Pearl Jam Podcast Episodes

It’s a brand new year, and a brand new season of the podcast will feature a brand new series where each week we will cover every single Pearl Jam tour year in chronological order! The kick off starts here with 1991 as we cover a show that’s only the second known bootleg from back when they were still billed as Mookie Blaylock at Florentine Gardens in Los Angeles. This was the beginning of their first tour – an 11-show west coast swing opening up for the surging Alice In Chains.

This show is like an artifact dug up from underground and showcased to a group of people interested in studying the past, but the bootleg for this show had been available in the 90s, yet not widely circulated. For a show that has the live debuts of Garden and Brother, and the only performance for 18 years of the latter, you would think that there would be interest from nerdy fans who wanted their hands on everything. Well, that was not the case. We invite Patrick and Brian from our Hallucinogenic Recipe podcast to talk about why this show wasn’t as massed produced as it could have been. Was it due to audio quality? Was it due to popularity of shows in the mid-90s garnering more attention? They’ll break down all of the reasons, and the reasons why it needs to be heard today.

As we’ll do with every show during this series, we’ll give a synopsis of the entire tour year and some statistical analysis of what went down. The episode is much longer than the actual show that clocks in at 40 minutes, but don’t worry, because we get to tell the tale of our friend “taper dude” and how excited he was to witness the former Mother Love Bone in their new formation.

Our final show for 2025 is the #1 Pearl Jam show of the year voted on by the listeners, and of course it can’t be anything other than the tour closer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Unbeknownst to us, this would be the final show of Matt Cameron’s 27-year tenure in Pearl Jam, and although it wasn’t announced until two months later, there are enough subtle hints in this show that are clearer from hindsight’s perspective – the champagne toast, the hugs and even t-shirts worn by Mike and Jeff are some signals that you can tell the band knows what’s going on. But there is also references to this show being the end of the Dark Matter run that only got one full calendar year of touring.

While Matt Cameron is the storyline that we didn’t know at the time, it was his former Soundgarden bandmate, Chris Cornell, that was the major storyline heading into this show. May 18th this year was the anniversary of Cornell’s death, something that the band has been hesitant to address at shows due to the nature of the subject. Going back to that date last year, there was a show in Vegas that did not reference him outside of a shirt that Cameron wore. After telling a story about him at Fenway Park last year and performing Hunger Strike in Australia, it seemed that the band was ready to pay tribute to the man they called a bandmate and brother. We’ll talk about the first ever appearance of Comes Then Goes in a setlist, as well as Hunger Strike being played for the final time with Cameron.

Thank you for checking out this podcast all year! after 350 episodes, we can’t wait to show you what’s all in store for 2026!

We’re down to two episodes left on the year, and the show voted as the #2 Pearl Jam show of the year comes to you from their first night in Pittsburgh. It had been 12 years since they last appeared in the Steel City, and the anticipation for these shows was high due to it being the final stops. What we didn’t know then is that there would be more of a finality to these shows than we would’ve wanted as these will go down as the final shows of Matt Cameron’s 27 year tenure with the band. As Ed would say at this show, it was about to be the end of an era, but we all thought that it was just the Dark Matter era that was coming to a close…

While we’ll get into hints of Cameron’s departure in this episode, the talking points center more around storytelling. We’ve invite Jeremy Rasmussen onto the show to talk about his travels on this tour through the lens of his taco truck called Taco Jam! Taco Jam became a massive hit as Jeremy drove around from venue to venue with the idea in mind to cook delicious tacos for all of the fans hanging out in merch lines, GA or at pre-parties. He’ll share stories of mishaps on the road and how he got engrained into our community meeting dozens of wonderful new friends, including us.

We’ll also invite another guest on as Noa Shaindlinger will join us to discuss her moment when she requested Grievance thanks to Ed selecting her at this show. We’ll talk about the Hand Trilogy, Bruce Springsteen and Binaural’s 25th anniversary in the penultimate episode of the year!

You guys voted, and we’re delivering on democracy. The Pearl Jam show that was voted the #3 show of the year is the second night in Nashville! This was a show that streamed live on Sirius XM, which means that the band had plans for a special evening. One of the top moments of the year came early in the set when they invited the legendary Peter Frampton on stage to perform Black. We’ll talk about what it meant for him to be up there and how his performance on the song impacted the show.

Javier attended this one and has many stories to share, including his journey during the off day finding guitar stores and record shops just to be greeted by a couple of familiar faces. Approaching Third Man Records, Javi finds Eddie inside, and it leads to a massive group photo and a huge piece to an unforgettable day. Javi and friends also got to meet Josh Klinghoffer at a minor league baseball game, so he’ll share all of those great memories prior to breaking down the setlist.

Tune in to check out that full breakdown, including why perhaps the set wasn’t capitalized on after the big Peter Frampton moment.

Coming in at number 4 on our list of the Top 5 Pearl Jam shows of the 2025 tour is the second night from Raleigh, North Carolina! The night one crowd was treated to a sampling of songs that are almost never played at a Pearl Jam show, so night two needed to step it up a notch and it did. From the massive surprise of opening the show with Setting Sun, to a version of Untitled paying homage to the local fans in attendance, there are no lack of big time moments to celebrate from this one.

Joining the podcast this week are two friends who have unique stories from attending this show. We invite Lori Jernberg and Steve Bennett to the pod this week. Steve will talk about the importance of taking in a show together with family, and he’ll rave about Rocky Marciano’s undefeated streak that was no match for Wreckage, which was not played for the first time after 45-straight shows. Lori’s story is about how the loss of a close friend made this night emotional for her, but it’s also about how she managed to get Eddie’s attention and came home with the ultimate gift you can get from a Pearl Jam show. Randy was also there at this show taking it in with Lori in GA, and he’ll speak of his own experiences with family and loss, and perhaps other reasons why this show made an impact on him.

It’s a jam packed episode with incredible stories as well as the normal setlist breakdown. Keep tuning in to find out what show is dubbed #1 for the year!

As we come to the end of 2025, it’s time to take a look back and reflect on the touring year for Pearl Jam. From now until the end of December, we’ll be counting down the Top 5 shows of 2025 voted on by you the listeners. Coming in at #5 on the list is the first of two nights in Nashville, Tennessee. It had only been three years since the band last played there, but the vibe of music city and the great arena sound motivated them to get back there as soon as possible. With the help of these two shows, it has become the premiere destination spot to see Pearl Jam in the southern United States.

Javier was at this show, so he’ll provide his experiences in great detail from the local bars that were hopping with music to the performances in the arena. We’ll spend a lot of time discussing the future for Dark Matter songs such as Scared Of Fear, Wreckage and Got To Give, and we’ll dig into how those songs have evolved in year two of touring for this album. This show has some other great moments we witnessed, including Indifference as the opener, a warm tribute with Keep Me In Your Heart, Ed playing Jack White’s gifted guitar on the rare Green Disease and a great story from Daughter that we’ll spend some time on.

But most importantly? We invite our friend, Jason Brown, to the show to talk about a moment of a lifetime when he got brought up on stage during Brain Of J. But that’s not all! Find out how Ed being a kleptomaniac resulted in Jason meeting one of his heroes!

There are Pearl Jam crowds in the United States that are so passionate about the band that the shows in these places become can’t miss. However, you take the enthusiasm of any North American crowd and it will pale in comparison to the fans in South and Latin America. While Brazil, Chile and Mexico are known for having strong participation, it’s the Argentinians that are the ones who started it all. This episode goes back to the first time Pearl Jam played in South America on tour in 2005, and the first show in Buenos Aires where the crowd that sang the incredible guitar melodies that defined the concert experience down there.

At recent shows, the band knows exactly what they are gonna get out of these uber impassioned crowds, but back when they toured the continent for the first time, they had no idea what was coming. Eddie Vedder’s experience with these crowds came back in 1996 when The Ramones went down there on their final tour run. Pearl Jam had yet to play there, but when Johnny Ramone died in 2004, it took only 14 months before they made their first visit. And what they saw was nothing short of incredible. Fans singing melodies to big hits such as Jeremy, Do The Evolution, Even Flow and Corduroy, but also singing loudly on deeper stuff like MFC and Breakerfall. If this show proves anything, it’s that this band would have a long lasting relationship with the country and bring some of the theatrics to other venues all over the world. We’ll dig into an incredible version of Black and talk about the strong connection that the crowd has made with it throughout the years, and a ripping 11-minute version of Rearviewmirror with one of the best bridge sections you’ll ever hear.

Lots of crowd discussion, as well as a little talk on the recent Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction featuring Soundgarden. We’ll talk about what it means to finally see them in, and plead our case for another legendary Seattle band to be next.

Due to Eddie Vedder’s case of food poisoning that affected Pearl Jam’s 1995 show at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, many of the remaining dates on that summer’s run had to be rescheduled for the fall. The band played five shows in the first week of November that started with two in Salt Lake City, then a make up for Golden Gate in San Jose before finishing up in one of Ed’s old stomping grounds for two shows in San Diego. Since this episode covers the last night of the tour year, we’ll get to tackle a show that can be seen as a full circle moment with special performances that truly defined their setlists and sound in 1995.

First of all, this is a very heavy Jack Irons show – something that we always wax poetically about whenever we get the opportunity to cover one of the few years that he was with the group. He’s presence is hypnotic. Every time you hear a Jack performance, you can instantly notice that it’s him behind the kit. This show features some incredible versions of Jack songs, but perhaps none better than Corduroy with a solo that is absolutely out of this world. We’ll also dig into his “surf rock” influence on Alive and profound tempo on Oceans. This show also features what are considered the rare gems of 1995 such as the alternate version entitled No (or New) Jeremy, Red Mosquito in it’s infancy and a full band OTOTO performance of legendary Who song, I Can’t Explain.

We invite in Patrick Boegel from the Hallucinogenic Recipe podcast to help out on this one, and we’ll make an attempt to figure out whether Howard Stern had the right to be upset with Ed for calling Glorified G “a song I hate”. Yes, this show features THAT version!

Like any major arena rock band, Pearl Jam is most known for putting on massive shows in the world’s biggest cities. While their shows in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago are always ones to keep an eye out for, America’s smaller towns have also gotten the band at their very best. On the 2000 tour, Pearl Jam ran through dates at places they have yet to return to in 25 years such as Albuquerque, Boise, Greensboro and the show we cover in this episode that emanated from Lubbock, Texas.

Lubbock is just the 10th largest city in Texas, but still very much a small town in comparison to Dallas or Houston. While Texas Tech grads may argue that the Red Raiders are the most notable thing from Lubbock, most music fans know that it’s the hometown of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, Buddy Holly. Anyone that knows their rock history knows about the plane crash that took the lives of Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson aka The Big Bopper at such a young age, but what some may not know is the full background of the story. We’ll share some of the eerie details of the crash and it’s aftermath as we take in a moment of tribute with the band covering Holly’s popular song Everyday.

We’ll run through the entire set and talk a little about the recent death of KISS lead guitarist Ace Frehley and his impact on Pearl Jam.

We’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of Pearl Jam’s memorable run from coast to coast in Canada. This was the first instance where they decided to travel the entire length of the country hitting up 15 different locations from small towns like Kitchener and Thunder Bay, to big cities like Vancouver and Toronto. Eight provinces were represented, including Nova Scotia which saw it’s one and only Pearl Jam show in Halifax.. You can tell that the band truly appreciated getting to travel throughout the country and wanted to leave an impact on some of the smaller places in which they’d never return to. From trying a Keith’s to playing through some of their rarities, Halifax is one of the tour’s most prominent stops, and we’ll cover it in this episode.

As much as it’s the Canadian tour, this run also feels somewhat like the unofficial Lost Dogs tour as well. The b-side album was released in late 2003 and the songs had become popular by the time 2005 came along. Outside of other eras in which these songs may have been played, this was one of the first opportunities that the band had to showcase them in front of a crowd, and this show features two big ones. Eddie came out in the pre-set to perform Driftin’, and Hard To Imagine was used as an opener for the first time at a show. This would invite the song into the pantheon of popular openers along the likes of Release, Sometimes, Long Road and others, and it truly elevated the song to a level in which we hadn’t seen of it live to that point.

The rest of this set is full of more rarities and messes with the standard setlist structure by utilizing songs in spots they aren’t usually played.

A three night stand is a bit of a rarity in the Pearl Jam world, but any time that it’s happened, the shows immediately become a part of the band’s folklore. Mansfield’s trilogy is always the premiere go to, but the three shows at Jones Beach in 2000 are legendary in their own right. The Daughter/It’s OK moment from night two may still dominate the conversation 25 years later, but it’s the night three show where the band went to all depths of their catalog to put together an extremely memorable finale on Long Island.

The big theme of this show is centered around the high usage of an album that’s considered to be a favorite of the die hard fan – No Code. There were seven tracks from the record played, and none of them were what you may consider to be as the commonly played songs from that record at the time (Hail, Hail, Lukin and to an extent, Habit). It’s songs like Red Mosquito, Off He Goes, letting Stone sing on an inspired version of Mankind and a late encore performance of Smile, which was not considered to be a common song during this era like it is today. The band took it upon themselves to give this crowd something they’d never forget, and it wasn’t just for the fact that these songs appeared, they all blew the doors down. From Immortality as a closer, to a unique usage of Save It For Later as the Better Man tag, the kitchen sink was thrown because the kitchen sink was lit ablaze.

We’ll dig into heavy discussion on all of the best performances from this show mentioned above, as well as Do The Evolution, Rearviewmirror, Black and the rare Binaural tracks for the era!