Pearl Jam Sweden Concert History

Ed asks the crowd to “fill the sky with your voice!” during Small Town. No tag on Daughter this early in the set. Mike starts the Even Flow solo behind his head, it’s playful and loose, then dissonant at the very end. There was a shooting in Copenhagen (the next stop on the tour) in the afternoon, no doubt leading to Glorified G here. After the “…do you see the way that tree bends…” line in Present Tense, Ed points to his left and adds “that way”. Take The Long Way returns to the set for the first time in Europe. Mike has a very good, searing solo in Why Go. The Eruption solo leads right into Porch. Following a short We Belong Together tag on Black, Ed improvs “n-n-n-n-n-no, no, no” a few times, then adds “…should have known, should have known…” Given to Fly is a nice addition to the encore. There’s a video screen behind the band, and during Ledbetter the band is projected on multiple levels going up like a pyramid, a very cool effect. Afterwards, they say their goodbyes and take the collective bow, then Ed gives the “one more” sign and they put the guitars back on for Rockin’. Ed closes out the evening with “take care of each other, take care of yourselves, until next time…”

The band takes the stage bathed in blue spotlights, easing into the evening with Release into an uptempo Sometimes. Black finishes with Mike reeling off a searing solo, Stone delivering a complementary dance of chords, and Ed asking “Did we belong together?” during the ending tag. Corduroy finishes in a storm of guitar sonics. Ed addresses the crowd before Lightning Bolt, saying “tomorrow I’m going to quit drinking, so TONIGHT…,” continuing in Swedish. Mike is supercharged during Red Mosquito, but the rest of the band gets lost getting to the finish line. The crowd picks this up and tries to guide the band, swaying in time, with Ed even adding “that’s nice, we made a mistake there and you made something beautiful out of it.” Ed grabs a monopod towards the end of Given to Fly and films the stage for a fan. Daughter is tagged with a brief bit of Hey Jude prior to the WMA tag. Introducing U, Ed states to the crowd, “lot of people out there, there’s maybe ten of you who know the next song.” Before Green Disease, he discusses how SwedeBank donated the naming rights of the arena to a youth support organization called Friends that works to prevent bullying. He references Jeremy and how it came about, and how great it is to see a corporation using their ability to promote social good. Rearviewmirror is dedicated to the Hives.

After the break, Ed notices a woman with a sign in the crowd that says “sign my shoe”.  Ed manages to get her to throw both shoes on stage, which he promptly hands to a roadie to take backstage. He turns to the mic and deadpans “shoe the shoeless,” a comical nod to the infamous Indio 1993 improv. He then teases the fan, saying “you trusted me…you don’t know me.”

Prior to Oceans, Ed drinks wine from the sneakers before handing them back to their owner. Mike and Stone trade off excellent solos on a fever pitch Porch. Things start to get a little weird on stage as the band looks to kick off encore 2. Finally, Ed reins in the shenanigans with “…sneakers, flip flops, high heels… it’s evolution, baby!” A beautiful, poignant Indifference ends the night, and Ed leaves with another “Shaka” Hawaiian goodbye.