Pearl Jam North American Concert History

List of Pearl Jam Concerts in North America

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September 17, 2024 – Fenway Park, Boston, MA, USA

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Even Flow, Daughter/(Wave Of Mutilation)(Monkey Gone To Heaven), Animal, Save You, Immortality, Corduroy, React, Respond, Running, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Wreckage, Untitled, Present Tense, Won't Tell, Superblood Wolfmoon, Once, Black, Fuckin' Up, Porch

encore 1: I Am A Patriot, Falling Slowly, Why Go, Waiting For Stevie, Crazy Mary, Unthought Known, Do The Evolution, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter/(More Than A Feeling)

Show Notes:

Ed comes out with “Good evening Boston! Are you ready to sing? I’m ready to sing!” and counts off Small Town. Jeff’s wearing a shirt from the Boston hardcore band SSD, and they kick into an early Even Flow. Another…

Show Notes: 

Ed comes out with “Good evening Boston! Are you ready to sing? I’m ready to sing!” and counts off Small Town. Jeff’s wearing a shirt from the Boston hardcore band SSD, and they kick into an early Even Flow. Another singalong follows with Daughter, and Ed tags two Pixies songs, a quick line from “Wave of Mutilation” and then “Monkey Gone to Heaven” (“and the devil is six, then god is seven”). He asks for the lights up and comments “…it’s a long way from center field to home plate…I see you!” Animal is next, making it three out of the first four from the seemingly-forgotten-all-tour Vs. record. Before Immortality, Ed says “there’s a few people that aren’t here that were here last time…I want you to know that we’re thinkin’ of ’em.” Mike gets another chance to shine early and there’s another awesome ending jam. Ed starts right into Corduroy after, which wasn’t on the original setlist. However, instead of breaking it down and going into the extended version, he goes right into the “everything has chains” line and keeps the song going, the original version. Dark Matter finally gets some action with the eighth song, React, Respond, and then Ed dedicates Running to Red Sox manager Alex Cora:

“…our dressing room is right past the dugout…I’ve been smoking joints in his manager’s office the whole weekend…no that’s not true, let me clarify, I was taking gummies and I left some for him, so if he calls a suicide squeeze it might be my fault…”

It’s back to Vitalogy afterwards with Not For You, and during the breakdown Ed sings the wrong lyric, laughing and joking that “it was all those gummies…in Alex Cora’s office,” and then talks about his #34 Walter Payton jersey, saying tonight it’s for David Ortiz. Following Wreckage, Ed mentions Dick, the local man who they had brought on stage in 2018, saying he had gone to see him but unfortunately he had passed, but they had left a chair for him with his picture and the message “This is our friend Dick. Please leave him right here where we remember him…” which is shown on screen. Ed gets a little emotional speaking about it, and then mentions a cameraman, Johnny Martin, who passed in 2019, and Chris Snow, GM of the Calgary Flames, who passed from ALS. A tender Untitled follows, with the lyric changes “…34 minutes or so” and “…with your memory I could never be alone.” MFC does not follow however, they go right into Present Tense. The underrated Won’t Tell is played for the eighth time, which seemed impossible earlier this year (poor Got to Give, still just once). Ed looks for the moon and finds it, talking how Fenway Park is sacred grounds, pointing again to the Super Harvest Moon, leading into the 2024 debut of Superblood Wolfmoon. After hitting Vs. and Vitalogy earlier, it’s back to Ten for three out of the last four. Black has a space visual, possibly Jupiter, and Mike sends the solo out into outer space to match. Ed does a short improv at the end:

“We were so young then…

We were so young then…

But it wasn’t pretend…

No, it wasn’t pretend.”

He talks about the shows they played in Boston in April 1994, including the Orpheum, and says “I remember we played this song that night,” leading to a rare main set appearance of Fuckin’ Up.

After the break, Ed comes out and says “we don’t want to go, we don’t know when we’ll be able to see you again,” and says he wanted to talk about politics, “but fuck all that, you know that…we can’t fall for the bullshit, let us stand united…and ladies, don’t forget what the Beastie Boys sang, ‘You gotta fight for your right’…to women’s reproductive freedom.” The band returns for a high-energy Why Go followed by the last Dark Matter song of the night, Waiting For Stevie, which has an electricity-based visual. Jeff now has a #33 Larry Bird shirt, and Ed mentions Stone’s middle name Carpenter, adding “Carpenter Newton?” (which was Stone’s alias on the early liner notes). He changes the lyric in Crazy Mary to “…saw the full moon, followed it around.” The lights are up and the celebration is on for Alive and Baba O’Riley. At the end of Yellow Ledbetter, Mike plays a little of Boston’s “More Than A Feeling,” the first time they’ve teased it since Mansfield 2003. Ed even starts to sing the lyrics, but Mike quickly changes back to Ledbetter and finishes the night off.

September 15, 2024 – Fenway Park, Boston, MA, USA

Main Set: Footsteps, Release, Given To Fly, Hail, Hail, Corduroy, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Down, In My Tree, Wreckage, Even Flow, Dark Matter, Do The Evolution, Glorified G, Jeremy, Something Special, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Just Breathe, Song Of Good Hope, Blood/(Atomic Dog), Better Man/(Save It For Later), Setting Sun, State Of Love And Trust, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter/(Star-Spangled Banner)

Show Notes:

Ed says “Sing it to the moon!” as Footsteps opens, the first time it’s been played since Barcelona, when it also opened. He changes the line in Release to “…dear Sam…” and then adds “Fenway!” After Hail, Hail, he greets…

Show Notes: 

Ed says “Sing it to the moon!” as Footsteps opens, the first time it’s been played since Barcelona, when it also opened. He changes the line in Release to “…dear Sam…” and then adds “Fenway!” After Hail, Hail, he greets the crowd, saying:

“…what a day! What a night! What a thrill…a fucking thrill to be here with you tonight…”

He talks about their history in Massachusetts, saying their first gig there was at a tiny club behind the Green Monster, and thanks Sam Kennedy and the Fenway crew, and the crowd for being there. Jeff’s wearing a Larry Bird t-shirt, and a guy in a cow suit is pointed out by Ed, who jokes that “your udders are sagging a little bit…you might have been turned into hamburger long ago, so happy to see you.” He talks about Howard Zinn before Down, wondering what he would think of the current times. Afterwards, he tells a story:

“I had a friend…and we used to climb trees…I mean, I had friends when I was a little kid, and we climbed trees, Chicago, suburbs, that kind of thing, but no, this was not even that long ago…two grown men climbing 200-foot trees, ’cause we liked the feeling of being up there and we liked hanging out together, and it was a good place to be left alone, you know, we could have a chat, it’s not like we carried coffee or anything, we just climbed these trees, hang out in the wind, there’s a park called Lincoln Park in Seattle…the name of my friend was Chris Cornell, we’d climb these…[Ed has to take a second] and sometimes, by the time we got to the top, if the wind started going, it looked like a metronome ’cause there was a big weight on the end, and it was getting pretty thin where we were, go back and forth and back and forth…I didn’t know if I was going to say this or not but I might as well just say it…it was recently, it’s been 5 years since some stuff happened, and so I went by myself and I climbed the tree a few weeks ago…[He has to take another moment, getting emotional] it wasn’t as fun, by yourself, but it brought back a lot of memories, and to be honest I started to tear up a bit, and then, as if he were on the branch next to me, I heard ‘it’s okay.'”

Matt starts In My Tree, a powerful and intense version with some intricate bass work from Jeff, and Ed adds “we’re all missing him…we had a name for that tree, we called it the Green Monster.” After Wreckage, Ed introduces Mike, “batting left…he’s our Kevin Youkilis” and says “I like this part of the night, because it’s like releasing an animal from its cage.” He then sees the hematologist with the sign for Blood in the crowd, interjecting “…didn’t we not play that song the other night? You bring that fuckin’ sign again…okay, okay, he’s a doctor, I won’t insult him anymore…I might need your help someday.” Ed skips the second verse of Do the Evolution, going straight to the “hallelujah” part after the first verse. Afterwards, Ed wants to send a message to Ted Nugent:

“I mean, we love his guitar playing…the Motor City Madman…he is indeed a madman…I said recently that I didn’t own a firearm and that I didn’t want to own a firearm, and that’s just my personal choice. Ted, I just wanna tell you, we are…I like to shoot the bow and arrow, we are brothers of the mystical bow…and I throw ten-pound axes at big wooden targets, we have way more in common than you think…Ted, I think it’s reasonable, and not radical, to put in some simply practical, common sense gun laws into place to keep things like AK-47’s out of the hands of people who are not responsible enough…think about it, we send our kids to school at a young age and we give them active shooter drills…it’s a bit much, we’ve gone to the other side, we can pull it back and you can still have what you need, and not have what you don’t.”

Glorified G follows, and Ed introduces Jeremy as “another one about a gun.” There’s a fan up front with picture of Jeff’s face on a t-shirt, and Ed calls him “the Jeff Ament fan club…I started it…but I’ve given him none of the profits, I sell the t-shirts, the stickers…” He brings Josh up for Something Special, and dedicates it to all the parents and the “childless cat ladies.” The RVM jam is short, and as it’s building back up Ed pauses the song to make sure the crowd is safe.

After the break, Ed says “ladies and gentlemen, you know that there’s no way we’re leaving Fenway Park until they kick us out.” He checks on everyone after the RVM incident, and thanks everyone for letting them make a “bunch of racket” in center field. He talks about Tim Wakefield, who had passed in 2023, and tells a story about getting to see Wakefield’s knuckleball up close in a bullpen session. Just Breathe is dedicated to Tim and his wife Stacy, who tragically passed shortly after Tim. Just Breathe also has to be stopped to check on an audience member. At the end, Ed seemingly ends it early but then goes back and plays the ending again. Glen Hansard joins on stage for Song of Good Hope again. Afterwards, Ed points out the hematologist and says “we’re gonna play the fuckin’ song for you,” and Blood returns to a set for the first time since Fenway 2018. Ed is struggling mightily vocally, and adds a short “Atomic Dog” tag after the first verse. The band gets mixed up but they get through it, and Ed says “we didn’t practice that!” at the end. Better Man goes over 8 minutes with a full Save it for Later tag. Ed has a Red Sox helmet (with the number 34 on the back) and Jeff has a Celtics jersey on. As Rockin’ goes into the breakdown, Ed says “…we got Boston in the house!” and Glen, actor John Krasinski, and Ed’s daughter Olivia (who sang “My Father’s Daughter” with Hansard during his set), along with others (comment if you know who the other people were), join on stage. Ed starts to say good night, Mike starts Ledbetter, but stops, and then Ed motions for one more and Ledbetter is played, and Mike finishes off the night with the Star-Spangled Banner with Peter Gammons on stage.

September 12, 2024 – CFG Bank Arena, Baltimore, MD, USA

Main Set: Can't Keep, Present Tense, Given To Fly, Corduroy, React, Respond, Dark Matter, Tremor Christ, Wreckage, Unthought Known, Stranglehold, Even Flow, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2)), Deep, Upper Hand, Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Lukin, Porch/(T.V. Eye)

encore 1: Falling Slowly, Black, Spin The Black Circle, Sonic Reducer, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

After being mentioned by Stone earlier in the year during an interview as one of the songs he’d like to see come back, Can’t Keep opens the show, the first time it’s been played since 2014! Ed puts some extra…

Show Notes: 

After being mentioned by Stone earlier in the year during an interview as one of the songs he’d like to see come back, Can’t Keep opens the show, the first time it’s been played since 2014! Ed puts some extra emphasis behind the “…it’s been wonderful tonight…” lyric and Stone is fully in the groove. The long build in Present Tense gets the crowd going, and the song breaks loose and soars, one of the best versions in recent memory. During the Corduroy breakdown, Ed says “Good evening Baltimore!” and then continues afterwards, saying “…we don’t get here as often as we’d like, and now feeling your energy right off the bat, we are seeing the errors of our ways,” adding that they were scheduled to play here when the pandemic hit in 2020, and then the building was being renovated in 2022 during the rescheduled tour. He sees a sign for a couple who’s been married for 43 years, saying “it was only 38 back then [when the show was originally scheduled]…by the way, Stone and Jeff have been together almost forty, so don’t get cocky.” He starts to introduce the next song, but can’t remember the title, joking “fuck it…once they start playing, I’ll remember,” leading into React, Respond. He says there’s “a fervent request…he’s a hematologist, so of course the song, of course, he wants us to play is called Blood.” He continues, joking “…bring your sign to the Springsteen show tomorrow, maybe he’ll play it….he can sing it, too,” and says the next one is a request from a NASA scientist, “right up there with hematologist,” and Tremor Christ is played for only the second time this year. Ed introduces Stone, and then hears the crowd and says:

“Stone, they’re asking if you would sing a song tonight [Stone dismisses the request with a wave of his hand]…see, that’s the problem, the band is a democracy…if it was a dictatorship, and I happened to be the dictator, I’d say ‘Stone, you gotta fuckin’ sing…or I’ll fuckin’ kill you’ [laughs]….okay, he’s thinking about it!”

However, Wreckage follows. After Unthought Known, Mike starts playing the riff from Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold,” a call back to the 2013 show where Ed talked about Ian MacKaye and Henry Rollins seeing Nugent in this arena back in the ’70s. The band picks up on it, laughing, and after a minute or so Ed starts singing, repeating “I don’t want a gun/I don’t ever want to own a gun/I don’t want a gun/I don’t own a gun” over and over, and mimics shooting a bow and arrow up into the sky. Mike starts off the Even Flow solo with a slow burn but the shredding is unleashed in time. Ed says they have “good news and sad news,” mentioning the recent loss of actor James Earl Jones, saying that he had seen him in a Tennessee Williams play in London 15 years ago and got to meet him. He then says “…but now, the good news: did you hear that Taylor Swift…?” He doesn’t finish the thought, but flexes his arm (Swift had endorsed Kamala Harris for President). He goes on to talk about today’s news that North Dakota had vacated their abortion ban, ruling it unconstitutional. He works the news into the Daughter tag again, adding “…leave women’s bodies alone” and repeating “vote to make it okay” at the end. Deep is dedicated to “three different people going through difficult things,” and he uses a lyric from Once (“it could happen to you, it could happen…”) as an intro. Upper Hand is the fourth and last Dark Matter song. During the Porch jam, Ed goes over and strums Mike’s guitar, and then sings a little of the Stooges’ “T.V. Eye” (“I gotta T.V. eye”) before kicking back into the song.

During the break, there’s a loud mechanical noise heard in the building, and Ed references it when he comes back out, joking that he’s glad the crowd “still has their hearing after that fucking sound disruption,” saying they had an issue with the front board and apologizing for the “technical difficulties.” There are a bunch of signs that Ed references, including the woman from a previous show who had a 150th show sign and tonight has one that says “151.” Glen Hansard joins Ed on stage for Falling Slowly. Ed sings a little during the Black solo, repeating “someday…” as Mike drops to the floor, wringing all the emotion out of his guitar. Ed says STBC is a request from José Cardenal, and Mike and Jeff circle each other as they play. Alive is paused to take care of someone in the crowd, and then continues where they left off. Baba has a big ending jam and Ed adds “I’ll stay” to Ledbetter to close the night out.

September 9, 2024 – Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Main Set: Of The Girl, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Corduroy, Mind Your Manners, Scared Of Fear, Dark Matter, In My Tree, Wreckage, Even Flow, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Wishlist/(Norwegian Wood), Dance Of The Clairvoyants, Once, Upper Hand, Alone, Jeremy, Porch

encore 1: Just Breathe, Song Of Good Hope, Waiting For Stevie, Crazy Mary, Animal, Rats, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Night 2 in Philadelphia opens up in a loose way with Of the Girl, with Josh helping out on percussion. Crowd is loud on Small Town and Corduroy, Ed comments on how good night 1 was and says “…can we…

Show Notes: 

Night 2 in Philadelphia opens up in a loose way with Of the Girl, with Josh helping out on percussion. Crowd is loud on Small Town and Corduroy, Ed comments on how good night 1 was and says “…can we keep it going?” The crowd sings the original Corduroy part during the extended middle and Ed picks it up and sings it with them before bringing it down. After Scared of Fear, he sees a sign in the crowd that says “150+ shows combined” and jokes “…anybody could write that…congratulations, I’ve been to 149 myself…I hope this is your favorite out of all 150.” Prior to In My Tree, he tells the story of the song:

“…we were a little bit out of our trees at the time…we were losing it a little bit…I do remember the day though, I had a little platform made out of lumber, and an old door, and I was up in the air, up in the branches, and I had a guitar and a piece of paper, oh and a typewriter. When I finally came down, I put those things to use…”

Mike and Jeff are focused and getting into it, a standout performance. Before Even Flow, Ed speaks to Mike:

“So Mike, there’s that lady who’s seen 150 shows…I would specifically appreciate if you blew HER mind right now [Mike points at her and gives the thumbs up]…[Ed jokingly, to her] 150 shows…did you always have such not great seats? This is a quiet number…called Even Flow.”

Mike begins the solo playing with his teeth, then goes down front and holds the guitar out to the people on the rail in front of him. Ed starts a call-and-response and then gives the last verse to the crowd. He does the same on the Better Man intro, taking a few moments before the song kicks in to say, impressed, “that was…pretty good.” Before getting into “Save it for Later”, Ed improvs:

“Oh baby I know I could have been better, oh baby I might have fucked up/

Oh baby I will do better and I’ll never forget what I’ve done/

Oh baby if you just give me one more chance…”

And then comes back after, adding “Stay for me please/Won’t you stay for me please/I am down on my, down on my, down on my knees/Wishing you would stay, stay…” and then getting the crowd involved, windmilling while Stone jams over by Boom. Mike is a little confused by the ending, mouthing “what the fuck was that” jokingly to the fans up front while Matt finishes it off. Ed gets a little mixed up during Wishlist and adds “…wish I was the pedal brake and I didn’t fuck it up…” Ed tags the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” at the end, the first time since 2014 it’s been teased or tagged at a PJ show. DOTC is the first Gigaton song to appear on this leg. Ed dedicates Upper Hand to “anybody who never got to be the boss.” He brings up the JC Dobbs 1991 show again, saying Alone was played “back when we were little kids,” and the poster from that show is shown on the screen. Someone in the crowd takes credit for it being theirs, and Ed jokes that he doesn’t believe them. He points out a woman named Melissa, who runs a music school, and says that she took the chunk of the JC Dobbs building that PJ had signed when the building was torn down, and after being cut on night 1, Alone is played, kicking off a very 1991 end to the set with Jeremy and Porch to follow.

After the break, Ed mentions that they had a lot of requests from couples leading into Just Breathe. He talks about the West Memphis Three and brings out Glen Hansard for Song of Good Hope. Due to be released as a single the next day (finally), Waiting For Stevie is dedicated to a woman up front, Ed saying “it’s about a woman at a rock ‘n’ roll show.” Mike saunters over to Boom for the Crazy Mary jam while Ed pours wine for the fans up front. The Vs. duo of Animal and Rats is a surprise, Rats especially hadn’t been played since Nashville 2022. Ed says that the band had a vote and if they played Rats, they would all vote in November. Mike does the short tease of Soundgarden’s “Superunknown” again before the familiar Alive/Rockin’/Ledbetter ending trio. Glen Hansard (with his band this time) returns for Rockin’. After Mike’s incendiary solo, Jeff relinquishes bass duties and Ed speaks:

“City of Brotherly Love! City known for liberty, freedom…it’s only fitting that this state is a very important state when it comes to the election in less than two months…your vote counts and everyone’s counting on your vote!”

He starts a call-and-response and adds “…vote to keep it a free world…a thousand points of light for democracy, man, let your voice be heard while you can…” Matt gives up the drum throne to Glen’s drummer, Jeff dances over to Glen, who jokingly offers him his guitar, and Mike and Stone face off for the final solo. Before Ledbetter starts, Ed says “we don’t say goodbye, we say ‘see you later.'”

September 7, 2024 – Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Main Set: Long Road, Low Light, Why Go, Brain Of J., React, Respond, Dark Matter, Given To Fly, Wreckage, Even Flow, Do The Evolution, MFC, Red Mosquito, Won't Tell, Black/(We Belong Together), Breath, Running, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: I Won't Back Down, Daughter/(Free Fallin'), Last Exit, Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns, State Of Love And Trust, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Indifference

Show Notes:

Long Road opens for the first time since the west coast leg. In the middle of the song, Ed comments “…we can feel you, this is gonna be a good night…” The first of many from Yield is next (5…

Show Notes: 

Long Road opens for the first time since the west coast leg. In the middle of the song, Ed comments “…we can feel you, this is gonna be a good night…” The first of many from Yield is next (5 out of the first 11!), Low Light, followed after Why Go by the 2024 debut of Brain of J. Before Given to Fly, Ed talks about how the crowd is so loud, for the first time ever he has to ask for his vocals to be turned up. He continues, talking about how he had been talking to Chris Chelios when they were in Chicago:

“…it came up about this tragic accident that happened with the Gaudreau brothers [NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were killed by a drunk driver while bicycling], and I just wanted to say that, you know, I lost my brother five years ago, in something that was very immediate and traumatic, Jeff Ament lost one of his great, great friends in a similar fashion…and what made it even more tragic is that they were such good men…so to hear that they came from Philly, and grew up watching games in this city, we thought we’d recognize them, and wish their family and loved ones and teammates strength to get through this difficult time.”

After Wreckage, Ed says “I might talk about voting later tonight, but if I had to vote for best guitar player on the planet right now, it’d be for Mr. Mike McCready.” Mike does the first minute of the solo behind his head, going down to the fans on the rail, then letting loose a barrage of tricks, including using the mic stand as a slide. After the solo, Ed adds “…speaking of the best, how about Mr. Matt Cameron on the drums…” and then the song kicks back in, the crowd singing along boisterously. He makes good on the promise to talk about voting, saying the same thing he’s said before about not just getting the crowd to vote, but their kids. Stone has a killer DTE solo and Ed recognizes him afterwards. Ed starts to play Untitled, but then stops and says “this song is called MFC…Men For Choice.” He sees a sign in the crowd after for a couple that got engaged and jokes “I know you must be handsome, it might be the light…she agreed to marry you?…you want me to play the wedding when? March when? [reading sign] Are we available on March 14th, 2025…gimme a second,” at which point he pulls out one of his notebooks and flips through it, responding “…will the 26th work?” Black is again outstanding, Ed feeling the energy from the crowd. Mike plays flamenco-style under the tag, and Ed adds “..it’s okay, it’s okay, it’ll be okay in the end, it’ll be okay in the end, hang on my friend.” He talks about playing at JC Dobbs in 1991 afterwards, and talks to Jeff about finding a basketball court on South St., adding “the last song we played that night, in July of ’91, is the song we’re going to play right now,” and Breath appears for only the second time this year. Ed goes out and sings to the crowd up front, and changes the lyric to “…run away my daughter…” The rear view mirror visual gets to match up with the song, and Jeff and Matt drive the propulsive bridge.

After the break, Ed jokes “I’m just going to play a quick one, Mike McCready’s in the back getting a full body massage by this huge gentleman from Philadelphia,” and then mentions being on the bus with Tom Petty, who was about to have his first grandchild, and joking that “Eddie Petty” would be a good name, but then realizing “Manny Petty” was too good. He tells the story of how he got Tom’s guitar, and says he’s written four songs on it, but “it sounds better when I play his,” leading into I Won’t Back Down. He adds a quick “…love you, Tom!” at the end before Daughter begins, and then, with Tom still on his mind, tags “Free Fallin'” for the first time, and the guitar joins in with a little of the melody. After Last Exit, Ed says “…this one’s for special occasions, thinking about a special man,” and Boom starts the always powerful Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns. The song stretches out to nearly 8 minutes, one of the best performances of the night. Baba O’Riley is paused in the middle, Ed sees someone who’s out of it and has to ask them if they know where they are, and they are removed safely and the song is unpaused. Indifference returns after making its 2024 debut at MSG, Ed sitting down front at the end. He leaves with “what a memorable night, we’re so grateful.” Maybe the best show of the year so far.

September 4, 2024 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA

Main Set: Garden, Corduroy, Hail, Hail, Even Flow, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, (Pt. 2)), Dark Matter, React, Respond, Won't Tell, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Wreckage, I Am Mine, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Glorified G, Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Waiting For Stevie, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: I Am A Patriot, Just Breathe, Song Of Good Hope, Gimme Some Truth, Setting Sun, Sonic Reducer, Leash, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Night two at the Garden opens with…Garden. Mike gets a chance to get into the groove early and Matt pounds away like thunder, and Ed goes down front to sing the end. During the bridge of Corduroy, Ed wants to…

Show Notes: 

Night two at the Garden opens with…Garden. Mike gets a chance to get into the groove early and Matt pounds away like thunder, and Ed goes down front to sing the end. During the bridge of Corduroy, Ed wants to tell a story:

“I think it was two years [ago] when we played in this very building, and they had some event down below…like a TV thing, it was gonna happen the next morning. They focused all the lights, got all the lights ready for the TV show in the morning, and when they came in the morning…all the lights were falling off and all fucked up and all out of place because the building had been rocking so hard the night before…let’s do that again!”

Hail, Hail has a very cool smoke/flame visual. Ed says that it’s the band’s 50th show in New York City, and it’s Even Flow that shows up early tonight. Afterwards, he speaks again:

“This is a Public Service Announcement…because there’s some shit that will go down in the next couple of months that will dictate what will go down in the next three or four decades….and women, I’m speaking to you, but dads, you can listen too…the rights of women are not just being threatened, they are already being taken away. I know it’s a little early to be getting into this shit, but let’s get it over with! So the right to choose issue, it used to involve religious fanatics, and then politicians got involved, not because they care one way or another, they just would like the votes. And now, it’s evolved into judges…and women of all ages are up against a Supreme Court…it’s time to vote, and as the great Patti Smith said, ‘People Have the Power’, never have truer words been spoken…women, feel empowered, vote for your own interests, help a sister out while you’re at it.”

Daughter follows, with Ed again changing the lyrics in the tag, this time to “…politicians leave our girls alone/judges leave our girls alone/just to make sure, be your own.” Dark Matter again has the ambient intro and visual that we were used to seeing from Scared of Fear. Prior to Won’t Tell, Ed sees a fan named Rob wearing a Soundgarden shirt (at which point Mike plays a tease of “Superunknown”), and then points out that Steven Van Zandt (of the E Street Band and The Sopranos) is in attendance, mentions his SiriusXM radio show and that he had told the band that the song would be a huge hit, and it should be a single. After a powerful I Am Mine, Ed talks about how Jeff and Stone had been to NYC before PJ made it there, and talks about his first time being in a big building meeting with the record company, calling it “a dream come true.” He tells the crowd “…this one’s all you” before starting Small Town. He asks the crowd if they should play a request:

“…it’s for a good friend of ours, he wanted to hear it, and I realized…he said ‘Why don’t you like playing that song?’ I said, it’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I…that I…and actually, you know what, I don’t like playing this song…because it’s about guns, and I hate fucking guns! Even if it’s a song criticizing guns, I don’t even…I hate fucking guns! It’s like the first day of school, and then today, in Georgia, where they don’t have as good gun laws as they do in New York City, there was another big shooting…every other fucking day, so why would I want to spend four minutes singing a fucking song about guns?”

The “friend” is Howard Stern, and Ed adds “this one’s called…well, you know.” He exhorts the crowd during Jeremy, interjecting “…c’mon, c’mon!” Andrew Watt is introduced and helps out on Waiting For Stevie, taking the solo, and then sticks around to play Ed’s guitar part on RVM.

I Am a Patriot, a Steven Van Zandt cover, opens the massive 10-song encore with Ed changing the lyric to “…I was walking/with my wife of 24 years…,” the song’s first appearance since Fenway 2018. After Just Breathe, Glen Hansard comes out on stage, and Ed talks about all the shoutouts they’ve had requests for, mentioning Andrew Greenhall, who’s a transplant patient, and Alison, a mom of a 13-year-old named Sam who has a rare disease, and dedicates Song of Good Hope to them and others. Ed gets worked up during Gimme Some Truth, and the unlikely combo of Setting Sun and Sonic Reducer follows. Leash is a surprise, and it looks like the band is rushing a little with the curfew approaching during Alive, but then Watt, Hansard (with his band), and Van Zandt all join on stage for the Rockin’ in the Free World party, with so many people on stage that Jeff ends up playing tambourine. Order is restored on stage, and Ed says “this is how we say goodbye” before Ledbetter, adding that in Hawaii they say “a hui huo, see you later.”

September 3, 2024 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA

Main Set: Pendulum, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Immortality, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Satan's Bed, Even Flow, Out Of My Mind, Mind Your Manners, Dark Matter, Do The Evolution, Upper Hand, Love Boat Captain, Black/(We Belong Together), Given To Fly, Porch

encore 1: Imagine, Inside Job, Unthought Known, Running, Once, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Indifference

Show Notes:

Ed raises his wine bottle as the band enters the stage and Matt counts off Pendulum. Better Man is a surprise in the two spot, just like Porch was at Wrigley…could this be a new trend? Ed gets the crowd…

Show Notes: 

Ed raises his wine bottle as the band enters the stage and Matt counts off Pendulum. Better Man is a surprise in the two spot, just like Porch was at Wrigley…could this be a new trend? Ed gets the crowd going as the song transitions into the Save it for Later tag, and starts a “don’t run away” call-and-response. More Vitalogy early as Immortality follows, bathed in red stage light. Mike introduces himself with a fantastic solo, Jeff has a nice run during the build, and Matt takes over, putting on an incredible percussive show. The opening Dark Matter run is back, and after Scared of Fear Ed talks about how they’ve played 71 shows in the state of New York, and 48 times in New York City (close, if you include TV performances and all the extra stuff), and mentions playing the Wetlands and CBGB’s in 1991. He continues, adding “you make us feel, New York City, like the luckiest fucking people in the world.” He says React, Respond could also have been called “Don’t complain, vote,” and comments “I like this one” before Wreckage. Afterwards, he points out that it’s Fashion Week in New York, and jokes with the band about their obviously fashionable attire, leading appropriately into a tight, fast Satan’s Bed. There’s a birthday request for a fan, Kim Cruz, from her daughter-in-law, and Ed says “Kim, Mike McCready’s gonna play a red-hot solo on this one.” Out Of My Mind appears for only the seventh time, but the second time this year and third in the last two years. Ed plays a short instrumental intro to Love Boat Captain, and the band joins in for a little while before Ed brings it back down to start the vocals, but has to take a few moments to remember the words. Black is the showstopper, Mike losing his mind during the solo, then going up against his amps. Boom is prominent on the piano at the end as Ed guides it in with a tender We Belong Together. After, Ed speaks:

“Adam, you’re here, it’s your second show…Adam’s 13! I was thinking about you, because between the last time we saw him, a couple of years ago, and this time, some hard kinda life has transpired, and Jesse [Adam’s dad] lost his wife, and Adam lost his mom…her name was Joanne…and I know there’s some healing power in music, but the fact that you can be in this room tonight and hopefully be with your people, that takes some courage and guts, and faith and trust, and this band is so grateful to have that trust from you. Adam, wherever you are, I’m sending love…[Adam is found by the cameras and shown on screen] Adam is one of those beautiful kids that has autism…and here’s the thing I wanna mention…he was bullied in school so badly, that he had to change schools…but you know what I really can’t believe, is a fucking parent who lets their kid get away with bullying another kid, a beautiful kid, what kind of fucking parent is that? You think you’re being Presidential or some shit? Fuck. You. So I wanna say ‘fuck you’ to those parents, and I also want to say ‘fuck you’ to the goddamn school who let that go on and didn’t do anything to protect [Adam]…come on now! So, back home, tell ’em Ed Vedder said so, tell ’em Pearl Jam said to fuck off!”

Given to Fly has the band silhouetted on the screen, and Ed changes the line to “…faceless kids…” and the “fuckers!” line has some extra juice behind it. McCready takes over again during Porch, holding the neck of his guitar out to the crowd at the end.

Ed comes out with an acoustic guitar after the break and talks about how we can’t let ourselves be divided and asks for the phone fireflies before Imagine. Steve Gleason is in attendance, which means a standout performance of Inside Job. Ed tells a story about being in NYC about 15 years ago and being out with some friends late and ending up in a hotel room and writing Unthought Known. Once leads into Alive, but no Footsteps. The Alive solo is incredible, Mike adding lots of extra brightness and color. Indifference finally makes its 2024 debut, closing the show. Ed changes the lyric to “…we will scream our lungs out…” and thanks the crowd one last time.

August 31, 2024 – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL, USA

Main Set: Garden, Porch, Wishlist, Come Back, All Night, Not For You/(Modern Girl), React, Respond, Running, Wreckage, Even Flow, Given To Fly, Dark Matter, In Hiding, Upper Hand, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Falling Slowly, Smile, Setting Sun, Jeremy, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter, Little Wing

Show Notes:

The red curtains are pulled back and the band takes the stage to some ambient music, and Stone starts the Garden riff immediately. Ed says “Good evening…let’s play two…” as the song is starting. Porch is a huge surprise early…

Show Notes: 

The red curtains are pulled back and the band takes the stage to some ambient music, and Stone starts the Garden riff immediately. Ed says “Good evening…let’s play two…” as the song is starting. Porch is a huge surprise early in the set, with a new visual of two tall buildings (could be Chicago’s WIllis Tower) seen from below. Mike goes off on the jam early, Jeff comes over and plays off him, with Stone focused in front of Matt. Ed shouts “Wrigley Field!” before he comes back in at the end. Wishlist has a quick tempo, with Ed changing the lyric to “…as fortunate as Ernie [Banks]…” Ed talks about Beth Murphy and dedicates Come Back to her and Marian Robinson, Michelle Obama’s mother, who had passed earlier in the year. Following, Ed talks about the early days of PJ in Chicago at the Metro and the Aragon, Chicago Stadium, Soldier Field, and more, “but this is Wrigley Field…it takes the cake.” There’s another lyric change in Not For You: “…small our ballfield, perfect for two.” Before Running, he thanks [Cubs CF] Pete Crow-Armstrong for letting them play center field, and dedicates it to Ian Happ [Cubs LF]. There’s a cute story that follows Running as well, Ed talks about how he wanted to take his daughter Olivia to Wrigley for her first game, and whenever they would see Cubs gear in Seattle he would point it out to her. They went to Wrigley when she was three and when they saw everyone, Olivia said:

“Dad! Everybody Cubs!”

He responded “Yes, dear, these are our people.” After Even Flow, Ed talks about his Uncle John taking him to Bears training camp in 1978 and meeting Walter Payton (Ed wearing his usual Payton jersey at this show). He said Walter told him he looked like a surfer, and told him “…careful on this big waves.” Walter’s son Jarrett, a Chicago radio and TV personality and former NFL player himself, is brought on stage and has a moment with Ed. Following Given to Fly, the ambient sounds and visual that usually start Scared of Fear are happening, but then it’s Dark Matter instead. In Hiding is always welcome, with Stone bouncing up and down. As the Better Man intro finishes, Ed adds “…Thursday singers were good, Saturday’s are better…” The band does the full Save it for Later reset, and Ed improvs some lyrics at the end:

“Did I tell you that I needed you? Oh fuck, I fucked up, I didn’t tell you that I needed you/

and now I, and now I, and now I can’t live….I can’t give you what you, what you need/

and you’re gone, you’re gonna be leaving me/

I apologize, on my knees I apologize, on my knees I apologize, on my knees I apologize…”

Ed windmills at the end, and the song stretches out over eight minutes. Ed starts RVM with a plucky, staccato intro. Matt and Jeff drive the bridge, and Ed dances around clapping before kicking back in at the end, being very emotive as he sings the last chorus.

After the break, Ed mentions that there is a curfew and they “have a lot of songs to play,” and tells one last story about never having more than $40 in his pocket, “and my bank account was…zero. But you can have a great fuckin’ time in Chicago with a bike and just a few bucks,” and mentions some local Chicago neighborhoods and parks. He adds that the city has really felt alive the last few days and thanks the crowd, and introduces Throw Your Arms Around Me with “…you might have heard this one on a show about waiting tables in Chicago,” as it was featured on The Bear. Glen Hansard comes out next and sings lead on Falling Slowly, making its debut at a Pearl Jam show. Glen stays and helps out on Smile as well. Alive is shortened a little just like on night one, due to the curfew. Ed has a sparkly Cubs helmet and talks about how grateful they are. As Mike is bringing Ledbetter to a close, he transitions into “Little Wing” and the band joins in for the last performance of the night. Ed closes with “…love you, Chicago…see you next time.”

August 29, 2024 – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL, USA

Main Set: Release, Of The Girl, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Off He Goes, Immortality, Given To Fly, Why Go, Scared Of Fear, Waiting For Stevie, Wreckage, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2)), Down, Even Flow, U, Dark Matter, Black, Do The Evolution, Porch

encore 1: Just Breathe, I Won't Back Down, State Of Love And Trust, Won't Tell, (Better Man), Corduroy, Setting Sun, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

Show Notes:

Returning to a ballpark for the first time since 2018, Pearl Jam opens night 1 at Wrigley to no one’s surprise with Release. Instead of “Dear dad…”, Ed sings “Uncle John…” in the last verse. Of the Girl has a…

Show Notes: 

Returning to a ballpark for the first time since 2018, Pearl Jam opens night 1 at Wrigley to no one’s surprise with Release. Instead of “Dear dad…”, Ed sings “Uncle John…” in the last verse. Of the Girl has a nice tempo, with Mike going off on the leads. Ed introduces Off He Goes with “…this is for all your friends that instead of saying ‘see you later,’ they say ‘see you on the flipside.'” Immortality always elevates a set when it’s early like this, Mike lets loose a searing solo and Matt brings the thunder at the end. Given to Fly has the lyric “…made it down to Wrigley Field…” and the crowd is into it. Before Why Go, Ed says “…we’re already home.” After Scared of Fear, Ed talks about listening to Stevie Wonder and tells the story from the recording of Earthling about how Stevie was running late, and thanks him because it led to Waiting For Stevie, which makes an early appearance here. Stone and Jeff jam together in front of Matt, and Mike destroys the solo. Ed adds some lyrics onto the end of the Daughter tag, “…a woman’s right to choose is her own.” He speaks afterwards:

“Are most of you Chicagoans? In the old days, there might have been a few people in the crowd that came to see our group that were maybe older than us…now that’s less likely, because we are old ourselves! But if you grew up in Chicago, before the Cub game came on on WGN, in the morning there was a guy called Phil Donahue…he loved Chicago, he loved this place, I got to know him, work with him [on 2007’s Body of War], I got to love him, and we lost him about a week ago. I’ve been thinking of him nonstop, and I just felt like here, in Chicago, we need to raise our glass and raise our arms for our friend Phil Donahue, a great, great Chicagoan. We love you Phil.”

He also mentions Howard Zinn and Down is played for the first time in 2024. Afterwards, he talks about Mike:

“We’ve been in a group for more than 30 years, 33, 34…and I didn’t realize until fairly recently that our good friend, Michael McCready, the master of the Stratocaster, that’s he’s fucking left-handed! [Mike motions that he writes and swings a bat left-handed] You write left-handed, even uses a left-handed bat…but he throws right…okay you’re all fucked up. But whatever crazy shit happened in your life, and I don’t know why you’re so infected, but we’re so grateful…it comes out in crazy, crazy ways. So, Mike McCready, we’ve played Wrigley Field three times before, who knows how many times we’ll get to play it again, I challenge you to be above any other time ever…”

Mike responds “I accept your challenge” and Ed exclaims “Game 7, World Series, you’re starting, let’s go!” and they tear into Even Flow. Mike immediately plays behind his head as the solo begins, going down to the rail for a little while before going back up on stage, still playing, showcasing his patented mix of technical wizardry and raw emotion as Stone, who’s moved over to Mike’s side, and Jeff look on. Mike uses the mic stand as a slide, dropping to his knees, an amazing display. U follows, played for the first time since Fenway Park in 2018, with Matt adding some of his own technical skill at the end. Mike’s hot streak continues on Black, another powerful performance. Ed improvs at the end, “hold me now, let me help you through, hold me now, one last time…just a dream I had, just a dream, just a dream, dream…” Josh is helping out on percussion during DTE, and not to be outdone, Stone breaks off two excellent, melodic leads of his own. After the break, Ed comes out solo and wishes Happy Anniversary to his friends Joe and Eliza before Just Breathe. He stays out by himself, talking how other musicians say that Wrigley Field is their favorite place to play, and adding some of his own memories, adding “it’s very powerful to play here.” He continues, talking about how he once heard from Tom Petty when Petty played Wrigley, and that Petty told him “…wish you were here,” but now it’s Ed who wishes that Tom was here. He asks the crowd if they can help make a moment and thousands of fireflies are lit up for I Won’t Back Down. After State, Ed says they’re going to try something different:

“There’s a song called Won’t Tell, they’ve been playing it a little bit on the radio, there’s a woman in the front row who said that she could sing it. Now, it took me about I don’t know how many years for me to get from the front row to the stage, ma’am it just took you about ninety seconds,”

The fan, named Abby, is brought up on stage and introduced by Ed, and Jeff is recognized. Ed tells Abby “just jump in, the water’s fine,” and they both jump right in, Abby singing along to Won’t Tell with Ed! They dance and jump around together, and they take a bow as the song ends. Ed picks up his guitar and starts to play Better Man, but changes his mind and starts Corduroy instead. Ed leads a long call-and-response with the crowd clapping along. Ed puts some passion behind the Setting Sun vocals. The lights are up for Alive, which transitions right into RITFW, and Ed’s wearing a Cubs jersey and hat. He finishes off the song with “We love you Chicago! Thank you!”

August 26, 2024 – Ruoff Music Center, Noblesville, IN, USA

Main Set: Wash, Nothingman, Present Tense, Last Exit, Spin The Black Circle, Not For You/(Modern Girl), Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2)), Even Flow, Dark Matter, Upper Hand, Black/(We Belong Together), Do The Evolution, Running, Porch

encore 1: Song Of Good Hope, Lightning Bolt, Corduroy, Setting Sun, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Pearl Jam returns to Indiana to make good on the cancelled 2023 show. Stone opens up Wash with a dirty acoustic sound, and right away there’s a lyric change: “this city, so sweltering…” As Ed steps up to the mic…

Show Notes: 

Pearl Jam returns to Indiana to make good on the cancelled 2023 show. Stone opens up Wash with a dirty acoustic sound, and right away there’s a lyric change: “this city, so sweltering…” As Ed steps up to the mic after the instrumental break, he adds some new lyrics:

“Been so many years/since we’ve all been here/

it’s been so long/and this was the song/that we first ever played here…”

Wash was indeed the first song ever played in Indiana back in 1991. After Nothingman, Ed says there was a request, and a kid is shown on the screens with a sign that says “Please play Present Tense so I can say the “F” word.” The request is granted, and it’s an outstanding version, but Ed does not add any of the ad-lib f-words that he normally does. It’s a heavy dose of Vitalogy early, with the first three songs off the record played next in order, followed by the first three songs off Dark Matter. Jeff is dancing and spinning around during STBC, and there’s a good call-and-response during Not For You. After Scared of Fear, Ed says it’s a “noble crowd in Noblesville tonight” and talks about Lollapalooza 1992, listing all the bands they played with, saving Soundgarden for last, and Mike plays a short tease of a Soundgarden song. Ed continues, saying “you look noble…it feels like a night to play distinguished alternative music with complete nobility…ah, fuck that let’s lose our minds.” As Daughter is transitioning into the tag, he says:

“Thirty years ago, we encouraged all the young people…to vote and let your voice be heard…Thirty-three years later, we’re still asking you that…encourage your kids to vote! Especially the young women…you are in control of your own destiny, young ladies…”

He then changes the lyric in the ABITW tag to “…keep your hands off my body, choice I make is my own.” After Dark Matter, Ed talks about The Police’s 50th anniversary and sings “Roxanne,” before talking about Stone and Jeff’s 40-year musical partnership. The crowd is loud on Black, with another impassioned solo from Mike. Ed adds a short improv at the end:

“…it’s gonna be alright, it’s gonna be okay/

it’s gonna be alright, I tell myself, I tell myself I’ll be okay…”

After the break, Ed comes out with Glen Hansard and talks about a woman named Michele Mintz Menke, a member of the PJ community. Ed starts to get emotional, talking about how she’s “battling…she’s been battling” and that “optimism is the cornerstone of courage.” They perform Glen’s “Song of Good Hope” for the first time at a Pearl Jam show (Ed has covered it at his solo shows before). Halfway through, Ed stands up and goes down to the front to finish the song. Afterwards, he says they’re going to play “one we haven’t played in a while,” a request, and Lightning Bolt is played for the first time since 2022, dedicated to Caitlin Clark. One more Vitalogy song appears next, Corduroy, and Yellow Ledbetter closes the show, with Ed saying “…this is how we end the night, even when we don’t want to.”

August 22, 2024 – Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Missoula, MT, USA

Main Set: Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Low Light, Why Go, Corduroy, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Even Flow, Hard To Imagine/(Setting Sun), Dark Matter, Won't Tell, Upper Hand, Jeremy, Gimme Some Truth, Porch

encore 1: Her Majesty, Just Breathe, Smile, Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Do The Evolution, Setting Sun, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

Show Notes:

Given To Fly opens up in this outdoor venue with a new visual, the screens showing moving down a river and up into the mountains, ending up looking over the stadium and Missoula. Ed changes the lyric to “…made it…

Show Notes: 

Given To Fly opens up in this outdoor venue with a new visual, the screens showing moving down a river and up into the mountains, ending up looking over the stadium and Missoula. Ed changes the lyric to “…made it to the big sky, had a smoke in a tree…” An early nod to Jeff, the first of many in his home state, as Nothing As It Seems follows. After Low Light, Ed speaks, calling it a “big night under the big sky,” saying that they’re “energized to be here for Sen. Jon Tester.” He mentions that there are a lot of signs up front, and that some people spent the night to be up front, teasing “…if you spent the night I’ll be reading your sign.” Jeff takes a big drop step and leap at the end of Why Go. After a raucous Corduroy, Ed thanks Jeff for bringing them here and talks about how Trump only had 7,000 people when he came to Montana, but there’s more than 3 times that at the show tonight. He continues, mentioning that there was a shortage of hotel rooms in Missoula and people were asking about renting driveway space to sleep in their cars. He praises one couple who accepted 25-30 campers on their land, and even provided free cold beer! He proceeds to rattle off a list of small towns in Montana, of course leading into Small Town. React, Respond is introduced as “this one could be about voting, it’s called ‘Don’t React, Respond”, and Mike rips the solo into the stratosphere. Matt shows off on Even Flow, putting on a percussive masterclass, and Ed throws in the customary “…nevervoterepublican!” at the end. Afterwards, he tells an emotional story about 2 men, Adam Nelson and Jeff Walsh, with serious medical issues “battling hard and intensely,” noting that one of them left the hospital without permission to be there tonight, and Hard to Imagine is dedicated to them. As the song is ending, Ed steps up and repeats the “let us not fade” line from Setting Sun 3 times. Another block of Dark Matter songs follows, including only the 4th appearance of Jeff’s Won’t Tell. Gimme Some Truth is a huge surprise, it hasn’t been played since 2006 in Zagreb, Croatia, 341 shows! There’s a QR code shown on the screen to pledge to vote before Porch. After the break, Ed talks about a couple from Camp Make-A-Dream that he met around the Avocado record and congratulates them on getting married, and a calligraphy message from Ed is shown on screen. It follows with another one to Jeff’s parents:

And if you are

lucky you’ll

be like

GEORGE & PENNY

AMENT

Married 63 years

WE LOVE YOU, P.J.

He mentions that the last time he was in Montana was to see Paul McCartney, and dedicates “Her Majesty” to Jill. Lukas Nelson joins on stage and helps out on Just Breathe, Ed praising his father Willie’s version. The guests keep coming as opener Glen Hansard comes out for Smile. After Life Wasted, Jeff talks about his family, including his uncle Pat who introduced him to music, and starts to get a little emotional as he talks about his 40-year friendship with Stone. He continues, talking about how he’s known Jon Tester for 50 years, calling him “the real deal” compared to his opponent. After being tagged earlier, Setting Sun appears in full, possibly the first time that a PJ song has been tagged AND played in full at the same show. After Alive, Ed mentions that it’s Layne Staley’s birthday and Mike plays a quick tease of an Alice in Chains song. For the finale, the band (sans Ed) dons white Tester shirts, Jeff plays with a 2-fingered foam hand (Sen. Tester lost 3 fingers in an accident as a child), and Lukas Nelson and Glen Hansard (and his band) return. Jeff gets the biggest cheer at the end as Ed goes around the horn, and then Ed gets a sparkly captain’s hat and wears it as the band lingers on stage for a while before exiting.

May 30, 2024 – Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA, USA

Main Set: Black/(We Belong Together), Immortality, Why Go, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Dark Matter, Jeremy, Come Back, Corduroy, Pilate, In My Tree, Upper Hand, Waiting For Stevie, Love Boat Captain, Porch

encore 1: Hurt, Inside Job, Running, Spin The Black Circle, Something Special, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Setting Sun

Show Notes:

The last show of the first leg of the 2024 tour starts with a powerful opening, as Black opens a show for the first time since Detroit 11/23/1991! Mike’s solo is tremendous, soaring into the stratosphere. Ed has on a…

Show Notes: 

The last show of the first leg of the 2024 tour starts with a powerful opening, as Black opens a show for the first time since Detroit 11/23/1991! Mike’s solo is tremendous, soaring into the stratosphere. Ed has on a guitar, and with the stage still dark, he starts Immortality next. Mike throws his head back for another soulful, intense solo. There’s a short, focused jam at the end with the band turned towards Matt, just riding on the tension. Ed says “Where are we? Oh, Seattle!” and mentions that the show is being broadcast live on SiriusXM radio. After Wreckage, Ed talks about the formative days of the band, saying that when he first met Jeff, he lived in a studio apartment “about 100 steps from the entrance to this building, on Johns Street…when I think about how long it took him to get 100 steps to this stage,” laughing and adding that Jeff’s family is there from Montana. He continues, talking about Mike’s job working at a restaurant across the street, teasing “…is this better than fuckin’ cutting pepperoni or whatever?” Mike responds “…it’s a little better, but [the restaurant] was pretty fun…we had a good time…I like this job better though.” Ed then mentions how Matt worked at Kinko’s, joking that “no wonder he never plays the same thing twice…he hates making copies!” He talks about his own job, working at Long’s Drugs, saying he would have ended up as an assistant manager, getting prescriptions for cost plus 10 percent. He calls Stone a “nepo baby” for working at Gossard Hardware, and says the point is to “be nice to your barista, because someday you might be asking them to get on the guest list…” Small Town has the “…glad I saw this place, thank you all for taking us…” lyric change and Ed compliments the crowd on their singing. After Jeremy, he points out that Ray McCready, Mike’s dad, is in attendance, to which Mike interjects “…hi dad, I’ll be home late tonight,” and Steve Gleason is there as well, Ed says “I see you smilin’!” He mentions that Mike has been playing through some pain, his friend Kenny Down had recently died of cancer, leading into an emotional Come Back. Ed dedicates Pilate “for the Seattle Pilots,” the original Seattle baseball franchise. Jeff shines on In My Tree. Over the intro to Love Boat Captain, Ed asks for the lights up and starts to speak:

“Let me tell you that this right here, this is something that we could never, for a second, take for granted, and we’re so grateful…to look around and see you all, this crowd, our town, our neighborhood, our city…”

He then mentions how it’s funny when he’s driving around and sees someone rocking out in their car to their music and tries to get their attention but they’re too busy, laughing as he adds “…oh well…see you next time.” He changes gears, talking how in this room our commonality is “music…but every day, our commonality is life…a roof over our head, food for our kids, ourselves, the ability to raise and educate a child, the freedom to love any gender, any identity…we are so very much the same in our needs…we are unified tonight in music but every day we are unified with the simple things…” At this point, he starts to get a little more animated, adding:

“…and let me scream this out…we cannot let ourselves be divided. To have the ability and the microphone to communicate, it’s not a gift, it’s a responsibility, and we would like to use it to say damn it, we’re being DIVIDED, and we should not be…we should not be…with all this chaos, we need to come together, amongst all the chaos, it’s insidious, and we should be refused to be used by a desperate politician, any politician, and we should remind ourselves that people have the power, thank you Patti Smith, never have truer words been spoken…if we let ourselves be divided, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, any kind of apathy will be taken advantage of, we will be divided be fear…driven apart…we cannot let that happen…there is no them, there is us…and let’s not get trapped in this game of division, things are pretty fucked up right now…but it’s 2024, man, we are living in the future…we have to demand that our human needs are being looked after, and if you’re someone who is dividing us, we divide from YOU. We can’t not say anything…thanks for letting us say something…but we’re not gonna apologize for being hopeful…I see, I witness, I feel love…let love and unity win the day.”

Love Boat Captain has the lyric change “…20 years ago today…” Still energized by the speech, Ed gives Porch an energetic intro. He comes out solo after the break, saying that “there’s no other guest list bigger than the one we have when we’re in Seattle…San Diego, Chicago…nope. Seattle.” He says that he wishes it were longer, getting emotional as he adds “there are certain names that I so deeply wish were on the guest list tonight, but we lost ’em too early and in ways that we could never imagine, and dammit if I can’t stop thinkin’ about them, but that’s a good thing too.” It’s the first time Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” is played at a Pearl Jam show, Ed on acoustic, similar to the Johnny Cash cover. After the song ends, Ed takes a moment and puts his head down on the guitar, mournful. The band returns for Inside Job, Matt’s wearing a Chris Cornell shirt which is shown on the screen and gets a nice cheer from the crowd. The visualizer for Inside Job is an outer space galaxy, similar to the new songs. Spin the Black Circle is dedicated to Easy Street Records. Afterwards, Josh comes up front and starts Something Special, and Ed interjects “..no, nope!” Josh starts it again, seemingly confused at the delay, and Ed exclaims “No! No! No, no, that’s the right song…” and then jokes “…new guys, you know.” He says “…we might not play in Seattle again for a while, I’m gonna have a drink and enjoy it…” and then says the people who run the arena said they could play anytime they want, joking “Tuesdays at Climate Pledge!” He says the first time he played Something Special for his girls, “I did cry a little bit…they’re both here tonight, but they’re not gonna see my cry on the radio tonight,” and he dedicates it to all the kids of the band members. Mike again throws in a little of War Pigs during the Alive solo, the crowd sounds great as well. Ed says “we’ll bid you adieu with this one on a historic day,” and Deep Sea Diver joins for RITFW, which has the lyric change “…a thousand points of light for democracy…” Ed says “see you in the car next time” and Setting Sun closes out the west coast leg.

May 28, 2024 – Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA, USA

Main Set: Release, Thin Air, Low Light, Given To Fly, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, I Am Mine, Even Flow, Dark Matter, Daughter/(My City Of Ruins), Upper Hand, Waiting For Stevie, Man Of The Hour, Satan's Bed, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Just Breathe, River Cross, Running, Deep, Do The Evolution, Alive, All Along The Watchtower, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing), Setting Sun

Show Notes:

The first hometown show in nearly 6 years opens with Release, the crowd is loud and welcoming. Thin Air is a surprise, the first since 2022. After Low Light, Ed says “it’s about time we played this damn place,” and…

Show Notes: 

The first hometown show in nearly 6 years opens with Release, the crowd is loud and welcoming. Thin Air is a surprise, the first since 2022. After Low Light, Ed says “it’s about time we played this damn place,” and talks about how they were in the building a month ago getting the tour ready, saying they had thought about starting the tour here but decided to end it there “because it’s Seattle.” After Wreckage, he mentions “every street in this town is full of memories…wrote this song there, recorded that song there, broke up that fight there,” adding that he takes his daughters to school and will say “see that little apartment building, that’s where they filmed Singles,” joking that they act interested. He continues, saying “it’s always been a point of pride to be part of the musical community in this city, the artistic community…I hope we represented this town well…it really has been like a dream,” and then changes gears, talking about Trump and wondering when he’s “asleep in the courtroom, is he dreaming of being a rock star?” I Am Mine is one of the highlights of the night, Mike does so much in a short time. During the Even Flow solo, Mike runs over to the other side of the stage, and Jeff goes up to Mike’s pedal board and starts adding effects and hitting pedals with his feet, while still playing the bass line! When Mike runs back to his side after, Jeff gives him a playful shrug, as if to say ‘I did the best I could.’ After Even Flow, Ed mentions a 10-year-old drummer who’s in attendance. Ed goes down front and sings Daughter to a young girl, and the tag features him repeating the line “rise up,” a debut tag of Springsteen’s “My City of Ruins”, which has been done by the band and Ed, but not as a tag. Waiting for Stevie continues to be the breakout new song that we thought it would be, Ed prefacing it with “this is about a young woman who finds her calling.” He sits down and talks about Bill Walton, who recently passed, and a picture of him at a PJ show is shown on the screen. Ed calls him a “big man with a huge heart, a wide path of peace and love behind him,” and they dedicate Man of the Hour to him. Following that, Ed says he’s “nervous to play the next one…what would you call that, Satanic Panic?” and they break into Satan’s Bed. Jeff drives a propulsive RVM to close the main set. Ed dedicates Just Breathe to “our wives who used to be our girlfriends…who became moms,” then he jokes “now that we’re older…we’re excited they’ll be our girlfriends again.” The spotlight moves over to the pump organ, where Ed starts River Cross and the band gradually joins in and it gets heavy at the end. Ed dons a Kraken jersey during Alive and goes down to pour wine for the front row, and Mike adds the “War Pigs” tease. Deep Sea Diver comes on stage for Watchtower, Ed says “whoever knows how it goes…starts the song!” Stone points at Jessica from DSD, and she starts it, played at a slower tempo. Jeff’s sitting on the drum riser for Ledbetter, and as Mike is coming out of the first lead, he transitions into Little Wing, and the whole band follows, with Mike going back into the Ledbetter outro at the end. Ed says “you’re gonna make us want to make this a more usual occurrence…not just Thursday, but again and again and again…”

May 25, 2024 – Bottlerock Festival, Napa, CA, USA

Main Set: Lukin, Corduroy, Why Go, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Given To Fly, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2), Dark Matter, Even Flow, Wishlist, Waiting For Stevie, Black/(We Belong Together), Running, Porch

encore 1: Last Kiss, Maybe It's Time, Crazy Mary, Do The Evolution, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

Show Notes:

The band comes out under daylight, and with a quick survey of the crowd, Ed starts Lukin, which opens a Pearl Jam show for the first time ever! After the Corduroy call and response, Ed adds “…it’s a beautiful day,”…

Show Notes: 

The band comes out under daylight, and with a quick survey of the crowd, Ed starts Lukin, which opens a Pearl Jam show for the first time ever! After the Corduroy call and response, Ed adds “…it’s a beautiful day,” and the rest of the band gathers around Matt while Mike scorches a solo. After Why Go, Ed says “…why go home, we’re in Napa,” then asks if anyone actually lives here, adding “…lucky fuckin’ bastards.” He mentions the recording of Vs. took place close by “many moons ago,” and says that they’ve never played the next song “as close to where it was written and recorded…until tonight,” leading into Small Town. They don’t have the full screen for this festival show, but the visuals are still shown for the Dark Matter songs. Ed takes a swig from a wine bottle after Scared of Fear and says “…oh Jesus….that’s really good…why haven’t we played here before?” Stone rocks out during React, Respond. Ed sees someone in the crowd with a crutch, saying “there’s always one,” and then another person holds theirs up, to which Ed asks “…you were in the accident together, I see…do you guys know each other? No…you’re crutch buddies!” Ed sees a sign in the crowd, someone was at the Limelight show 4/12/92, Ed jokes “…was that the night we played? We were there too!” Then his memory seems to be jogged and he exclaims “Oh my god, I remember now! How are ya? You look great! That was a long time ago…what’s that? You got work done?” He adds that he doesn’t remember if they played the next one that night, “…but we may have…” leading into Daughter. Lyric change to “the sun goes down…” as Daughter transitions into the tag. Before Even Flow, Ed introduces Mike and Matt, saying that Mike responds to energy, “but don’t we all…see what you can make him do on this next one.” Ed adds some lines to Wishlist after looking out and seeing the sunset:

I wish I lived in wine country

And all my friends would wanna visit me

and drink wine starting at noon o’clock

sounds a lot like Bottlerock

play like I’m sober but I’m not

actually I am…but maybe not…

He adds “I won’t be…” to the end. He talks about the meaning of Waiting for Stevie, saying it’s about a young woman “who maybe hasn’t found her tribe yet, and finds herself in a crowd much like this one, exactly like this one…and feels community with the people around her.” He jokes that what we’re really waiting for is the chance to vote for Steph Curry for President. The Black solo is again a thing of raw, impassioned beauty. Ed improvs “search the sky…search the sky” at the end of the We Belong Together tag. Ed comes out and talks about Maricor, his friend from the Bridge School shows, saying “she’s in my heart every day…we don’t get to talk that often, but I’m playing this one for her.” He plays Last Kiss solo electric, a light fun version, and adds “love you Maricor!” at the end. Afterwards, he talks about A Star Is Born, calling it “absolutely beautiful…very powerful and very moving,” and Bradley Cooper joins on stage for Maybe It’s Time. Prior to Crazy Mary, Ed introduces Boom, “bringer of mana everywhere he goes…we’ve played this a few times before, but never has this song been more appropriate…it’s called Maria Loco.” The band is all over the place during Alive, Mike goes over to the right side and Jeff and Stone are way over on the left side in front of the video screen. Mike adds the War Pigs riff into the end. They waste no time getting into Rockin’ with the curfew looming, and Bradley Cooper comes back out to play tambourine and sing backups. Ed takes a drumstick and hits his tambourine with it, then breaks it and it rides up his arm. His hat does come off temporarily as he attempts to wear the broken tambourine. Ed leaves with “…have a great day tomorrow, say hi to the Queens of the Stone age for us, toast to My Morning Jacket, love us some Stevie Nicks too…I’m gonna come next year just to watch…”

May 22, 2024 – KIA Forum, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Main Set: Long Road, Nothingman, Present Tense, Go, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Untitled, MFC, All Those Yesterdays, Even Flow, Dark Matter, Corduroy, Won't Tell, Black/(The Waiting), Waiting For Stevie, Comatose, Porch

encore 1: I Won't Back Down, Dance Of The Clairvoyants, Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Alive, Smile, Rockin' In The Free World, Setting Sun

Show Notes:

Midway through Long Road, Ed starts to talk as the band continues to play, getting more emotional as he goes on: “Um, my….[takes a deep breath]…I was going to tell you about my…sorry. There’s a guy in my life called…

Show Notes: 

Midway through Long Road, Ed starts to talk as the band continues to play, getting more emotional as he goes on:

“Um, my….[takes a deep breath]…I was going to tell you about my…sorry. There’s a guy in my life called Uncle John…John Vedder…he took me to some of my first concerts, he taught me how to play baseball, he took me to early Cubs games. He…he kinda shaped me from an early age and, um, it’s been ten years since he passed away…today. So, um, and it’s been a long ten years, because the days got longer, because I appreciated every day. I appreciated every day and I wanted to live every day in his name. And, the days got longer, and then, because I missed him, the days got longer. So anyways, before I felt, um, I just had to get it out of my system before we played tonight. So, with your help…”

He continues the song, a powerful version, Matt pounding out an almost funereal march beat. The crowd steps up on Nothingman, with the lights up. Jeff is prominent on Present Tense, lots of fluid bass runs. Afterwards, Ed talks about the previous night, saying “it was quite a crowd, but you think you can beat it? Convince me!” Go is played with a noticeably slower tempo, and with the silhouettes on the screen. Before Wreckage, Ed says “this love song…it’s got a happy ending. If it was another 30 seconds long you’d hear it…” and dedicates it to “Benmont [Tench, of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers] and Alice” and their daughter. The line in Untitled is changed to “…34 minutes or so” (Ed’s wearing a #34 Walter Payton jersey). All Those Yesterdays is a superb version, led by Stone. Afterwards, Ed asks Mike “Whatcha got tonight?” and they tear into Even Flow. Following, Ed says “Can we talk drummers for a second?” He mentions that Chad Smith and Jack Irons are in attendance, and that he saw a picture of Taylor Hawkins backstage. Prior to Won’t Tell, he asks Jeff “Who’s #33? Kareem? Sweet Lew?” Mike is inspired during Black, almost knocking over his amps during the solo, a roadie has to come stabilize them. Ed sings a little of Petty’s “The Waiting” during the outro. There’s no projector action during the encore break tonight, Ed comes out and talks about taking requests, adding that “I feel like I’m a waitress at Denny’s and I need to check your ID before you get your free meal.” He sees a sign that it’s Rich’s 250th show, joking “I feel like I’ve only been to 250…” There’s another sign for someone named Jasmine who’s turning 40, adding “I hope all your dreams come true…except if you want Trump to be President,” and then says that since she’s been to so many shows he doesn’t have to worry about that. He continues, telling the story of picking his guitars for the tour and how Petty’s guitar stood out, leading into I Won’t Back Down. He asks for the last chorus one more time and the crowd obliges. Stone shines on Do the Evolution. After Alive, Ed says his mom is in the crowd tonight. Andrew Watt again joins for Rockin’, along with Chad Smith and the members of Deep Sea Diver. Ed prefaces Setting Sun with “…we wouldn’t be here without you…”

 

May 21, 2024 – KIA Forum, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Main Set: Oceans, Come Back, Off He Goes, Why Go, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Got Some, Dark Matter, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2), In My Tree, Waiting For Stevie, Even Flow, Upper Hand, Save You, Faithfull, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Just Breathe, Running, State Of Love And Trust, Something Special, Leash, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Setting Sun

Show Notes:

Three more tour debuts to start, Oceans being no surprise to anyone. Ed starts a call and response after Off He Goes with the lights up, saying after “…well goddamn it’s the Forum…lookin’ fabulous tonight for sure.” Mike owns Why…

Show Notes: 

Three more tour debuts to start, Oceans being no surprise to anyone. Ed starts a call and response after Off He Goes with the lights up, saying after “…well goddamn it’s the Forum…lookin’ fabulous tonight for sure.” Mike owns Why Go, another good crowd tonight too. The Dark Matter first 3 are back tonight, after Wreckage Ed talks about being at a Lakers game as a kid and meeting some people, one of which is at the show tonight. Got Some is the first Backspacer song of the tour, lively and energetic. During the Daughter tag, Ed throws in “politicians leave women’s bodies alone…religions leave women’s bodies alone!” The Pink Floyd tag is no coincidence, as following the song Ed talks about trying to see them in LA in February 1981, telling a story about getting the money to his friend for the tickets, and then his friend forgetting the tickets at home but using Ed’s money to scalp a ticket and get inside to see the show while Ed had to sit in the parking lot. He jokes at the end, “Did I get him tickets for tonight? Forgot ’em at home…” He adds the line “…when I was 15…thought I knew everything” to In My Tree, aided considerably by Josh pounding away on extra drums at the end. Waiting for Stevie has a little different feel tonight, the ending is a little darker. After Even Flow, Ed talks about seeing a sign up front, someone has their 83-year-old father in the GA pit tonight. Ed asks them if he can do anything and they joke “a better place to see the show…” Ed dedicates Faithfull to the friends of Michele Castrellon, who had recently passed after the Vancouver shows, and her picture is shown on the screens. He adds the lyric “…Michele what are we to do?” Andrew Watt joins on stage, playing Ed’s part during RVM. After being used during Porch so far, the rear view mirror visual on the screens finally comes together. Another quick projector message tonight, Ed draws the Kansas City Chiefs logo and then simply writes:

Go Chiefs

He adds a smiley face, no doubt a reference to his comments about Harrison Butker the other night. He comes back out solo, praises the “phenomenal” crowd, and for the first time this tour it’s not a cover, it’s a PJ song, Just Breathe. He then talks about the crew, bringing out “Tommy LBC,” who’s wearing what looks to be a Golden State basketball jersey. Tommy says he lost a bet with Jeff, the Lakers won and that’s why he’s wearing it. Ed jokes that Jeff’s punishment would have been to wear a Lakers jersey in LA, saying “let me handle your bets from now on.” State of Love and Trust finally makes its tour debut and gets the crowd going. Ed sees another sign held by a girl, saying “5th show: 4 were in the womb,” referring to the Spectrum 2009 shows. He talks about how his daughter Olivia and his wife are both there, and makes another dig at Harrison Butker, saying:

“In the future, there will be a woman in the NFL…and she’ll be the kicker…”

After Something Special, he says this is another one about “not being under anyone’s control,” and they tear into Leash. Ed goes down side stage at the end, the 83-year-old from earlier is there watching, and they talk for a moment. Mike goes down front for Alive, and Baba O’Riley is a big singalong before Setting Sun closes out the show once more. 10 more tour debuts tonight, with Vs. finally breaking through, but no Vitalogy.

May 18, 2024 – MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Main Set: Of The Girl, Low Light, Garden, Mind Your Manners, Given To Fly, React, Respond, Running, Dark Matter, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Wreckage, Severed Hand, Won't Tell, Even Flow, Better Man, Out Of My Mind, Spin The Black Circle, Porch

encore 1: I Won't Back Down, You Are, Do The Evolution, Once, Something Special, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter, Setting Sun

Show Notes:

The unique opener streak continues with Of the Girl tonight, Ed is in a great mood and dancing all around. He holds the last note of Low Light beyond the song’s ending, and then afterwards talks about he had some…

Show Notes: 

The unique opener streak continues with Of the Girl tonight, Ed is in a great mood and dancing all around. He holds the last note of Low Light beyond the song’s ending, and then afterwards talks about he had some vocal issues after the last show and had to get some drugs for it, adding “I’m gonna sing my ass off…I’m gonna have some fuckin’ fun too…” praising the Thursday night crowd and asking for help tonight. Garden is heavy, the crowd takes the last chorus, Ed is out on his platform conducting. After Mind Your Manners, he says “spotlight on Mr. McCready please…” and the silhouettes are out for the 5th song tonight, Given to Fly. The Dark Matter songs are mixed up tonight, breaking out of the formula we saw at the first few shows. Running has a fast and furious ending, Ed yelling “fuck off!” at the end. Before Dark Matter, he says if you called Matt Cameron “one of the greatest drummers on the planet, he’d still be underrated.” Following, he goes through a list of birthday acknowledgements, including a woman named Christina, who, along with her husband Pedro, are given an upgrade in seats from Ed. Wreckage has a false start but they quickly get back into it. Before Severed Hand, Ed says “here’s one we don’t play often,” and talks about the EDM festival that’s in town for the weekend, joking that there’s “more DJ’s that homeless people in Seattle” and that people out on the streets are “high as fuck,” quoting the late comedian Bill Hicks, “…not all drugs are good…some are great.” Mike rips the Severed Hand solo, one of the best of the night. Ed takes a piece of paper from a fan up front with a request for Gone, saying “we absolutely have to practice that.” Won’t Tell returns for just the 2nd time. Mike starts the Even Flow solo with his teeth, another showstopping performance. Ed then tells the story from 1993 when they had “Terry” Presley on stage to sing “My Way,” and Ed saw something coming toward the stage and grabbed it, it turned out to be an AA battery, he says “…someone was trying to kill Terry Presley!” He continues, asking “Who’s winning? Who’s losing?” and then remembers the woman from night 1 who he had given the $500 to, asking how it turned out. She hands over a thick envelope with a note on it, saying that she had lost the money but her and her friends had decided to go all in for EB, they have sheets of paper with the EB research logo on it, and Ed pulls out a significant amount of money. He says “…that I did not expect…now you’re choking me up” after reading the note. Out Of My Mind is played for only the 6th time. Spin the Black Circle has some vertical bar visuals, showing the band playing. The Porch jam is hypnotic and focused, another Mike highlight. Just a quick projector note from Ed tonight, including a U2 reference:

You up for a few more?

Uno mas?

dos, tres, catorce?

He comes out with a guitar, but then asks for the gold guitar, which is brought out, and he thanks Deep Sea Diver and talks about women playing music, referencing the Harrison Butker story from this week, and starts Throw Your Arms Around Me, but stops after a few seconds, taking the gold guitar off and asking for the red guitar, Tom Petty’s guitar, and plays I Won’t Back Down instead. You Are is played for the first time since 2018, with blue spotlights and psychedelic purple and green visuals. After Once, Ed says his daughter Harper is in attendance and finds her up front, and Josh comes up to the front of the stage again for Something Special. Mike has a shiny gold jacket for the encore, and Ed has his on as well for Alive. Jeff pretends to throw dice during the band intros, and they end the same way they did night 1, with Yellow Ledbetter into Setting Sun.

 

May 16, 2024 – MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Main Set: Sometimes, Hard To Imagine, Black, Hail, Hail, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2), Dark Matter, Wishlist, Breakerfall, Even Flow, Upper Hand, Waiting For Stevie, Tremor Christ, Lukin, Porch

encore 1: Maybe It's Time, Inside Job, Do The Evolution, (Bad)/Corduroy, Breath, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter, Setting Sun

Show Notes:

Ed ramps up the intensity on the build in Sometimes, adding “…wouldn’t that be amazing if you were here, god…” before the outro. The crowd is fantastic, singing along early. Hard to Imagine is a surprise early, Jeff, Stone, and…

Show Notes: 

Ed ramps up the intensity on the build in Sometimes, adding “…wouldn’t that be amazing if you were here, god…” before the outro. The crowd is fantastic, singing along early. Hard to Imagine is a surprise early, Jeff, Stone, and Mike getting into the slow groove. Ed puts on a guitar halfway through, making it a 4-guitar assault with Josh also helping out in the back. Mike falls to his knees during a powerful, emotive Black solo, all Ed can do it just point over at him as it winds down. Ed then asks for the lights to come up, and toasts “everybody who came from somewhere else to join us in the desert,” pointing out that this is the smallest venue of the tour leg. Hail, Hail is the first non-Yield song to be in the 4th spot, two No Code this early is great to see. Daughter breaks up the Dark Matter 1st 4 set that had been played at every previous show on the tour. Ed thanks Andrew Watt afterwards, and says the next one is “for all the dreamers…” and Wishlist follows. He adds some lines at the end:

“I’m only betting on what’s important to me

my one true love and my family

I don’t need Vegas to feel lucky…”

He then adds in a quick line about losing $500 at blackjack, and then talks about how tonight’s setlist wasn’t written before the show or this afternoon, but at 4 am a few nights ago. Breakerfall follows, the only acknowledgement of Binaural‘s anniversary on the show date. Before the Even Flow solo, Ed exclaims “…alright, rip it up!” Upper Hand is another standout Dark Matter track so far on this run. Afterwards, Ed says the next song is about Stevie Wonder, then adds “…no, it’s about Stevie Nicks….no, it’s about Steve Gleason…or Stevie Ray Vaughan…it’s about the power of music,” leading into Waiting for Stevie, which is becoming a staple after being the last Dark Matter song to debut. After Tremor Christ, Ed says he “wants to experiment real quick” and pulls out $500 and gives it to a woman in the front row after making sure she’ll be attending the next show. He asks her to try and double it at the casinos by Saturday, “if you lose it, that’s the experiment, and if you win, we split it…” and then jokes that he took it from Stone anyway. Tonight’s projector message is:

Well Thank You Las Vegas!!!

Louder??

After the break, Ed tells a story about playing a solo show at the Pearl, a benefit for EB, and a woman came up with a wad of cash and asked him to play Black. He explained that he doesn’t do that, it’s a Stone song, but then more and more people came up with money, about $3000, and he said “I gotta fuckin’ do it.” The solo cover tonight is the Pearl Jam debut of “Maybe It’s Time,” the Jason Isbell-penned song from A Star is Born. Ed changes the lyric to “I’ve seen hell in Vegas” (instead of Reno). More tour debuts as Inside Job follows. Stone and Mike trade sides of the stage during Evolution. Ed plays a little of U2’s “Bad” as an intro to Corduroy, which has a long, great call and response, the crowd was in great form all night. Breath gets a huge reaction as always. Andrew Watt comes on stage for Alive, taking over the solo and going around to each band member. Ed says “sometimes it doesn’t even feel real…very, very grateful and we love you,” and once again, Ledbetter feels like it’s closing the show but then the lights go out and Setting Sun continues its run at the end. Best show of the tour so far.

 

May 13, 2024 – Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA, USA

Main Set: Pendulum, I'm Open, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Faithfull, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Dark Matter, Garden, Lukin, Corduroy, Dance Of The Clairvoyants, Even Flow, Upper Hand, Waiting For Stevie, Running, Light Years, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

encore 1: Picture In A Frame, Jeremy, Black, Do The Evolution, Alive, Porch, Setting Sun

Show Notes:

I’m Open is an early surprise as the band finally returns to Sacramento after the cancelled 2022 date. After Small Town, Ed acknowledges their absence, “…in 30-plus years, we’ve only said these next three words like three times…good evening Sacramento!”…

Show Notes: 

I’m Open is an early surprise as the band finally returns to Sacramento after the cancelled 2022 date. After Small Town, Ed acknowledges their absence, “…in 30-plus years, we’ve only said these next three words like three times…good evening Sacramento!” Faithfull is either downtuned or out of tune, sounding nothing like we’re used to, but they push through it. Ed is very animated during React/Respond, he has a small platform that extends off the front of the stage closer to the crowd. Matt really shines on the Dark Matter songs, especially the title track. Garden has a blue/green visualizer, and Ed takes someone’s phone and sings into it at the end of the song. Afterwards, he notes that it’s been 33 years, “33 1/3 actually,” he adds, since they played Sacramento for the first time, and talks about how the club they played at, the Cattle Club, is still there. He mentions their name was Mookie Blaylock at the time, and that they were opening up for Alice in Chains, at which point Mike starts playing the “It Ain’t Like That” riff, and the band picks up on it for a few seconds, teasing like they’re going to play it, causing the crowd to erupt, and Ed even sings a little “Man in the Box,” changing the lyric to “I’m the man wearing Crocs.” He continues, talking about how Steve Buscemi was recently assaulted in New York. The stage and screen are all pink and purple and green for Dance of the Clairvoyants, and then red for Even Flow, Mike thrashing around his area during the solo as the color changes to yellow. Before Waiting for Stevie, Ed mentions that it’s Stevie Wonder’s birthday and gets the crowd to sing Happy Birthday to him. Just like the first performance, this second one is highlighted by Mike. Ed says that the next one “came to Jeff in a dream…we were being chased,” leading into Running. He says they received an “important dedication” recently, that we lost someone about a month ago, Tom Pugh, the founder of Given to Live, who had passed away unexpectedly. Ed praises his “powerful energy” and mentions they would like to keep the organization going in Tom’s name, adding “Tom, we love you, miss you already,” as he starts Light Years, but can’t get the rhythm right. He stops and says “emotional…” and then they start the song again. Tonight’s projector message:

How you doing Sacto?

Any song requests?

Oh shoot…one at a time?

I dunno just text me 1 206 337 816…oh fuck I forgot

How about this request? More laws regarding access

to guns and gun safety and less laws

regarding women’s bodies

He comes out again solo after the break, mentioning that Josh had said this was one of their favorite arenas to play, it feels small. He talks about a woman named Margaret, who was his daughter’s nanny, showing a picture of her and one of his daughters on screen, and how she left the Vedder family and had moved to Sacramento, she’s in the audience with her fiancé, and they’re shown dancing during Picture in a Frame. Speaking of Josh, he’s up in the crowd filming this performance. It’s a Ten-fest in the encore, starting with Jeremy. Ed’s over on Mike’s side of the stage watching the solo, which is spectacular as usual. Ed mentions Stone and Jeff’s 40-year musical partnership, and they share a hug before Evolution. Mike teases a KISS song at the end of Alive. Ed talks about all the friends they have at the show, including his uncle Freddie Vedder, and asks “would you like to hear one more song?” After the crowd responds in the affirmative, he adds “…love to Uncle Freddie” and starts Porch. He goes way out behind the GA section during the jam and shakes hands before making his way back for the end. Goodbyes are said but it’s the fake-out again and the lights go out for Setting Sun, which keeps getting better and better. Dark Matter and Ten dominate the setlist, with 14 of the 25 songs played.

May 10, 2024 – Moda Center, Portland, OR, USA

Main Set: Release, Nothing As It Seems, Present Tense, Given To Fly, Scared Of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Dark Matter, Daughter/(W.M.A.), Not For You/(Modern Girl), Even Flow, Seven O'Clock, Upper Hand, Waiting For Stevie, Running, Last Exit, Porch

encore 1: I Won't Back Down, Mind Your Manners, Do The Evolution, Crazy Mary, Once, Alive, Footsteps, Setting Sun

Show Notes:

After opening sets by Matt’s Wipers tribute band Is This Real? and Deep Sea Diver, the familiar strains of Release open the show. Ed sings “…dear Chris…” for his brother. Nothing As It Seems gives Mike a chance to go…

Show Notes: 

After opening sets by Matt’s Wipers tribute band Is This Real? and Deep Sea Diver, the familiar strains of Release open the show. Ed sings “…dear Chris…” for his brother. Nothing As It Seems gives Mike a chance to go off early. Jeff is stellar during the Present Tense jam, quick fluid bass runs all over the place. Ed says “Good evening…don’t worry about a curfew, we’re not really paying attention to that tonight,” which elicits applause from the crowd, and then praises Is This Real?, saying he was worried Matt might be tired, but it seems to have energized him, so “look out Portland, here we come!” The silhouettes are up again for the 4th song, and just like the tour opener it’s Given to Fly. Ed goes high on the first verse and changes the line to “made it to P-town,” letting the crowd take the “…fuckers!” line. The Dark Matter opening mini-set follows, looks like this will be a mainstay of the tour. After React/Respond, Ed talks about Gerry Lopez, a surfer who moved to Oregon from Hawaii, known for his Lightning Bolt brand of surfboards. He says they named Lightning Bolt after him, and that about 6 months ago they played him the new record and the next one was his favorite, leading into Wreckage. Following Dark Matter, Ed jokes that there’s “no slouching up on stage” because all their wives are there and they’re trying to impress them. He gives special recognition to Mike and his wife Ashley, who just celebrated their 19th anniversary, and teases that “she went home after the last solo.” The W.M.A. tag is funky, Ed adding some angular guitar and Jeff transitioning into the actual W.M.A. bass line at the end. Stone has a fantastic solo on Not For You and the Modern Girl tag returns, perhaps due to Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney’s role in Portlandia (the setlist also has “Portlandia” at the top”). Before Even Flow, Ed mentions the Satyricon, a small club they played back in the early days and talks about the inspiration for the song, and Mike takes another opportunity to put on a clinic. Seven O’Clock is a request, dedicated to Connie Kellar. Waiting For Stevie makes its much-anticipated debut, Ed goes down to a small platform down by the rail to sing the second verse and Mike absolutely crushes the solo, taking it into the stratosphere. After Last Exit, Ed is strumming chords on his guitar and talks about grief, mentioning that 2 days ago was the 9-year anniversary of his brother Chris’s accidental passing while climbing in Africa, almost breaking down in tears talking about it. He adds that he’s given a lot of advice to other people about grief, but “all that advice…I could not hear it myself.” A somber moment. During the break, Ed gets on the overhead projector once again:

Keep Portland WEIRD-ER

than Seattle

ANY SONG REQUESTS?

LOUDER, CAN’T HEAR

WAIT, ONE AT A TIME

We love Sleater-Kinney

We love Quasi

We love Mudhoney

We love Steve Albini [who had passed just days prior]

How about this for a request…?

more reasonable laws about gun access & safety…

AND LESS laws about a woman’s body!!!

C’mon!!

Ed comes back out and has Tom Petty’s guitar again, telling a story of how Tom traded it to him, and I Won’t Back Down is dedicated to Dr. David Gunn. Do the Evolution has the alternate video again tonight, just like Vancouver night 1, and Ed adds “…same old shit…” after the “admire my clone” line. Crazy Mary is less folksy and more anthemic tonight, the band adding some arena rock accents to it, Mike has his guitar pointed up at the sky. A reworked Mamasan trilogy follows, Once then Alive into Footsteps, only the third time it’s been done in this order and the first since Pittsburgh 2003 (The first was Reno 1993). Ed intros the band and says goodbye, but then the lights go out and Setting Sun again closes the show.

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