Photos and Review by Ilya Mirman
Show photos HERE
In what will likely go down as one of Boston’s most memorable concerts of 2016, 90’s giants Pearl Jam thoroughly rocked the Beantown crowd. For over two decades, frontman Eddie Vedder has dreamed about playing iconic Fenway Park, and last Friday night, the dream came true – for both Eddie and Boston fans.
It was an epic three hour set, full of ballads and anthems, hits and deep cuts – along with Pearl Jam’s awesome take on covers of Dylan, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd and The Who and even the Star Spangled Banner delivered by McCready in true Hendrix style on Sunday night.
Both nights a grateful, blissful crowd swayed, danced and sang along, smiling and sharing stories of growing up with the band.
Eddie and the rest of the band were at ease, showing great chemistry among themselves while connecting with the crowd and to Boston. In what may sound like an impossibility, that night there was a feeling of intimacy between the band and the nearly 40,000 fans.
The Fenway concerts also gave the band a way to give back: Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy Foundation is donating $1 dollar of every ticket sold from their two Fenway concerts to four local non-profit organizations: SongbirdSing’s ‘Veterans Voices’ program, Zumix, Roxbury Youthworks’s ‘GIFT’ program and ArtsBridge Institute’s ‘Music in Common’ Summer scholarships’.
As I write this, Pearl Jam is sound-checking for tonight’s show. Based on Friday, I can attest that it’ll be legendary.
Set List
- Release
- Long Road
- Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
- Low Light
- All Those Yesterdays
- Given to Fly
- Mind Your Manners
- Why Go
- Daughter (with ‘W.M.A.’ and ‘Another… more )
- Even Flow
- Faithfull
- Grievance
- I Am Mine
- Down
- Black
- Do the Evolution
- Masters of War (Bob Dylan cover)
- I Am a Patriot (Little Steven cover)
- Porch
- Strangest Tribe
- Society (Jerry Hannan cover)
- Just Breathe
- Sleeping by Myself (Eddie Vedder song)
- Wasted Reprise
- Life Wasted
- State of Love and Trust
- Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd cover)
- Corduroy
- Draw the Line (Aerosmith cover)
- Alive
- I’ve Got a Feeling (The Beatles cover)
- Baba O’Riley (The Who cover)