Pearl Jam US Concert History

List of Pearl Jam Concerts in US

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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.

September 19, 2023 – Moody Center, Austin, TX, USA

Main Set: Wash, Sometimes, Low Light, Black/(We Belong Together), Retrograde, Once, Never Destination, Why Go, 1/2 Full, Daughter/(Poor Girl), Unemployable, Dance Of The Clairvoyants, Habit, Who You Are, Glorified G, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Imagine, Last Kiss, Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns, State Of Love And Trust, Jeremy, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter/(Couldn’t Stand The Weather)/(Scuttle Buttin)

Show Notes:

For the first time on this run, Ed comes out before Inhaler and plays Throw Your Arms Around Me, thanking everyone for coming early, adding “since summer’s ending, although you may have summer weather all year long…here’s one more for…

Show Notes: 

For the first time on this run, Ed comes out before Inhaler and plays Throw Your Arms Around Me, thanking everyone for coming early, adding “since summer’s ending, although you may have summer weather all year long…here’s one more for the sky.” He changes the lyric to “…the blue Texas sky…” Wash is the 8th different opener in the 8 shows this tour. On Sometimes, Ed changes the lyric to “…you got big hands…like a Texan” and “…put you on the list, dear god…” He holds the last note of Low Light until the song ends. Another incredible Black performance, the 600th, with Mike somehow still staying seated and Boom sounding fantastic at the end. Ed points out that this is the last night of the Gigaton tour, because:

“…we’ve made a record for next year, and I don’t want to give anything away, but what I can tell you is if you like the musicians in the group…it just came out really good, you’re going to hear them playing at the highest level, so we’re excited about that and to see the end of summer with you all…”

He conducts the band on the powerful ending to Retrograde, Matt and Josh bringing the thunder and Mike bringing the lightning. Ed hangs on the mic stand and conducts with it again during Once. Never Destination makes its tour debut, another showcase for Mike. Prior to 1/2 Full, Ed says “this song is about saving the world, might as well start in Texas…” The Daughter tag is “Poor Girl” by X. He introduces the first Unemployable since Pittsburgh 2013:

“…we’re gonna do a song we don’t play a lot. it’s a song about religion, greed, dedication to a job…when it doesn’t work for you, the bottom line is you still get the shaft…”

Before Habit, Ed and the band practice it briefly in order not to screw it up. Who You Are returns for the first time since Philly 2016. Double shot of Vs. closes the main set with Glorified G and RVM. The 10-song encore (!) starts with Ed asking for the fireflies for Imagine, adding a quick “…thank you, John,” afterwards. Ed does the “…hold me closer, Chloe dancer…” tease before Boom starts the Chloe intro on piano. Ed dedicates it to Mike’s wife Ashley. After Jeremy, he asks for a woman named Monica in the crowd, saying that in Dallas he had reached into the crowd and she gave him a book:

“…I didn’t know what was going to be in it, sometimes, you know, it’s a little scary to open up a homemade book…I’m glad I took the challenge, it’s just filled with incredible stories and beautiful stories…of her hearing the band in ’96 when she was 15, and the journey begins. And she’s from Poland, she waited for us to come there, she was young, she couldn’t just be traveling around by herself, meeting friends which became family, which is these people here [points to them in the crowd], and it really illustrates the power, the pictures of all of you together, waiting in line three days before the damn show…we really care about the people that come and travel and it makes us work harder and we really try to make everyone happy, it blows our minds and the best part is you all get along and have an experience and the music is just an excuse to be out in the world and traveling…we appreciate the support, we love you, we’ll miss you until next time. Monica, it’s a beautiful book, by the end she’s had two incredible kids…a great job, a really great life, and it started with just a fifteen-year-old who happened to hear a couple of songs…”

As he starts Better Man, he adds “oh, and the art’s good too…” John Doe of X (who lives in the area) and Inhaler join for Rockin’ in the Free World. Ed throws in a “…happy birthday Tom…” as he finishes Ledbetter, and Mike adds a pair of Stevie Ray Vaughan tags on the end – “Couldn’t Stand The Weather” and “Scuttle Buttin”. Ed tries to get “Little Wing” going but it doesn’t materialize. 10 more tour debuts tonight, ending an incredible, too-short 2023 tour.

September 18, 2023 – Moody Center, Austin, TX, USA

Main Set: Nothingman, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Thumbing My Way, Footsteps, Present Tense, Who Ever Said/((I Can't Get No) Satisfaction), Save You, Corduroy, Quick Escape, Even Flow, Out Of My Mind, In My Tree, Animal, Given To Fly, I Got Shit, Porch

encore 1: Wishlist, Smile, Whipping, Do The Evolution, Spin The Black Circle, Alive, Baba O'Riley

Show Notes:

Nothingman opens, the first of many Vitalogy tour debuts. Ed, sounding fantastic, stands up early to get the crowd going, and they do, continuing into Small Town, where they take over vocals at the end. Ed comments after that it’s…

Show Notes: 

Nothingman opens, the first of many Vitalogy tour debuts. Ed, sounding fantastic, stands up early to get the crowd going, and they do, continuing into Small Town, where they take over vocals at the end. Ed comments after that it’s their 10th time in Austin, but it’s been 10 years, so they’re going to “play some songs we don’t usually play.” He continues, noting that everyone in the band’s wife is at the show except for his, and it’s their anniversary. Thumbing My Way is played for the first time since Fenway 2018. Mike has a lovely solo on Footsteps and is the first one out of his chair on Present Tense, leaping up and stalking around his side of the stage. Ed’s timing is off a little on Who Ever Said, but it gets worse on Save You, which is a complete trainwreck and is almost abandoned before Stone rights the ship and gets it home. Corduroy again has the angular jammy intro, this time with Matt adding some touches as well, and reaches the 7-minute mark. Josh gets a shoutout after, Ed points out that his two favorite bands growing up were the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, and he’s gotten a chance to be involved in both. The first solo in Quick Escape is different, moodier, but Mike absolutely demolishes the ending in feedback and chaos. Ed points out that Matt has “Fuck off COVID” written on his drums, and Matt flips the double middle fingers out to indicate his feelings on the matter. Ed continues, telling a story about the band going to London to mix Ten in 1991, and says one of the engineers, Tim Palmer, is at the show tonight, and he’s found and shown on the screens. Mike, having an absolutely outstanding show, smokes on Even Flow. Ed teases the next one:

“I’m guessing, and I haven’t been to ALL the Pearl Jam shows, but I’M guessing that we’ve played it less than 5 times? 3 times? The lyrics were never even written, they were just sung…okay, that’s the clues! It’s been a few…decades, but I absolutely still relate to what it’s saying…”

For only the 5th time, Out Of My Mind is played, and Ed is looking down at lyrics, but it’s a full, complete, rehearsed version, complete with a little guitar solo section! In My Tree is a request, dedicated to Jeff and Laura who’ve been together for 20 years. Josh is again the unsung hero on this song, adding guitars and then pounding out extra percussion at the end. Mike extends his guitar out to the front row at the end of Porch. The phone fireflies are out after the break, and Ed comes out and puts on the sparkly jacket and mirrorball helmet for Wishlist, with Ed, perhaps blinded a little, asking a few times for only one light on himself. He points out someone with an Oklahoma Sooners shirt on, to boos from the Texas crowd, and they play Smile to the back, Ed adding “usually we’d play this one tomorrow…but we miss you already.” He brings up a woman’s right to choose, noticing all the women and girls up front, and how they’d have to leave the state to exercise their right, closing with “I hope you can fix that soon,” leading into Whipping. A furious Spin the Black Circle is dedicated to the people with the sign from Fort Worth, and Mike goes out front again. Ed calls out “Austin…Texas…you’re still alive!” during Alive, and Mike and Jeff groove together for a long time. The house lights are up for Baba, and they build up to a big finish as Ed introduces the band one more time, leaving with “Goodnight…we love you.”

September 15, 2023 – Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, TX, USA

Main Set: Long Road, Low Light, Pendulum, Just Breathe, Hard To Imagine, Breakerfall, Why Go, Dance Of The Clairvoyants, Brain Of J., Red Mosquito, Garden, Undone, Even Flow, Seven O'Clock, (Brain Damage)/Inside Job, Severed Hand, Better Man/(Save It For Later)

encore 1: I Won't Back Down, (Spin The Black Circle), Jeremy, Unthought Known, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Matt is back after missing night 1 due to COVID. On the Long Road outro, Ed says “…I can’t hear you…” and the crowd responds louder. His voice is in great shape early, showing no signs of the flu that…

Show Notes: 

Matt is back after missing night 1 due to COVID. On the Long Road outro, Ed says “…I can’t hear you…” and the crowd responds louder. His voice is in great shape early, showing no signs of the flu that he’s recovering from. He holds the last note in Low Light until after the band finishes. Speaking of night 1, he says “…it was a team effort, we’re still a little banged up,” and welcomes Matt back, calling him a “warrior.” Pendulum is sparse and open. The band leaves the stage and Ed talks again afterwards, saying that Pendulum “is probably how Matt was feeling…it’s a bit like COVID, that song,” adding that he’s had “more tea in the last 5 days than all of India.” He points out that they have a lot of dedications tonight and he goes through them all, including for a family with a son, Jake, to which Ed jokes “Jake was created while….sorry Jake, it was Lukin, our shortest song,” and finishes the dedications talking about Jeff and Stone and their 40-year musical relationship, and they come up and hug. Just Breathe is Ed solo, and he dedicates it “for my bandmates.” The whole band is standing for Hard To Imagine except Ed. Breakerfall returns for the first time since 2018. Ed does the 1992 lean back on Why Go and gets the crowd going. After Dance, Ed says the next one “has a connection to Dallas” and Stone starts Brain of J., with a killer solo at the end. Ed says “it’s absolutely beautiful” after Red Mosquito. After Garden, Ed sees the fan in front who made the request for Undone earlier in the tour and talks about how he kept telling him to come back the next night, but in the end, they do play Undone for the first time since Boston 2010, it’s fast and with a little extended vocal part in the middle. Ed talks about how good Mike was the other night, and asks if he’s up to it again tonight, joking “Mike McCready challenges you, Mike McCready,” and they rip into Even Flow. Ed plays a little of Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage” solo before Inside Job. Ed calls out Matt, saying it’s impressive that “3 days ago you couldn’t move.” He holds up the severed hand that was thrown on stage the other night and they play it, Ed holding on to the hand for the first part. The band jams huddled together on Better Man.

After the break, Ed talks about how he doesn’t really hate the Astros, but the Rangers are his local team, and a jersey is brought on stage. He says his sister’s here again and thanks the crew and nurses that helped them recover. The crowd sings along to I Won’t Back Down. Behind the stage, some crowd members strung up letters that hung down spelling out “Spin The Black Circle” and Ed calls it “the most creative request we’ve had so far,” then notices that the “S” is missing so it’s really “Pin The Black Circle.” They start STBC, but only play a little of it, with Ed singing “…pin, pin, pin the black circle…” After the “…what you giving?” line in Unthought Known, he adds “you’ve given us a lot.” Following, he mentions Dr. Amber Straughn again, adding:

“…tonight we’re equally honored, I’ve yet to meet him but I’ve read his work, he’s the current Dallas poet laureate, and he’s here tonight…Joaquín Zihuatanejo. This next one, we’re gonna dedicate to him, but I just want to read something that he wrote…”

Ed continues, reading from the passage:

“‘My mom was 17 when she had me. But she was younger, and more rebellious, and more beautiful than most 17-year-olds can be at that age. So she was busy being young, and rebellious, and beautiful, on the streets of our city, Dallas, when I was a child, a young person. For this reason, she was in and out of my life. I don’t fault her for that, I love my mother very much, and I get it. I was once young and beautiful too. My father left the year I was born, and he never came back. It was because of all this that I was raised by my abuelo, grandfather, he was my mother, my father, my abuelo, my teacher, my everything. When I was 14, he died in a car accident…I became homeless, but more importantly, it was the first time in my life, my young life, that I felt fatherless. I spent most nights bouncing around from place to place, many nights sleeping under the concrete pavilions in Tietze Park [Ed has trouble with the pronunciation, joking “I’ve never been there)] in old East Dallas. But I was never alone because the sound of the voice and the music of Pearl Jam was with me, in my headphones, reminding me that the pain I was feeling wasn’t rage at the universe for taking my grandfather from me, but a hurting from the fact that I had all the love in the world inside of me and nowhere to put it. Pearl Jam’s music made me strong, made me whole, made me realize that music and art and poetry, these are things we live and breathe and die for. Your music reminded me that I was alive, so thank you for creating that art and music and poetry that saved me in every way a person can be saved…I will be forever grateful to you.”

Ed stops and says “we are the ones who are grateful to you, for giving our music more meaning that we could have ever dreamt, thank you Joaquin,” and Stone starts Alive. Rockin’ in the Free World makes its tour debut and openers Deep Sea Diver join on stage, along with Joaquin. Ed collapses dramatically on stage as he finishes Ledbetter, and Mike brings it home sitting on the edge of the stage.

September 13, 2023 – Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, TX, USA

Main Set: Oceans, Footsteps, All Those Yesterdays, Daughter/(Chaise Lounge)(Improv)(Another Brick In The Wall (Pt. 2)), Black, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Present Tense, Corduroy, Mind Your Manners, Even Flow, Given To Fly, Pilate, Hail, Hail, Eruption, Satan's Bed, Untitled, MFC, Not For You, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Crazy Mary, Wishlist, Do The Evolution, Lukin, Porch, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Indifference

Show Notes:

After canceling the previous show in Indiana, the band returns to the stage in Fort Worth minus Matt Cameron, just like in Oakland last year. Josh is behind the drum kit, and Ed counts in the “1, 2, 3…” for…

Show Notes: 

After canceling the previous show in Indiana, the band returns to the stage in Fort Worth minus Matt Cameron, just like in Oakland last year. Josh is behind the drum kit, and Ed counts in the “1, 2, 3…” for Oceans. After Footsteps, Ed addresses the cancellation:

“Good evening Texas…we don’t get to play here as much as we’d like, so we’re very grateful to be in this room with you here tonight, more than usual…tonight is going to be a little different. It was two options, that the show was going to be a little different, or that there was not going to be a show. We’re going for different…and we’ll certainly take your support tonight. Let me just quickly explain…two days ago, three days ago, coming out of Chicago, we were forced to cancel a gig and this gives me a chance to apologize. We don’t take it lightly, and I know some people travel to see shows…one of the hard parts was that there was very little notice, it’s a risk these days when you have things like COVID floating around, and then I just got the fuckin’ flu…”

He asks for tea and continues, joking that they put ads in all the local Dallas and Fort Worth papers looking for a singer and a drummer, but got no responses because they had to be as good as Matt Cameron, and introduces Josh on drums. The Daughter tag is a lyric from Chaise Lounge (…I got the big D…” and Ed turns it into spelling out Dallas before moving into Another Brick in the Wall (Pt. 2). Mike’s using his new signature Fender Stratocaster that was just announced on many of the songs, and the Black solo is absolutely outstanding, leading Ed to say afterwards:

“A toast for Mike McCready right there…I don’t want to make him blush but that was the best solo of the tour, if not the best of his life…”

He says his sister is in the crowd and “she’s a TEXAN!” then tells a story about writing a song for her back in 1988, and plays a little of it. It’s reminiscent of Better Man, but it had no words, and he offers the advice that if you write someone a song, “they’re waiting on the words…don’t play an instrumental.” The seated part of the show continues through Present Tense. As each song is started, the band looks to Josh, encouraging him on, and then turns to the crowd once the rhythm is established. Corduroy has a new guitar-based, angular intro. All the guitars drop out during the extended part, Jeff keeps it going underneath the call-and-response. “This one’s about protocol…” prefaces Mind Your Manners, the only post-Yield song on the setlist. After Even Flow, Ed says “…in the pit we have some royalty…” and mentions Dr. Amber Straughn, a NASA astrophysicist from Bee Branch, Arkansas who’s in attendance, and Given to Fly is dedicated to her, with the lyric change “made it up to Bee Branch, had a smoke in a tree…” Josh is evidently familiar with Yield, as another deep cut, Pilate, makes an appearance. Someone throws a severed hand on stage after Hail, Hail, and Ed asks a young girl if it was her, but then finds out it was someone else, joking “..what the fuck were you thinking?” and then says “I’m going to keep this forever.” He then sees a man in the front row with a beard and jokes that Aaron Rodgers is there, telling the story of Rodgers at the Milwaukee 2014 show. Eruption is extended, with a little of “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” thrown in for good measure. Satan’s Bed nearly falls apart trainwreck-style and is close to being abandoned, but they stick with it and Josh makes it through. Following, Ed says that he told Mike that he needed a little break, and asked:

“…’would you, could you, do that thing that you sometimes do’…and he looked, he was like ‘oh sure,’ and then he did THAT [referring to Eruption]. It’s insane! You’re infected Mike McCready, and I hope they never find the cure.” 

He continues, playing the beginning of Untitled quietly, thanking the crowd for “getting us even this far.” He continues:

“I’ll share what a good friend of mine, David, wrote recently…he said that what I see all around me is miraculous. Trees and water and sky and people and couples and family…all I see is beauty…and that’s ‘cause he was dying. He said that’s what looking at things from death is like. There’s no sweat, it’s all beauty. Then he said I wish I could have been dying all my life. Sometimes it just takes a change of scenery…”

Untitled is fragile and emotional with a silent crowd, maybe the best performance of the song ever. The drum intro on Not For You is extended and the Modern Girl tag is back. Josh does an impressive job on RVM. Ed speaks again after the break:

“…two days ago, again, we were faced with very limited options, and the last thing we wanted to do is pull the plug…all I can say is fuck yeah Fort Worth…”

He says he has a big bottle of wine to share and that he’ll bartend while Boom solos on the next one, but gets confused and says Victoria Jackson instead of Victoria Williams when quoting the “take a bottle…” line. After Crazy Mary, he says he had a conversation with his daughter, Harper:

“…she said ‘how are you feeling, dad?” and I said ‘honey, I’m totally fucked…we got a show, and it’s Dallas, the last time we were there was like 10 fuckin’ years ago, and we have great memories in Dallas playing a little place called Trees, and one of us got the COVID thing, and my throat hurts and I’m achy, and I feel like I’m gonna die…’”

He continues, saying she asked if he still had the sparkly jacket he wore to Taylor Swift, and the jacket is brought onstage for Ed to wear, and asks if he has the mirrorball helmet she wore to Taylor Swift, and Ed puts them on for Wishlist, adding he’ll take all the help he can get, but realizing “I can’t hear a fuckin’ thing.” After Lukin, Ed does a little Slow Lukin outro/reprise. Prior to Alive, Ed flexes his muscle at Josh, urging him to play harder. As Indifference begins, Ed speaks:

“…if we never see you again, I’ll remember it always. If we do see you again, please feel free to remind us that you were there that night, we’ll remember. We feel like we owe you all a drink…except the front row, you guys are covered [referring to Crazy Mary]…and once again, anybody who came, traveled to Indiana and we couldn’t…again, let me take the opportunity to say it was hard and we’re so sorry…fuckin’ brutal. So, thanks for your patience and support. For us, you sure made a difference…” 

He changes the lyric to “…we screamed our lungs out ‘til it filled this room…” before leaving with “…much love, everybody. Much, much love.” and singling out Josh one more time.

September 7, 2023 – United Center, Chicago, IL, USA

Main Set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Daughter/(Chaise Lounge), Come Back, Present Tense, Why Go, Who Ever Said/((I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Seven O'Clock, Tremor Christ, Even Flow, Green Disease, Immortality, Marker In The Sand, Deep, Black/(We Belong Together), Lukin, Porch

encore 1: Given To Fly, Once, Smile, Garden, Street Fighting Man, Alive, Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

After Daughter, Ed says “We missed you….hello front row, hello back row, hello other back row” (pointing to the back of the arena) and asks for the spotlight on him to be turned down, joking “I feel like I just…

Show Notes: 

After Daughter, Ed says “We missed you….hello front row, hello back row, hello other back row” (pointing to the back of the arena) and asks for the spotlight on him to be turned down, joking “I feel like I just got pulled over” and asks for the lights to be like “excuse me for saying this, maybe we’re about to…fuck.” Come Back has a very poignant dedication to David and Susan and Laura and Max, Ed calls it “a little prayer.” Afterwards, a middle finger is shown on the screens towards a Trump building, which gets a big crowd roar, and Ed tells a story about Dennis Rodman meeting his grandma and the ESPN documentary The Last Dance, leading into Present Tense. Mike is already standing and hurls his chair back off the stage at the earliest opportunity. During Who Ever Said, clips from the visualizer video are shown on the screens. Ed says “this is a request” and Tremor Christ is a huge surprise! It’s a little rocky at first, but they figure it out. Crowd takes the last chorus of Even Flow and Matt gets a shoutout from Ed during the song. Ed says it’s time for another request and it’s Green Disease…keep making these requests please! Mike takes over Immortality. Another deep cut returns next, Marker in the Sand, the first performance since 2016! Night 1 was light on Ten, but they make up for it on this night, with 8 songs off the record, including 3 of the last 4 in the main set. Ed does a little improv after the We Belong Together tag on Black, with the lyrics “Chicago…I saw the sun rise…” After the break, Ed brings Chris Chelios out (who had pretended to be a guitar tech on night 1), and talks about the recent passing of Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, asking for the phone fireflies to come out. Ed says that Wirtz wanted one last thing, and a Chelios highlight reel is shown on the screens and then it’s revealed that Chelios will get his jersey in the rafters in February 2024. The whole band comes out on stage wearing Blackhawks #7 jerseys, Mike quickly throws his into the crowd, and Given to Fly is dedicated to Chelios. Mike goes down to the front row during Once, and afterwards Ed talks about the 9-year-old girl with the sign from night 1, saying she knew every word and wishing her a happy birthday. Smile is played to the back. Garden makes its tour debut after being one of the stories of 2022. Prior to Street Fighting Man, Ed talks about Charlie Watts and what a loss it was when he passed. Josh plays guitar on the Stones classic. Mike and Ed chase each other around the stage during Baba, Jeff thinks about joining them but decides better of it. As the song ends, Ed slams his mic stand on the stage over and over. Mike brings the evening to a close with a gentle Ledbetter outro and then exits the stage on the wrong side and has to run behind to catch up. 12 more tour debuts tonight, with a third of the set from Ten.

September 5, 2023 – United Center, Chicago, IL, USA

Main Set: Release, Low Light, Just Breathe, Retrograde, Who Ever Said, Corduroy, Gods' Dice, Faithfull, Quick Escape, Animal, Light Years, Even Flow, Dance Of The Clairvoyants, In My Tree, Comatose, Down, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Inside Job, Wishlist, Not For You, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Alive, Surrender

Show Notes:

Release opens the first show at the United Center since 2009. After Low Light, Ed says they’re “so blessed to be back in Chicago…we have a lot of family and friends in the audience tonight,” joking that the “people in…

Show Notes: 

Release opens the first show at the United Center since 2009. After Low Light, Ed says they’re “so blessed to be back in Chicago…we have a lot of family and friends in the audience tonight,” joking that the “people in the front row I see more than my family, so I guess you qualify…” He says they hope to “get back outside someday,” referring to Wrigley, which elicits a cheer from the crowd. The band exits and Ed plays Just Breathe solo. Retrograde is the kick-down-the-chairs song tonight, the ending is thunderous, Mike putting on a show early creating a cacophony of sound. Corduroy gets the crowd going with a call-and-response and Ed holding the first note of “Everything has chains…” for a long time. After, he says “we’re gonna start this one together…I’m thinking we might fuck it up…it’s gonna be my fault, I’m telling you right now…at least I got the balls to fuckin’ try it…” leading into Gods’ Dice, the first performance since 2018. After the first line Ed exclaims “…got it!” and they get through it, Jeff with a huge smile on his face the whole song. Quick Escape is introduced as:

“a bit of a science-fiction tale about a species that…there were signs every day that they were destroying their own planet, but they didn’t listen, and next thing you know they’re on another planet…it was a shit fuckin’ planet…no other planet was like the one that they had…it’s just science fiction, that’s all…”

Ed recognizes Jeff as the one who turned them on to the TV show The Bear, which is set in Chicago, and Ed talks about working at restaurants and says:

“…I still wake up with waiter nightmares, 30-plus years later…and then I wake up and I think ‘oh my god, thank god I’m in a band'”

Animal, used twice on the show, follows. Before a beautiful Light Years, a touching moment as Ed talks about a very recent loss in his family, his great-aunt Sandy, saying they were just up north for her services yesterday, and her picture is shown on the screens. Mike has a long behind-the-back section of the Even Flow solo. Chris Chelios makes a cameo on stage after Dance of the Clairvoyants, and Ed gives a shoutout to opening band Inhaler. Josh impresses on In My Tree, helping out on percussion. Ed throws in a quick “Detroit!” after the “pistons” line in Comatose. Ed gets choked up a little before RVM:

“Yesterday we received a very respectful and dignified and heartfelt petition to play a certain song for a certain individual, and I recognized his face, and he meant so much to this community of people who sometimes travel together…and share their friendships and energies, and use us as an excuse to have a good life and see the world…they described this gentleman, who hailed from the Netherlands…the most bright light, a great man, and a friend to all, and it was very moving because when he lost his battle with cancer, he didn’t have a lot of family, and some of the community we’re connected to were able to cross swords and make it nice for his services and his funeral and take care of it properly…it’s a beautiful story so we’re honored to honor him. This is what he wanted to hear.”

After the first verse Ed shouts “…this is for you, Frans!” After the break, he tells a long story about going to visit his grandmother’s old house and meeting the people who live there now, saying he wished he had bought it back in the day to preserve it, but then he met the person who lives in his grandmother’s old room and they raised 5 kids there, and his pictures with them are shown on screen. The family is at the show and are shown on screen as well, very emotional, and Ed plays Throw Your Arms Around Me solo. Jeff has a Bulls jersey on. Ed runs off stage as Inside Job starts, only making it back just in time to sing. Mike has his head back and eyes closed for the whole intro. A Cubs “W” flag is shown afterwards, and Ed says if he got another tattoo he would get that on his forehead. Wishlist is played for the back, and there’s a huge crowd roar as a sign is shown that says “9th Bday, first show.” Not For You has the original album outro for the first time in a long time, no Modern Girl tag. The phone fireflies are out for Better Man, leading Ed to comment “…fuckin’ beautiful, man” during the song. Boom and Josh are mentioned afterwards, but Josh isn’t on stage, he’s down in the sound booth and has to come up and make an appearance. Mike goes out into the front row for the Alive solo. For the last song, Ed says “…let’s see what happens” and Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” returns for the first time since Wrigley 2016. As the song is closing, Ed shouts “Mikey’s alright! Jeff is alright! Matt is alright! Josh is alright! Stone is alright! Boom is alright! You are alright! Chicago’s alright! Chicago’s alright!”

September 2, 2023 – Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, USA

Main Set: Pendulum, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Off He Goes, Nothing As It Seems, Daughter/(Chaise Lounge), Do The Evolution, Last Exit, Once, Who Ever Said/((I Can't Get No) Satisfaction), (Brain Damage)/I Am Mine, Take The Long Way, Even Flow, Severed Hand, In Hiding, Unthought Known, Corduroy, Porch

encore 1: I Won't Back Down, Last Kiss, Got Some, Jeremy, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Alive, Purple Rain

Show Notes:

The crowd is loud early on Pendulum, surprising Ed and jumpstarting the energy in the building on Saturday night, and makes their presence known again on Small Town. Mike starts Nothing As It Seems even though Nothingman was next on…

Show Notes: 

The crowd is loud early on Pendulum, surprising Ed and jumpstarting the energy in the building on Saturday night, and makes their presence known again on Small Town. Mike starts Nothing As It Seems even though Nothingman was next on the setlist, his chair finding it hard to contain the blasts of sound coming from his guitar. Daughter features the Wet Leg “Chaise Lounge” tag that surfaced in 2022. Evolution is fiery, Stone blazes on the final solo. Last Exit is fast, Matt pounding away during the intro like his life depends on it. Who Ever Said is dedicated to Joe Mauer. Immediately after, Ed starts playing Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage” (“…the lunatic is on the grass…) and they segue right into I Am Mine. This is the first appearance of “Brain Damage” since 2010, when it was used as an intro to Corduroy. Ed introduces Take The Long Way with “…this one’s for the travelers…” Mike goes behind the back for the start of the Even Flow solo and then stalks around his side of the stage like a man possessed for the rest, leading to this exchange:

Ed: “When did you start playing like that? Did it scare you?” Mike: “I’m scared right now…”

After the song, Ed talks about how marijuana is legal in Minnesota now, and that he and Matt smoked a lot in together when they were younger, although they didn’t know each other, being at Cheap Trick and Queen shows at the San Diego Sports Arena. He also mentions Jimmy Buffett (who passed earlier in the day) and cautions against smoking the “AK-47-Afghan-Hindo-Kush-Mega-Bomb-Pull-And-Glow-Ozzy-Osbourne-Paranoia-Purple-Hair-Mega-Bible” if you haven’t practiced, adding “start with Indica and then start a group called the ‘Indica Girls’…this song’s about being offered something that you haven’t done your research on…” and Severed Hand is brought back for the first time since 2018. In Hiding is a request, Ed says. The band convenes to talk, Ed sees a shirt in the front row that says “Pearl Jam is my drug” and asks the fan if they have a request. The request is for Undone, which Ed denies, saying “that’s going to stay undone…” and they go into Unthought Known off Backspacer, making this a main set where every studio album is represented. The end of Corduroy surges, the whole band pushing like it’s the end of the set but then Ed starts Porch. Jeff has some spectacular bass runs during the first verse on Porch, propulsive and fluid.

During the break, the crowd brings out the fireflies and Ed is seemingly speechless as he comes out solo. He mentions Dale Crover of the Melvins who recently had to have emergency spinal surgery, and wishes him well, then transitions into talking about EB, talking about a young boy named Charlie who passed away, showing a picture of him with Ed on the big screen and then in his “Puck EB” shirt. A touching moment and Ed leads into I Won’t Back Down, with the crowd taking some of the lead vocals. Ed says “we’re gonna play a quick club show in the back” and they turn around for Last Kiss. Got Some also reappears for the first time since 2018. After Jeremy, Ed, just like on night 1, mentions Stone and Jeff playing together for so long and that there was a local guy who booked Mother Love Bone at the 7th Street Entry (small club in Minneapolis), and that “between Jeff and Stone and Boom and Josh, and a couple of crew guys, there are more people on stage right now than there were in the crowd that evening,” and brings up the booking agent, now an Executive Vice President Booking at LiveNation, Rich Best. Ed starts a call-and-response on Better Man and riffs on the Save it for Later lyrics before kicking in the “…don’t run away” lines. Another band meeting on stage after leads to Stone starting off Alive. More conversation on stage afterwards, Ed says they need some “conflict resolution” about what to play next, but that they can’t leave St. Paul without playing this one, Purple Rain. Josh comes out to sing and play guitar and opening band Deep Sea Diver joins on stage to sing and play tambourines. An energetic show with a stellar crowd.

August 31, 2023 – Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, MN, USA

Main Set: Indifference, Buckle Up, Sometimes, Wishlist, Black/(We Belong Together), Given To Fly, Mind Your Manners, Why Go, Seven O'Clock, Even Flow, Dance Of The Clairvoyants, I'm Open, Insignificance, Daughter, Superblood Wolfmoon, Love Boat Captain, State Of Love And Trust, Porch

encore 1: Wildflowers, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Go, Crazy Mary, Alive, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

The band comes out seated, just like the US leg in 2022. Indifference is a surprise opener, it’s only the 3rd time it’s opened a show, the last time was Denver 1994! Ed gets a guitar brought to him as…

Show Notes: 

The band comes out seated, just like the US leg in 2022. Indifference is a surprise opener, it’s only the 3rd time it’s opened a show, the last time was Denver 1994! Ed gets a guitar brought to him as Buckle Up is finishing up for Sometimes, which has a little intensity to it before the end. Stone starts Black immediately after, but Ed stops him, saying “I’m anxious to play that too…but I wanted to say something I haven’t been able to say in 10 years…hello Minneapolis! Hello St. Paul!” and talks about how they were practicing in Seattle about 10 days ago and heard the news about the earthquake and hurricane in California. It’s not Black that’s played next, but Wishlist. Ed talks again afterwards, telling a story about his wife and daughters watching PJ’s MTV Unplugged performance from 1992. He says “…the girls liked it…I don’t think we remember it AT ALL…,” adding that they had just come off a European tour, and mentions the 2/19/92 show in Winterthur where the stage was too small so they played an acoustic show. Black is then played, and the chairs are removed. Mike has a soulful, powerful solo. The 500th performance of Given to Fly is next, a nice milestone 25 years out from Yield. Seven O’Clock is prefaced with “this one’s off the new record that’s 2 1/2 years old…it came out 3 days before COVID hit…” and Ed growls “…we had Sitting Bullshit as our fucked up president…” He looks up into the rafters and talks about the Twins, mentioning Justin Morneau specifically. The Even Flow solo has a slow build, but Mike lets loose not too far in as Ed says hello to the people in the back and meanders around the stage. Josh Klinghoffer, helping out again on this tour, gets a shoutout, and Ed tells a story about warming up in the hotel shower earlier in the day, when he turned off the water he heard someone harmonizing with him in the next room over, and it turned out to be Simon LeBon from Duran Duran (who played at the Minnesota State Fair a few miles away tonight). Ed then admits “…no it wasn’t…I don’t know who it was.” During Dance of the Clairvoyants, Ed sees two fans, Solomon and Jason, on the rail wearing sequin jackets and borrows one of them for the song, adding after that it’s Jason’s birthday. Insignificance appears in the set for the first time since the Binaural show in Toronto in 2016. Mike’s son, on the side of the stage, hands him some picks and gives him a hug. Before Daughter, Ed mentions that Stone and Jeff have had a working relationship for “39.9 years.” Boom starts the Love Boat Captain intro and Ed talks over it about the recent fires in Hawaii and his history there, surfing in 1993 and more, getting choked up a little and adding:

“…it [Hawaii] gave me songs, it gave me isolation, it gave me inspiration, it gave me waves…also a B3 player in Mr. Boom Gaspar, and we wrote this one together…”

They start LBC with a jam intro before the verse, and Ed changes the line to “…let the healing begin…” He mentions playing at First Ave. in Minneapolis in 1991 before State, “we played this song there.” After the break, Ed again mentions Justin Morneau, saying they went to the Twins game the previous day. He talks about Tom Petty (PJ opened for Petty in this building in 2006) and how Tom and Mike had struck up a friendship and smoked a lot of pot together. He continues, mentioning how in a short span we lost Bowie and Prince, and has another name on the tip of his tongue but can’t say it, getting choked up again (Cornell no doubt). There’s an issue in the crowd, someone needs help, they are taken care of and Ed keeps going, saying this next one is for someone who lost someone close to them recently, and it’s the first non-preset appearance of Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers” at a PJ show. The band returns and Small Town is played to the back. Boom calls Mike over for the Crazy Mary solos, very playful and celebratory. Ed gets the crowd going on Alive, everyone throwing up their hands in unison. Ledbetter closes out an emotional night with lots of storytelling. No Vitalogy songs are played, the first time that’s happened since night 1 in Philadelphia 2016.

September 22, 2022 – Ball Arena, Denver, CO, USA

Main Set: Long Road, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Thin Air, Just Breathe, Present Tense, (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Spin The Black Circle, Throw Your Hatred Down, Given To Fly, Who Ever Said, Even Flow, Dance Of The Clairvoyants, River Cross, Save You, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Last Kiss, Faithfull, Lukin, Rearviewmirror

encore 1: I Won’t Back Down, Chloe Dancer, Crown Of Thorns, Alive, Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

After waiting from all the way back in March of 2020 to kick off this tour run, we have finally reached the end. Long Road is a fitting opener to reflect that. Thin Air is appropriately played in the high…

Show Notes: 

After waiting from all the way back in March of 2020 to kick off this tour run, we have finally reached the end. Long Road is a fitting opener to reflect that. Thin Air is appropriately played in the high altitude, the third time it’s been played in the state of Colorado. Ed says he has two bottles of wine and one bottle of oxygen, and gives a shout out to a couple who got engaged at a Pearl Jam show years ago, saying there is a lot of power in that, before breaking out Just Breathe for the first time in 2022. Ed applauds Colorado for being in the top 10 in sensible gun laws in the country, then addresses a girl in a very sparkly shirt. He asks to borrow her shirt in the encore because they could ‘use a little Harry Styles.’ At the end of Throw Your Hatred Down, he throws her a tambourine. After Given To Fly, Ed commends a big guy up in front for letting a woman get in front of him on rail so she can watch the show. Who Ever Said needs to be stopped due to an issue in front, the crowd is asked to take two steps back and the fan walks away to safety. Ed makes a prediction that Mike McCready is gonna go off on Even Flow, and uses a Chris Cornell quote about him saying “he’s infected!” Mike fulfills the prediction and pulls out the usual tricks, like playing behind the head. Ed mentions that the author of Into The Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer, is in attendance. Ed heads to the pump organ, says we’re thinking about everyone in Ukraine and asks the crowd to light up their phones for River Cross. There is a “FCK PTN” shirt on his organ. After Better Man, Ed makes note that the big guy has been given his spot back on rail, calling it reverse chivalry, then says they’re gonna be chivalrous by turning around and playing to the back, which happens to be Last Kiss. Ed shouts out the people in front and commends them for their dedication, saying they will miss them after the tour ends, leading into Faithfull.

Ed comes out for the encore by himself with a guitar, and says there is only an encore break just for keeping up appearances. He mentions that it would be nice to play at Red Rocks again, and talks about playing in Colorado with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers back in 2006. He adds that he spoke with a father who lost his child in Sandy Hook who would later take his own life, and that his wife testified against Alex Jones in the defamation trial, and says he hopes they make an example of him. I Won’t Back Down is played in honor of her, her husband Jeremy and Petty. Chloe Dancer and Crown Of Thorns continue to tug at the heartstrings. The substitute teacher line is dropped from Crown Of Thorns. Ed mentions a show in Miami on the Lollapalooza tour in 1992 where a fan was hoisted up in a wheelchair crowd surfing to Rockin’ In The Free World, and says he’s in attendance. Ed invites Molly and Whitney from Thunderpussy on stage for Baba O’Riley. Tambourines are flying all over the stage as it turns into one big party up there. Ed thanks everyone for a great night and a great tour as Yellow Ledbetter ends a magnificent 2022 run. Ed introduces the band members before taking a big bow, saying:

“those are the people who love you.”

September 20, 2022 – Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

Main Set: Garden, Alright, Sleight Of Hand, Hard To Imagine, Hail, Hail, Given To Fly, Superblood Wolfmoon, Even Flow, Dance Of The Clairvoyants, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall (Pt. 2)), Quick Escape, Amongst The Waves, Habit, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Mind Your Manners, Corduroy

encore 1: Go, Alone, Do The Evolution, Porch, Alive, Indifference, Rockin’ In The Free World

Show Notes:

31 years after its release, Garden finally opens a Pearl Jam show. Hard to Imagine continues its 2022 resurgence here, as the stools give way. Given to Fly lyric is changed to “…made it past the ocean, made it to…

Show Notes: 

31 years after its release, Garden finally opens a Pearl Jam show. Hard to Imagine continues its 2022 resurgence here, as the stools give way. Given to Fly lyric is changed to “…made it past the ocean, made it to OKC…” Ed sees a flag in the crowd and holds it up, showing the Taylor Hawkins hawk logo and talks about him. Then, he sees a fan with a mask of himself and takes it, saying he didn’t want to look at “that guy” (himself) all night. Before Even Flow, he mentions the Thunder, saying that they’re no longer mad about the Sonics, they have a great women’s team in Seattle and they’re glad the Sonics went to a good home. Following Dance, Ed points out someone in the very back of the arena who was dancing, adding

“I can see you got moves…my first concert ever, I was in Chicago, I had that exact seat, I was the last guy against the back wall, and yea, this could be you [points down at the stage] in just a couple of years, with those moves…”

Habit returns the set for the first time in 2022, with a chaotic, spiraling outro. Just like in St. Louis, they go to the back during the main set for Small Town. After the break, Ed mentions Nathan Young, who is related to Tomas Young, is in attendance and points him out, saying “he’s grown up a lot since the last time I saw him…I love you man, it’s good to see you…” and dedicates Go to Nathan and Tomas Young. There’s a break after the drum intro to Go and when the song kicks in, Ed has to run up to the microphone to start the song. Afterwards, he says they’re going to play one that they played “maybe the first time we ever played here…we’re dusting it off for you today,” and they kick into Alone! Ed mumbles through the middle part, but does the complete sung outro, which leads right into Evolution. Mike leads the jam on Porch with a fantastic solo. After Indifference, the band is taking off their instruments and acting like the show is over, but Ed comes over to everyone and gives the “one more” signal, saying “thanks for filling this room with energy tonight, we’re just returning it back, thank you OKC” and stops Stone from starting Rockin’ to tell a story:

“Before we ended the night…I’ve been thinking about it all week, you guys made the news in the most fabulous way, there was a tractor trailer that turned over and spilled sex toys all across the highway…this is true…and I started thinking about it, why is there a whole truck of vibrators? Why are they strung all over the highway, why are there so many? And I started thinking about it…and I support the theory that you’ve taken away a woman’s right to choose, they don’t want to take chances so they’re taking things in their own hands and who can blame ‘em…we know that women are the best people to make decisions about their own lives…”

He goes on to implore the crowd to vote before allowing Stone to kick into RITFW again.

September 18, 2022 – Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO, USA

Main Set: Of The Girl, Footsteps, Sleeping By Myself, Retrograde, Last Exit, Life Wasted, Dissident, Who Ever Said/((I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction), I Am Mine, Corduroy, Glorified G, Once, Even Flow, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Sad, Dance Of The Clairvoyants, Go

encore 1: State Of Love And Trust, Breath, Black/(We Belong Together), Alive, Yellow Ledbetter

Show Notes:

Bathed in blue light, the third show in three nights (the first time that’s been done since 2006) starts off with a soaring Of the Girl. Footsteps gets a huge crowd reaction, and afterwards Ed, holding a ukulele, says “we’re…

Show Notes: 

Bathed in blue light, the third show in three nights (the first time that’s been done since 2006) starts off with a soaring Of the Girl. Footsteps gets a huge crowd reaction, and afterwards Ed, holding a ukulele, says “we’re gonna play a few more in first gear, then we’re gonna ramp it up,” adding

“I wanted to honor the history of music here in St. Louis, sometimes overshadowed by what came out of Chicago, but there’s a reason you’ve got a music note on your hockey jersey,” 

pointing up to the retired jerseys in the rafters. He continues, talking about how the ukulele is a “gateway instrument” for musicians who are just starting out, pointing out some kids up front. He goes on to say that it’s his wedding anniversary while idly strumming the ukulele, which isn’t making any sound, saying all of PJ is lucky to be married to “badass women.” He mentions that his ukulele isn’t cheap, it was made in Hawaii out of rare wood “which you can’t even take out of the country,” and finally acknowledges the lack of sound coming through, to which he exclaims “goddamnit” and SMASHES the little ukulele on the front monitor, reducing it to splinters. Was it a setup? Maybe. Another (plugged in) ukulele is brought out for Sleeping By Myself quickly. Retrograde is the kick-the-stools-over song tonight, and Matt absolutely destroys the outro, creating a thunderous cacophony that ramps up the energy, the entire band is surging. Mike seemingly becomes possessed during the Life Wasted solo, feeding off the energy in the building and falls over on the monitor, finishing the searing solo practically prone and extending the guitar head out to the fans on the rail afterwards. Dissident becomes a huge singalong, and Who Ever Said gets yet another runout, 8 shows in a row now. Corduroy is fantastic, taking all the energy in the building and giving it an outlet. Small Town is played to the back, possibly the first time that’s ever been done in a main set. Sad is dedicated to Debbie, Ed says “we’re thinking about you.” A raucous Go ends the set, and Ed drops the mic afterwards with a loud thud. After State, Ed gives Josh a shoutout and says that he pointed out backstage that today was the 30th anniversary of Singles (the movie premiere, not the soundtrack) and they go right into Breath. The Black solo is powerful and emotional, Mike at his best. After the closing bow, Ed pats his heart a few times before leaving the stage.

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