September 16, 2022 – Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN, USA

Show Notes:

Nothingman opens for only the second time ever (Telluride 2016). The arena sounds great and Ed comments on it early, saying “I think it might have been made for music.” The stools are kicked to the side during Present Tense.…

Show Notes: 

Nothingman opens for only the second time ever (Telluride 2016). The arena sounds great and Ed comments on it early, saying “I think it might have been made for music.” The stools are kicked to the side during Present Tense. Who Ever Said is high-energy, they’re really loving this one right now, it has a little sped-up flourish at the end. Ed says that yesterday was the anniversary of the passing of Johnny Ramone and tells a story about seeing his daughter and Johnny asleep in the same room and thinking about the circle of life, leading into what Ed calls Johnny’s favorite Pearl Jam song, Corduroy. Rats is a request from…Jeff Ament! Prior to Wishlist, Ed jokes about Mike having to break into the Gibson factory and replacing one of his guitars with one of their originals, and that he’ll need Grumpy’s Bail Bonds (a sign they had seen coming into town) to get him out, and then says that Pete Townshend once played the Les Paul he’s using. The improv part of the tag has lyrics of

“If you’re lucky, if you’re lucky…your wishes, they’ll come true, 
if you’re lucky, if you’re lucky…if you’re lucky you’ll marry your best friend, 
if you’re lucky it’ll last to the end, if you’re lucky you’ll marry your best friend, if you’re lucky…”

Being in a town with the most musicians, Ed says they must be in the town with the most crew members and techs and acknowledges them, adding “no musician here or anywhere in the world would be anything without them.” River Cross is played for Ukraine in the hopes that they’re turning the war around. After the break, Last Kiss is played to the back and then they kick into Go. Ed sees a sign for someone who’s at their 185th (!!) show requesting Smile, and then jokes that maybe the sign said 18.5. Ed points out former Chicago Cubs pitcher Ray Burris, who’s in attendance. Vitalogy is the most-played album of the night, with 6!


June 11, 2016 – Bonnaroo Music Festival, Manchester, TN, USA

Show Notes:

“Good evening! Past your bedtime?” Ed asks to open the show. A frenetic Go opens the set, and they don’t let up through Save You and Corduroy. Following Nothingman, Ed comments on “some candidate’s” proposed wall, telling the crowd a…

Show Notes: 

“Good evening! Past your bedtime?” Ed asks to open the show. A frenetic Go opens the set, and they don’t let up through Save You and Corduroy. Following Nothingman, Ed comments on “some candidate’s” proposed wall, telling the crowd a wall should be built around the candidate instead, a “5×5…a little cinder block window in there,” and then the energy picks back up with Mind Your Manners. Wishlist is dedicated to a couple in the audience who met 10 years ago at Bonnaroo. Four songs from Ten close the main set, and Oceans opens the encore. A touching moment follows, as Ed says he has a birthday cake for a girl but no candles, and asks the crowd to hold up their phones to serve as the candles. It’s for his daughter, Olivia, who’s celebrating her 12th birthday at the show, and he sings Happy Birthday to her along with the crowd, and the ‘candles’ are ‘blown out.’ Better Man nearly reaches 8 minutes, and then Brendan O’Brien joins onstage to play keys on an epic Black, that does go beyond 8 minutes. A throwback show, with 16 of the 22 songs from the band’s 1990’s albums, including 7 from Ten.


June 9, 2016 – Third Man Records, Nashville, TN, USA

Show Notes:

Nashville, TN Ten Club members woke up to an email this morning telling them to show up at Grimey’s, a Nashville record store, for something special. The first 30 Ten Club members received tickets for a show to be played…

Show Notes: 

Nashville, TN Ten Club members woke up to an email this morning telling them to show up at Grimey’s, a Nashville record store, for something special. The first 30 Ten Club members received tickets for a show to be played that night at Jack White’s Third Man Records store. Due to the small size of the Blue Room at Third Man, only 200 lucky fans were in attendance, including country star Keith Urban and Third Man Records artist Margo Price, as well as NBA star Chris Bosh and Nashville mayor Megan Barry. As a tune-up for the recording, Interstellar Overdrive opens, leading into Corduroy, but the performance is not included on the final release. Rough start to Pendulum, as the organ wasn’t set up, causing a bit of a delay.

The break between sets is needed to set up the acetate machine for side two, and the band uses the delay to hang out and talk with audience members. Side two is full of rare performances, as Jack White joins for Of the Earth, trading solos with Mike, stretching the song out to 10 minutes in length. Hard to Imagine follows, and to close, Let Me Sleep is played with the full band, and for only the 5th time ever. A unique show in an intimate venue.

Written by Nick Smith


October 14, 2014 – FedEx Forum, Memphis, TN, USA

Show Notes:

Dave Krusen is in attendance. Early on in the night, Ed comments how he caught a cold at the Austin City Limits show a few days prior, but he’s “pretty sure it’s not Ebola,” hinting that if a bottle happens…

Show Notes: 

Dave Krusen is in attendance. Early on in the night, Ed comments how he caught a cold at the Austin City Limits show a few days prior, but he’s “pretty sure it’s not Ebola,” hinting that if a bottle happens to get passed around later in the show, everyone who takes a sip is risking their lives. The band seems to make up for this by absolutely crushing it all night, with Mike in particular just on fire. Pendulum and Wash pair beautifully in the opening sequence, it was raining all day before the show. After Mind Your Manners, Ed comments how the new venue is much nicer than the old Pyramid, and the crowd cheers in agreement. Prior to Lightning Bolt, Ed plays a short improv about getting someone who you’ve lost back in your life. Sirens has a nice extended outro singalong. Ed says Half Full is “about something we love but something that doesn’t give a fuck about us: the planet.”  Garden is dedicated to someone named Clinton. Ed tells a funny story about being in San Diego years ago and going outside a venue for a smoke, and the bouncer commenting how he looked like “the singer in that band,” to which Ed replied, “I met that guy years ago and he’s a total asshole!” The bouncer then proceeds to say “Yeah man, he’s a total dick.” Before he went back into the venue, he showed the bouncer his passport, and the guy said, “Oh man, it’s so nice to meet you!” Alone is played for the first time in 2014, “for all you serious collectors.” Wishlist is extended with several lines. Let The Records Play goes out to “Sun and Stax records, and vinyl,” followed by Spin The Black Circle. Ed improvs again during Black, and a stellar Rearviewmirror closes the main set.

After the break, Ed jokes that the band is more than happy to end early so folks can go to last call at the bars on Beale St. (which receives a lot of boos), and the encore opens with Nothing As It Seems. Come Back is dedicated to “Ikey” (Isaiah Owens, keyboardist for Jack White, Mars Volta, Long Beach Dub All-Stars), who passed away during the day. Mike highlights a scorching version of Breath. Ed tells a story about the band taking a tour of the Gibson guitar factory (which was very close to the venue), and the guide saying that the drummer of Pearl Jam had just been there, referring to Dave Krusen. Boom and Mike trade off solos on Crazy Mary and then join together at the end. Ed steps back and lets the crowd sing the Better Man intro, and the song builds to a crescendo ending jam. Mike has some really soulful, playful lines to end Yellow Ledbetter.