Pearl Jam Oakland, CA, Concert History

Night 2 without Matt Cameron opens with Klinghoffer on drums and a deliberate Long Road, Ed gives a quick dedication “to Gretchen.” Following Once, Ed calls Matt a “legend” and we learn that he’s still in Arizona after his positive COVID test, Ed says that this show is dedicated to him. No new intro for Corduroy here, it’s Interstellar Overdrive instead. All the uncertainty of the previous night seems to be gone, they look confident and charged up. Richard Stuverud again joins on the kit for Throw Your Hatred Down, with a very cool breakdown at the end, even throwing in a little Ziggy Stardust. Before Quick Escape, Ed says “this one’s about life on Mars too…,” and it also has an extended solo section. Dissident is introduced as an old one, “one we haven’t played in a while, so let’s see if we get it right.” Stuverud begins the W.M.A. intro and to everyone’s surprise it’s full W.M.A., the first time since Greenville 2016! There’s an extended drum outro as well, pounding drums, a standout performance. Ed is visibly angry, pacing around in a circle, he kicks over an amp and hurls his wine bottle across the stage. A 17-year-old drummer named Kai Neukermans is introduced and joins for Mind Your Manners before Josh returns to the kit for Brain of J. After Even Flow, Ed is still worked up, saying

“I’m still mad that we were divided at the beginning [of the pandemic], not united…fuck you…fuck you…FUCK YOU….FUCK YOU!”

Seven O’Clock is only the second Gigaton song of the night and third post-2000 song, this is a heavy 90’s set, perhaps reflecting Ed’s frame of mind. Rearviewmirror FINALLY makes an appearance on the tour, Ed talks about Steve Gleason beforehand. Smile is played to the back. Boom gets a shoutout leading into Crazy Mary, which has a killer back and forth Mike and Boom duel. Ed is pacing around the stage again during Porch. Stuverud is absolutely rocking out on Baba, standing up at the kit and pounding away. Ed closes the show with “…love to Matt, we love you…goodnight, goodbye, until next time. Shaka.”

The band opens with Rockin’ in the Free World, it’s rumored that Neil is in attendance, although he does not come out on stage. RITFW has never been used as an opener before! The house lights are up, Klinghoffer is on drums, and after Small Town, Ed addresses the crowd, revealing that Matt Cameron tested positive for COVID the day before:

“Even his superhero status couldn’t prevent him from testing positive.” 

He adds that they are lucky to have Josh, the Shohei Ohtani of the band, filling in for him. During Corduroy, Ed references Cameron, saying “…everyfuckinthing’s changed!” Josh heads back over behind Mike’s amp, and Ed introduces RNDM drummer and longtime friend Richard Stuverud, saying they called him yesterday,

“He was in the middle of teaching a music class, we said, ‘Hey, do you want to come play with Pearl Jam tomorrow?’ He said ‘I’ll call you back, I gotta go change my pants.’

After Superblood Wolfmoon, Ed tells a story about Jeff and Richard doing some writing and demoing in between Vs. and Vitalogy at Reciprocal Recording, they invited Ed down and he drove down in a ‘64 Plymouth, they played Nothingman and he got a cassette of it afterwards, saying he drove home listening to it, screaming along at the top of his lungs, and asks for the crowd’s help to scream along tonight. Stuverud takes a short drum solo during Even Flow and Mike is extra flashy during the outro. Ed points out a sign that reads “Last time I saw Pearl Jam, I wasn’t born yet,” then mentions a recent story about a woman giving birth on the side stage at a Metallica show during Enter Sandman, joking that they almost ended up naming their child James Ulrich or Sandman. Klinghoffer is back on the kit for GTF. After Evolution, Ed makes mention to the Bridge School benefit, and says

“…NEXT time we play the Bridge School…I hear rumors…good ones…” 

He gives a shout out to the families and teachers and artists who all put in their time playing the Bridge School, and mentions Amber Jean Young, who just had her first art exhibit and is raising money for ovarian cancer. She named her gallery after Pegi Young. Ed calls Daughter a “dark” song, and Neil’s “Long May You Run” is tagged for the first time. He makes a reference to a show back in 1973 where Keith Moon passed out twice at a Who show, and they asked if anyone could play. Ed asks anyone in the crowd if they can play drums and a fan is spotlighted, everyone around him pointing at him. Ed sees him, and says they are going to test him and bring him back in the encore. He continues, saying the Oakland A’s were the coolest team in the 70’s, and names just about every member of their World Series roster. Stuverud joins the band again during Seven O’Clock. Jeremy has a little bit of a funky guitar riff before the bass comes in, and Stuverud plays it a little slower than usual.

In the encore, Ed asks for another bottle and passes it into the crowd, mentioning that they can’t share the bottle together, “we’re not going to make this a wine tasting superspreader event,” but solo cups are broken out and everyone can enjoy a drink. Ed gives a nod to the audience, calling them the best crowd yet on the tour. Klinghoffer is back on drums for Better Man, and Ed messes around in the tag, speaking somewhat unintelligibly, but compliments the entire band. Tons of Townshend windmills from Ed. He references the Metallica story again and says:

“If you’re having a baby now, you’d have to name it… Lukin!”

Stuverud returns for Animal, making its tour debut. There’s a massive ending build at the end of Baba that gets wild, and Ed holds out a lengthy note at the end. He says his goodbyes afterward, making a point to thank Josh and Richard, and then says “we have one more drummer tonight…,” inviting out the fan from earlier, Josh Arroyo, to play Yellow Ledbetter. He’s wearing the “Krusen&Chamberlain&Abbruzzese&Irons&Cameron” shirt, and Ed jokes that he’ll have to add his own name to it. The lucky fan lives out a dream, doing an excellent job on the drums. Ed even looks back, visibly impressed, and Arroyo gets to take a bow with the band at the end.