Pearl Jam wound down the first North American leg of its Dark Matter tour last night (May 30) at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, a two-night stand marking the band’s first hometown shows since 2018.
Before the first song of the encore, frontman Eddie Vedder acknowledged the deeply felt absence of friends and family in the city he’s called home since 1990, and which has endured the early deaths of musicians such as Mother Love Bone’s Andrew Wood, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley and Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell.
“There’s no other guest list as big as the one as we have when we’re in Seattle,” he said. “San Diego, Chicago.. nope. Seattle (laughs). 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. Damnit if I can’t stop thinking about them, but that’s a good thing too, I guess.”
He went on to perform a solo acoustic cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” in the style of Johnny Cash — a first at a Pearl Jam show. The artist has played the song five prior times at his solo concerts.
Towards the end of the set, Vedder seemed to hint at the possibility of Pearl Jam playing more regular shows in Seattle — a proposition which would surely delight thousands of local fans.
“Goddamnit, we might not play again in Seattle for awhile,” he said. “[Arena staff] did say that we can play anytime we want, and they’ve made it pretty nice for us. This could be something maybe we do more often. Tuesday’s at Climate Pledge, something like that. Thursdays…”
“I’ll see you in the car next to me,” Vedder said as the band began closing song “Setting Sun.” “Thank you for 33-and-a-third years. Imagine that.”
Pearl Jam will be back in action in Europe starting June 22 in Dublin, and will resume stateside performances Aug. 22 in Missoula, Mt. Last night’s show was broadcast live on the band’s Pearl Jam Radio channel 22 with SiriusXM.
