Pearl Jam Milan, IT Concert History

The first show since the London show where Ed lost his voice. Release opens, and Ed clearly does not have full strength or confidence in his normal range yet, as he holds back from going all out. He leans on the crowd to pick up the slack, and they do not disappoint. Mike takes over the show starting with Given to Fly, and doesn’t let up through a blistering Even Flow, followed shortly thereafter with Eruption. Of course, his Van Halen T-shirt should have tipped off everyone what was coming. He saves his best work for the end of the night, where he goes down to the crowd and plays his solo on Black behind his head, in front of the front row fans. Stone also steps up with great guitar work in Do the Evolution while taking his turn on the mic for Mankind. A sweet moment before Porch, as Ed brings Jill out on stage and expresses his love for her in Italian, as they are celebrating their wedding anniversary. He tells the crowd the two first met in Milan, to loud cheers. A bottle of champagne is opened by Ed, spraying over the stage, then a drink with Jill, followed by a few cups tossed on the crowd. Jill comes out with a green coat with the words “Yes we all care. Y don’t u?” as a response to Melania Trump’s “I really don’t care. Do u?” stunt from the day before. A short festival set with no encore, but plenty of great moments and Ed on the road to recovery.

Written by: Sean Rashkis

80,000 fans packed into San Siro, home of European soccer giants AC Milan and Inter. Ed comes out to play Porch solo before the start of the actual show. The crowd is in excellent form all evening, singing along loudly to almost every song, aided by a Release/Nothingman opening, the extended outro to Sirens, and a very early, powerful, rousing version of Black. After its conclusion, Ed addresses the audience in Italian before asking, “Are you ready?!” They immediately shift gears, tearing into Go and not letting up until after Mind Your Manners. Jeff gets some recognition after Pilate, and the crowd chants his name. Following MFC, Ed proclaims “I was very high when I wrote that song…but not as high as those people back there! This one’s for you,” leading into Given to Fly, which has Ed translating the “…fuckers” line into Italian. Mike solos for over 3 minutes on Even Flow, and Ed introduces him as “Michelangelo McCready” afterwards, adding

“I was watching Mike play…and watching this great crowd, and I was wondering, what would be easier…if you all moved to Seattle or if we just moved here? Maybe 6 months we try it. Almost all of the band, we have our wives and family here, I think we might just stay.”

Following Swallowed Whole, he addresses the crowd again:

“There is a young man out there, his name is Michael, it’s his first concert and I would like to totally ruin him by saying Happy Birthday Michael in front of all the people, and have a great birthday, he will be 13 in a couple days. See, other bands…especially the singer, he would never fuck up a song like I’m about to fuck up this song…that’s a guitar solo right there. And Michael, the next time I see you you will probably be 15. And next time, maybe your dad won’t be around and we smoke a little pot or something.”

After the break, he mentions the first time they played in Milan, at a small club called Sorpasso on February 18, he can’t remember the year but eventually lands (correctly) on 1992. Just Breathe is beautiful, just Ed and Boom. Daughter transitions into W.M.A, with Jeff laying down the full W.M.A. bassline and Mike adding some strummy guitar, and then when it sounds like It’s O.K. is imminent, Ed starts singing “Let It Go” (yes, the one from Frozen) before going into the Dead Moon tag, finishing triumphantly, a standout version. Prior to Better Man, everyone sings Happy Birthday to April Cameron, “‘cause I know it will freak her out,” adds Ed. The Porch jam is very guitar-heavy and less jammy, reminiscent of the early 90’s. Ed thanks the wonderful crowd before Alive, taking a few moments to add:

“I want to say before we leave… you have cities in this country that are eternal…we are now in the greatest age of science, and knowledge, and technology, and discovery, the greatest age our world has ever known. And at the same time, war, and people’s mental health, and corruption and the government, keep all the people from living in peace. And so, we agree on this, and again, it’s such a beautiful thing to go anywhere in the world and see this many people agree on anything. It’s fucking beautiful, so thanks for letting us witness this, because it gives us the hope that, as long as the sun keeps fucking burning, that we won’t keep trying and trying together to make this a world, where peace, and joy, and love, and health, that we can win, we will win, we can win!”