May 16, 2025 – PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Pearl Jam Show Notes 5/16/2025:

This was the first of two highly anticipated Pittsburgh shows to close out the 2025 run, and they would end up being the final shows of the Dark Matter tour. A rare Footsteps opener kicks off the proceedings, which has happened only twice before. The crowd is highly engaged and energized with the entire arena singing along on Given To Fly. Ed addresses the crowd after an intense Mind Your Manners, pulling out his bottle of wine and toasting the Pittsburgh crowd, saying how happy they are to be back in the “city of champions,” and talks about the Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates. He acknowledges that since the last time they played Pittsburgh, 12 years ago, there have been some additional banners hung in the arena, thanks to the Penguins. Ed also mentions that it feels like they are at the end of an era, before going into a great version of React, Respond featuring a hot Mike solo. Ed was clearly feeling the energy in the building and engages the crowd with a “Yeah, yeah” call and response a few times, and after a few times going back and forth, he says, “Oh, see, that’s good. That’s good.” Ed introduces his brand new guitar, which is a Joe Strummer Fender Telecaster. Ed talks about how much Joe Strummer meant to the band and what an honor it is to play that guitar:

“I just can’t remember how old I am, 35 I believe. Oh no no, that’s the age of the group. That’s how old the band is. Well, that must make us 50. Okay, you want to hear this fucking thing?”

Corduroy is the choice as the inaugural song for his new guitar. Mike and Matt were very much in sync, bringing the song to a fiery crescendo. Before Dark Matter, Ed introduces Matt as “one of the greatest drummers to ever sit behind a drum kit. Ladies and gentlemen, the incredible, magnificent, monstrous, just the best ever” (a quote that makes so much more sense in hindsight). After Wreckage, Ed pays tribute to Franco Harris and talks about what a sad day it was when he passed away. He mentions how revered and accepted Franco was in the city with a bit that he’s shared at past Pittsburgh shows; Franco had the African American community behind him, as well as the Italian community rooting for him, referencing Franco’s Italian Army (his father and mother were African American and Italian, respectively). But Ed said he didn’t realize that he also had the hearts of the Irish population of Pittsburgh because he was Frank O’Harris. Ed dedicates Even Flow to Franco, during which Mike starts his solo playing with his teeth. The show elevated to another level after Even Flow, and Ed would share this before kicking off that section:

“There’s a lot of people that have seen, maybe this is their 30th show or their 20th show or their 100th show…if you don’t know this one, it’s only because it’s a rare one that we don’t normally play, but it’s one that I think about often so…this is for the working class heroes”

On the 25th anniversary of the release of Binaural, Ed treats the Pittsburgh crowd to a beautiful and emotional version of Sleight of Hand. A raucous Severed Hand follows, with a scorching Mike solo, and the significance of this pairing was not lost on the crowd, as it now seemed that the full “Hand Trilogy,” which nearly materialized in Raleigh, was coming to fruition here. This was confirmed when an excellent version of Upper Hand followed. Ed then asks the crowd what they want to hear, which results in everyone yelling out songs and enjoying the chaos that brings, and he says, “See, this is why democracy, it can be messy.” He then chooses a woman, named Noa Shaindlinger, in the pit to be the one to decide the next song. “And if you don’t like what she proposes, fuck off because it’s my fault, not hers.” The choice is Grievance, which was last played at Fenway Park in 2016. Ed asks everyone if that’s alright and quips “Alright, and if we fuck this up, I’m not going to blame me, I’m actually going to blame her.” Ed, perhaps both to the band and the crowd says, “It’s alright, don’t panic. We’ve got this” and playfully tries to remember which key they need to be in (“I before E, except after G?”) before launching into a surprisingly good version given the long hiatus for the song, with the only rust being when Matt prematurely ended the song. It was the second Binaural song of the night and one that seemed overdue, given how relevant it is to current times. Daughter has the long-awaited return of the It’s OK tag for the only time on this US run and the first time since it reappeared in Australia last year. The tag was lengthy, and engagement between Ed and the crowd was high, with Mike bouncing around getting very into it as well. Jeremy is stopped to make sure someone at the back of the pit was okay. Ed restarts the song, but before he does, he laments that years later, after this song was written, there are still no better gun laws in place to keep our kids safe, but the song still plays on. Got To Give, the most elusive of the Dark Matter songs, makes a welcome appearance. While clear that they weren’t as comfortable with this one, this version sounded good, and it would’ve been interesting to see how this evolved if it had the benefit of more reps live. Porch closes out the main set, during which Ed is handed an old school Pirates helmet and a (former Pirates coach) Chuck Tanner jersey. Before Ed resumes the final vocals out of Mike’s incredible solo, he yells out to the crowd, “Let’s sing it for Franco. Let’s sing it for Roberto Clemente. Let’s sing it for Lemieux.”

Ed comes out to start the encore by thanking the little boy who brought him the Pirates helmet and says he doesn’t know when they’ll get to play again, but it has been a real joy. He then launches into a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s My City Of Ruins, which he has only done once at Sea.Hear.Now in 2021 and tagged on Daughter in Seattle in 2024. While Ed didn’t speak about Bruce, this was a significant moment of support for Bruce, who had just come under fire for speaking out at the start of his final leg of his tour in Manchester, two days prior, against the current administration. Ed tells the crowd about a big guy he met yesterday, whose mother recently passed. After speaking to him for a while, when Ed was getting ready to leave, he started bawling. Ed said:

“For some reason, it’s more powerful when it’s a big old dude just crying his eyes out. It really touched me and made me think, like that last song, the Bruce song, without our involvement at all, how powerful music is and how fortunate we’ve been to be one small part of people’s lives. So, this one’s a request, and if you want to know who requested it, if the big guy next to you is crying, it’s probably him”

The band proceeds to play an incredibly emotional Man Of The Hour. Black was stellar, with Mike absolutely destroying the solo, which may have been his best moment of the night. Ed shouts out each band member during Black and when he gets to Stone, he says, “The man who wrote this one and all the good ones” before finishing out the vocals with the We Belong Together tag. A fan throws a Pirates jersey up to Ed during Alive. Ed also pulls Danny Clinch up on stage during Alive to take a few pictures. The energy in the building during Alive and Baba nearly took the roof off the building. Indifference closes out a stellar show, which had incredible energy and emotion. When Ed is finished, he takes in the crowd and says, “We are so fortunate, what a beautiful night.”