Pearl Jam Canada Concert History

Fresh off of an incredible show the night before where Uncle Neil came out for a 11 minute version of RITFW, the band came out, and with no words spoken, launched straight into Go followed by Animal. At this point, it would be reasonable for most of the crowd to be thinking they were about to get Vs. in full, but then Eddie introduces the next song as a new one before playing Ole. After Hail, Hail, Ed addresses the crowd:

“Good evening, it’s our last night here in Toronto, Ontario. The first time we ever played here was October 29, 1991. That night we played seven songs. Tonight we’re gonna play at least eight, maybe nine, maybe sixty, or somewhere in between. But either way, we’re going to pace ourselves. Thanks again for filling up the room like you did, we don’t take it for granted.”

Continuing with No Code, the next song is In My Tree followed by Sad and a great version of Dissident that showcases the guitar interplay between Mike and Stone. Ed talks about the Toronto International Film Festival where the PJ20 documentary was shown along with films about U2 and Neil Young. He recalls that the first time he attended was when he provided the soundtrack to Into The Wild, leading into a performance of Setting Forth. Before God’s Dice, Ed mentions that Jeff wrote it while high on something. It’s a particularly special version of this song because of the confusion that takes place after the second verse where Eddie expects to go into the chorus when the rest of the band is going into the bridge. It results in a low key jam that allows them to get on the same page and resume. They admit they fucked it up and joke that it was only their third or fourth mistake in twenty years. Ed suggests they may fuck up Deep as well since they don’t play it often. There is some great interplay between Stone and Mike throughout the song, particularly on the intro. Another mix up happens in Garden before the first chorus, once again leading to an extended jam. Wishlist is dedicated to a local fellow, Toronto Maple Leafs legend and recently inducted Hockey Hall Of Famer Doug Gilmour. Ed changes up some lyrics during the tag:

“I wish I was the President. Make friends with the world again. Find out what diplomacy is for. Keep our country out of needless war. Love thy neighbors and those I don’t understand. Love thy neighbors as much as I can. Run the country like a rock ‘n’ roll band. Love my country like a rock ‘n’ roll band”

After Mike destroys an Even Flow solo, Ed says they are gonna play one that he wrote because his dad is in the audience, and he thanks his dad for Mike changing their lives as a friend and bandmate before digging into Present Tense. Ed does a kooky looking dance with his hands before Rats, and in the time since, it has been turned into a popular internet meme and GIF. After State Of Love and Trust, Ed addresses the recent news about the West Memphis Three being exonerated and released from prison:

“They were in for 18 years, a lot of people didn’t hear about it for a couple of years but some of us were on it for about 15 years. It was an incredibly long 15 years but a lot of people didn’t lose faith and they had a lot of supporters, up here across the border and it actually made a difference. And 26 days ago when I was so grateful to have been able to be there and be part of the experience because it was one of the best experiences of my life, about 26 days ago they were freed. But again, all of the support from Canada and this part of Canada. It was good news and even great news, so there’s faith.”

The Fixer and Porch finish out the main set with the extended jam on the latter featuring Boom in a prominent role. At the start of the encore, Ed says they’d like to flip to the back because it reminds them of a club show, and they play Last Kiss. Ed talks about Neil Young before I Got Id and claims there is a connection between NYC and Toronto… NYC meaning Neil Young Country. As Neil surprised the audience the night prior on Rockin’ In The Free World, Ed says he wasn’t able to make it tonight, but the band tags Cinnamon Girl onto the end of I Got Id. Light Years is played for all of the people they had been thinking about who lost people in significant ways, and Jeremy is immediately transitioned to at the song’s end. Why Go finishes out the first encore.

Do The Evolution is played after the break where Ed jokes about the ‘2010 watch it go to fire’ line being just last year. Instead of saying goodbye after Alive, it is time for Mark Arm and Steve Turner from Mudhoney to join for a rendition of MC5’s Kick Out The Jams. Before they head off, Ed thanks Toronto and says we’ll remember this one.

Long Road is perfectly placed as the opener on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and you can feel the energy just exploding in the room. An intense Do The Evolution makes a rare appearance in the 2nd slot, followed by Once kicking the show into high gear. After Got Some, Eddie addresses the crowd saying the band was surprised to learn they hadn’t played Toronto in five years. The ending lyrics of Faithfull are changed to “What’s a man to do?”. Eddie precedes an ethereal Nothing As It Seems by telling the crowd, “Not to give away the plot, but Mike McCready does some crazy shit on this next one.” Small Town is a full crowd sing along which Eddie acknowledges by telling the crowd “That’s good singing Toronto!”. Eddie talks about how they had been working with Cameron Crowe, who is in attendance, for the upcoming PJ20 release. He says it’s kind of like looking back at Side A of their career and that he can’t help wondering what the last song on side B will look like. He then acknowledges that if you go back to the first record Neil Young was on, they would be calling it NY51 and that “he’s been making records for 51 years and he still seems younger than us.” Not For You features a great solo by Stone and a Modern Girl tag. The heart of the main set features a beautiful string of slower songs such as Just Breathe, Of He Goes and Daughter with a full It’s OK tag. The main set ends with a very interesting string of songs without much banter from Ed – Grievance, Down, Unthought Known, The Fixer and ends with Porch, which features dueling solos between Mike and Stone and a call and response singalong heading back into the final chorus.

Eddie addresses the crowd before the first encore by comparing Toronto to Seattle and that both cities “have large concrete erections” and notes that “yours is bigger, but in our defense ours has kind of a nice shape.” He then notes that all of the bands’ wives and girlfriends are in attendance and thanks them all. The first encore starts with the Man Trilogy. Nothingman, with great crowd participation, starts by Ed telling the crowd “If you got a good woman, don’t fuck it up!” A rocking Better Man features some great pyrotechnics by Mike and a lengthy Save It For Later tag. Black is gorgeous with Mike wailing and Matt hammering away during the jam, and the outro is simply beautiful. A nicely jammed out Rearviewmirror ends the first encore.

The final encore begins with the combo of Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns, showcasing Stone and Jeff locking in the groove perfectly and Mike taking the solos to new heights. This would mark the first instance that Chloe Dancer was played at a show in full. The whole band absolutely crushes Alive, but that’s almost nothing compared to what comes next. The band launches into Rockin’ In The Free World and is joined right before the final verse by Mr. Neil Young himself, unannounced, for an over-the-top ending jam. Rumor has it that only Mike knew this was going down, and the band appears visibly surprised and overwhelmed when Neil takes the stage. Mike hands over his guitar to Neil, and as the band begins to jam, it’s Eddie to the rescue as he flags down one of the roadies to get Mike a guitar so he can join in. They proceed to duel back and forth for what seems like an eternity, and RITFW finally comes to an end after 11+ minutes. It’s a fantastic ending to an absolute piledriver of a show!