Pearl Jam: The Dark Matter World Tour
Tim Vuotto ~ 09/12/2024
Saturday, September 7th, 2024, my girlfriend and I attended Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter World Tour at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. I was blown away by how great this show really was. Not that I thought it was going to be mediocre… I just thought that for a band that is older, they wouldn’t be able to capture the magic and energy that they had at shows earlier in their careers. This was the first time that I had seen Pearl Jam live, I was stoked.
Pre-show
The show was set to begin at 7:30. We arrived around 4:30 pm to hangout and sink a couple beers beforehand. It was a crisp 63 degrees and you could just feel the buzz in the air. After a few brewskis and a trip to the porta-shitter, we decided to stand in the line for merchandise to grab a couple tour shirts. A couple ahead of us in line was doing an interview for Pearl Jam Radio on Sirius XM , in which I overheard him mention he’s seen Pearl Jam 86 times. I was stunned. After waiting in the line for about 20 minutes we finally reached the front and ordered our shirts. To my horror It cost $80 for 2 tour shirts… I was taken back but not entirely surprised. After getting pillaged for t-shirts , we walked back to throw our new shirts in the car (hid them well because Philly…) and decided it was time to get into the queue to enter the arena. It was about 6:00 at that point and doors weren’t set to be opened until 7. Around 6:45 they started letting people in. We grabbed refreshments and found our seats.
Opener and Bullshit:
At 7:30 sharp the opening act came on to play for about an hour. It was an Irish singer/songwriter by the name of Glen Hansard who has done previous work with Vedder on his solo records. I had honestly never heard any of Hansard's own music and wasn’t sure what to expect. To my surprise he was actually very talented and I enjoyed listening to him play. We watched it for about the first 40 or so minutes. Another friend of mine was there with his dad, who is another lifelong Pearl Jam fan. We decided to meet up with them to bullshit for a little and then use the bathroom before Pearl Jam came on. We got back to our seats and prepared for the main event.
Pearl Jam:
At 8:45 the lights went out and the band came out. The sold out crowd roared so loudly the arena was shaking. I’ve been to 76ers and flyers games as well as a boxing match and I’ve never experienced that arena be as electric as it was in that moment. Vedder, dressed in his iconic Chicago Bears jersey grabbed the mic and began singing The Long road, a slower song they occasionally open their shows with. They then transitioned into Lowlight…. Afterwards the crowd clapped and almost immediately Matt Cameron and Jeff Ament came right in with the thunderous opening of why go and I knew it was time to party.
After “why go” they proceeded to play more songs with momentarily hiatus’ between each in which Vedder showed everyone he still has his charm from the earlier years. Making funny remarks including interacting with a newly engaged couple holding a sign asking Vedder to come perform at their wedding on the 15th of March to which Vedder, after reaching down and physically checking his colander replied “How about the 16th instead?”. Everyone laughed. Beforehand I mentioned to my partner that I hoped to hear them play one of the big 4 off of the album Ten (Even flow , Alive, Black & Jeremy), but especially Black as that is my favorite of the 4. I would’ve been satisfied with just one. They ended up playing 3: Even “Flow”, “Black”, and “Alive”. They even played Wreckage, my favorite track off of the new record. Overall the setlist was exactly what I had hoped for and I was left beyond satisfied.
Sentiments and Dedications:
There were a few dedications included in the show. The first came when Vedder told a heartfelt story about how his own brother died a few years ago in a similar incident in which the Gaudreau brothers tragically were killed in and dedicated the song Given to fly to them. A few more songs passed afterwards and the band went backstage for a brief intermission. About a minute or so later Vedder came back on stage by himself holding a guitar that the late Tom Petty had sent him. While sitting on a stool in front of the mic he began playing Petty’s iconic song won’t back down while dedicating it to him. Lastly, the band played Chloe Dancer/ Crown of Thorns by for Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone.
The finale and my closing thoughts:
They closed the show covering The Who’s infamous Baba O’Riley and then transitioned into their own song Indifference. They were forced to pause in the middle of Baba because someone’s dad had 6 beers instead of his usual 5 and decided to start a fight in the “pit”. I mean I get you’re in the pit and if this was still 1992 I’m sure Vedder wouldn’t have given a shit. But they aren’t that type of band anymore and it was a total loser move by the jerkoff. After the moron was removed the show continued right where it was left off. In total the band played 25 songs, playing for about 3 hours.
It was an absolutely amazing experience and one of my favorite shows I’ve ever been to. I can understand why people are so committed to following them wherever they go now. I will definitely be looking out for their next show.
