May 9, 2022 – Gila River Arena, Phoenix, AZ, USA

Show Notes:

Ed comes out for the pre-set and Far Behind makes its debut at a Pearl Jam show. Wash is dark and eerie to open, the 4th different opener in 4 shows so far. Corduroy has the new intro jam again…

Show Notes: 

Ed comes out for the pre-set and Far Behind makes its debut at a Pearl Jam show. Wash is dark and eerie to open, the 4th different opener in 4 shows so far. Corduroy has the new intro jam again and an incendiary Mike solo, it’s been one of the standouts of this run so far, it feels rejuvenated. Ed does a spoken space shuttle countdown-style spiel during Quick Escape. Ed says that they’re in the land of coyotes, mentioning NHL Coyotes players Christian Fisher and Clayton Keller, before Superblood Wolfmoon, saying wolves are close to coyotes. Ed goes on a passionate rant about freedom before Alright, making its tour debut. Prior to Even Flow, Ed mentions the highway signs around the area that had been changed to “Even Flow on the gas, keep left to pass”. Mike and Ed take turns getting the sides of the arena to out-cheer each other, Ed adding, 

We’ve never done this kind of cheesy bullshit before

Josh is rocking out behind the amps during Dance of the Clairvoyants, adding some drum accents and background vocals. Astronaut Scott Kelly is in attendance, and Black is dedicated to him, Ed does a little improv based off of We Belong Together. He stresses the “FUCK” during I Got Shit. He says they’ve got mosquitos here, but they’re in the land of scorpions, adding “…don’t get too excited, Mike” (referring to Mike’s fandom of the 80’s hair metal band Scorpions), leading into Red Mosquito. Before Sleeping By Myself, Ed talks about testing positive for COVID, isolating and thinking to himself “…why did I ever smoke cigarettes, what the fuck is wrong with me…,” saying that Sleeping By Myself was running through his head the whole time he was quarantined. 

The number for voting information is put on the screens in the venue as Ed talks about supporting freedom to choose. Mike has some skronky guitar tones during the W.M.A. tag, and Ed changes the lyric to “..police stopped my daughter again…” Matt ends the song with a powerful drum rhythmic outro. Ed talks a lot about his niece Molly, who’s in attendance, choosing to come to the show instead of her graduation from Arizona State, and she gets a spotlight and a nice roar from the crowd. Ed changes up the setlist, saying they were going to play a sad one but he doesn’t want to anymore, and they play Smile instead. Mike goes back behind his amps to play with Josh for a while during Jeff’s solo. The Eruption solo seems a little longer than previous versions. Ed mentions Taylor Hawkins before Better Man, saying he’s seeing a lot of Foo Fighters shirts in the crowd, adding that he had only gotten to know him a little over the last year but Matt was close with him. The intro to Leaving Here is a train wreck, but they get it squared away, Jeff takes all the solos. After Alive, it feels like the show might be over, but they put the instruments back on and close with Yellow Ledbetter. In Hiding, Come Back, and River Cross were on the original setlist but not played.


November 19, 2013 – Jobing.com Arena, Phoenix, AZ, USA

Show Notes:

For the first time in the band’s history, Long Road and Release open a show back-to-back. Corduroy cranks up the pace with an energetic finish and an extended sequence. Mike shines again on Lightning Bolt, already a mainstay of his…

Show Notes: 

For the first time in the band’s history, Long Road and Release open a show back-to-back. Corduroy cranks up the pace with an energetic finish and an extended sequence. Mike shines again on Lightning Bolt, already a mainstay of his repertoire. The Given to Fly line adaptation for the venue is “made it to the desert…” Afterwards, Ed greets the crowd, toasts to having the band back in Phoenix, just like Oklahoma City at the previous show, for the first time in 10 years, “filling up the place like a full glass of wine.” He predicts a good night and a couple of bottles, and mentions they’d thought about playing the Mason Jar “like old times.” Very tight performance of Getaway, after which Ed mentions that same-sex marriage is legal in Washington state and so is marijuana, adding that it’s going great and recommending trying it. Yellow Moon is introduced as a vision that’s rare in the Northwest but quite familiar to everyone in the Southwest. Stone seems really into his part of the Even Flow breakdown. Wishlist is changed to “all Phoenix’s hands upraised…” After Infallible, Ed tries to remember something “sharp and witty” he was going to say about Chicago: he sees a lot of people from Chicago present, all the young kids, one about his daughter’s age, and finally recalls it was about the recent crazy weather around the world and that hopefully we all agree that climate change is a real thing “because young people, it’s their world and it’s evolution, baby,” introducing the next tune. 1/2 Full is followed by a long bit of banter, talking about Jeff (crowd starts chanting “Jeff! Jeff!”), “we call him the sheriff, I don’t know why, but we call him the sheriff,” saying hello to Jeff’s parents, George and Penny:

“…there’s about a thousand and one reasons to love them…they’ve been together for 52 years. That’s just something you have to admire…Stone’s parents have been together for about 52 years, too. Jeff and Stone have been together about 51…48…a long time!” 

Ed makes a toast to “Jeff and Stone, long relationships.” He then intimates that a person at the show, Danny Long, had also known and been in a band with Ed’s father, and owned recordings of his father singing [these recordings were most likely used on the Earthling track “On My Way”], adding:

“…about 4-5 months ago I got to hear my dad sing for the first time…but the nice thing was, dad was pretty good, he was great!” 

With this, Ed dedicates Better Man to ”George and Penny and Danny and everybody who’s got a dad.” The first encore is full of rare gems and to start, Ed offers Jeff the wine bottle while introducing Bee Girl and as Jeff helps himself to a swig, Ed says “the first time we ever played this, yeah, we were doing that.” Around the Bend is heard for the first time since the 2006 Bridge School show! Ed dedicates Future Days to his two best friends, “Uncle Johnny who lives here in Phoenix, and my wife Jill,” before signaling Boom to start. Ed then play-gauges the crowd’s reaction for the next few with “I’m gonna let you weigh in here, we’ve got…I think one that you’ll like, but we’ve got another one that’s more for the ‘serious collector,’” before starting Hard to Imagine. Some nice touches from Stone at the end, and Ed makes the decision: “let’s do the other one, too” and goes right into Footsteps to the crowd’s delight. Unthought Known is introduced with “…here’s to all the teachers out there, especially the ones teaching music, you know who you are.” After the second break, Ed comments “it’s been 10 years, we’re not going to just leave like that…it could be another 10 years.” This earns some thorough booing and Ed backpedals with “I know what Stone’s thinking…‘how could you even say that, Ed, what kind of frontman are you?’” Small Town is dedicated to Yuma, Scottsdale (which gets a mix of cheers and boos), “Stone thinks there’s an artists’ colony called Martha, Murtha? How ‘bout all you people that hang out at the Grand Canyon?” Black is on the setlist but Spin the Black Circle is played instead. After Alive, Ed thanks the crowd and recognizes how lucky they are to play in front of so many people, introduces the band, and then welcomes Nils Lofgren on stage to play Rockin’ in the Free World. On his way offstage, Lofgren finds a mic and says “Pearl Jam, one of the greatest bands around on the planet.” As Indifference begins to close the night, Ed observes “so, we have friends in Arizona…we gotta hang out more…call me up, or call Mike.”