September 11, 2022 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA

Show Notes:

Release and Garden get the crowd going early, loud and energetic. Come Back is started and then stopped by Ed to talk about how they appreciate being there, and the first responders in the city. The seats are tossed aside…

Show Notes: 

Release and Garden get the crowd going early, loud and energetic. Come Back is started and then stopped by Ed to talk about how they appreciate being there, and the first responders in the city. The seats are tossed aside during Present Tense, kicking the show into high gear a little earlier than the few previous. Porch is always a surprise this early which shocked and excited the crowd. It sounded tight and intense. Ed sees a fan altercation going on in the crowd and takes a minute to address it and remove the offenders, and kicks back into the song. The first Gigaton song of the night is Who Ever Said, which surges with momentum, Ed sounding great. Following that, he talks about women’s basketball legend Sue Bird, who had just retired, and mentions that Venus and Serena Williams are in attendance. The Daughter tag is by the British indie rock duo Wet Leg. Ed and Mike lean on each other during Better Man. Ed does a couple of lines from Tiny Dancer before Chloe Dancer, changing the line to “…hold me closer Chloe dancer…” This is the first Chloe/Crown pairing since the May 1, 2016 Garden show. Afterwards, Ed says “…that one was for Andy, this one is for Stiv,” and they tear into Sonic Reducer. He again shouts out the first responders who are in attendance and says that as “traumatic” and “despicable” as 9/11 was, 9/12 was awesome because everyone came together and worked together. After the break, Small Town is played to the back. The crowd absolutely kills Why Go and Do the Evolution, leading Ed (donning the shiny black jacket we saw earlier in the year) to reference the stage-shaking 2003 show. He thanks the first responders one last time “for showing us what courage looks like.” Chad Smith is watching side stage and comes out during RITFW to pound on Josh’s drums. Mike closes out the night with the Star-Spangled Banner, ending a momentous weekend in New York City.


September 10, 2022 – Apollo Theater, New York, NY, USA

Show Notes:

The seated portion of the show continues to be showcase for rarities, as Footsteps opens a show for the first time since the 1996 Bridge School. Ed checks in with Matt and Stone afterwards, adding that he’s feeling  “shaky…I’m feeling,…

Show Notes: 

The seated portion of the show continues to be showcase for rarities, as Footsteps opens a show for the first time since the 1996 Bridge School. Ed checks in with Matt and Stone afterwards, adding that he’s feeling 

“shaky…I’m feeling, just, energy already. Could be the energy of the people in this crowd, could be the energy of New York City…”

He goes on to mention that the show is being broadcast on SiriusXM (as part of the Small Stages series) and what an honor it is to play in this historic venue. Sleight of Hand appears for the first time since the Binaural album show in Toronto 2016, and Parachutes since the show prior to that! Before Parachutes, Ed says that he has a “secret” but he has to wait 2 songs to tell it. He adds that he has news that brought “tears of joy,” and says Glen Hansard and his wife had a baby today, After Hard To Imagine, the secret is revealed, the show has to be stopped because a computer needs to be rebooted, and the PA system goes out temporarily. Mike teases Little Wing, and then the crowd joins together to sing Daughter. Ed comes out with an acoustic guitar and plays Keep Me In Your Heart solo unplugged. They return with Who Ever Said, after which Ed says 

“Alright, is it back? Are we up out there?” 

Who Ever Said kicks off a run of seven Gigaton tracks in the next nine, only broken up by a stellar Even Flow, featuring Mike soloing on his knees at the front of the stage, and Spin the Black Circle, which is dedicated to Howard Stern, Gary, and Robin Quivers, who Ed says he got to meet for the first time tonight, adding “I love the sound of your voice, bringing us joy when we need it.” He tells a story about a girl coming up to him in an airport back in the early 90’s and saying “I hate to bother you…,” to which he replied “…then don’t.” He continues the story, adding

“…so, she looked at me and then the pools of water starting going up these little Bambi eyes, and she turned and walked away…about five minutes passed, and I went to all the gates, we had 10 minutes before we board, I went to all the gates and she was gone, I couldn’t find her. So, if you’re out there somewhere, I never got your name, I was just a rude individual at the time, I was under some stress…no excuses, but all apologies. If you’re out there somewhere 30 years later, I know you’ve forgot it, but I haven’t and I just want to say I’m sorry and maybe I’ll get to meet you and say hi to you another day in the future.”

Someone in the crowd jokes that that was their mom, to which Ed replies “fuck you,” laughing. Whipping falls apart a few seconds in but it’s restarted from the beginning without further incident. Mike shows off his technicality and shreds the Porch solo. Ed talks about Bessie Smith, a blues singer from the 1920’s who was in an accident and the doctors wouldn’t treat her because of the color of her skin. The heat inside the venue was unbearable for some, due to no air conditioning.


May 2, 2016 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA

Show Notes:

Ed mentions that he can feel the stage rocking during the Corduroy outro. Following Given to Fly, Ed notes it’s their 36th time in the city and 10th at the Garden, and continues, “…here with this garden party you never…

Show Notes: 

Ed mentions that he can feel the stage rocking during the Corduroy outro. Following Given to Fly, Ed notes it’s their 36th time in the city and 10th at the Garden, and continues, “…here with this garden party you never know what’s going to happen, like this next thing we didn’t know was going to happen until not too long ago…” He then introduces Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson from Cheap Trick, who were “newly anointed, appointed, indentured” (according to Ed) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, leading to the first full performance of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender.” After the song, Rick Nielsen is seen taking a picture of the crowd to which Ed notes, “this is amazing…Rick’s been at it so long, I didn’t know he’d know how to work an iPhone.” Nothingman begins the “man” trilogy, played for the first time in nearly 5 years, and 10 years since they’ve done it in this order. Before Leatherman, Ed talks about the Leatherman and equates it to Chris McCandless from Into the Wild in the early 1900’s, noting “I know that’s exciting…history.” Ed plays to the crowd during the Save it for Later tag, with a frantic finish. Mike is playing out of his mind on the 2 ½ minute Even Flow solo, and then Matt also takes a solo! Ed throws the mic into the crowd for the finish. Sirens is dedicated to Lance Corporal Tom Rorke who “lost his life tragically last year at the age of 23 and he’s got a lot of family and friends here tonight, like a lot, maybe a hundred of them. He put himself in harm’s way in a dignified manner, and tragically got lost in a crazy accident.” Big moment as the crowd gets loud at the end of Jeremy. Ed slips one “get out of my fuckin’ face” in the middle of Leash. Stone gets a spotlight for both solos in Do the Evolution. After the break, Ed jokes about going to Canada next, and how “they might not even have the internet up there.” You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away is Ed solo with the harmonica. Mike gets soulful on the underrated All or None solo. A fantastic Present Tense leads into both songs from Singles, with the crowd getting another chance to grab the microphone during Breath. Last Kiss’ is played to the back. Surprise guest Sting comes on stage during the first chorus of Driven to Tears and takes over the rest of the song, after which Ed gushes “let’s hear it one more time, that’s incredible…that’s all time favorite singer, favorite bass player, favorite activist, favorite humanist…that was a real honor…what do we do next?” House lights are up for Baba O’Riley, and at one point, Ed chastises someone for not giving a tambourine to a kid, muttering “give it to the kid you fuck.” Mike plays a long, feedback-drenched The Star Spangled Banner tag to close out the evening.

Written by: Nick Smith


May 1, 2016 – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, USA

Show Notes:

Go opens with the classic album version intro. Ed mentions towards the end of the extended Corduroy that “I can feel it rocking,” referring to the infamous 2003 Garden performance. Following Given to Fly, Ed says he was going to…

Show Notes: 

Go opens with the classic album version intro. Ed mentions towards the end of the extended Corduroy that “I can feel it rocking,” referring to the infamous 2003 Garden performance. Following Given to Fly, Ed says he was going to request that the crowd shake the stage again, but it already happened! Low Light features a ridiculously long hold on the last note. Release makes a rare mid-set appearance, dedicated to Jen and Tim. For the last lines of Even Flow, Ed throws the mic to someone in the crowd for the last chorus, getting it back at the end, saying “yeah, you’re in the band man.” Matt is introduced as “the assassin, the thoroughbred, the Lamborghini,” and then Ed points out Kenneth, the fan who sang on Even Flow, on background vocals: “Nice job Kenneth…in about 2 and a half hours you might have to sing a couple because I might be gone…I’m glad I got back up.” An extra line is added to In Hiding, “…cracks along the walls…I was tripping balls.” Rats is dedicated to Enrico Salvatore “Ratso” Rizzo, Dustin Hoffman’s character in Midnight Cowboy. Ed sings some of “Dangerous Business” (from Ishtar, another Hoffman film) before Wishlist, in which Ed gets political during the outro. Before Do The Evolution, Ed says, “Alright this is the song, this is where we get seismic…see if we can feel it,” and almost immediately he mentions they can feel it bouncing. After some South American-style call and response, Evolution goes right into Why Go without missing a literal beat. RVM features some forgive/forget improv by Ed. Out of the first encore break, Ed is sporting a Marathon Man shirt, another Dustin Hoffman film. The End is played for the first time since 2013. Future Days is dedicated to Kevin, who’s fighting an autoimmune disease, and his wife Kim. This leads Ed to talk about EB, and says the song was written about his wife, leading to a piano-driven, sparse performance of the song. Crowd is singing loud and strong for Chloe Dancer, and continues into Crown of Thorns. “Takin’ It to the Streets” is an unusual choice, Ed says it was requested by an old friend, saying “Happy birthday Jack, you motherfucker,” and they run through just a couple of minutes of it. Ed goes off on the Townshend guitar windmills at the end of the Save It For Later tag. Small Town is played to the back of the arena. Black is haunting and beautiful over 8 minutes, with an epic solo by Mike, who then takes a trip into the crowd during the Alive solo, getting close to the top of the first level. Matt Cameron’s son Ray gets Mike’s guitar roughly halfway through RITFW, leaving him to help out on tambourine duty. Mike gets the guitar back for Indifference, using a bow to add some effects.


September 26, 2015 – Central Park, New York City, NY, USA

Show Notes:

Ed greets the crowd with a “Good evening…I think a toast is in order, here’s to New York City, here’s to Central Park, here’s to you,” before hitting the ground running with Mind Your Manners and Do The Evolution. Before…

Show Notes: 

Ed greets the crowd with a “Good evening…I think a toast is in order, here’s to New York City, here’s to Central Park, here’s to you,” before hitting the ground running with Mind Your Manners and Do The Evolution. Before launching into Given to Fly, Ed says, “Hey, this one’s for Malala” (referencing Malala Yousafzai who had been on stage just prior to Pearl Jam). Before a beautiful Unthought Known, Ed tells the story of how the song was written:

Just so happens that four or five years back, between about 4 or 5 in the morning, overlooking Central Park right over there in that corner…I was still awake at four in the morning and I saw the most beautiful evening sky over Central Park, the streets were empty, the stars were out which was very rare, I’d never seen it. and then, and then, I should have been gettin’ some sleep but I started scribbling lyrics and it felt like you couldn’t walk out of there, I couldn’t go to sleep because there was magic happening in front of me…and um…and then I got to see the sun rise over this beautiful part of this great city. And when I woke up in the morning, I thought it was just going to be a bunch of scribble and uh, which it was, but I was actually able to record a bit of it and and it was kind of nice to play it back and it wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever done…it could never capture what I saw that night but to have the opportunity to play it in the middle of the thing that inspired it is something I would have never anticipated.  

Stone starts to play the opening lick to Alive, and then Ed promptly stops him, saying I just wanted to say something before he played that song. You know this is really an incredible experience, because you’re surrounded by all these incredible activists on stage, in the back, world leaders, heads of business, people who have chosen to become resolved and decide to make change, but never before have we played for an audience full, 100% full of activists, and it’s an incredible feeling and we just want to thank you for making this wave of hope that can ride and it can grow and I hope it smashes on the shore of cynicism and apathy and we make global poverty…that in the near future, we make global poverty a thing of the past…so, uh, thanks for having us here, it’s been a blast…

Ed unsuccessfully tries to lead the crowd in the “yeah” (fist pumping) chant during what was an incredible solo by Mike, perhaps due to their inexperience (by PJ standards). After a short break, Ed comes out with an acoustic guitar and gives a very heartfelt tribute to John Lennon before playing Imagine. Beyoncé is introduced as the crowd erupts, and they play Redemption Song, its first appearance at a PJ show since 1995! During the bridge, Ed continues strumming while Beyoncé does some improvisational scatting and a video of Nelson Mandela’s famous “Make Poverty History” speech plays in the background. Ed thanks Hugh Evans, the organizer of the festival, and invites “everybody that wants to come play, come play, good night, this is it!” and as the band launches into Rockin’ in the Free World, the stage fills up with people, including Sir Richard Branson, Kerry Washington, Olivia Wilde and so many more, with Stone getting a real kick out of one-time Seattle resident Bill Nye fanning his fingers during the solo. 


October 19, 2013 – Barclays Center, Brookyln, NY, USA

Show Covered by Podcast

Show Notes:

Saturday night in Brooklyn starts with the band flying out of the gate, playing the first NINE songs in a row without a break. Ed howls and screams through Wash, an early indicator that absolutely anything is on the table.…

Show Notes: 

Saturday night in Brooklyn starts with the band flying out of the gate, playing the first NINE songs in a row without a break. Ed howls and screams through Wash, an early indicator that absolutely anything is on the table. Lightning Bolt is introduced with “…live from Brooklyn, it’s Saturday night!” After Down, he tells the crowd

“…if I was a surfer, which I am, and you were the ocean, which in a way you are, this would be good surfing…right here…”

He continues, adding that the prior night they tied a record for amount of fist fights at a show with one, and pleads to not to come close to that record tonight. Even Flow features a showstopping Matt Cameron solo reminiscent of the ones he’d consistently bang out on the Avocado tour. Rats is dedicated to the nice people from the financial district, and with NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman in attendance, Ed changes the line to “Dennis, the two of us need look no more.” Unthought Known and Immortality transition flawlessly into one another with the latter featuring a screeching McCready solo. Ed makes this poignant speech prior to Better Man:

“You know, a lot of us have maybe something in common. I know the thing that bonds my friends and us together usually is the fact that at one point we were probably pretty broken. Sometimes people steer away from broken people, and those are the people that usually have never been broken. There’s nothing wrong with being broken. You can get fixed! You fix yourself. Things break and then they get fixed. Usually with the help of other people. I just want to say that this part of the country, all of the northeast, NJ, NY, Brooklyn…you’ve always been really really good to this group and have been there when we needed you, and I hope, fully, we’ve been able to return the favor. In China, if a vase breaks, they repair it and they draw a gold leaf where the crack was. They celebrate the cracks. We should celebrate what we’ve been through. It’s the people without the scars, those are the ones you have to worry about.”

After a whopping 20-song main set, they jump back into the encore with a powerful, soaring rendition of Footsteps. All Those Yesterdays appears for only the 14th time in the 15 years since Yield. During Porch, Ed channels his early 90’s antics and hops on a green orb hanging from the top of the stage and goes swinging back and forth over the crowd. Ed starts the second encore by saying

“you look fuckin’ great…we have some friends here tonight, people that we’ve known for many many many many years, from all over…you make us look really good in front of our friends…you guys make us look so good that if we had enemies they couldn’t be enemies anymore because they’d want to be our friends because they’d want to be your friends…”

He jokes that Whipping is called “Bad Boys Get Spanked.” Following Blood, he sees a shirt in the crowd for a non-profit called Every Mother Counts and makes a setlist change on the fly to play Leaving Here in honor of all the women in the crowd. The night ends with the classic ‘bread ‘n’ butter’ tracks, including the Hendrix-style Star-Spangled Banner tag off of Yellow Ledbetter. Ed finishes off the night with “New York, Brooklyn, you’ve been very very very good to us” in a thick New York accent.


October 18, 2013 – Barclays Center, Brookyln, NY, USA

Show Notes:

This is the first time the band has played in Brooklyn after many, many visits to New York City. Release appears in the #2 spot for the first time ever, and features in the main set in a spot other…

Show Notes: 

This is the first time the band has played in Brooklyn after many, many visits to New York City. Release appears in the #2 spot for the first time ever, and features in the main set in a spot other than the opener for the first time since the Ten show in Munich in 1992! Ed addresses the crowd and thanks Jay-Z for building the place, and that they have

“99 problems, but a place to play ain’t one.” 

No Even Flow tonight, but Mike makes up for it by taking center stage on incredible solos in both Dissident and Why Go. After I Am Mine, Ed says that it was dedicated to the people of New Jersey, who lost a lot in the last year with floods and fires. Infallible is dedicated to Ed’s daughters Harper and Olivia. A few technical issues before Sirens kicks in, as Mike’s 12-string has a tough time getting going. Ed addresses the false start and makes a terrible dad joke, saying that the last one came close to making the record, but would be on a b-side album called ‘Pearl Jam’s Greatest Misses’ due out in February. More issues ensue during the song, which leads Ed to leave the stage afterwards to find out what happened, giving Mike a platform to go nuts on an Eruption solo. After Spin the Black Circle, Ed mentions that the next song:

“was written by a guy everyone up here knew. I never knew him, but I think about him a lot, a lot…a lot. His name is Andrew Wood”

leading to a rare main set rendition of Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns. Oceans opens up encore one, dedicated to all the east coast surfers. Ed is hesitant to explain the meaning of Sleight of Hand before playing it, but he goes on to describe it as a song written about a guy who had to work 60-70 hours a week and wear a clip-on tie. With the Ramones being from NYC, Ed starts the ‘hey ho! let’s go!’ chant from “Blitzkrieg Bop” during the tag of Daughter. The green orbs are lowered down and swing back and forth on the stage during Porch. Before they start the second encore, Ed toasts a guy in front, holding a sign saying he’s at his 100th show and says he owes him a drink. The set is closed out with Sonic Reducer and the first night in Brooklyn ends with a powerful singalong on Indifference.


October 12, 2013 – First Niagara Center, Buffalo, NY, USA

Show Covered by Podcast

Show Notes:

The second night of the Lightning Bolt tour was the band’s fourth performance in the city of Buffalo. For the second straight night, they open the show with brand new track Pendulum. They also go back to the slow burn…

Show Notes: 

The second night of the Lightning Bolt tour was the band’s fourth performance in the city of Buffalo. For the second straight night, they open the show with brand new track Pendulum. They also go back to the slow burn open, following up with Low Light and Sometimes. Ed holds out the last note on Low Light for an eternity, while Sometimes gets somewhat of an extended intro. Do The Evolution caps off an energetic section featuring old and newer tracks with Ed engaging the crowd in a call and response similar to what the band receives on their South American tours. My Father’s Son is played for the first time live and gets off to a false start before the band figures it out. Also debuting at this show is Swallowed Whole. Ed tells the story of how I Got Shit was written during the Mirror Ball sessions, saying Neil Young told him to write a song and he responded:

“‘I don’t got one, I got shit.’ Neil said ‘I Got Shit, that’s the song!’”

This leads to an incredibly fun performance of the Merkinball track. Present Tense, State Of Love and Trust, and Porch are an excellent closing section to end the main set. In the encore, Ed compliments the Buffalo Sabres logo, leading to a ‘Go Leafs Go’ chant from the fans who traveled from Toronto. Ed jokingly responded, saying he couldn’t hear them because he lost his hearing in 1995. After a cool down featuring two brand new, melodic songs from the new album, the rest of the show is dominated by the Vs. record. Elderly Woman is played for the fans in the back and even has a separate drum kit facing their direction that Matt hops on, potentially the first instance featuring this setup. The rare Rats follows and the set finishes up with an atmospheric sounding Rearviewmirror. After pondering whether they should call the residents ‘Buffalonians’ or ‘Buffolites’, Go rips open the 2nd encore. Bread and butter closes the night, featuring Alive, Baba O’Riley, and another Vs. song, Indifference. Ed finishes things out saying “thanks for making it a great night for us, it’s all your fault!”