Episode 350: Pittsburgh, PA - 5/18/2025

Our final show for 2025 is the #1 Pearl Jam show of the year voted on by the listeners, and of course it can't be anything other than the tour closer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Unbeknownst to us, this would be the final show of Matt Cameron's 27-year tenure in Pearl Jam, and although it wasn't announced until two months later, there are enough subtle hints in this show that are clearer from hindsight's perspective - the champagne toast, the hugs and even t-shirts worn by Mike and Jeff are some signals that you can tell the band knows what's going on. But there is also references to this show being the end of the Dark Matter run that only got one full calendar year of touring. While Matt Cameron is the storyline that we didn't know at the time, it was his former Soundgarden bandmate, Chris Cornell, that was the major storyline heading into this show. May 18th this year was the anniversary of Cornell's death, something that the band has been hesitant to address at shows due to the nature of the subject. Going back to that date last year, there was a show in Vegas that did not reference him outside of a shirt that Cameron wore. After telling a story about him at Fenway Park last year and performing Hunger Strike in Australia, it seemed that the band was ready to pay tribute to the man they called a bandmate and brother. We'll talk about the first ever appearance of Comes Then Goes in a setlist, as well as Hunger Strike being played for the final time with Cameron. Thank you for checking out this podcast all year! after 350 episodes, we can't wait to show you what's all in store for 2026! Visit the Concertpedia with new 2025 write ups coming soon! - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - [email protected] Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

We're down to two episodes left on the year, and the show voted as the #2 Pearl Jam show of the year comes to you from their first night in Pittsburgh. It had been 12 years since they last appeared in the Steel City, and the anticipation for these shows was high due to it being the final stops. What we didn't know then is that there would be more of a finality to these shows than we would've wanted as these will go down as the final shows of Matt Cameron's 27 year tenure with the band. As Ed would say at this show, it was about to be the end of an era, but we all thought that it was just the Dark Matter era that was coming to a close... While we'll get into hints of Cameron's departure in this episode, the talking points center more around storytelling. We've invite Jeremy Rasmussen onto the show to talk about his travels on this tour through the lens of his taco truck called Taco Jam! Taco Jam became a massive hit as Jeremy drove around from venue to venue with the idea in mind to cook delicious tacos for all of the fans hanging out in merch lines, GA or at pre-parties. He'll share stories of mishaps on the road and how he got engrained into our community meeting dozens of wonderful new friends, including us. We'll also invite another guest on as Noa Shaindlinger will join us to discuss her moment when she requested Grievance thanks to Ed selecting her at this show. We'll talk about the Hand Trilogy, Bruce Springsteen and Binaural's 25th anniversary in the penultimate episode of the year! Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact The Show - [email protected] Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

You guys voted, and we're delivering on democracy. The Pearl Jam show that was voted the #3 show of the year is the second night in Nashville! This was a show that streamed live on Sirius XM, which means that the band had plans for a special evening. One of the top moments of the year came early in the set when they invited the legendary Peter Frampton on stage to perform Black. We'll talk about what it meant for him to be up there and how his performance on the song impacted the show. Javier attended this one and has many stories to share, including his journey during the off day finding guitar stores and record shops just to be greeted by a couple of familiar faces. Approaching Third Man Records, Javi finds Eddie inside, and it leads to a massive group photo and a huge piece to an unforgettable day. Javi and friends also got to meet Josh Klinghoffer at a minor league baseball game, so he'll share all of those great memories prior to breaking down the setlist. Tune in to check out that full breakdown, including why perhaps the set wasn't capitalized on after the big Peter Frampton moment. Visit the Concerpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact The Show - [email protected] Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Coming in at number 4 on our list of the Top 5 Pearl Jam shows of the 2025 tour is the second night from Raleigh, North Carolina! The night one crowd was treated to a sampling of songs that are almost never played at a Pearl Jam show, so night two needed to step it up a notch and it did. From the massive surprise of opening the show with Setting Sun, to a version of Untitled paying homage to the local fans in attendance, there are no lack of big time moments to celebrate from this one. Joining the podcast this week are two friends who have unique stories from attending this show. We invite Lori Jernberg and Steve Bennett to the pod this week. Steve will talk about the importance of taking in a show together with family, and he'll rave about Rocky Marciano's undefeated streak that was no match for Wreckage, which was not played for the first time after 45-straight shows. Lori's story is about how the loss of a close friend made this night emotional for her, but it's also about how she managed to get Eddie's attention and came home with the ultimate gift you can get from a Pearl Jam show. Randy was also there at this show taking it in with Lori in GA, and he'll speak of his own experiences with family and loss, and perhaps other reasons why this show made an impact on him. It's a jam packed episode with incredible stories as well as the normal setlist breakdown. Keep tuning in to find out what show is dubbed #1 for the year! Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - [email protected] Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

As we come to the end of 2025, it's time to take a look back and reflect on the touring year for Pearl Jam. From now until the end of December, we'll be counting down the Top 5 shows of 2025 voted on by you the listeners. Coming in at #5 on the list is the first of two nights in Nashville, Tennessee. It had only been three years since the band last played there, but the vibe of music city and the great arena sound motivated them to get back there as soon as possible. With the help of these two shows, it has become the premiere destination spot to see Pearl Jam in the southern United States. Javier was at this show, so he'll provide his experiences in great detail from the local bars that were hopping with music to the performances in the arena. We'll spend a lot of time discussing the future for Dark Matter songs such as Scared Of Fear, Wreckage and Got To Give, and we'll dig into how those songs have evolved in year two of touring for this album. This show has some other great moments we witnessed, including Indifference as the opener, a warm tribute with Keep Me In Your Heart, Ed playing Jack White's gifted guitar on the rare Green Disease and a great story from Daughter that we'll spend some time on. But most importantly? We invite our friend, Jason Brown, to the show to talk about a moment of a lifetime when he got brought up on stage during Brain Of J. But that's not all! Find out how Ed being a kleptomaniac resulted in Jason meeting one of his heroes! Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - [email protected] Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

There are Pearl Jam crowds in the United States that are so passionate about the band that the shows in these places become can't miss. However, you take the enthusiasm of any North American crowd and it will pale in comparison to the fans in South and Latin America. While Brazil, Chile and Mexico are known for having strong participation, it's the Argentinians that are the ones who started it all. This episode goes back to the first time Pearl Jam played in South America on tour in 2005, and the first show in Buenos Aires where the crowd that sang the incredible guitar melodies that defined the concert experience down there. At recent shows, the band knows exactly what they are gonna get out of these uber impassioned crowds, but back when they toured the continent for the first time, they had no idea what was coming. Eddie Vedder's experience with these crowds came back in 1996 when The Ramones went down there on their final tour run. Pearl Jam had yet to play there, but when Johnny Ramone died in 2004, it took only 14 months before they made their first visit. And what they saw was nothing short of incredible. Fans singing melodies to big hits such as Jeremy, Do The Evolution, Even Flow and Corduroy, but also singing loudly on deeper stuff like MFC and Breakerfall. If this show proves anything, it's that this band would have a long lasting relationship with the country and bring some of the theatrics to other venues all over the world. We'll dig into an incredible version of Black and talk about the strong connection that the crowd has made with it throughout the years, and a ripping 11-minute version of Rearviewmirror with one of the best bridge sections you'll ever hear. Lots of crowd discussion, as well as a little talk on the recent Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame induction featuring Soundgarden. We'll talk about what it means to finally see them in, and plead our case for another legendary Seattle band to be next. Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - [email protected] Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Due to Eddie Vedder's case of food poisoning that affected Pearl Jam's 1995 show at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, many of the remaining dates on that summer's run had to be rescheduled for the fall. The band played five shows in the first week of November that started with two in Salt Lake City, then a make up for Golden Gate in San Jose before finishing up in one of Ed's old stomping grounds for two shows in San Diego. Since this episode covers the last night of the tour year, we'll get to tackle a show that can be seen as a full circle moment with special performances that truly defined their setlists and sound in 1995. First of all, this is a very heavy Jack Irons show - something that we always wax poetically about whenever we get the opportunity to cover one of the few years that he was with the group. He's presence is hypnotic. Every time you hear a Jack performance, you can instantly notice that it's him behind the kit. This show features some incredible versions of Jack songs, but perhaps none better than Corduroy with a solo that is absolutely out of this world. We'll also dig into his "surf rock" influence on Alive and profound tempo on Oceans. This show also features what are considered the rare gems of 1995 such as the alternate version entitled No (or New) Jeremy, Red Mosquito in it's infancy and a full band OTOTO performance of legendary Who song, I Can't Explain. We invite in Patrick Boegel from the Hallucinogenic Recipe podcast to help out on this one, and we'll make an attempt to figure out whether Howard Stern had the right to be upset with Ed for calling Glorified G "a song I hate". Yes, this show features THAT version! Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - [email protected] Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Like any major arena rock band, Pearl Jam is most known for putting on massive shows in the world's biggest cities. While their shows in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago are always ones to keep an eye out for, America's smaller towns have also gotten the band at their very best. On the 2000 tour, Pearl Jam ran through dates at places they have yet to return to in 25 years such as Albuquerque, Boise, Greensboro and the show we cover in this episode that emanated from Lubbock, Texas. Lubbock is just the 10th largest city in Texas, but still very much a small town in comparison to Dallas or Houston. While Texas Tech grads may argue that the Red Raiders are the most notable thing from Lubbock, most music fans know that it's the hometown of rock 'n' roll pioneer, Buddy Holly. Anyone that knows their rock history knows about the plane crash that took the lives of Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson aka The Big Bopper at such a young age, but what some may not know is the full background of the story. We'll share some of the eerie details of the crash and it's aftermath as we take in a moment of tribute with the band covering Holly's popular song Everyday. We'll run through the entire set and talk a little about the recent death of KISS lead guitarist Ace Frehley and his impact on Pearl Jam. Visit the Concertpedia - http://liveon4legs.com Contact the Show - [email protected] Donate to the Show - http://patreon.com/liveon4legs

Pearl Jam Live! is a brand new book about Pearl Jam that explores their history and the concerts that have impacted it. I sat down with Selena Fragassi to chat about what went into making the book, and we'll get into her fandom of the band as well. Stay tuned until the end of the episode to find out how you can score a free signed copy!

It's been 25 years since Pearl Jam made one of the most impactful decisions in their history. After years of rampant tape trading of bootlegged live shows within the community, the band took matters into their own hands by creating their own official bootleg series where nearly every one of their shows would be released via CD or digital download. Ever since the 2000 tour, fans have been able to purchase any available show to be able to relive all of the amazing moments that they've witnessed live. This would go on to impact the distribution of live music from that point on. For this episode, we bring in Patrick and Brian of our Hallucinogenic Recipe team to discuss the end of the taping era and how the releases would go on to impact the fandom. They'll select some of their favorite shows from the 2000 run and talk about buzzworthy performances that still remain powerful today. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to hear more stories just like these, this entire series is available on our Patreon at http://patreon.com/liveon4legs. If you have any future episode requests that you'd like to see in this series, please send us an email at [email protected]!