Pearl Jam San Diego, CA, Concert History

List of Pearl Jam Concerts in San Diego, CA

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May 3, 2022 – Viejas Arena, San Diego, CA, USA

Main Set: Oceans, Retrograde, Never Destination, Corduroy, Dance of the Clairvoyants, Amongst The Waves, Even Flow, Who Ever Said/((I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction), Quick Escape, Long Road, Given To Fly, Superblood Wolfmoon, Daughter/(In My Tree), Seven O'Clock, Jeremy, Porch

encore 1: Lightning Bolt, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, River Cross, Footsteps, Once, Alive

Show Notes:

This was the first of the rescheduled 2020 shows and the first North American arena show since May of 2016. After Never Destination, Ed greets the crowd and says “Well, thank you for your patience,” followed by a standing ovation…

Show Notes: 

This was the first of the rescheduled 2020 shows and the first North American arena show since May of 2016. After Never Destination, Ed greets the crowd and says “Well, thank you for your patience,” followed by a standing ovation from the crowd. Corduroy has an interesting riffy lead-in that had never been played before. After Dance of the Clairvoyants, Ed talks about paying tribute to the history connected with the band in San Diego:

Because of our location…we’re choosing songs that have something to do with the ocean…even if they don’t mention it in the words…well half of ‘em were written in the ocean anyway.

During Amongst The Waves, Ed points out to a crowd member and asks for people to help them out. Who Ever Said is especially tight, synth sounds amazing from Klinghoffer. Who Ever Said has a Rolling Stones “Satisfaction” tag, the first instance in Pearl Jam history. Ed pays tribute to Taylor Hawkins before Quick Escape:

You put all of these lights together and they still wouldn’t match up to the light that poured from within that guy. He emitted something very special. I’m so mad for your loss. But it just gives us another chance to say how much we appreciated you as well. 

There’s a request from a guy named Mike whose brother Stan died in a 2016 accident, Ed says he can relate – his brothers and mom and uncle and nephews are here tonight:

We lost a brother…four of us boys…and a sister in Texas…we lost him pretty quick, and it fucked us up…but we got through it together. Last time we played here, he was working up in the rigging. That was the penultimate time I saw him, last time was my 50th. There’s a plaque here up in the rafters with his name on it” 

This leads to a rare main set version of Long Road. Lights up on cell phones in the crowd. Ed says near the end “I’ll save you a seat”. GTF has the lyric “…came to San Diego, smoked a joint in a tree…,” after which Ed talks about teachers, joking that Stevie Ray Vaughan was Mike’s guitar teacher. Ed’s guitar teacher is in attendance, he can’t see him face to face because of COVID protocol, so he guides the spotlight to him. He jokes “I’m not gonna talk this much at the other shows…this feels like home so…” The Daughter tag is In My Tree (!), followed by a call and response. Ed talks about Jeff and Stone playing together for 39 years, says they should do a podcast together about it, and jokes that they never thought they’d live to 39. He tells a story about bullying leading into Jeremy, saying the song was somewhat based on things he witnessed in junior high school in the area. Porch closes the set, with Ed reflecting light into the crowd on his guitar pickguard.

After the break, Ed says he’s sorry he couldn’t visit all the people he knows here, and says Jeff is the smart one because he has a house in San Diego now. He mentions some local record stores, and continues, talking about his high school:

The proximity of my high school to the ocean pretty much guaranteed you weren’t gonna graduate. (jokingly mocking) Now kids, don’t leave school or you’ll turn into drug dealers and addicts…or…or…Republicans!

Prior to Lightning Bolt, Ed tells a story about having trouble writing the chorus to the song:

I had my headphones on and my notebook, and I was so close I had written the whole fucking song. But I couldn’t come up with the line of the chorus. It was like… she’s a what? I just couldn’t figure out what the fuck she was and I wasn’t going to give up. Then my phone buzzed and it must’ve been from Hawaii, and I looked at it but couldn’t answer it because I was singing. I looked over and it was a call from Gerry Lopez (surfer). And I was like that’s it! She’s a Lightning Bolt!

Nice jam at the end of Lightning Bolt with the lighting effects resembling shooting stars. After the song, Ed spotlights his mom in the crowd, mentioning she went to SDSU undergrad in 1989, and graduated with her Masters in 1992. Elderly Woman is played for the back of the audience. River Cross is played with the full band, intensely powerful with Ed emoting while playing on pump organ. Midway through, a Ukrainian flag goes up on the big screen. The reverse Mamasan Trilogy, Footsteps, Once, and Alive, closes out the night, the first time it’s been done in this order since 2011! Karen Vedder is shown fist pumping to Alive. Ed closes out the show thanking Jack Irons and then Stone and Jeff, adding “catch some good waves, keep this place beautiful…we love you.”

Big thank you to Aaron Redmond, Brooke Krause and Amy Cook Lancaster for providing  updates throughout the night!

November 21, 2013, Viejas Arena, San Diego, CA, USA

Show Covered by Podcast

Main Set: Pendulum, Nothingman, Sometimes, Why Go, Lightning Bolt, Mind Your Manners, All Night, Given To Fly, Tremor Christ, In Hiding, Setting Forth, Swallowed Whole, Army Reserve, Even Flow, Insignificance, Sirens, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Spin The Black Circle, Light Years, Porch

encore 1: Sleight Of Hand, Speed Of Sound, Just Breathe, Sleeping By Myself, Severed Hand, In My Tree, Rearviewmirror

encore 2: Leaving Here, Black, Do The Evolution, Alive, Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetter/(Star-Spangled Banner), Rockin’ In The Free World

Show Notes:

“Ah, kind of like we are home, yeah?”  For the first time since November 1995, there’s a general admission section at a San Diego show, which seemed to give the crowd a heightened sense of community that would show itself…

Show Notes: 

“Ah, kind of like we are home, yeah?” 

For the first time since November 1995, there’s a general admission section at a San Diego show, which seemed to give the crowd a heightened sense of community that would show itself throughout the night. All Night appears for the first time since Wrigley, followed 2 songs later by Tremor Christ, added to the setlist in the moment because “it’s appropriate for here.” Army Reserve is dedicated to the local military heroes before a face-melting version of Even Flow. Ed then mentions that in addition to Matt’s mom, sister, and brother being in attendance, as well as Ed’s three brothers, Mike’s pop was also there and potentially inspired Mike to tone down his solo a little as to not freak out his dad. After Insignificance, another US tour debut, Rob, a fan from Manila, is brought on stage and told he’ll be sent home with a check for relief from typhoon Haiyan which devastated the Philippines only weeks prior. Light Years returns for the first time since 2011. The main set closes out with a very charged version of Porch, complete with Ed coming down to the crowd, who supports him physically and vocally. Sleeping By Myself debuts in the encore, as Ed notes “I’m not sure how to start it!” When the band joins back on stage for the final encore, Ed employs the crowd in a trust exercise, handing a bottle of wine from the stage, through the crowd, and up into the seats to his mom. The crowd succeeds and once his mom has the bottle she takes a giant swig, to which Ed exclaims, “It’s genetic!” and the band crashes into Leaving Here. A gorgeous version of Black follows, with Ed taking a moment to introduce the band after a powerful Mike solo, adding:

“…what a great audience and a great room to play for…we should do this more often,”

He continues the song with a quiet, almost falsetto “We Belong Together” tag. Alive doesn’t disappoint, delivering an energy nearly impossible to cap off with just one closer, so the band, clearly not wanting the night to conclude yet either, pulls out all the stops and does the unprecedented; Baba O’Riley, Yellow Ledbetter into the Star-Spangled Banner, AND Rockin’ In The Free World (with Matt’s son Ray helping out on guitar) to close out the night! Ed’s final words are “…it’s an honor and a privilege to say these four words…thank you San Diego! Thank you very much…save the world, we’ll see you next time.”