Pearl Jam’s history with the City of Brotherly Love dates back 33 years to July 12th, 1991 when the Seattle upstarts played JC Dobbs (capacity 200) on Philadelphia’s South Street a month and a half before the band released its seminal debut, Ten. In the spring of 1992, PJ returned to play the Trocadero Theatre (capacity 1,200) and then not again until 2003 and 2005 with single visits to The Spectrum (capacity 20,000).
In 2009, Pearl Jam played some of the most revered shows in its history, a four-pack of scorchers that closed the doors permanently on the famed Philadelphia Spectrum during which the band attempted to play its whole catalog. Eddie Vedder commented on Monday night, “We had about 110 songs in the whole catalog at that point and we played 109 of them.”
With two nights at the Wells Fargo Center in 2013, 2016, and 2024, Pearl Jam has now played an even half-dozen shows in both the current and former homes of the Philadelphia’s 76ers and Flyers–the band would display both jerseys on Stone Gossard’s amp during the encore in addition to bassist Jeff Ament donning a 76ers jersey. At Saturday’s show, Vedder paid tribute to the late NHL player Johnny Gaudreau (a.k.a. Johnny Hockey) who grew up in nearby Salem, NJ. The 31-year-old left wing for the Columbus Blue Jackets and his brother were tragically struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver last month while in town for their sister’s wedding, and the Wells Fargo Center cheered with approval as Vedder lamented, “What made it even more tragic is that they were such good men.”
Eddie Vedder with Pearl Jam tonight at Wells Fargo Center remembered Johnny Gaudreau, holding up his Gloucester Catholic jersey and Matty Gaudreau’s Reading Royals jersey
Meg Flannagan pic.twitter.com/cNzaqLZul0
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 8, 2024
Meg Flannagan Philadelphia’s history with and passion for Pearl Jam has been well documented over the years and this two-show stretch of the 2024 Dark Matter tour only served to underscore that point and add to that legacy.
After a pair of heaters at Madison Square Garden last week, Pearl Jam took I-95 South to Philadelphia and dropped arguably the two hottest shows of the tour on Saturday and Monday. “We all talked about it and the Saturday crowd in Philly was one of the best we’ve seen in 33 years of playing live shows,” Vedder remarked during Monday’s show.
Monday’s energy impressively picked up right where Saturday’s left off as Pearl Jam–Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Matt Cameron, Boom Gaspar, and Josh Klinghoffer–dazzled with a career-spanning set of greatest hits, tour debuts, and setlist rarities that covered ten albums worth of live material (11 if you count B-side compilation Lost Dogs) with the heaviest emphasis (five songs each) falling on its first and last albums, Ten and Dark Matter.
Opening with Binaural favorite “Of The Girl”, Pearl Jam wasted no time getting the Monday crowd up to Saturday’s speed. “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town” followed, a capacity crowd full of what were once strangers but now friends arm-in-arm and scream-singing along at the top of their lungs. As if to challenge the notion that the crowd energy couldn’t get any higher, a rocking “Corduroy” kicked the show from 5th to 6th gear.
Eddie Vedder has been wearing a Walton Payton #34 Chicago Bears jersey every night this tour in honor of this being the band’s 34th year, and he took the time to hand a guitar pick to a fan in the front row wearing the same jersey before the band launched into “Mind Your Manners”.
“Scared Of Fear” and “Dark Matter”, the evening’s first two tracks from its eponymous album, followed before deep cut “In My Tree” received its 100th play dating back to its No Code inception in 1996. For comparison’s sake, “Even Flow”, Pearl Jam’s most-played song was played Monday night for the 911th time. While some hardcore fans love to complain about the regular inclusion of songs like “Even Flow” and “Alive”, there are always a large number of first-timers in attendance looking to sing along to the hits. Last night, that included 9-year-old Genevieve who saw her first show ever and got to see her favorite song at her very first Pearl Jam show along with her brother and parents in the general admission pit.
Pearl Jam — “In My Tree” — 9/9/24
[Video: themeboudin]
The Philadelphia crowd, Genevieve included, emphatically made its mark on what turned out to be an unequivocally special “Better Man”, belting the lyrics and roaring their approval as Pearl Jam’s frontman watched in awe and soaked up Philadelphia’s adulation during an elongated pause after the song’s first verse. “Wishlist” followed before Gigaton banger “Dance Of The Clairvoyants”.
Pearl Jam — “Better Man” — 9/9/24
[Video: Jim Powers]
Ten featured heavily toward the end of the main set as “Once”, “Jeremy”, and set-closing “Porch” were punctuated by “Upper Hand” and “Alone”, a song that, Vedder reminded fans, was as old as the band itself and also made the setlist 33 years earlier when Pearl Jam played JC Dobbs. Monday was the song’s second play on the Dark Matter tour but only the 50th in 34 years.
Pearl Jam — “Alone” — 9/9/24
[Video: Jim Powers]
The encore portion of the show kicked off with Vedder solo acoustic as he dedicated “Just Breathe” to several specific fans in attendance who were celebrating anniversaries. Glen Hansard was next to the stage and joined Vedder on guitar and background vocals for a cover of his original “Song Of Good Hope”, another dedication by Vedder, this one to the West Memphis Three as it was a song that Vedder used to get through hard times when that highly-publicized triple murder case was unfolding. “Waiting For Stevie” preceded Victoria Williams’ “Crazy Mary” and “Animal” before promises were kept and things got really interesting.
Earlier in the evening, Vedder was telling a story that involved rats when he noticed a group of fans with an “R-A-T-S” sign requesting said song. Promising to check with the band and play it later if they agreed—which happened visibly on stage after “Animal”—the band then launched into the tour debut of the relatively rare Vs. rocker.
Pearl — “Rats” — 9/9/24
The house lights came on during “Alive” and stayed on for a raucous “Rockin’ In The Free World” and “Yellow Ledbetter” as Philadelphia became cemented in Pearl Jam’s history as a city that gives, then gives, and then again gives some more. Philadelphia can be very divisive when it comes to its sports, but when the City That Loves You Back is pulling in your direction, dare I say that there is nothing in the world quite like it and there is no easier place to call home. Home is where the heart is and Philadelphia, for Pearl Jam, is home.
The U.S. Dark Matter tour is rapidly coming to a close with visits to Baltimore, MD (9/12) and Boston, MA (9/15, 9/17) on the horizon. Fans can catch replays of shows on SiriusXM and nugs.net. [Editor’s Note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your nugs subscription or purchasing a download via the links on this page helps support our coverage of the world of live music. Thank you for reading!]
Setlist: Pearl Jam | Wells Fargo Center | Philadelphia, PA | 9/9/24
Setlist: Of The Girl, Small Town, Corduroy, Mind Your Manners, Scared Of Fear, Dark Matter, In My Tree, Wreckage, Even Flow, Better Man, Wishlist, Dance Of The Clairvoyants, Once, Upper Hand, Alone, Jeremy, Porch
Encore: Just Breathe [1], Song Of Good Hope [2], Waiting For Stevie, Crazy Mary, Animal, Rats, Alive, Rockin’ In The Free World (Neil Young), Yellow Ledbetter
[1] Eddie solo acoustic
[2] Eddie w/ Glen Hansard
The post Pearl Jam Revisits Its Philadelphia History At Return To Wells Fargo Center [Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
