Pearl Jam Berlin, Germany Concert History

The streak of different openers extends to 15 with Why Go. Deep is an early surprise, and a long version of Untitled prefaces MFC. Ed’s pump organ is on stage, but goes unused. Low Light appears again, on this, the summer solstice. Retrograde has a stellar ending. Mike finishes the Even Flow solo down in the front row of the crowd. Amongst the Waves is played by request for a couple who’s been together for 25 years, they met when they were 12, and Ed points out that Jeff and Stone have been playing music together for 39 years, Stone was 12 and Jeff was 15 when they met, that’s why Jeff plays bass because he had the balls, joking that he’s never seen Jeff’s balls but Stone probably has. Corduroy has the new intro again, and transitions seamlessly into Not For You. There’s a crowd surfer as Nothingman starts, and Ed admonishes him, saying “it’s not the right song” and imploring everyone to be safe and to jump up and down instead, “or at least go that way,” pointing to the back of the crowd. Prior to Porch, a fan named Roland is brought on stage with his wife and daughter, he had contracted ALS since he got tickets for the show back in 2020 and there was a fan campaign to get him connected with the band. Street Fighting Man returns for an encore performance, and there’s some confusion during Ledbetter, Ed tells Mike to cut it short and after only a minute and a half, instead of going into the chorus of Ledbetter, Mike starts the Alive riff.

Ed extends the  “dear god” lyric in Sometimes. Longer than usual Corduroy breakdown before call and response section, and Ed addresses the crowd in German before the end solo section. Cameron destroys the ending. Active moshing and on-point clapping from the pit during Save You. Given to Fly lyric is changed to “made it out to Berlin..” Ed mentions that Mike, Jeff, and Stone had played this venue before with Neil Young (on the 1995 Mirrorball tour), then introduces special guest Danny Clinch on harmonica for the next song called “Blue-eyed frog” (Red Mosquito). “Fuck Trump” is added to the first verse of In My Tree. Ed mentions he is looking for J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. in the crowd, and dedicates Even Flow to him. One of the wishes in Wishlist is to be “as fortunate as Mike McCready.” Habit is introduced as “Tiny Orange Penis Man,” the spoken line is “speaking as a man who despises racism in ANY form.” “Angie” is on the setlist but only teased. Ed asks for the girls/women to help on an extended ‘It’s Ok’ tag, then shouts out the Ramones museum before Lukin (prompting a “hey ho let’s go” chant). During Porch, the crowd begins tossing cardboard beer caddies into the air and onstage, Jeff grabs one and plays bass with it. After the break, Ed says they’d play until dark, but the band didn’t realize how much the crowd had been drinking, then reads a note from a Prague man who found his wife through a show, dedicating Thin Air to him, but Stone hilariously can’t remember how the song goes. Ed plays electric guitar on Thumbing My Way and dedicates Breath to ‘Singles’ character Cliff Poncier, “who is here tonight.” He quickly mentions that the band’s families are in town and are having a great educational experience before the second encore begins, including his daughters’ trip to the Berlin Wall, dedicating Comfortably Numb as a thank you to Roger Waters. J Mascis is found and brought onstage for the Rockin’ In The Free World finale.

Written by: Joey Goodsir

The opening sequence is gorgeous, the crowd seems to energize the show right from the beginning, and Ed sounds outstanding. In My Tree soars just like it did in 1996, everyone locked in during the ending jam. Go flows seamlessly into a ripping Why Go, not the first time on the night that two similarly-named songs would be paired together. Ed gives the Evolution break to the crowd and they run with it, even continuing to sing it after the song is over. He addresses the crowd, saying:

“I think this is the 27th time we’ve played in Germany, and maybe number 6 here…but I don’t think we’ve ever had a night as nice as this.”

Corduroy features a superb McCready solo. Mind Your Manners loses its way a little bit about halfway through, but they pick it back up before the end. Hold On is played, by request, for the first time since Wrigley the previous year. You Are is “a toast to all of you who are lucky enough, and strong enough, to be still in love,” paired up with Who You Are. Following Even Flow, Ed shouts out Stone for writing it, “he writes great songs and makes beautiful kids,”  leading the crowd to start a “Let Stone Sing” chant, with Ed and the band picking up on it and doing a little impromptu jam, with the following lyrics:

Let Stone sing, they say
You don’t understand
The reason being
We don’t insist
It’s nothing, it’s with me
I tried and i tried
Oh, but to no avail
It has to keep his voice clean
He don’t just sing anywhere
Let Stone sing

The crowd keeps the “Let Stone Sing” chant going throughout, and Ed adds “see, he wouldn’t even sing that…played the shit out of it, though…” and that Stone only sings if Jeff says it’s ok. Ed eggs Stone on to sing something, “maybe from the movie Frozen?”, singing a bit of “Let It Go.” Stone thanks the crowd for wanting him to sing, teasing “I’m not doing it, fuck you guys,” and Ed sings “…for the first time in forever…,” also from Frozen. The pretty Immortality intro transitions awkwardly into the song, but it’s a powerful version nonetheless, with an atmospheric crescendo at the end. Ed has to ask the crowd to take 3 steps back again, which he had done twice earlier, due to the surge of people at the front. Driving RVM jam with Ed and Jeff holding down the rhythm before Matt takes over. After the break, Ed points out some request signs in the crowd, and the one for Sleight of Hand is granted. Sleeping By Myself is dedicated to 20 drunk guys in the front, because it’s “what they’ll be doing tonight.” Boom adds the riff from the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” to the Crazy Mary solo, which ends up in a duel with Mike. False start to Comatose, but they recover. Afterwards, Ed jokes that the next one is “not dedicated to the tiny little girl in the front row who’s 4, maybe 5,” leading into Blood. Coming out after the second break, Ed asks if they can find out the name of the girl in the front, and after a few moments, gets everyone to say hi to Matilda, and plays Bee Girl for her. Stone takes a long solo in Rockin’ in the Free World. Mike finishes off Yellow Ledbetter with a harmonic, and Ed thanks the crowd with a little Hawaiian, leaving with “super shaka”.