Before Pearl Jam’s first ever show in Hampton, fans who waited outside the venue were delivered the unfortunate news that the show scheduled for Raleigh two days later had been cancelled. Ed speaks about the situation during the break, to…
Main Set: Why Go, Mind Your Manners, Corduroy, Brain Of J., Faithfull, I Am Mine, Jeremy, Setting Forth, Not For You/(Modern Girl). Even Flow, Daughter/(It’s O.K.), Long Road, Wishlist, Sirens. Habit, Given To Fly, Lukin, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: I Am A Patriot, Sleeping By Myself, Come Back, Sad, Lightning Bolt, In My Tree, Breath, Do The Evolution, Porch
encore 2: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Inside Job, Black/(We Belong Together), Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World, Indifference
Before Pearl Jam’s first ever show in Hampton, fans who waited outside the venue were delivered the unfortunate news that the show scheduled for Raleigh two days later had been cancelled. Ed speaks about the situation during the break, to mixed reactions from the audience:
“We had to make a real tough call about what we would do about the situation in North Carolina, because they’ve got a law there that broadly discriminates against a whole group of people…and I can’t tell from here if you’re booing North Carolina, if you’re booing us for having to decide that we’re not going to play there…I would understand that too. It was a hard process because we thought we could still play and make things right and that we could fortify all the people on the ground working to repeal this despicable law. We thought we could take the money and give it to them and still play the show, but the reality is, there’s nothing like the immense power of boycotting…and it’s a shame because people are going to be affected that don’t deserve it, but it could be the way that ultimately is gonna effect change so again, we just couldn’t find it in ourselves in good conscience to cross a picket line when there was a movement…we apologize to those in Raleigh, we apologize to those who were going to Raleigh, we apologize to the locals who probably believe in the same things that we do…they have a reason to be pissed and we’re pissed off too but we gotta be pissed off at the right people and get them to change their minds cause they made a mistake, a big mistake, and they can fix it.”
The show gets off to a quick start with a 1-2 punch of Why Go and Mind Your Manners. Brain of J. and Faithfull back-to-back are a bit of a tease coming after the full Vs. performance in Greenville at the previous show. Ed talks about how beautiful Hampton is, and how they were in nearby Virginia Beach after Roskilde and wrote the next song in a hotel room, leading to I Am Mine. Carine McCandless (sister of Chris from Into The Wild) is acknowledged before Setting Forth, and Ed mentions that she lives in the area. Inspired soloing from both McCready and Cameron on Even Flow. “It’s O.K.” is tagged onto Daughter, and feels especially poignant, given both the band’s decision to cancel the Raleigh show and the previously referenced Virginia Beach 2000 show. Plenty of dedications on the night, as Long Road is dedicated to a local teacher, Habit is for a fan named Andrew who is at the show with his brother, and Ed introduces Given to Fly by saying “this one goes out to the local guy who just got out of prison after thirty-three fucking years on April 8th…Keith Allen Howard…I wish I could buy that guy a drink.” The RVM jam gets a little spacey. After the break. Ed makes another dedication, this one for a father who lost his son Nathan in the military, and plays I am a Patriot solo electric. Sleeping By Myself is a trainwreck and has to be stopped twice, Ed can’t remember the words, but they make it through eventually. Continuing the dedication theme, Come Back goes out to Dr. Michael Richter. A fan gets the microphone during Breath to sing the last line. During the second break, a crew member named Liz joins the band on stage and everyone sings Happy Birthday to her. Small Town is played to the back. Ed dedicates the first performance of Inside Job since 2013 to Jennifer Jaff, an activist who had recently passed away. Short, restrained We Belong Together tag on Black. Indifference returns to its usual closing spot after being in the middle of the main set at the previous show.
Written by: Paul Wirt