Pearl Jam Rock Nashville

by Kinsey Blake Haynes

Pearl Jam made their return to Nashville, Tennessee's Bridgestone Arena on May 6th with a slew of deep cuts and classic hit sing-a-longs.

Opening the show was Australian punk band Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, who previously played with the band on their Australia run in 2024. The crowd seemed entertained by their loud, raucous brand of angsty girl rock. The longer they played, the more energized the crowd became, which is what a good opening act should do.

Pearl Jam took the stage at 8:50 pm to a screaming crowd and opened with "Indifference" (which has only been used as an opener three other times) before launching into "Low Light" and "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town," which Eddie Vedder said was a "mistake" in the setlist, but wanted to be "transparent about it at a time where fact checking is minimum."

Up next was the first 'Dark Matter' song of the night "Scared Of Fear," 'Ten' favorite "Why Go," and 'Yield' classic "Given To Fly." "Dark Matter," "Wreckage," and "Running" continued the 'Dark Matter' songs and Vedder gave a shout out to the local Nashville bar DRKMTTR calling it the "cool punk rock club with the cool name... That's a bad-ass name."

Before "Even Flow" Vedder gave praise to drummer Matt Cameron for being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, saying "At that point I think [he has] to realize that 'yes, I am a f***ing badass'" which the crowd met with cheers. "Daughter" (which was tagged with Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2") was dedicated to a girl named Laura. Vedder told her story about wanting to go to the record store at midnight to buy the band's album 'Vs.' but her parents said no. The next morning, she was at breakfast and her dad slid the CD across the table. Laura's dad recently passed, and the band wanted to honor him by playing the song.

"Brain Of J." and "Green Disease" were two of the surprising deeper cuts of the night: late in the first set and rarely played. Before "Green Disease," Vedder came out with a new guitar gifted to him by Jack White. He praised White for starting Third Man records, not for money, but for the joy of making others happy. Fan favorite "Jeremy" was played followed by the "Dark Matter" rarity "Got to Give," which has only been played two other times: the least of any song on the new album. Retired NASA astronaut, Scott Kelly, was in the crowd and Vedder gave him a shout out stating he "travelled 200 million miles to be here tonight" before playing a late-in-the-set "Corduroy." "Come Back" and "Porch" rounded out the energetic first set.

For the encore, Vedder came out solo to play Warren Zevon's "Keep Me In Your Heart" which he dedicated to Australian surfer, Shane Herring, who unexpectedly died last week. The crowd lit up their phones while pictures of Herring played on the video screen. "Setting Sun" was stopped due to a medical emergency in the pit and restarted after a few minutes once Vedder received notice the guy was up and moving.

The rest of the show saw the band tear through "Do The Evolution," "Rearviewmirror," "Alive," The Who's "Baba O'Riley," and a surprising end to the show, the Bob Dylan/Jimi Hendrix heater "All Along The Watchtower." This show was a great mix of old and new songs and included the basic expectations of all Pearl Jam shows: top tier, memorable, energetic, and unmatched.

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