Pearl Jam Rock Wrigley Field

Rob Grabowski and Tom Wojcik caught Pearl Jam In The Act during show at Wrigley Field in Chicago on August 29, 2024. Check out Rob's photos and Tom's review: On August 29th, Pearl Jam's Dark Matter Tour took home field advantage for the first of two nights at Chicago's Wrigley Field. The show opened with Glen Hansard who kicked off his seven-song set with a brand-new song "Come Back From The Dead," which made its live debut. Glen got the crowd warmed up playing a variety of songs including a few from his newest album "All That Was East Is West Of Me Now," released in 2023 after a four year hiatus.

After a short forty minutes, a red curtain was pulled back as Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam came out swinging. As the band played the first song of the set, "Release" from their debut album "Ten" released in 1991, the stage was dark and all that could be seen were the silhouettes of the band. When the stage lights were turned on, Eddie was seen wearing a Walter Payton jersey. Vedder grew up in near by Evanston and reminisced about various Chicago related things throughout the night. At many points throughout the 26-song night, Eddie told stories about what Chicago meant to him, from having many opportunities to perform at Wrigley Field while also talking about the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs, and watching WGN on a black and white TV.

While the tour was in support of Pearl Jam's "Dark Matter" album released earlier this year, the setlist contained songs from the band's 30 plus year history. The hometown crowd got into every song and the energy was electric as the band played the hits that drew the fans to become Pearl Jam fans over the years. The crowd sang along to "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town," "Daughter," which went into Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt 2," and "Evenflow." Before the band went into "Evenflow," Vedder talked about how lucky he was to have one of the greatest guitarists of all time in his band, Mike McCready. As the guitar solo from "Evenflow" began, McCready raised his guitar over his head and blasted through the famous solo. The crowd was ecstatic watching as the lead guitarist played behind his back and got down on his knees as the guitar wailed through the crowd. In support of the new album, "Dark Matter," Pearl Jam played, "Wreckage," "Down," which made its live debut, "Scared of Fear," and the debut single, "Dark Matter."

After a short break, the band came out for the encore. After "Just Breathe," Eddie took some time to talk about the late Tom Petty and the influence Petty had on his life. At times sounding a little choked up, Vedder went into a solo version of Petty's "Won't Back Down" with backing vocals from the nearly sold-out crowd. Eddie saw someone in the crowd with a sign saying they wanted to sing "Won't Tell" with the band. Vedder invited her on stage where she was welcomed by the cheering fans and didn't miss a beat. The band teased the crowd with "Better Man" before going into "Corduroy" and finishing the night with a cover of Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" where they were joined by Glen Hansard.

Vedder, along with Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Matt Cameron, pulled out all the stops and left the crowd with the best concert high. The guys played every song with so much love and looked to have fun every minute of the night. This was my first-time seeing Pearl Jam and to see them in one of the band's favorite places to play, it checked a box off my bucket list. I highly recommend seeing this iconic band.