Photo Credit: Geoff Whitman
On Thursday, May 30, Pearl Jam returned to Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena for the second performance of its two-night set at the hometown stage. This long-awaited pair arrived as the final North American shows of the Dark Matter World Tour, which lent the event a degree of prestige and elevated expectations that the grunge forerunners far surpassed. In a 17-song set and sprawling eight-track encore, the band showed love for its home city, fans everywhere, and fallen friends, for whom Eddie Vedder delivered a debut treatment of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt.”
To kick off its set, Pearl Jam let loose the 1991 fan favorite “Black” and tacked on its traditional “We Belong Together” tag, then followed up on this explosive entry with the Vitalogy classic “Immortality” and Ten’s “Why Go.” After cycling through some recent entries from Dark Matter, including the standout single “Wreckage,” dropping live staples like “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town,” “Jeremy” and “Corduroy.” Among the most exciting moments of the main portion of the performance were the relative rarities interspersed throughout, including 2006’s “Come Back” and 1996’s “In My Tree,” as well as tour debuts of 1998’s “Pilate” and 2002’s “Love Boat Captain.”
The band launched its encore with the evening’s true highlight as Vedder assumed the spotlight alone for a solo acoustic first entry. To introduce his first song, the frontman saluted the legends of his home city, keeping in mind those lost along the way. “There’s no other guest list as big as the one as we have when we’re in Seattle,” he said, per Spin. “ To be honest, I wish it were longer. There are certain names that I so deeply wish were on the guest list tonight, but we lost them too early, and in ways we could never imagine. Damn it if I can’t stop thinking about them, but that’s a good thing too, I guess.” Vedder’s soul-stirring performance of “Hurt” marked the first in the band’s history, setting a potent and powerful mood that endured through the show’s close.
Pearl Jam will hit the road again on June 22 with a show at Dublin, Ireland’s Marlay Park, opening a nine-stop European tour that will keep the band on the road through July 13. After that, the group will return to the U.S., gracing high-profile stages in August and September. For more information on the Dark Matter World Tour, visit pearljam.com/tour.
Read on for the complete setlist from May 30 and the band’s tour schedule.
Pearl Jam
Climate Pledge Arena – Seattle
5/30/24
Set: Black*, Immortality, Why Go, Scared of Fear, React, Respond, Wreckage, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Dark Matter, Jeremy, Come Back, Corduroy, Pilate+, In My Tree, Upper Hand, Waiting for Stevie, Love Boat Captain+, Porch
Encore: Hurt#, Inside Job, Running, Spin the Black Circle@, Something Special, Alive^, Rockin’ in the Free World, Setting Sun
Notes:
* w/ “We Belong Together” tag
+ Tour debut
# Debut of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt,” Eddie Vedder solo acoustic.
@ Dedicated to Easy Street Records
^ w/ Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” tag
The post Watch: Pearl Jam Debut Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” in Tribute to Fallen Friends at Hometown Tour Closer appeared first on Relix Media.
