I stand firm on the screen being absolutely useless. The visuals are meh at best, even the quality doesn’t seem great. It’s such a lesser feel in the room without them surrounded.
I 100% agree on this. It has the early Apple iTunes vibes and is totally useless. Plus it takes away a good 5-7k seats.
The screens are awesome. Adds a lot to the show and visually great. Glad they added them.
I think it’s smart that they’re trying to bring another element to get people engaged with the newer songs but I’ve seen Pearl Jam in an arena twice now in venues where there was no behind the stage seating and the energy just isn’t the same. Being in GA last night felt weird. Like I was at a small club and not an arena rock concert.
I've been to 32 shows and not once have I paid any attention or gained any energy from people behind the stage. Love the screens. I prefer when they put up images of the band because that puts people in the back rows right up front but I'm good with all of the production.
Congrats on 32, I'm jealous because you topped my Rush 31.
I've been lucky enough to catch PJ at fenway, Ottawa, Camden, etc. all great shows. And Fenway was really loud
Nothing compares to the garden with the crowd surrounding and enveloping the band.
What was missing last night was 5 thousand fans close to the stage helping create an actual earthquake, replaced by empty seats
That's why it wasn't shaking as much as usual yesterday.
This was my 20th show since 1998. I loved it— a superbly well-rounded Pearl Jam experience:
- Mainstream Hits (Better Man, Even Flow, DTE, Black, Alive) - Fan Faves (Pendulum, Immortality, Unthought Known, Given to Fly, Inside Job, Indifference) - Great New Songs (particularly Wreckage and Upper Hand) - Unexpected Rarities (Satan’s Bed, Outta My Mind) - Iconic Covers (Imagine, Baba O’Riley)
Add some great banter from Eddie Vedder, and this was a wonderful show. Like any diehard fan, I wish they would play for 3 hours. But this experience was well worth the time/money/travel I invested. Memorable and worthwhile!
Post edited by ZeMightyJedd on
2013: Baltimore, Los Angeles (1&2), Seattle
2009: Los Angeles (1,2,3,4)
2008: Los Angeles (1&2)
2003: Los Angeles (1&2)
2000: Maryland
1998: Washington, DC
I’m glad everyone enjoyed it, but that one just didn’t do it for me.
Same. Haven’t missed an MSG show in over 25 years and caught the two LA shows from this tour as well. Last night was my probably my least favorite show of all time. That was def NOT high energy for an MSG show and the set list construction didn’t help. Hoping everyone brings it tonight so we can make the floor shake like the good old days!
You need a Breath,Leash,RVM run and that floor will shake again! Awesome you've seen all the MSG shows for over 25 years. We were able to catch the May 20, 2010 MSG show and have great memories of that show. In any event enjoy the show tonight!!
That was an epic show!!! I still remember that Reign, SOLAT, Once, Porch run to close first encore and then came back out to Jeremy, Leash, Mankind, Crazy Mary…To be fair, my section was super lame last night and I’m sure that’s part of it. On the floor tonight and can hardly wait - thanks!
Will start by saying that this obviously cannot compare to MSG 2022. That might be the loudest a crowd has been at any concert I was ever at.
That being said, I thought a good portion of the crowd last night was LAME. The people in the row in front of me sat for 80-85% of the show. And barely any singing or dancing around me. I was in 104 for reference but that whole area just felt subdued.
That's a crowd problem...I thought the band was great as they have been on this tour. I also appreciate 10-11 new songs that were not played in Chicago. Loved hearing Satan's Bed and LBC. It was kind of cool hearing Outta My Mind but it did drain the crowd. Maybe not the move. I think that was exhibit A for the fans on here that don't shut up about "wanting more deep cuts."
GTF and Black were maybe the two best renditions of that song I have heard in YEARS. Great energy from the band but especially Eddie on those. And I will say the crowd was rocking by the Encore. Always love hearing Unthought Known and lost my mind for Indifference.
I always see these references about people dancing...I don't think I've ever seen anyone dance at a PJ show. What kind of dance is this that you people witness? Why would you want someone dancing near you? There is hardly room to stand shoulder to shoulder most of the time.
Post edited by Gern Blansten on
Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018) The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago 2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy 2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE) 2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston 2020: Oakland, Oakland:2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana 2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville 2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
My 40 th PJ show and man despite the length cut just so much energy and good vibes and still surprising with the Setlists betterMan 2 nd outta my mind love boat captain satans bed indifference back as closer pendulum. Ed’s rant before given to fly made that the most energetic GTF I’ve ever witnessed. Thank you thank you thank you PJ and better yet… CYA TOMORROW!!!!
Anyone find a clip of the GTF speech about Adam? I can only find one but the video starts after the speech right before the song.
I always see these references about people dancing...I don't think I've ever seen anyone dance at a PJ show. What kind of dance is this that you people witness? Why would you want someone dancing near you? There is hardly room to stand shoulder to shoulder most of the time.
I always see these references about people dancing...I don't think I've ever seen anyone dance at a PJ show. What kind of dance is this that you people witness? Why would you want someone dancing near you? There is hardly room to stand shoulder to shoulder most of the time.
Lol I think they just mean peoples body being into it (jumping up and down, just generally rocking out to the song instead of standing there like a statue with arms crossed passively listening. And standing there is fine too; sometimes I do but it does give extra energy to see others really clearly enjoying themselves.
Jones Beach II (2000), Holmdel (2003), Camden I, East Rutherford II, Gorge I, Gorge II (2006), MSG I, Boston II (2008), Spectrum II, Spectrum III, Spectrum IV (2009), MSG I, MSG II (2010), Prague (2012), Philly I (2013), Philly I, Philly II, Fenway I (2016), Fenway I (2018), MSG (2022), MSG I, Fenway 1 (2024)
I always see these references about people dancing...I don't think I've ever seen anyone dance at a PJ show. What kind of dance is this that you people witness? Why would you want someone dancing near you? There is hardly room to stand shoulder to shoulder most of the time.
😂 There was a young guy at Vancouver 2 at the back of the pit who danced the whole show with the identical moves that Ed pulls on stage. It was really something. 🕺
Nothing compares to the garden with the crowd surrounding and enveloping the band.
What was missing last night was 5 thousand fans close to the stage helping create an actual earthquake, replaced by empty seats
That's why it wasn't shaking as much as usual yesterday.
Agree. MSG feels like you're in a Roman coliseum where you see everyone in the room around you. Missing the people in the back of the stage rocking out and having the screen block out things takes away from that energy.
TFC '97, TFC '98, Pittsburgh '98, Camden I,II '98, Camden I,II '00, Pittsburgh '00, Philly '03, Camden I,II '03, MSG I,II '03, Hershey '03, Reading '04, Philly '05, Camden I,II '06, Meadowlands I '06, Camden I,II '08, DC '08, Spectrum I,II,III,IV '09, Made in America '12, Philly I,II '13, GCF '15, Philly I,II '16, MSG I '16, Apollo ‘22, MSG ‘22, Camden ‘22, MSG I,II '24, Philly I,II '24
Am I the only one who got shut out of both MSG shows (not the 1st time that it has happened) that finds it interesting that so many of the commenters who went last night are going again tonight? How does that work? Thankfully I got Fenway but I just don't get it.
I have a crew of 4 I have been going to shows with since 1996. We all put in for the same shows. We only need to to hit the lottery with 2 people and we are all in.
I always see these references about people dancing...I don't think I've ever seen anyone dance at a PJ show. What kind of dance is this that you people witness? Why would you want someone dancing near you? There is hardly room to stand shoulder to shoulder most of the time.
😂 There was a young guy at Vancouver 2 at the back of the pit who danced the whole show with the identical moves that Ed pulls on stage. It was really something. 🕺
I'm a 'one show per tour' person (well, maybe two), and this was my first time ever at MSG. All I can say is that we had an incredible time, the energy was way above anything I've ever seen in my usual Toronto-area venues, and we were happy with the screens since our Ten Club tix were near the back of the lower bowl. Jealous of the night two setlist, but still very happy with what we got, and hopefully we get a Toronto show next year!
Also, it's just my luck that my last two shows feature angry rodents on the event t-shirts!🤣
come to the serenity of my part of queens next time.. good to see you before night two before that Cubs no-hitter.
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023 MSG 2024, MSG 2024 Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
I'm a 'one show per tour' person (well, maybe two), and this was my first time ever at MSG. All I can say is that we had an incredible time, the energy was way above anything I've ever seen in my usual Toronto-area venues, and we were happy with the screens since our Ten Club tix were near the back of the lower bowl. Jealous of the night two setlist, but still very happy with what we got, and hopefully we get a Toronto show next year!
Also, it's just my luck that my last two shows feature angry rodents on the event t-shirts!🤣
Great post! Thanks for sharing. Glad you had a good time at MSG. 😃 Love the double rats!
DC '03 - Reading '04 - Philly '05 - Camden 1 '06 - DC '06 - E. Rutherford '06 - The Vic '07 - Lollapalooza '07 - DC '08 - EV DC 1 & 2 '08 (Met Ed!!) - EV Baltimore 1 & 2 '09 - EV NYC 1 '11 (Met Ed!) - Hartford '13 - GCF '15 - MSG 2 '16 - TOTD MSG '16 - Boston 1 & 2 '18 - SHN '21 - EV NYC 1 & 2 '22 - MSG '22
Finally getting around to doing my fanviews after taking some time to digest all that I’ve seen over the past several shows (both MSG and Philly). Overall, I thought it was a great show with a lot of surprises and deeper cuts. I was pretty high up in section 211, but my section was loaded with lots of long-time 10cers who were singing along to every word of every song, including the deep cuts. Immortality is one of my favorite songs, and I love hearing it at the beginning of a set. And mike killed the solo. I hadn’t heard Satan’s bed in a long time so that was a nice surprise. The people in my section went nuts when it came on, and I thought the band rocked it. Other highlights for me were outta my mind (which is amazingly the 3rd time I’ve heard that), upper hand, and LBC. I also really enjoyed Ed’s heartfelt dedication to the boy who had been bullied and had recently lost his mother. And when they launched into the song, the audience responded in kind. Yet another great garden show!
I always see these references about people dancing...I don't think I've ever seen anyone dance at a PJ show. What kind of dance is this that you people witness? Why would you want someone dancing near you? There is hardly room to stand shoulder to shoulder most of the time.
so you are one of the many lumps on a log at the shows.
I was fortunate enough to make it to three shows this 2024 tour – my first three show run since possibly as far back as 2008. I downloaded the Pearl Jam Stat Tracker at the start of the tour, and tragically I cannot reproduce my entire history. Those 2009-2013 shows run together, and I did not save every stub or get a poster at every show. So, while the app tells me these are shows twenty-four to twenty-six, it feels like it should be closer to thirty.
I saw <b>MSG Night 1, Philly Night 2, and Baltimore</b>. All three were fan club tickets. Crappy upper deck Stone side seats for MSG and Philly. Great Stone side floor seats for Baltimore. But honestly the seats do not matter. At this point in my life, I am simply happy to be in the building and be there for the music. To take communion with the band.
My original plan was to review each show separately, but honestly, they all kind of blurred together in the best way possible. The band was on fire every night. The crowds were electric. You could not only feel the energy – the reciprocity was tangible. Pearl Jam was simultaneously five guys (or six or seven if you want to count Boom and Josh) and the 15,000 people in the arena. They have been at this for thirty years, but they still come out every night and play with the emotional intensity of a band grateful for the opportunity. The chemistry is otherworldly. The responsiveness supernatural. This was probably the best block of shows I have been to since my 03 run of Uniondale and MSG nights 1 and 2. It was the sound of a band that refuses to leave its prime – and wherever there may have been a loss in power it was easily offset by craft and connectivity – with the band knowing how to generate communal intimacy, and a fan base who understands that they are not just there to listen. They are there to participate. As long as they provide fuel the music will keep burning.
I occasionally read fan reviews on Facebook and elsewhere, and it seems like the self-entitled fan reviews get the most attention. The ones written by someone who goes to their shows with a spreadsheet and judges their success by the boxes they can tick off. Fandom as curation. But I can say, definitively, that the crowds in the building emphatically disagreed with your disappointment. I have my favorite albums. I have my favorite live songs. I have my own wish list. But what was made abundantly clear is that, in the moment, the song I want to hear the most is whatever they are playing. I do not necessarily feel that way watching set lists unfold at home or listening to a bootleg of a show I wasn’t at. But when I am there, I don’t want to think. I want to feel. And after thirty years at this, the band knows the science of the heart, and how to calibrate a setlist to create a deep and visceral emotional response of everyone in attendance. And trying to draw distinctions between the shows feels arbitrary, or academic in the most pedantic way possible.
But the variety was there – the delicate balance between the songs that destroy a crowd and the unexpected moment that keeps you on your toes was fully present. The alchemy between what you want and what you need in full effect. Out of the seventy-six songs I got to hear over three nights, fifty-one were unique. 67% of the total setlist. That is an astounding ratio. Only six songs were played across three nights. Only sixteen repeated at all. And every repeated song elicited a huge response from the crowd, and was the only time thousands of people in the room will get to hear it this tour. So for anyone complaining about cookie cutter setlists:
A: Cookies are still delicious.
B: Your math does not add up.
What can I say about the shows themselves? It is easier to capture moments. But the band roared out of the gate every night. It took a few moments to settle into slow burn openers like Of the Girl, Pendulum, and Can’t Keep (a first for me) – these are moody, atmospheric moments that slowly envelop you on their records, or as part of a gradually building openers. But the band was almost too excited to wait for the songs to settle. They were eager to get to work.
But I also do not know that these crowds would have waited. Every song received an explosive reaction, and there were moments that rang of prophecy. MSG exploded singing along to “I cannot stop the thought of running in the dark” during Immortality. The roof blew off of Philly at “I just want to scream ‘hello’” and after a ten-year drought of not hearing Elderly Woman my eyes absolutely welled up. Not just for the emotion of that particular moment, but in awe of the shared vocabulary we have built with each other over decades of fandom – the lyrics a language unto themselves, the arena a campfire for the soul.
Mike was a man possessed all three nights. MSG saw him play half of the Even Flow solo behind his back. I am pretty sure he played it with teeth at Philly. He destroyed a guitar during Black at MSG and spent the end of the song trying to resurrect it – a séance as much as a solo. And during Baltimore Eddie repeated the “I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life…” outro, and no one in the crowd minded getting it twice. He sounded great throughout the run, and was always chatty, playful, poignant, and real. The politics were present, but the continue to be focused more around building inclusive community - inviting people in rather than pushing them out. At this point Pearl Jam's values are of surprise to no one, and I think Eddie recognizes that while he may be able to inspire (or at least remind) someone to participate in our democratic process, this is not an appropriate venue for the long, hard work of changing minds - and that leaving feeling good about your fellow human beings is itself a political act in an era where politics is too often defined by cruelty.
Songs like Love Boat Captain that do not excite me in theory felt elemental in the moment, and the band made something like Inside Job feel like the most important song in the world. In Baltimore they stopped on a dime during Alive to make sure someone in general admission was okay, and picked right back up again with a kind of zero to infinity explosion of energy that, if harnassed, could solve a lot of the world’s problems. Otherwise, the older songs are the older songs. There are some, like Dance of the Clairvoyants (a top ten song in their entire catalog for me) that the band is still trying to figure out how to reproduce – the rare song that is gradually morphing into an entirely different animal live since they cannot reproduce the layered vocals of the outro. There are others, like Jeremy that sound impossibly vibrant for a song that old, a joyful, shared exorcism of our collective demons. At MSG,Eddie shared a story of a young kid surviving bullying and personal tragedy and transformed Given to Fly into an anthem of defiance. Moments like Out of My Mind, Alone, Tremor Christ, and Satan’s Bed feel like being let in on a secret. A run of songs like Present Tense -> Given to Fly -> Corduroy was a reminder of how deeply embedded into my DNA this band’s music is, and how hearing them together feels like both an affirmation and validation of my life. That to be here in this moment, hearing these songs, having the reaction, means I must have done something right. And I was not the only one in Baltimore having that experience. This is real ‘lifetime achievement of your favorite band’ kind of shit – something that defies words and explanations, but no less tangible and real. Eddie has spoken repeatedly about how transformative the live experience of music can be. The feeling of solidarity, of finding your tribe, of not being alone in a world full of isolating structures. How vast and powerful you feel in those moments. That is what they set out to create at a show, and somehow they are as good at it as they ever were.
Perhaps what was most remarkable is how great the Dark Matter songs sounded. I love Backspacer and Lightning Bolt, but those songs did not necessarily translate live the way I wanted them to, or the band gave up on most of them a little too quickly (with a few exceptions like Unthought Known and Mind Your Manners). Gigaton songs sounded really good, but Gigaton never really had a proper tour – the 2022, and 2023 shows felt more interstitial – tours between records, rather than tours celebrating a record. But the Dark Matter songs were vibrant. They felt like they mattered. And they felt timeless, songs that I had been hearing my whole life, songs that felt quintessentially Pearl Jam, and they nestled seamlessly alongside the rest of the catalog. React/Respond may have been the biggest surprise for how hard hitting it was – the sly winking of the studio version replaced by something raw and far more powerful. But Wreckage is a great sing along. Dark Matter pulses exactly the way you want it to – one of the heaviest moments in each set. Upper Hand felt suitably epic. Running is genuinely fun and playful, Scared of Fear sturdy and thoughtful. Waiting for Stevie was the five-minute shot of catharsis I hoped it would be. In fact, my only two complaints about these shows are that I never got to hear Setting Sun, and that Stevie is not in every setlist. I will unapologetically own that entitlement.
I should also add that Glen Hansard is incredible, and at each show I saw a side of him I wasn't familiar with, but need to be. I would love to see him and Eddie have a true full length collaboration together. Flag Day doesn't count.
In the end, I had the total experience I was looking for. Pre-show I got to finally meet so many of the people I interact with on message boards and Discord servers, the people who sustain my fandom in between shows and records. I truly believe Pearl Jam’s music is best experienced as part of a community, and being able to put names to screen names, and infuse internet personas with actual humanity strengthens and sustains those relationships. Every night was exactly the right mixture of surprising and familiar. And every member of the band brought the commitment that made them legends in this space. It turns out that every song, in the moment, is exactly the song I want to hear. That every song speaks to some part of who I am. And hearing them live, singing along with so many other fans, seeing how much these songs still mean to the band, revitalizes those parts of myself.
I am older than I was. Three shows in ten days takes a new toll on my body. The travel is demanding. This is not cheap, and I am grateful I was able to get to what I did. The planning can be a hassle. But for those two and a half hours, this band makes me feel immortal. And the next day the world feels just a little softer, and I fit into it just a little better. The experience has a price, but the feeling is priceless.
After thirty years, Pearl Jam is still the best band in the world. Not because they have something to prove, but because they do not, and insist on proving it anyway. Thank you for three more amazing nights.
p.s. Completely selfish plug and update – for everyone who preordered our book I Am No Guide: Pearl Jam Song by Song it will be released in the UK this month, and the worldwide (including the US) release should follow. We appreciate everyone’s patience. We asked the company to delay the release so we could include Dark Matter, and publishing logistics are more complicated than expected.
Comments
I've been lucky enough to catch PJ at fenway, Ottawa, Camden, etc. all great shows. And Fenway was really loud
Nothing compares to the garden with the crowd surrounding and enveloping the band.
What was missing last night was 5 thousand fans close to the stage helping create an actual earthquake, replaced by empty seats
That's why it wasn't shaking as much as usual yesterday.
astoria 06
albany 06
hartford 06
reading 06
barcelona 06
paris 06
wembley 07
dusseldorf 07
nijmegen 07
this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
- Mainstream Hits (Better Man, Even Flow, DTE, Black, Alive)
- Fan Faves (Pendulum, Immortality, Unthought Known, Given to Fly, Inside Job, Indifference)
- Great New Songs (particularly Wreckage and Upper Hand)
- Unexpected Rarities (Satan’s Bed, Outta My Mind)
- Iconic Covers (Imagine, Baba O’Riley)
Add some great banter from Eddie Vedder, and this was a wonderful show. Like any diehard fan, I wish they would play for 3 hours. But this experience was well worth the time/money/travel I invested. Memorable and worthwhile!
2009: Los Angeles (1,2,3,4)
2008: Los Angeles (1&2)
2003: Los Angeles (1&2)
2000: Maryland
1998: Washington, DC
That being said, I thought a good portion of the crowd last night was LAME. The people in the row in front of me sat for 80-85% of the show. And barely any singing or dancing around me. I was in 104 for reference but that whole area just felt subdued.
That's a crowd problem...I thought the band was great as they have been on this tour. I also appreciate 10-11 new songs that were not played in Chicago. Loved hearing Satan's Bed and LBC. It was kind of cool hearing Outta My Mind but it did drain the crowd. Maybe not the move. I think that was exhibit A for the fans on here that don't shut up about "wanting more deep cuts."
GTF and Black were maybe the two best renditions of that song I have heard in YEARS. Great energy from the band but especially Eddie on those. And I will say the crowd was rocking by the Encore. Always love hearing Unthought Known and lost my mind for Indifference.
Can't wait for the two philly shows!
The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
There was a young guy at Vancouver 2 at the back of the pit who danced the whole show with the identical moves that Ed pulls on stage. It was really something. 🕺
2003: 4/29 Albany, 5/2 Buffalo, 7/9 MSG 2 2006: 5/12 Albany, 6/3 East Rutherford 2
2008: 6/27 Hartford 2009: 10/27 Philadelphia 1 2010: 5/15 Hartford, 5/21 MSG 2
2013: 10/15 Worcester 1, 10/25 Hartford 2014: 10/1 Cincinnati
2018: 9/2 Fenway 1
2024: 9/3 MSG 1, 9/4 MSG 2 , 9/15 Fenway 1, 9/17 Fenway 2
Melbourne #2 '03
Melbourne #3 '03
Melbourne #1 '06
Melbourne #3 '06
Melbourne '09
Melbourne '14
I'm a 'one show per tour' person (well, maybe two), and this was my first time ever at MSG. All I can say is that we had an incredible time, the energy was way above anything I've ever seen in my usual Toronto-area venues, and we were happy with the screens since our Ten Club tix were near the back of the lower bowl. Jealous of the night two setlist, but still very happy with what we got, and hopefully we get a Toronto show next year!
Also, it's just my luck that my last two shows feature angry rodents on the event t-shirts!🤣
Montreal 98, 00, 03, 05, 11
Toronto 03, 06, 11
Ottawa 05, 11
Quebec 05; Saratoga 00; Boston 04; Toledo 04
Albany 06; Honolulu 06; Hartford 08
Costa Rica 11
London (Ont.), Hartford 13
Quebec, Fenway 1 + 2 16; London 18
EV Montreal (2), Berkeley II, Albany, Boston, London (UK)
astoria 06
albany 06
hartford 06
reading 06
barcelona 06
paris 06
wembley 07
dusseldorf 07
nijmegen 07
this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016
Fenway 2, 2018
MSG 2022
St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
MSG 2024, MSG 2024
Philadelphia 2024
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
Tell decidestodream I say hi, next time you touch base with her.
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
review of my run of shows (including MSG 1)
I was fortunate enough to make it to three shows this 2024 tour – my first three show run since possibly as far back as 2008. I downloaded the Pearl Jam Stat Tracker at the start of the tour, and tragically I cannot reproduce my entire history. Those 2009-2013 shows run together, and I did not save every stub or get a poster at every show. So, while the app tells me these are shows twenty-four to twenty-six, it feels like it should be closer to thirty.
I saw <b>MSG Night 1, Philly Night 2, and Baltimore</b>. All three were fan club tickets. Crappy upper deck Stone side seats for MSG and Philly. Great Stone side floor seats for Baltimore. But honestly the seats do not matter. At this point in my life, I am simply happy to be in the building and be there for the music. To take communion with the band.
My original plan was to review each show separately, but honestly, they all kind of blurred together in the best way possible. The band was on fire every night. The crowds were electric. You could not only feel the energy – the reciprocity was tangible. Pearl Jam was simultaneously five guys (or six or seven if you want to count Boom and Josh) and the 15,000 people in the arena. They have been at this for thirty years, but they still come out every night and play with the emotional intensity of a band grateful for the opportunity. The chemistry is otherworldly. The responsiveness supernatural. This was probably the best block of shows I have been to since my 03 run of Uniondale and MSG nights 1 and 2. It was the sound of a band that refuses to leave its prime – and wherever there may have been a loss in power it was easily offset by craft and connectivity – with the band knowing how to generate communal intimacy, and a fan base who understands that they are not just there to listen. They are there to participate. As long as they provide fuel the music will keep burning.
I occasionally read fan reviews on Facebook and elsewhere, and it seems like the self-entitled fan reviews get the most attention. The ones written by someone who goes to their shows with a spreadsheet and judges their success by the boxes they can tick off. Fandom as curation. But I can say, definitively, that the crowds in the building emphatically disagreed with your disappointment. I have my favorite albums. I have my favorite live songs. I have my own wish list. But what was made abundantly clear is that, in the moment, the song I want to hear the most is whatever they are playing. I do not necessarily feel that way watching set lists unfold at home or listening to a bootleg of a show I wasn’t at. But when I am there, I don’t want to think. I want to feel. And after thirty years at this, the band knows the science of the heart, and how to calibrate a setlist to create a deep and visceral emotional response of everyone in attendance. And trying to draw distinctions between the shows feels arbitrary, or academic in the most pedantic way possible.
But the variety was there – the delicate balance between the songs that destroy a crowd and the unexpected moment that keeps you on your toes was fully present. The alchemy between what you want and what you need in full effect. Out of the seventy-six songs I got to hear over three nights, fifty-one were unique. 67% of the total setlist. That is an astounding ratio. Only six songs were played across three nights. Only sixteen repeated at all. And every repeated song elicited a huge response from the crowd, and was the only time thousands of people in the room will get to hear it this tour. So for anyone complaining about cookie cutter setlists:
A: Cookies are still delicious.
B: Your math does not add up.
What can I say about the shows themselves? It is easier to capture moments. But the band roared out of the gate every night. It took a few moments to settle into slow burn openers like Of the Girl, Pendulum, and Can’t Keep (a first for me) – these are moody, atmospheric moments that slowly envelop you on their records, or as part of a gradually building openers. But the band was almost too excited to wait for the songs to settle. They were eager to get to work.
But I also do not know that these crowds would have waited. Every song received an explosive reaction, and there were moments that rang of prophecy. MSG exploded singing along to “I cannot stop the thought of running in the dark” during Immortality. The roof blew off of Philly at “I just want to scream ‘hello’” and after a ten-year drought of not hearing Elderly Woman my eyes absolutely welled up. Not just for the emotion of that particular moment, but in awe of the shared vocabulary we have built with each other over decades of fandom – the lyrics a language unto themselves, the arena a campfire for the soul.
Mike was a man possessed all three nights. MSG saw him play half of the Even Flow solo behind his back. I am pretty sure he played it with teeth at Philly. He destroyed a guitar during Black at MSG and spent the end of the song trying to resurrect it – a séance as much as a solo. And during Baltimore Eddie repeated the “I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life…” outro, and no one in the crowd minded getting it twice. He sounded great throughout the run, and was always chatty, playful, poignant, and real. The politics were present, but the continue to be focused more around building inclusive community - inviting people in rather than pushing them out. At this point Pearl Jam's values are of surprise to no one, and I think Eddie recognizes that while he may be able to inspire (or at least remind) someone to participate in our democratic process, this is not an appropriate venue for the long, hard work of changing minds - and that leaving feeling good about your fellow human beings is itself a political act in an era where politics is too often defined by cruelty.
Songs like Love Boat Captain that do not excite me in theory felt elemental in the moment, and the band made something like Inside Job feel like the most important song in the world. In Baltimore they stopped on a dime during Alive to make sure someone in general admission was okay, and picked right back up again with a kind of zero to infinity explosion of energy that, if harnassed, could solve a lot of the world’s problems. Otherwise, the older songs are the older songs. There are some, like Dance of the Clairvoyants (a top ten song in their entire catalog for me) that the band is still trying to figure out how to reproduce – the rare song that is gradually morphing into an entirely different animal live since they cannot reproduce the layered vocals of the outro. There are others, like Jeremy that sound impossibly vibrant for a song that old, a joyful, shared exorcism of our collective demons. At MSG,Eddie shared a story of a young kid surviving bullying and personal tragedy and transformed Given to Fly into an anthem of defiance. Moments like Out of My Mind, Alone, Tremor Christ, and Satan’s Bed feel like being let in on a secret. A run of songs like Present Tense -> Given to Fly -> Corduroy was a reminder of how deeply embedded into my DNA this band’s music is, and how hearing them together feels like both an affirmation and validation of my life. That to be here in this moment, hearing these songs, having the reaction, means I must have done something right. And I was not the only one in Baltimore having that experience. This is real ‘lifetime achievement of your favorite band’ kind of shit – something that defies words and explanations, but no less tangible and real. Eddie has spoken repeatedly about how transformative the live experience of music can be. The feeling of solidarity, of finding your tribe, of not being alone in a world full of isolating structures. How vast and powerful you feel in those moments. That is what they set out to create at a show, and somehow they are as good at it as they ever were.
Perhaps what was most remarkable is how great the Dark Matter songs sounded. I love Backspacer and Lightning Bolt, but those songs did not necessarily translate live the way I wanted them to, or the band gave up on most of them a little too quickly (with a few exceptions like Unthought Known and Mind Your Manners). Gigaton songs sounded really good, but Gigaton never really had a proper tour – the 2022, and 2023 shows felt more interstitial – tours between records, rather than tours celebrating a record. But the Dark Matter songs were vibrant. They felt like they mattered. And they felt timeless, songs that I had been hearing my whole life, songs that felt quintessentially Pearl Jam, and they nestled seamlessly alongside the rest of the catalog. React/Respond may have been the biggest surprise for how hard hitting it was – the sly winking of the studio version replaced by something raw and far more powerful. But Wreckage is a great sing along. Dark Matter pulses exactly the way you want it to – one of the heaviest moments in each set. Upper Hand felt suitably epic. Running is genuinely fun and playful, Scared of Fear sturdy and thoughtful. Waiting for Stevie was the five-minute shot of catharsis I hoped it would be. In fact, my only two complaints about these shows are that I never got to hear Setting Sun, and that Stevie is not in every setlist. I will unapologetically own that entitlement.
I should also add that Glen Hansard is incredible, and at each show I saw a side of him I wasn't familiar with, but need to be. I would love to see him and Eddie have a true full length collaboration together. Flag Day doesn't count.
In the end, I had the total experience I was looking for. Pre-show I got to finally meet so many of the people I interact with on message boards and Discord servers, the people who sustain my fandom in between shows and records. I truly believe Pearl Jam’s music is best experienced as part of a community, and being able to put names to screen names, and infuse internet personas with actual humanity strengthens and sustains those relationships. Every night was exactly the right mixture of surprising and familiar. And every member of the band brought the commitment that made them legends in this space. It turns out that every song, in the moment, is exactly the song I want to hear. That every song speaks to some part of who I am. And hearing them live, singing along with so many other fans, seeing how much these songs still mean to the band, revitalizes those parts of myself.
I am older than I was. Three shows in ten days takes a new toll on my body. The travel is demanding. This is not cheap, and I am grateful I was able to get to what I did. The planning can be a hassle. But for those two and a half hours, this band makes me feel immortal. And the next day the world feels just a little softer, and I fit into it just a little better. The experience has a price, but the feeling is priceless.
After thirty years, Pearl Jam is still the best band in the world. Not because they have something to prove, but because they do not, and insist on proving it anyway. Thank you for three more amazing nights.
p.s. Completely selfish plug and update – for everyone who preordered our book I Am No Guide: Pearl Jam Song by Song it will be released in the UK this month, and the worldwide (including the US) release should follow. We appreciate everyone’s patience. We asked the company to delay the release so we could include Dark Matter, and publishing logistics are more complicated than expected.