can gather up the tribe, you can get plugged in, you can turn it up, and if you’re really, really fuckin’ lucky, you’ll get to share the music with a bunch of really great people, all in a wonderful gathering, and share in the volume and remember that this is a life of challenges and it is always certainly worth living.”

Ed trips and falls backwards during “Lukin,” but recovers in time to finish the vocals. During the “Porch” jam, he asks the crowd “…can you feel the life out there?” and then adds “everything is precious….precious” before the song kicks back in.

After the break, Ed says “…can we catch a few more waves with you tonight?” and points out a woman up front, giving her the “New Zealand Kiwi Cheerleader of the Year award,” and asks the crowd for quiet so he can hear what she says. He then sees someone from Boston, joking “we just played in Boston, you could have saved a whole lot of money!” He talks about being in New Zealand and how clean it is, then adds:

“…it’s unrealistic to think that life on this planet will always be smooth…hardship, and struggle, and loss, it’s all part of the deal, it’s all part of the human experience. And so you do your best to keep hope, and you use your actions in such a way that you can help shape a more positive world, a positive neighborhood, a positive community, a positive country…and we were thinking that maybe progress scares people, and that acceptance and inclusivity, they might think that they may be excluded because of it, but there’s room for everyone, and we can figure it out, and we will figure it out, and we made progress…now we’ve gone backwards, we’re gonna figure it out, it just might take a little longer.”

Liam Finn (who also opened up the show) joins on stage to play guitar and sing for “Habit.” As the song heads towards the pause, Ed motions for Liam to take the microphone, and Liam says “…speaking as a child of Aotearoa,” the Maori name for New Zealand. Liam and Ed go back-to-back at the end and Liam falls down during the chaotic ending. A fan in the front row has a request, and “Hard to Imagine” is played, Ed saying it wasn’t on “the menu.” Liam Finn rejoins, along with EJ Barnes, for “Rockin'” to close the show.

September 29, 2024 – Ohana Festival, Dana Point, CA, USA

Main Set: Garden, Off He Goes, Last Exit, Mind Your Manners, Given To Fly, React, Respond, Running, MFC, Wreckage, Big Wave, I Got Id, Black/(We Belong Together), Won't Tell, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Last Kiss/The Best Day, Song Of Good Hope, Gremmie Out Of Control, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

Show Notes:

After a day off (in which Ed sat in with almost every band that played), Pearl Jam opens the final night of Ohana with “Garden.” Mike gets soulful and bluesy right away. After “Off He Goes,” Ed takes a moment…

Show Notes:

After a day off (in which Ed sat in with almost every band that played), Pearl Jam opens the final night of Ohana with “Garden.” Mike gets soulful and bluesy right away. After “Off He Goes,” Ed takes a moment to thank the other bands, calling Alanis Morissette a “badass.” He also points out his mom on the side of the stage, adding “stay up…we’re drinking.” Lyric in “Given to Fly” is changed to “…made it to that ocean…” “Running” is dedicated to Joe from IDLES. Following “MFC,” Ed says they’re going to play “every song about water that we know…70% of them were written in the water.” “Big Wave” appears for the first time since 2016, and Ed dedicates it to “the surfers, I hope there’s a big swell coming next week, if there is we’re gonna take credit for it.” “I Got Id” is outstanding, Ed goes over and jams with Jeff at the end, Boom adds some nice texture, and Matt anchors it the whole way. They go right into “Black,” and Ed keeps the guitar on, even playing a little during the solo, which is a showstopper as usual, Mike thrashing around the stage and falling to his knees. After, Ed speaks:

“What I’m going to ask you to do is not what most people ask you to do, I’m going to ask you to be as quiet as you can, quiet as a mouse, for just a second [a few crowd members yelling over the silence]. There’s always one asshole that yells, don’t be that guy…or one woman that says ‘I love you Eddie,’ okay, okay…so we just want to hear, how many people, and if you’re listening, how many people are out there on the sand? Sand people, are you out there? [distant applause, causing Ed to laugh] We love you Sand People!”

“Won’t Tell” is the 4th and last Dark Matter song of the night, we’ll see how they use these in Australia and New Zealand in November. During the long held line in the intro of “Better Man,” Ed interjects “Sand People!” He improvs some lines during the “Save it for Later” tag, including a strained “I really fucked up/I can’t live without you/I can’t sing without you/I can’t breathe” with his eyes closed. The fan with the sign asking to play drums wants to play “Animal” tonight, but Ed says if it’s going to be anyone it’s going to be Stephen Perkins (Jane’s Addiction), who is in attendance. He points out a fan named Jed Garfunkel who’s at his 100th show, and talks about a certain political candidate who’s selling Bibles with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the Pledge of Allegiance inside, saying he was going to get a knife and cut them out to “exercise the separation of church and state.” He continues, talking about the $500 watches being sold, adding “I wish I could buy everyone here a $500 watch…as a symbol, ’cause it’s about time…precious time, and this precious planet, and it’s about time that we say we’re not gonna take this bullshit anymore…we need lifting and not grifting.” Andrew Watt is on stage and plays guitar during “RVM.”

After the break, Ed comes out with his younger daughter Harper and an acoustic guitar. He starts to play “Last Kiss,” but after the intro Harper starts to sing “The Best Day” by Taylor Swift, and they go back and forth, trading off on each song. Harper laughs at the “I had an excellent father” line and the crowd cheers, a sweet moment, and they hug before she leaves and Glen Hansard joins on stage. Ed talks about he was in a rough situation, and “this was the song that we hung on to like a life raft…and got us safely to shore,” “Song of Good Hope.” Afterwards, Ed starts an “OTOTO” chant and explains:

“Do you know what that means? It means ‘one time, one time only’…we’re gonna play a song tonight that we’ve never played before, and very well may never play again…and because we’re this close to the beach, and as I told you, I was a 12-year-old little fuckup getting way out in the point break…we have a great, great friend, somebody we made many, many records with, spend a lotta lotta time together, he’s been so important to us, his name is Mr. Brendan O’Brien and he’s on the guitar right here…years ago, along with Jane’s Addiction and a few others, Surfrider made a record to save and help Mother Ocean, this was our contribution to it…”

After debuting “Whale Song” on night one, it’s the long-awaited debut of the Silly Surfers cover “Gremmie Out Of Control,” with Stone shimmying and dancing and yelling “Cowabunga!” It’s just as fun and ridiculous as you would hope, and the band is having a great time. Ed introduces the band after and throws in “Sand People!” There’s some booing and he stops and jokes “…why don’t you like the Sand People?” before getting to Boom. As “Alive” is starting he throws in “We love you! We love you!” A cavalcade of guests join for “Rockin’,” Stephen Perkins takes over the drum throne and Matt picks up a guitar, Andrew Watt, Brendan O’Brien, Harper and Olivia Vedder, and Glen Hansard and his band are all there among others, and even Ed’s mom has a tambourine. Jeff relinquishes the bass to Brendan, and Ed brings it down in the middle to say:

“I noticed…it ain’t ‘Keep Rockin’ in the Free Country’…it’s ‘Keep Rockin’ in the Free World’…if we’re going to be the leader of a free world, then our country must be free and you must do what you can in November to protect women’s freedoms, to protect your own freedoms, to protect democracy…”

During the “thousand points of light” lines, he adds “…election’s coming, it’s in your hands.” He leaves with “see you next year…I hope…”

September 27, 2024 – Ohana Festival, Dana Point, CA, USA

Main Set: Low Light, Sometimes, Corduroy, Got Some, Scared Of Fear, Dark Matter, Daughter/(Beautiful World), Even Flow, Wreckage, Who Ever Said/(Satisfaction), Amongst The Waves, Waiting For Stevie, Habit, Leaving Here, Porch

encore 1: Future Days, Whale Song, Do The Evolution, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Ed is everywhere on night 1, opening up the festival with a solo ukulele performance of “Can’t Keep” and joining Crowded House for “I Got You” and “Throw Your Arms Around Me.” As for Pearl Jam, they ease into the…

Show Notes:

Ed is everywhere on night 1, opening up the festival with a solo ukulele performance of “Can’t Keep” and joining Crowded House for “I Got You” and “Throw Your Arms Around Me.” As for Pearl Jam, they ease into the set with “Low Light” and “Sometimes” before “Corduroy” ramps up the energy. Ed sees a sign in the crowd after and says “don’t fuck with me yet…let me fuck with you first, quid pro quo.” After “Dark Matter,” he stops for a “commercial break” to take care of some fans. The “Daughter” tag is “Beautiful World” by Devo, who had played earlier in the day. Matt destroys the ending to “Even Flow.” Ed does a short “Satisfaction” tag in “Who Ever Said,” again a nod to Devo and their version. Afterwards, he comments “…fuck, we love this place!” Someone in the crowd has a sign saying it’s their birthday and Ed teases them, saying “…it’s like Denny’s, I need to see your I.D.” “Amongst the Waves” returns for the first time since 2022. There’s another crowd issue and Ed does a short a capella “Modern Girl” tag while it’s being resolved. Liam Finn joins on stage for a wild “Habit,” playing guitar and singing. “Leaving Here” also is played for the first time since 2022, with Jeff taking the first 3 breaks and Matt the last. Matt also drives a propulsive “Porch” to end the main set.

After the break, Ed says they have been given a few extra minutes because of the “emergency timeouts,” and sees a sign in the crowd that someone wants to drum on “Spin the Black Circle.” Ed jokes “give me your address, I’ll swing by…just text me,” and instead it’s the first performance of “Future Days” since 2016, which was featured in the Last Of Us season 2 trailer. He dedicates it to “Joel and Ellie,” the characters from the show. Then, Ed speaks:

“…as we near the end of our travels in the United States for the year, there’s quite a few people that we see at many, many shows…they’re travelers, they’re a family, they take care of each other. There’s a large consortium of folks who see multiple shows [points out into the front rows], they’re dedicated and devoted and supportive, and if I asked, for example, this young woman, how many shows she saw in the last year, it would be easier to say how many did you miss? [Ed holds up one finger as a question and then changes it to a zero] Oh, that was the answer! Unbelievable. What happens is, of all the songs that we play, or haven’t played, or they’ve seen, or are rarely played, they look to check off a song they’ve never heard before…and they even call it the ‘white whale,’ you know, the ‘white whale song’…well this one is fitting. It’s a song written by one of our great drummers, Jack Irons…and we asked Jack, but he could not be here, but we didn’t just get the next best thing, we got something equally as good…”

Ed introduces Jack’s son Zach (who himself plays guitar in AWOLNATION) and says “…we hope it connects and sends vibrations to our friends under the water…” and it’s the long-awaited debut of “Whale Song,” 25 years after its release! Zach starts it off on guitar and vocals, and Ed is dialed in as well, watching Zach and singing along. Stone is making the whale sounds on his guitar and Zach does an amazing job, the band nails it and makes an unforgettable moment. Ed checks on the time and wants to say something, but changes his mind and says “ah, fuck it! Let’s just play…[angrily] there’s some obvious fuckin’ shit going on….you know what it is [points his fingers out at the crowd].” Zach, Liam, the members of Crowded House, and other people from bands from throughout the day join for “Rockin’,” it’s a big party on stage, Ed playing the host and handing out tambourines and dancing with everyone. Prior to the last song, he says:

“…from the front to the back, the lefts and the rights, here’s the equal lefts and equal rights….low tide, high tide, everybody in the back, it’s been a big wave, a perfect wave, and we’re so fucking thankful…”

“Ledbetter” is loose and playful, Jeff sitting on one of the stage monitors and palm trees on the screens behind, and the band says goodbye, Ed giving a shoutout to the people on the sand.

September 17, 2024 – Fenway Park, Boston, MA, USA

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Even Flow, Daughter/(Wave Of Mutilation)(Monkey Gone To Heaven), Animal, Save You, Immortality, Corduroy, React, Respond, Running, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Wreckage, Untitled, Present Tense, Won't Tell, Superblood Wolfmoon, Once, Black, Fuckin' Up, Porch

encore 1: I Am A Patriot, Falling Slowly, Why Go, Waiting For Stevie, Crazy Mary, Unthought Known, Do The Evolution, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter/(More Than A Feeling)

Show Notes:

Ed comes out with “Good evening Boston! Are you ready to sing? I’m ready to sing!” and counts off Small Town. Jeff’s wearing a shirt from the Boston hardcore band SSD, and they kick into an early Even Flow. Another…

Show Notes:

Ed comes out with “Good evening Boston! Are you ready to sing? I’m ready to sing!” and counts off Small Town. Jeff’s wearing a shirt from the Boston hardcore band SSD, and they kick into an early Even Flow. Another singalong follows with Daughter, and Ed tags two Pixies songs, a quick line from “Wave of Mutilation” and then “Monkey Gone to Heaven” (“and the devil is six, then god is seven”). He asks for the lights up and comments “…it’s a long way from center field to home plate…I see you!” Animal is next, making it three out of the first four from the seemingly-forgotten-all-tour Vs. record. Before Immortality, Ed says “there’s a few people that aren’t here that were here last time…I want you to know that we’re thinkin’ of ’em.” Mike gets another chance to shine early and there’s another awesome ending jam. Ed starts right into Corduroy after, which wasn’t on the original setlist. However, instead of breaking it down and going into the extended version, he goes right into the “everything has chains” line and keeps the song going, the original version. Dark Matter finally gets some action with the eighth song, React, Respond, and then Ed dedicates Running to Red Sox manager Alex Cora:

“…our dressing room is right past the dugout…I’ve been smoking joints in his manager’s office the whole weekend…no that’s not true, let me clarify, I was taking gummies and I left some for him, so if he calls a suicide squeeze it might be my fault…”

It’s back to Vitalogy afterwards with Not For You, and during the breakdown Ed sings the wrong lyric, laughing and joking that “it was all those gummies…in Alex Cora’s office,” and then talks about his #34 Walter Payton jersey, saying tonight it’s for David Ortiz. Following Wreckage, Ed mentions Dick, the local man who they had brought on stage in 2018, saying he had gone to see him but unfortunately he had passed, but they had left a chair for him with his picture and the message “This is our friend Dick. Please leave him right here where we remember him…” which is shown on screen. Ed gets a little emotional speaking about it, and then mentions a cameraman, Johnny Martin, who passed in 2019, and Chris Snow, GM of the Calgary Flames, who passed from ALS. A tender Untitled follows, with the lyric changes “…34 minutes or so” and “…with your memory I could never be alone.” MFC does not follow however, they go right into Present Tense. The underrated Won’t Tell is played for the eighth time, which seemed impossible earlier this year (poor Got to Give, still just once). Ed looks for the moon and finds it, talking how Fenway Park is sacred grounds, pointing again to the Super Harvest Moon, leading into the 2024 debut of Superblood Wolfmoon. After hitting Vs. and Vitalogy earlier, it’s back to Ten for three out of the last four. Black has a space visual, possibly Jupiter, and Mike sends the solo out into outer space to match. Ed does a short improv at the end:

“We were so young then…

We were so young then…

But it wasn’t pretend…

No, it wasn’t pretend.”

He talks about the shows they played in Boston in April 1994, including the Orpheum, and says “I remember we played this song that night,” leading to a rare main set appearance of Fuckin’ Up.

After the break, Ed comes out and says “we don’t want to go, we don’t know when we’ll be able to see you again,” and says he wanted to talk about politics, “but fuck all that, you know that…we can’t fall for the bullshit, let us stand united…and ladies, don’t forget what the Beastie Boys sang, ‘You gotta fight for your right’…to women’s reproductive freedom.” The band returns for a high-energy Why Go followed by the last Dark Matter song of the night, Waiting For Stevie, which has an electricity-based visual. Jeff now has a #33 Larry Bird shirt, and Ed mentions Stone’s middle name Carpenter, adding “Carpenter Newton?” (which was Stone’s alias on the early liner notes). He changes the lyric in Crazy Mary to “…saw the full moon, followed it around.” The lights are up and the celebration is on for Alive and Baba O’Riley. At the end of Yellow Ledbetter, Mike plays a little of Boston’s “More Than A Feeling,” the first time they’ve teased it since Mansfield 2003. Ed even starts to sing the lyrics, but Mike quickly changes back to Ledbetter and finishes the night off.

September 15, 2024 – Fenway Park, Boston, MA, USA

Main Set: Footsteps, Release, Given To Fly, Hail, Hail, Corduroy, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Down, In My Tree, Wreckage, Even Flow, Dark Matter, Do The Evolution, Glorified G, Jeremy, Something Special, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Just Breathe, Song Of Good Hope, Blood/(Atomic Dog), Better Man/(Save It For Later), Setting Sun, State Of Love And Trust, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter/(Star-Spangled Banner)

Show Notes:

Ed says “Sing it to the moon!” as Footsteps opens, the first time it’s been played since Barcelona, when it also opened. He changes the line in Release to “…dear Sam…” and then adds “Fenway!” After Hail, Hail, he greets…

Show Notes:

Ed says “Sing it to the moon!” as Footsteps opens, the first time it’s been played since Barcelona, when it also opened. He changes the line in Release to “…dear Sam…” and then adds “Fenway!” After Hail, Hail, he greets the crowd, saying:

“…what a day! What a night! What a thrill…a fucking thrill to be here with you tonight…”

He talks about their history in Massachusetts, saying their first gig there was at a tiny club behind the Green Monster, and thanks Sam Kennedy and the Fenway crew, and the crowd for being there. Jeff’s wearing a Larry Bird t-shirt, and a guy in a cow suit is pointed out by Ed, who jokes that “your udders are sagging a little bit…you might have been turned into hamburger long ago, so happy to see you.” He talks about Howard Zinn before Down, wondering what he would think of the current times. Afterwards, he tells a story:

“I had a friend…and we used to climb trees…I mean, I had friends when I was a little kid, and we climbed trees, Chicago, suburbs, that kind of thing, but no, this was not even that long ago…two grown men climbing 200-foot trees, ’cause we liked the feeling of being up there and we liked hanging out together, and it was a good place to be left alone, you know, we could have a chat, it’s not like we carried coffee or anything, we just climbed these trees, hang out in the wind, there’s a park called Lincoln Park in Seattle…the name of my friend was Chris Cornell, we’d climb these…[Ed has to take a second] and sometimes, by the time we got to the top, if the wind started going, it looked like a metronome ’cause there was a big weight on the end, and it was getting pretty thin where we were, go back and forth and back and forth…I didn’t know if I was going to say this or not but I might as well just say it…it was recently, it’s been 5 years since some stuff happened, and so I went by myself and I climbed the tree a few weeks ago…[He has to take another moment, getting emotional] it wasn’t as fun, by yourself, but it brought back a lot of memories, and to be honest I started to tear up a bit, and then, as if he were on the branch next to me, I heard ‘it’s okay.'”

Matt starts In My Tree, a powerful and intense version with some intricate bass work from Jeff, and Ed adds “we’re all missing him…we had a name for that tree, we called it the Green Monster.” After Wreckage, Ed introduces Mike, “batting left…he’s our Kevin Youkilis” and says “I like this part of the night, because it’s like releasing an animal from its cage.” He then sees the hematologist with the sign for Blood in the crowd, interjecting “…didn’t we not play that song the other night? You bring that fuckin’ sign again…okay, okay, he’s a doctor, I won’t insult him anymore…I might need your help someday.” Ed skips the second verse of Do the Evolution, going straight to the “hallelujah” part after the first verse. Afterwards, Ed wants to send a message to Ted Nugent:

“I mean, we love his guitar playing…the Motor City Madman…he is indeed a madman…I said recently that I didn’t own a firearm and that I didn’t want to own a firearm, and that’s just my personal choice. Ted, I just wanna tell you, we are…I like to shoot the bow and arrow, we are brothers of the mystical bow…and I throw ten-pound axes at big wooden targets, we have way more in common than you think…Ted, I think it’s reasonable, and not radical, to put in some simply practical, common sense gun laws into place to keep things like AK-47’s out of the hands of people who are not responsible enough…think about it, we send our kids to school at a young age and we give them active shooter drills…it’s a bit much, we’ve gone to the other side, we can pull it back and you can still have what you need, and not have what you don’t.”

Glorified G follows, and Ed introduces Jeremy as “another one about a gun.” There’s a fan up front with picture of Jeff’s face on a t-shirt, and Ed calls him “the Jeff Ament fan club…I started it…but I’ve given him none of the profits, I sell the t-shirts, the stickers…” He brings Josh up for Something Special, and dedicates it to all the parents and the “childless cat ladies.” The RVM jam is short, and as it’s building back up Ed pauses the song to make sure the crowd is safe.

After the break, Ed says “ladies and gentlemen, you know that there’s no way we’re leaving Fenway Park until they kick us out.” He checks on everyone after the RVM incident, and thanks everyone for letting them make a “bunch of racket” in center field. He talks about Tim Wakefield, who had passed in 2023, and tells a story about getting to see Wakefield’s knuckleball up close in a bullpen session. Just Breathe is dedicated to Tim and his wife Stacy, who tragically passed shortly after Tim. Just Breathe also has to be stopped to check on an audience member. At the end, Ed seemingly ends it early but then goes back and plays the ending again. Glen Hansard joins on stage for Song of Good Hope again. Afterwards, Ed points out the hematologist and says “we’re gonna play the fuckin’ song for you,” and Blood returns to a set for the first time since Fenway 2018. Ed is struggling mightily vocally, and adds a short “Atomic Dog” tag after the first verse. The band gets mixed up but they get through it, and Ed says “we didn’t practice that!” at the end. Better Man goes over 8 minutes with a full Save it for Later tag. Ed has a Red Sox helmet (with the number 34 on the back) and Jeff has a Celtics jersey on. As Rockin’ goes into the breakdown, Ed says “…we got Boston in the house!” and Glen, actor John Krasinski, and Ed’s daughter Olivia (who sang “My Father’s Daughter” with Hansard during his set), along with others (comment if you know who the other people were), join on stage. Ed starts to say good night, Mike starts Ledbetter, but stops, and then Ed motions for one more and Ledbetter is played, and Mike finishes off the night with the Star-Spangled Banner with Peter Gammons on stage.

September 12, 2024 – CFG Bank Arena, Baltimore, MD, USA

Main Set: Can't Keep, Present Tense, Given To Fly, Corduroy, React, Respond, Dark Matter, Tremor Christ, Wreckage, Unthought Known, Stranglehold, Even Flow, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2)), Deep, Upper Hand, Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Lukin, Porch/(T.V. Eye)

encore 1: Falling Slowly, Black, Spin The Black Circle, Sonic Reducer, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

After being mentioned by Stone earlier in the year during an interview as one of the songs he’d like to see come back, Can’t Keep opens the show, the first time it’s been played since 2014! Ed puts some extra…

Show Notes:

After being mentioned by Stone earlier in the year during an interview as one of the songs he’d like to see come back, Can’t Keep opens the show, the first time it’s been played since 2014! Ed puts some extra emphasis behind the “…it’s been wonderful tonight…” lyric and Stone is fully in the groove. The long build in Present Tense gets the crowd going, and the song breaks loose and soars, one of the best versions in recent memory. During the Corduroy breakdown, Ed says “Good evening Baltimore!” and then continues afterwards, saying “…we don’t get here as often as we’d like, and now feeling your energy right off the bat, we are seeing the errors of our ways,” adding that they were scheduled to play here when the pandemic hit in 2020, and then the building was being renovated in 2022 during the rescheduled tour. He sees a sign for a couple who’s been married for 43 years, saying “it was only 38 back then [when the show was originally scheduled]…by the way, Stone and Jeff have been together almost forty, so don’t get cocky.” He starts to introduce the next song, but can’t remember the title, joking “fuck it…once they start playing, I’ll remember,” leading into React, Respond. He says there’s “a fervent request…he’s a hematologist, so of course the song, of course, he wants us to play is called Blood.” He continues, joking “…bring your sign to the Springsteen show tomorrow, maybe he’ll play it….he can sing it, too,” and says the next one is a request from a NASA scientist, “right up there with hematologist,” and Tremor Christ is played for only the second time this year. Ed introduces Stone, and then hears the crowd and says:

“Stone, they’re asking if you would sing a song tonight [Stone dismisses the request with a wave of his hand]…see, that’s the problem, the band is a democracy…if it was a dictatorship, and I happened to be the dictator, I’d say ‘Stone, you gotta fuckin’ sing…or I’ll fuckin’ kill you’ [laughs]….okay, he’s thinking about it!”

However, Wreckage follows. After Unthought Known, Mike starts playing the riff from Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold,” a call back to the 2013 show where Ed talked about Ian MacKaye and Henry Rollins seeing Nugent in this arena back in the ’70s. The band picks up on it, laughing, and after a minute or so Ed starts singing, repeating “I don’t want a gun/I don’t ever want to own a gun/I don’t want a gun/I don’t own a gun” over and over, and mimics shooting a bow and arrow up into the sky. Mike starts off the Even Flow solo with a slow burn but the shredding is unleashed in time. Ed says they have “good news and sad news,” mentioning the recent loss of actor James Earl Jones, saying that he had seen him in a Tennessee Williams play in London 15 years ago and got to meet him. He then says “…but now, the good news: did you hear that Taylor Swift…?” He doesn’t finish the thought, but flexes his arm (Swift had endorsed Kamala Harris for President). He goes on to talk about today’s news that North Dakota had vacated their abortion ban, ruling it unconstitutional. He works the news into the Daughter tag again, adding “…leave women’s bodies alone” and repeating “vote to make it okay” at the end. Deep is dedicated to “three different people going through difficult things,” and he uses a lyric from Once (“it could happen to you, it could happen…”) as an intro. Upper Hand is the fourth and last Dark Matter song. During the Porch jam, Ed goes over and strums Mike’s guitar, and then sings a little of the Stooges’ “T.V. Eye” (“I gotta T.V. eye”) before kicking back into the song.

During the break, there’s a loud mechanical noise heard in the building, and Ed references it when he comes back out, joking that he’s glad the crowd “still has their hearing after that fucking sound disruption,” saying they had an issue with the front board and apologizing for the “technical difficulties.” There are a bunch of signs that Ed references, including the woman from a previous show who had a 150th show sign and tonight has one that says “151.” Glen Hansard joins Ed on stage for Falling Slowly. Ed sings a little during the Black solo, repeating “someday…” as Mike drops to the floor, wringing all the emotion out of his guitar. Ed says STBC is a request from José Cardenal, and Mike and Jeff circle each other as they play. Alive is paused to take care of someone in the crowd, and then continues where they left off. Baba has a big ending jam and Ed adds “I’ll stay” to Ledbetter to close the night out.

September 9, 2024 – Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Main Set: Of The Girl, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Corduroy, Mind Your Manners, Scared Of Fear, Dark Matter, In My Tree, Wreckage, Even Flow, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Wishlist/(Norwegian Wood), Dance Of The Clairvoyants, Once, Upper Hand, Alone, Jeremy, Porch

encore 1: Just Breathe, Song Of Good Hope, Waiting For Stevie, Crazy Mary, Animal, Rats, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Night 2 in Philadelphia opens up in a loose way with Of the Girl, with Josh helping out on percussion. Crowd is loud on Small Town and Corduroy, Ed comments on how good night 1 was and says “…can we…

Show Notes:

Night 2 in Philadelphia opens up in a loose way with Of the Girl, with Josh helping out on percussion. Crowd is loud on Small Town and Corduroy, Ed comments on how good night 1 was and says “…can we keep it going?” The crowd sings the original Corduroy part during the extended middle and Ed picks it up and sings it with them before bringing it down. After Scared of Fear, he sees a sign in the crowd that says “150+ shows combined” and jokes “…anybody could write that…congratulations, I’ve been to 149 myself…I hope this is your favorite out of all 150.” Prior to In My Tree, he tells the story of the song:

“…we were a little bit out of our trees at the time…we were losing it a little bit…I do remember the day though, I had a little platform made out of lumber, and an old door, and I was up in the air, up in the branches, and I had a guitar and a piece of paper, oh and a typewriter. When I finally came down, I put those things to use…”

Mike and Jeff are focused and getting into it, a standout performance. Before Even Flow, Ed speaks to Mike:

“So Mike, there’s that lady who’s seen 150 shows…I would specifically appreciate if you blew HER mind right now [Mike points at her and gives the thumbs up]…[Ed jokingly, to her] 150 shows…did you always have such not great seats? This is a quiet number…called Even Flow.”

Mike begins the solo playing with his teeth, then goes down front and holds the guitar out to the people on the rail in front of him. Ed starts a call-and-response and then gives the last verse to the crowd. He does the same on the Better Man intro, taking a few moments before the song kicks in to say, impressed, “that was…pretty good.” Before getting into “Save it for Later”, Ed improvs:

“Oh baby I know I could have been better, oh baby I might have fucked up/

Oh baby I will do better and I’ll never forget what I’ve done/

Oh baby if you just give me one more chance…”

And then comes back after, adding “Stay for me please/Won’t you stay for me please/I am down on my, down on my, down on my knees/Wishing you would stay, stay…” and then getting the crowd involved, windmilling while Stone jams over by Boom. Mike is a little confused by the ending, mouthing “what the fuck was that” jokingly to the fans up front while Matt finishes it off. Ed gets a little mixed up during Wishlist and adds “…wish I was the pedal brake and I didn’t fuck it up…” Ed tags the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” at the end, the first time since 2014 it’s been teased or tagged at a PJ show. DOTC is the first Gigaton song to appear on this leg. Ed dedicates Upper Hand to “anybody who never got to be the boss.” He brings up the JC Dobbs 1991 show again, saying Alone was played “back when we were little kids,” and the poster from that show is shown on the screen. Someone in the crowd takes credit for it being theirs, and Ed jokes that he doesn’t believe them. He points out a woman named Melissa, who runs a music school, and says that she took the chunk of the JC Dobbs building that PJ had signed when the building was torn down, and after being cut on night 1, Alone is played, kicking off a very 1991 end to the set with Jeremy and Porch to follow.

After the break, Ed mentions that they had a lot of requests from couples leading into Just Breathe. He talks about the West Memphis Three and brings out Glen Hansard for Song of Good Hope. Due to be released as a single the next day (finally), Waiting For Stevie is dedicated to a woman up front, Ed saying “it’s about a woman at a rock ‘n’ roll show.” Mike saunters over to Boom for the Crazy Mary jam while Ed pours wine for the fans up front. The Vs. duo of Animal and Rats is a surprise, Rats especially hadn’t been played since Nashville 2022. Ed says that the band had a vote and if they played Rats, they would all vote in November. Mike does the short tease of Soundgarden’s “Superunknown” again before the familiar Alive/Rockin’/Ledbetter ending trio. Glen Hansard (with his band this time) returns for Rockin’. After Mike’s incendiary solo, Jeff relinquishes bass duties and Ed speaks:

“City of Brotherly Love! City known for liberty, freedom…it’s only fitting that this state is a very important state when it comes to the election in less than two months…your vote counts and everyone’s counting on your vote!”

He starts a call-and-response and adds “…vote to keep it a free world…a thousand points of light for democracy, man, let your voice be heard while you can…” Matt gives up the drum throne to Glen’s drummer, Jeff dances over to Glen, who jokingly offers him his guitar, and Mike and Stone face off for the final solo. Before Ledbetter starts, Ed says “we don’t say goodbye, we say ‘see you later.'”

September 7, 2024 – Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Main Set: Long Road, Low Light, Why Go, Brain Of J., React, Respond, Dark Matter, Given To Fly, Wreckage, Even Flow, Do The Evolution, MFC, Red Mosquito, Won't Tell, Black/(We Belong Together), Breath, Running, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: I Won't Back Down, Daughter/(Free Fallin'), Last Exit, Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns, State Of Love And Trust, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Indifference

Show Notes:

Long Road opens for the first time since the west coast leg. In the middle of the song, Ed comments “…we can feel you, this is gonna be a good night…” The first of many from Yield is next (5…

Show Notes:

Long Road opens for the first time since the west coast leg. In the middle of the song, Ed comments “…we can feel you, this is gonna be a good night…” The first of many from Yield is next (5 out of the first 11!), Low Light, followed after Why Go by the 2024 debut of Brain of J. Before Given to Fly, Ed talks about how the crowd is so loud, for the first time ever he has to ask for his vocals to be turned up. He continues, talking about how he had been talking to Chris Chelios when they were in Chicago:

“…it came up about this tragic accident that happened with the Gaudreau brothers [NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were killed by a drunk driver while bicycling], and I just wanted to say that, you know, I lost my brother five years ago, in something that was very immediate and traumatic, Jeff Ament lost one of his great, great friends in a similar fashion…and what made it even more tragic is that they were such good men…so to hear that they came from Philly, and grew up watching games in this city, we thought we’d recognize them, and wish their family and loved ones and teammates strength to get through this difficult time.”

After Wreckage, Ed says “I might talk about voting later tonight, but if I had to vote for best guitar player on the planet right now, it’d be for Mr. Mike McCready.” Mike does the first minute of the solo behind his head, going down to the fans on the rail, then letting loose a barrage of tricks, including using the mic stand as a slide. After the solo, Ed adds “…speaking of the best, how about Mr. Matt Cameron on the drums…” and then the song kicks back in, the crowd singing along boisterously. He makes good on the promise to talk about voting, saying the same thing he’s said before about not just getting the crowd to vote, but their kids. Stone has a killer DTE solo and Ed recognizes him afterwards. Ed starts to play Untitled, but then stops and says “this song is called MFC…Men For Choice.” He sees a sign in the crowd after for a couple that got engaged and jokes “I know you must be handsome, it might be the light…she agreed to marry you?…you want me to play the wedding when? March when? [reading sign] Are we available on March 14th, 2025…gimme a second,” at which point he pulls out one of his notebooks and flips through it, responding “…will the 26th work?” Black is again outstanding, Ed feeling the energy from the crowd. Mike plays flamenco-style under the tag, and Ed adds “..it’s okay, it’s okay, it’ll be okay in the end, it’ll be okay in the end, hang on my friend.” He talks about playing at JC Dobbs in 1991 afterwards, and talks to Jeff about finding a basketball court on South St., adding “the last song we played that night, in July of ’91, is the song we’re going to play right now,” and Breath appears for only the second time this year. Ed goes out and sings to the crowd up front, and changes the lyric to “…run away my daughter…” The rear view mirror visual gets to match up with the song, and Jeff and Matt drive the propulsive bridge.

After the break, Ed jokes “I’m just going to play a quick one, Mike McCready’s in the back getting a full body massage by this huge gentleman from Philadelphia,” and then mentions being on the bus with Tom Petty, who was about to have his first grandchild, and joking that “Eddie Petty” would be a good name, but then realizing “Manny Petty” was too good. He tells the story of how he got Tom’s guitar, and says he’s written four songs on it, but “it sounds better when I play his,” leading into I Won’t Back Down. He adds a quick “…love you, Tom!” at the end before Daughter begins, and then, with Tom still on his mind, tags “Free Fallin'” for the first time, and the guitar joins in with a little of the melody. After Last Exit, Ed says “…this one’s for special occasions, thinking about a special man,” and Boom starts the always powerful Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns. The song stretches out to nearly 8 minutes, one of the best performances of the night. Baba O’Riley is paused in the middle, Ed sees someone who’s out of it and has to ask them if they know where they are, and they are removed safely and the song is unpaused. Indifference returns after making its 2024 debut at MSG, Ed sitting down front at the end. He leaves with “what a memorable night, we’re so grateful.” Maybe the best show of the year so far.

September 4, 2024 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA

Main Set: Garden, Corduroy, Hail, Hail, Even Flow, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, (Pt. 2)), Dark Matter, React, Respond, Won't Tell, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Wreckage, I Am Mine, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Glorified G, Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Waiting For Stevie, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: I Am A Patriot, Just Breathe, Song Of Good Hope, Gimme Some Truth, Setting Sun, Sonic Reducer, Leash, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Night two at the Garden opens with…Garden. Mike gets a chance to get into the groove early and Matt pounds away like thunder, and Ed goes down front to sing the end. During the bridge of Corduroy, Ed wants to…

Show Notes:

Night two at the Garden opens with…Garden. Mike gets a chance to get into the groove early and Matt pounds away like thunder, and Ed goes down front to sing the end. During the bridge of Corduroy, Ed wants to tell a story:

“I think it was two years [ago] when we played in this very building, and they had some event down below…like a TV thing, it was gonna happen the next morning. They focused all the lights, got all the lights ready for the TV show in the morning, and when they came in the morning…all the lights were falling off and all fucked up and all out of place because the building had been rocking so hard the night before…let’s do that again!”

Hail, Hail has a very cool smoke/flame visual. Ed says that it’s the band’s 50th show in New York City, and it’s Even Flow that shows up early tonight. Afterwards, he speaks again:

“This is a Public Service Announcement…because there’s some shit that will go down in the next couple of months that will dictate what will go down in the next three or four decades….and women, I’m speaking to you, but dads, you can listen too…the rights of women are not just being threatened, they are already being taken away. I know it’s a little early to be getting into this shit, but let’s get it over with! So the right to choose issue, it used to involve religious fanatics, and then politicians got involved, not because they care one way or another, they just would like the votes. And now, it’s evolved into judges…and women of all ages are up against a Supreme Court…it’s time to vote, and as the great Patti Smith said, ‘People Have the Power’, never have truer words been spoken…women, feel empowered, vote for your own interests, help a sister out while you’re at it.”

Daughter follows, with Ed again changing the lyrics in the tag, this time to “…politicians leave our girls alone/judges leave our girls alone/just to make sure, be your own.” Dark Matter again has the ambient intro and visual that we were used to seeing from Scared of Fear. Prior to Won’t Tell, Ed sees a fan named Rob wearing a Soundgarden shirt (at which point Mike plays a tease of “Superunknown”), and then points out that Steven Van Zandt (of the E Street Band and The Sopranos) is in attendance, mentions his SiriusXM radio show and that he had told the band that the song would be a huge hit, and it should be a single. After a powerful I Am Mine, Ed talks about how Jeff and Stone had been to NYC before PJ made it there, and talks about his first time being in a big building meeting with the record company, calling it “a dream come true.” He tells the crowd “…this one’s all you” before starting Small Town. He asks the crowd if they should play a request:

“…it’s for a good friend of ours, he wanted to hear it, and I realized…he said ‘Why don’t you like playing that song?’ I said, it’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I…that I…and actually, you know what, I don’t like playing this song…because it’s about guns, and I hate fucking guns! Even if it’s a song criticizing guns, I don’t even…I hate fucking guns! It’s like the first day of school, and then today, in Georgia, where they don’t have as good gun laws as they do in New York City, there was another big shooting…every other fucking day, so why would I want to spend four minutes singing a fucking song about guns?”

The “friend” is Howard Stern, and Ed adds “this one’s called…well, you know.” He exhorts the crowd during Jeremy, interjecting “…c’mon, c’mon!” Andrew Watt is introduced and helps out on Waiting For Stevie, taking the solo, and then sticks around to play Ed’s guitar part on RVM.

I Am a Patriot, a Steven Van Zandt cover, opens the massive 10-song encore with Ed changing the lyric to “…I was walking/with my wife of 24 years…,” the song’s first appearance since Fenway 2018. After Just Breathe, Glen Hansard comes out on stage, and Ed talks about all the shoutouts they’ve had requests for, mentioning Andrew Greenhall, who’s a transplant patient, and Alison, a mom of a 13-year-old named Sam who has a rare disease, and dedicates Song of Good Hope to them and others. Ed gets worked up during Gimme Some Truth, and the unlikely combo of Setting Sun and Sonic Reducer follows. Leash is a surprise, and it looks like the band is rushing a little with the curfew approaching during Alive, but then Watt, Hansard (with his band), and Van Zandt all join on stage for the Rockin’ in the Free World party, with so many people on stage that Jeff ends up playing tambourine. Order is restored on stage, and Ed says “this is how we say goodbye” before Ledbetter, adding that in Hawaii they say “a hui huo, see you later.”

September 3, 2024 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA

Main Set: Pendulum, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Immortality, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Satan's Bed, Even Flow, Out Of My Mind, Mind Your Manners, Dark Matter, Do The Evolution, Upper Hand, Love Boat Captain, Black/(We Belong Together), Given To Fly, Porch

encore 1: Imagine, Inside Job, Unthought Known, Running, Once, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Indifference

Show Notes:

Ed raises his wine bottle as the band enters the stage and Matt counts off Pendulum. Better Man is a surprise in the two spot, just like Porch was at Wrigley…could this be a new trend? Ed gets the crowd…

Show Notes:

Ed raises his wine bottle as the band enters the stage and Matt counts off Pendulum. Better Man is a surprise in the two spot, just like Porch was at Wrigley…could this be a new trend? Ed gets the crowd going as the song transitions into the Save it for Later tag, and starts a “don’t run away” call-and-response. More Vitalogy early as Immortality follows, bathed in red stage light. Mike introduces himself with a fantastic solo, Jeff has a nice run during the build, and Matt takes over, putting on an incredible percussive show. The opening Dark Matter run is back, and after Scared of Fear Ed talks about how they’ve played 71 shows in the state of New York, and 48 times in New York City (close, if you include TV performances and all the extra stuff), and mentions playing the Wetlands and CBGB’s in 1991. He continues, adding “you make us feel, New York City, like the luckiest fucking people in the world.” He says React, Respond could also have been called “Don’t complain, vote,” and comments “I like this one” before Wreckage. Afterwards, he points out that it’s Fashion Week in New York, and jokes with the band about their obviously fashionable attire, leading appropriately into a tight, fast Satan’s Bed. There’s a birthday request for a fan, Kim Cruz, from her daughter-in-law, and Ed says “Kim, Mike McCready’s gonna play a red-hot solo on this one.” Out Of My Mind appears for only the seventh time, but the second time this year and third in the last two years. Ed plays a short instrumental intro to Love Boat Captain, and the band joins in for a little while before Ed brings it back down to start the vocals, but has to take a few moments to remember the words. Black is the showstopper, Mike losing his mind during the solo, then going up against his amps. Boom is prominent on the piano at the end as Ed guides it in with a tender We Belong Together. After, Ed speaks:

“Adam, you’re here, it’s your second show…Adam’s 13! I was thinking about you, because between the last time we saw him, a couple of years ago, and this time, some hard kinda life has transpired, and Jesse [Adam’s dad] lost his wife, and Adam lost his mom…her name was Joanne…and I know there’s some healing power in music, but the fact that you can be in this room tonight and hopefully be with your people, that takes some courage and guts, and faith and trust, and this band is so grateful to have that trust from you. Adam, wherever you are, I’m sending love…[Adam is found by the cameras and shown on screen] Adam is one of those beautiful kids that has autism…and here’s the thing I wanna mention…he was bullied in school so badly, that he had to change schools…but you know what I really can’t believe, is a fucking parent who lets their kid get away with bullying another kid, a beautiful kid, what kind of fucking parent is that? You think you’re being Presidential or some shit? Fuck. You. So I wanna say ‘fuck you’ to those parents, and I also want to say ‘fuck you’ to the goddamn school who let that go on and didn’t do anything to protect [Adam]…come on now! So, back home, tell ’em Ed Vedder said so, tell ’em Pearl Jam said to fuck off!”

Given to Fly has the band silhouetted on the screen, and Ed changes the line to “…faceless kids…” and the “fuckers!” line has some extra juice behind it. McCready takes over again during Porch, holding the neck of his guitar out to the crowd at the end.

Ed comes out with an acoustic guitar after the break and talks about how we can’t let ourselves be divided and asks for the phone fireflies before Imagine. Steve Gleason is in attendance, which means a standout performance of Inside Job. Ed tells a story about being in NYC about 15 years ago and being out with some friends late and ending up in a hotel room and writing Unthought Known. Once leads into Alive, but no Footsteps. The Alive solo is incredible, Mike adding lots of extra brightness and color. Indifference finally makes its 2024 debut, closing the show. Ed changes the lyric to “…we will scream our lungs out…” and thanks the crowd one last time.

August 31, 2024 – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL, USA

Main Set: Garden, Porch, Wishlist, Come Back, All Night, Not For You/(Modern Girl), React, Respond, Running, Wreckage, Even Flow, Given To Fly, Dark Matter, In Hiding, Upper Hand, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Falling Slowly, Smile, Setting Sun, Jeremy, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter, Little Wing

Show Notes:

The red curtains are pulled back and the band takes the stage to some ambient music, and Stone starts the Garden riff immediately. Ed says “Good evening…let’s play two…” as the song is starting. Porch is a huge surprise early…

Show Notes:

The red curtains are pulled back and the band takes the stage to some ambient music, and Stone starts the Garden riff immediately. Ed says “Good evening…let’s play two…” as the song is starting. Porch is a huge surprise early in the set, with a new visual of two tall buildings (could be Chicago’s WIllis Tower) seen from below. Mike goes off on the jam early, Jeff comes over and plays off him, with Stone focused in front of Matt. Ed shouts “Wrigley Field!” before he comes back in at the end. Wishlist has a quick tempo, with Ed changing the lyric to “…as fortunate as Ernie [Banks]…” Ed talks about Beth Murphy and dedicates Come Back to her and Marian Robinson, Michelle Obama’s mother, who had passed earlier in the year. Following, Ed talks about the early days of PJ in Chicago at the Metro and the Aragon, Chicago Stadium, Soldier Field, and more, “but this is Wrigley Field…it takes the cake.” There’s another lyric change in Not For You: “…small our ballfield, perfect for two.” Before Running, he thanks [Cubs CF] Pete Crow-Armstrong for letting them play center field, and dedicates it to Ian Happ [Cubs LF]. There’s a cute story that follows Running as well, Ed talks about how he wanted to take his daughter Olivia to Wrigley for her first game, and whenever they would see Cubs gear in Seattle he would point it out to her. They went to Wrigley when she was three and when they saw everyone, Olivia said:

“Dad! Everybody Cubs!”

He responded “Yes, dear, these are our people.” After Even Flow, Ed talks about his Uncle John taking him to Bears training camp in 1978 and meeting Walter Payton (Ed wearing his usual Payton jersey at this show). He said Walter told him he looked like a surfer, and told him “…careful on this big waves.” Walter’s son Jarrett, a Chicago radio and TV personality and former NFL player himself, is brought on stage and has a moment with Ed. Following Given to Fly, the ambient sounds and visual that usually start Scared of Fear are happening, but then it’s Dark Matter instead. In Hiding is always welcome, with Stone bouncing up and down. As the Better Man intro finishes, Ed adds “…Thursday singers were good, Saturday’s are better…” The band does the full Save it for Later reset, and Ed improvs some lyrics at the end:

“Did I tell you that I needed you? Oh fuck, I fucked up, I didn’t tell you that I needed you/

and now I, and now I, and now I can’t live….I can’t give you what you, what you need/

and you’re gone, you’re gonna be leaving me/

I apologize, on my knees I apologize, on my knees I apologize, on my knees I apologize…”

Ed windmills at the end, and the song stretches out over eight minutes. Ed starts RVM with a plucky, staccato intro. Matt and Jeff drive the bridge, and Ed dances around clapping before kicking back in at the end, being very emotive as he sings the last chorus.

After the break, Ed mentions that there is a curfew and they “have a lot of songs to play,” and tells one last story about never having more than $40 in his pocket, “and my bank account was…zero. But you can have a great fuckin’ time in Chicago with a bike and just a few bucks,” and mentions some local Chicago neighborhoods and parks. He adds that the city has really felt alive the last few days and thanks the crowd, and introduces Throw Your Arms Around Me with “…you might have heard this one on a show about waiting tables in Chicago,” as it was featured on The Bear. Glen Hansard comes out next and sings lead on Falling Slowly, making its debut at a Pearl Jam show. Glen stays and helps out on Smile as well. Alive is shortened a little just like on night one, due to the curfew. Ed has a sparkly Cubs helmet and talks about how grateful they are. As Mike is bringing Ledbetter to a close, he transitions into “Little Wing” and the band joins in for the last performance of the night. Ed closes with “…love you, Chicago…see you next time.”

August 29, 2024 – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL, USA

Main Set: Release, Of The Girl, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Off He Goes, Immortality, Given To Fly, Why Go, Scared Of Fear, Waiting For Stevie, Wreckage, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2)), Down, Even Flow, U, Dark Matter, Black, Do The Evolution, Porch

encore 1: Just Breathe, I Won't Back Down, State Of Love And Trust, Won't Tell, (Better Man), Corduroy, Setting Sun, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

Show Notes:

Returning to a ballpark for the first time since 2018, Pearl Jam opens night 1 at Wrigley to no one’s surprise with Release. Instead of “Dear dad…”, Ed sings “Uncle John…” in the last verse. Of the Girl has a…

Show Notes:

Returning to a ballpark for the first time since 2018, Pearl Jam opens night 1 at Wrigley to no one’s surprise with Release. Instead of “Dear dad…”, Ed sings “Uncle John…” in the last verse. Of the Girl has a nice tempo, with Mike going off on the leads. Ed introduces Off He Goes with “…this is for all your friends that instead of saying ‘see you later,’ they say ‘see you on the flipside.'” Immortality always elevates a set when it’s early like this, Mike lets loose a searing solo and Matt brings the thunder at the end. Given to Fly has the lyric “…made it down to Wrigley Field…” and the crowd is into it. Before Why Go, Ed says “…we’re already home.” After Scared of Fear, Ed talks about listening to Stevie Wonder and tells the story from the recording of Earthling about how Stevie was running late, and thanks him because it led to Waiting For Stevie, which makes an early appearance here. Stone and Jeff jam together in front of Matt, and Mike destroys the solo. Ed adds some lyrics onto the end of the Daughter tag, “…a woman’s right to choose is her own.” He speaks afterwards:

“Are most of you Chicagoans? In the old days, there might have been a few people in the crowd that came to see our group that were maybe older than us…now that’s less likely, because we are old ourselves! But if you grew up in Chicago, before the Cub game came on on WGN, in the morning there was a guy called Phil Donahue…he loved Chicago, he loved this place, I got to know him, work with him [on 2007’s Body of War], I got to love him, and we lost him about a week ago. I’ve been thinking of him nonstop, and I just felt like here, in Chicago, we need to raise our glass and raise our arms for our friend Phil Donahue, a great, great Chicagoan. We love you Phil.”

He also mentions Howard Zinn and Down is played for the first time in 2024. Afterwards, he talks about Mike:

“We’ve been in a group for more than 30 years, 33, 34…and I didn’t realize until fairly recently that our good friend, Michael McCready, the master of the Stratocaster, that’s he’s fucking left-handed! [Mike motions that he writes and swings a bat left-handed] You write left-handed, even uses a left-handed bat…but he throws right…okay you’re all fucked up. But whatever crazy shit happened in your life, and I don’t know why you’re so infected, but we’re so grateful…it comes out in crazy, crazy ways. So, Mike McCready, we’ve played Wrigley Field three times before, who knows how many times we’ll get to play it again, I challenge you to be above any other time ever…”

Mike responds “I accept your challenge” and Ed exclaims “Game 7, World Series, you’re starting, let’s go!” and they tear into Even Flow. Mike immediately plays behind his head as the solo begins, going down to the rail for a little while before going back up on stage, still playing, showcasing his patented mix of technical wizardry and raw emotion as Stone, who’s moved over to Mike’s side, and Jeff look on. Mike uses the mic stand as a slide, dropping to his knees, an amazing display. U follows, played for the first time since Fenway Park in 2018, with Matt adding some of his own technical skill at the end. Mike’s hot streak continues on Black, another powerful performance. Ed improvs at the end, “hold me now, let me help you through, hold me now, one last time…just a dream I had, just a dream, just a dream, dream…” Josh is helping out on percussion during DTE, and not to be outdone, Stone breaks off two excellent, melodic leads of his own. After the break, Ed comes out solo and wishes Happy Anniversary to his friends Joe and Eliza before Just Breathe. He stays out by himself, talking how other musicians say that Wrigley Field is their favorite place to play, and adding some of his own memories, adding “it’s very powerful to play here.” He continues, talking about how he once heard from Tom Petty when Petty played Wrigley, and that Petty told him “…wish you were here,” but now it’s Ed who wishes that Tom was here. He asks the crowd if they can help make a moment and thousands of fireflies are lit up for I Won’t Back Down. After State, Ed says they’re going to try something different:

“There’s a song called Won’t Tell, they’ve been playing it a little bit on the radio, there’s a woman in the front row who said that she could sing it. Now, it took me about I don’t know how many years for me to get from the front row to the stage, ma’am it just took you about ninety seconds,”

The fan, named Abby, is brought up on stage and introduced by Ed, and Jeff is recognized. Ed tells Abby “just jump in, the water’s fine,” and they both jump right in, Abby singing along to Won’t Tell with Ed! They dance and jump around together, and they take a bow as the song ends. Ed picks up his guitar and starts to play Better Man, but changes his mind and starts Corduroy instead. Ed leads a long call-and-response with the crowd clapping along. Ed puts some passion behind the Setting Sun vocals. The lights are up for Alive, which transitions right into RITFW, and Ed’s wearing a Cubs jersey and hat. He finishes off the song with “We love you Chicago! Thank you!”

August 26, 2024 – Ruoff Music Center, Noblesville, IN, USA

Main Set: Wash, Nothingman, Present Tense, Last Exit, Spin The Black Circle, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2)), Even Flow, Dark Matter, Upper Hand, Black/(We Belong Together), Do The Evolution, Running, Porch

encore 1: Song Of Good Hope, Lightning Bolt, Corduroy, Setting Sun, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Pearl Jam returns to Indiana to make good on the cancelled 2023 show. Stone opens up Wash with a dirty acoustic sound, and right away there’s a lyric change: “this city, so sweltering…” As Ed steps up to the mic…

Show Notes:

Pearl Jam returns to Indiana to make good on the cancelled 2023 show. Stone opens up Wash with a dirty acoustic sound, and right away there’s a lyric change: “this city, so sweltering…” As Ed steps up to the mic after the instrumental break, he adds some new lyrics:

“Been so many years/since we’ve all been here/

it’s been so long/and this was the song/that we first ever played here…”

Wash was indeed the first song ever played in Indiana back in 1991. After Nothingman, Ed says there was a request, and a kid is shown on the screens with a sign that says “Please play Present Tense so I can say the “F” word.” The request is granted, and it’s an outstanding version, but Ed does not add any of the ad-lib f-words that he normally does. It’s a heavy dose of Vitalogy early, with the first three songs off the record played next in order, followed by the first three songs off Dark Matter. Jeff is dancing and spinning around during STBC, and there’s a good call-and-response during Not For You. After Scared of Fear, Ed says it’s a “noble crowd in Noblesville tonight” and talks about Lollapalooza 1992, listing all the bands they played with, saving Soundgarden for last, and Mike plays a short tease of a Soundgarden song. Ed continues, saying “you look noble…it feels like a night to play distinguished alternative music with complete nobility…ah, fuck that let’s lose our minds.” As Daughter is transitioning into the tag, he says:

“Thirty years ago, we encouraged all the young people…to vote and let your voice be heard…Thirty-three years later, we’re still asking you that…encourage your kids to vote! Especially the young women…you are in control of your own destiny, young ladies…”

He then changes the lyric in the ABITW tag to “…keep your hands off my body, choice I make is my own.” After Dark Matter, Ed talks about The Police’s 50th anniversary and sings “Roxanne,” before talking about Stone and Jeff’s 40-year musical partnership. The crowd is loud on Black, with another impassioned solo from Mike. Ed adds a short improv at the end:

“…it’s gonna be alright, it’s gonna be okay/

it’s gonna be alright, I tell myself, I tell myself I’ll be okay…”

After the break, Ed comes out with Glen Hansard and talks about a woman named Michele Mintz Menke, a member of the PJ community. Ed starts to get emotional, talking about how she’s “battling…she’s been battling” and that “optimism is the cornerstone of courage.” They perform Glen’s “Song of Good Hope” for the first time at a Pearl Jam show (Ed has covered it at his solo shows before). Halfway through, Ed stands up and goes down to the front to finish the song. Afterwards, he says they’re going to play “one we haven’t played in a while,” a request, and Lightning Bolt is played for the first time since 2022, dedicated to Caitlin Clark. One more Vitalogy song appears next, Corduroy, and Yellow Ledbetter closes the show, with Ed saying “…this is how we end the night, even when we don’t want to.”

August 22, 2024 – Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Missoula, MT, USA

Main Set: Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Low Light, Why Go, Corduroy, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Even Flow, Hard To Imagine/(Setting Sun), Dark Matter, Won't Tell, Upper Hand, Jeremy, Gimme Some Truth, Porch

encore 1: Her Majesty, Just Breathe, Smile, Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Do The Evolution, Setting Sun, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

Show Notes:

Given To Fly opens up in this outdoor venue with a new visual, the screens showing moving down a river and up into the mountains, ending up looking over the stadium and Missoula. Ed changes the lyric to “…made it…

Show Notes:

Given To Fly opens up in this outdoor venue with a new visual, the screens showing moving down a river and up into the mountains, ending up looking over the stadium and Missoula. Ed changes the lyric to “…made it to the big sky, had a smoke in a tree…” An early nod to Jeff, the first of many in his home state, as Nothing As It Seems follows. After Low Light, Ed speaks, calling it a “big night under the big sky,” saying that they’re “energized to be here for Sen. Jon Tester.” He mentions that there are a lot of signs up front, and that some people spent the night to be up front, teasing “…if you spent the night I’ll be reading your sign.” Jeff takes a big drop step and leap at the end of Why Go. After a raucous Corduroy, Ed thanks Jeff for bringing them here and talks about how Trump only had 7,000 people when he came to Montana, but there’s more than 3 times that at the show tonight. He continues, mentioning that there was a shortage of hotel rooms in Missoula and people were asking about renting driveway space to sleep in their cars. He praises one couple who accepted 25-30 campers on their land, and even provided free cold beer! He proceeds to rattle off a list of small towns in Montana, of course leading into Small Town. React, Respond is introduced as “this one could be about voting, it’s called ‘Don’t React, Respond”, and Mike rips the solo into the stratosphere. Matt shows off on Even Flow, putting on a percussive masterclass, and Ed throws in the customary “…nevervoterepublican!” at the end. Afterwards, he tells an emotional story about 2 men, Adam Nelson and Jeff Walsh, with serious medical issues “battling hard and intensely,” noting that one of them left the hospital without permission to be there tonight, and Hard to Imagine is dedicated to them. As the song is ending, Ed steps up and repeats the “let us not fade” line from Setting Sun 3 times. Another block of Dark Matter songs follows, including only the 4th appearance of Jeff’s Won’t Tell. Gimme Some Truth is a huge surprise, it hasn’t been played since 2006 in Zagreb, Croatia, 341 shows! There’s a QR code shown on the screen to pledge to vote before Porch. After the break, Ed talks about a couple from Camp Make-A-Dream that he met around the Avocado record and congratulates them on getting married, and a calligraphy message from Ed is shown on screen. It follows with another one to Jeff’s parents:

And if you are

lucky you’ll

be like

GEORGE & PENNY

AMENT

Married 63 years

WE LOVE YOU, P.J.

He mentions that the last time he was in Montana was to see Paul McCartney, and dedicates “Her Majesty” to Jill. Lukas Nelson joins on stage and helps out on Just Breathe, Ed praising his father Willie’s version. The guests keep coming as opener Glen Hansard comes out for Smile. After Life Wasted, Jeff talks about his family, including his uncle Pat who introduced him to music, and starts to get a little emotional as he talks about his 40-year friendship with Stone. He continues, talking about how he’s known Jon Tester for 50 years, calling him “the real deal” compared to his opponent. After being tagged earlier, Setting Sun appears in full, possibly the first time that a PJ song has been tagged AND played in full at the same show. After Alive, Ed mentions that it’s Layne Staley’s birthday and Mike plays a quick tease of an Alice in Chains song. For the finale, the band (sans Ed) dons white Tester shirts, Jeff plays with a 2-fingered foam hand (Sen. Tester lost 3 fingers in an accident as a child), and Lukas Nelson and Glen Hansard (and his band) return. Jeff gets the biggest cheer at the end as Ed goes around the horn, and then Ed gets a sparkly captain’s hat and wears it as the band lingers on stage for a while before exiting.

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