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

Pearl Jam Show Notes 9/9/2024:

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.'”