Pearl Jam Sacramento, CA Concert History

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.