Photography by Joshua Mellin
Welcome to Pearl Jam Week! In honor of the 25th anniversary of Ten, we’ll be celebrating the entire catalogue of Pearl Jam with exclusive features throughout the week. To kick things off, Editor in Chief Michael Roffman and Editorial Director Matt Melis report back on the band’s highly anticipated return to Chicago’s Wrigley Field, three years after their soggy, epic performance.
“We’re back,” Eddie Vedder warmly muttered to a sold-out and frantic Wrigley Field on Saturday evening. The Evanston-born singer-songwriter smiled as he watched his former neighbors scream, jump, and lose their shit.
But Chicago had every right to be thrilled as they welcomed back Pearl Jam to their Friendly Confines. When the Seattle outfit last performed at the ballpark in July 2013, things got a little wet, a little wild, and a little unorthodox.
If you recall, a raging storm swept through the Chicagoland area and interrupted their summer set after only a few songs, delaying the show for nearly three hours. Remarkably, the band, the fans, and the city endured to make history.
“Last time felt like a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Vedder admitted, soaking up the moment. He later digressed on how he caught Springsteen at the venue four years ago and how he too struggled with bad weather — only no lightning. “Even God don’t mess with the Boss,” he joked. “There’s God, then there’s the Boss.”
Weather was hardly small talk on Saturday. Hours before the gig, thousands of fans shared stories about The Great Delay as they gathered around the multiple PJ pop-up stores to stake out the merchandise. A handful even got a quick scare when a downpour sprinted by for a few minutes.
Chalk it up to the band’s tongue-in-cheek cover of The Beatles’ “Rain” or simple dumb luck, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky as dusk turned to night. Instead, there was a touch of autumn in the air as a chilly breeze whisked through Wrigley, riling up the diehards and the casuals, the passersby and the uninformed.
For over three hours, Pearl Jam poured their heart and their soul into a 34-song set, brimming with hits, deep cuts, covers, and guests. None of it reclaimed the anarchic magic and chaos of 2013 — what ever could? — but it still felt special in its own straightforward way. And to think, they still have another night.
Nonetheless, here are 10 takeaways from their Return to Wrigley.
–Michael Roffman
Editor-in-Chief
Real Chicago Deep Dish
“I Got ID”
As amusing as it was to see Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament share swigs from the singer’s comically oversize bottle of red wine (“I brought enough for everyone”) before starting the band’s first of three encores with the elusive “Bee Girl”, the best deep cut of the night goes to “I Got ID”. The A-Side to the band’s “Merkin Ball” two-song single hasn’t been in steady rotation since 2008/2009. And while there wasn’t quite enough magic in the ivy at Wrigley to conjure up Neil Young to spell Mike McCready, that gorgeous opening guitar cue was plenty enough to make the audience feel lucky they also got “ID”.
–Matt Melis
The Better Men
Steve Gleason and Gord Downie
Few acts pull off heartfelt like Pearl Jam do. Rarely does a show go by without some sort of moving homage or commemoration or acknowledgement. Tonight, Eddie Vedder came prepared and raised his proverbial glass of wine multiple times for the bravest of the bravest currently living their life to the fullest. He first dedicated “Light Years” to Gord Downie, who was then playing his final show with The Tragically Hip in Kingston, Ontario. The singer was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer earlier this summer.
The second touching moment arrived when Steve Gleason, a former NFL player and longtime friend of lead guitarist Mike McCready, came out to speak with the crowd and introduce his favorite song, “Inside Job”. From a wheelchair and using a speech synthesizer, Gleason paid his respects to the beloved venue (“If you want my opinion, this field is sacred ground”), waxed about the song in question (“Everyone with a heartbeat faces adversity”), and then let loose (“I feel fucking awesome”). The feeling was very mutual.
–Michael Roffman
Let’s Get Political
“Masters of War” and “I Am a Patriot”
After “Bu$hleaguer”, I can’t even imagine the song Eddie Vedder will write if Donald Trump becomes our next president. In the meantime, the band got political Saturday night without naming names, pairing Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” with Little Steven’s “I Am a Patriot”. The former found Vedder and band shedding all frivolity and channeling the rage and utter contempt of Dylan’s 53-year-old scathing critique of the military-industrial complex while the latter — suped up from the early aughts acoustic version — picked the crowd back up with its message of duty and hope for a country that will one day reflect the best in all of us. Two fitting deep cuts in an election year.
–Matt Melis
Shut Up and Play the Hits
“Daughter”, “Jeremy”, and “Better Man”
The beauty about any Pearl Jam setlist is how the band so rarely lean on their hits. When they do, however, it’s a sight to behold, and such was the case towards the end of their initial set on Saturday. What started out as a typical cocktail of “Daughter”/”W.M.A.” morphed into a rebellious sing-along of “Jeremy” and finally into one wild, cathartic rendition of “Better Man”. Granted, Vedder was in great spirits all night, but he was such a beautiful, bouncy lush throughout the latter hit.
During the song’s jam, the singer prowled the edge of the stage, calling out a number of T-shirts in the front row. One read “Janet Fucking Weiss” (“Janet is a badass”), another unlucky soul’s promoted Whitesnake (“That better be ironic”), but the best was a young woman’s black tee that simply stated: “Unfuckwithable.” This one swept up Vedder, who explained how his daughter and niece were in the house, to which he praised all women before concluding: “Let’s all be unfuckwithable.” #jukeboxhero
–Michael Roffman
State of Love and Marriage
“Just Breathe” and “I Believe in Miracles”
Not many acts respect the military as openly as Pearl Jam, so it wasn’t surprising when Eddie Vedder announced that Army Sergeant Kyle Johnson was in attendance and that he’d like to meet him later on in the set. It also wasn’t all that shocking (believe it or not) when Johnson and his girlfriend, Amy, were invited onstage to have Vedder serenade them with their favorite song, “Just Breathe”. However, when Johnson then lowered to a knee and proposed to his now-fiancée, that admittedly dropped some jaws and not just Amy’s. A bonus dedication of “I Believe in Miracles” by the Ramones should go a long way to starting the happy couple down the right path. At this point, I wouldn’t bet against an encore at their wedding. Save that date, Eddie!
–Matt Melis
Click ahead to read what happens next…
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