May 10, 2024 – Moda Center, Portland, OR, USA

Pearl Jam Show Notes 5/10/2024:

After opening sets by Matt’s Wipers tribute band Is This Real? and Deep Sea Diver, the familiar strains of Release open the show. Ed sings “…dear Chris…” for his brother. Nothing As It Seems gives Mike a chance to go off early. Jeff is stellar during the Present Tense jam, quick fluid bass runs all over the place. Ed says “Good evening…don’t worry about a curfew, we’re not really paying attention to that tonight,” which elicits applause from the crowd, and then praises Is This Real?, saying he was worried Matt might be tired, but it seems to have energized him, so “look out Portland, here we come!” The silhouettes are up again for the 4th song, and just like the tour opener it’s Given to Fly. Ed goes high on the first verse and changes the line to “made it to P-town,” letting the crowd take the “…fuckers!” line. The Dark Matter opening mini-set follows, looks like this will be a mainstay of the tour. After React/Respond, Ed talks about Gerry Lopez, a surfer who moved to Oregon from Hawaii, known for his Lightning Bolt brand of surfboards. He says they named Lightning Bolt after him, and that about 6 months ago they played him the new record and the next one was his favorite, leading into Wreckage. Following Dark Matter, Ed jokes that there’s “no slouching up on stage” because all their wives are there and they’re trying to impress them. He gives special recognition to Mike and his wife Ashley, who just celebrated their 19th anniversary, and teases that “she went home after the last solo.” The W.M.A. tag is funky, Ed adding some angular guitar and Jeff transitioning into the actual W.M.A. bass line at the end. Stone has a fantastic solo on Not For You and the Modern Girl tag returns, perhaps due to Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney’s role in Portlandia (the setlist also has “Portlandia” at the top”). Before Even Flow, Ed mentions the Satyricon, a small club they played back in the early days and talks about the inspiration for the song, and Mike takes another opportunity to put on a clinic. Seven O’Clock is a request, dedicated to Connie Kellar. Waiting For Stevie makes its much-anticipated debut, Ed goes down to a small platform down by the rail to sing the second verse and Mike absolutely crushes the solo, taking it into the stratosphere. After Last Exit, Ed is strumming chords on his guitar and talks about grief, mentioning that 2 days ago was the 9-year anniversary of his brother Chris’s accidental passing while climbing in Africa, almost breaking down in tears talking about it. He adds that he’s given a lot of advice to other people about grief, but “all that advice…I could not hear it myself.” A somber moment. During the break, Ed gets on the overhead projector once again:

Keep Portland WEIRD-ER

than Seattle

ANY SONG REQUESTS?

LOUDER, CAN’T HEAR

WAIT, ONE AT A TIME

We love Sleater-Kinney

We love Quasi

We love Mudhoney

We love Steve Albini [who had passed just days prior]

How about this for a request…?

more reasonable laws about gun access & safety…

AND LESS laws about a woman’s body!!!

C’mon!!

Ed comes back out and has Tom Petty’s guitar again, telling a story of how Tom traded it to him, and I Won’t Back Down is dedicated to Dr. David Gunn. Do the Evolution has the alternate video again tonight, just like Vancouver night 1, and Ed adds “…same old shit…” after the “admire my clone” line. Crazy Mary is less folksy and more anthemic tonight, the band adding some arena rock accents to it, Mike has his guitar pointed up at the sky. A reworked Mamasan trilogy follows, Once then Alive into Footsteps, only the third time it’s been done in this order and the first since Pittsburgh 2003 (The first was Reno 1993). Ed intros the band and says goodbye, but then the lights go out and Setting Sun again closes the show.