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

Pearl Jam Show Notes 9/27/2024:

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.