After a seven month break from touring Seattle grunge pioneers Pearl Jam returned to the road last night at Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England for the first show of their European Tour. The group mixed tracks from eight of their studio albums with three covers during the 26-song, banter-filled performance.
After taking the stage to a pre-recorded version of Metamorphosis 2 by Philip Glass, Pearl Jam opened with Release and followed the Ten track up with Do The Evolution. One of the first surprises of the night came in the seventh slot as the group performed the Jeff Ament-penned Pilate which was last played in Europe 12 years ago to the day. Later in the main set, Pearl Jam debuted Why Can’t I Touch It?, a Buzzcocks cover from the British punk band’s Singles Going Steady LP.
Following a take on Joe Strummer’s Arms Aloft, Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder discussed what a great human being and musician Strummer was which led into the singer’s take on the Radiohead stage collapse. Vedder mentioned that the band’s crew was as close to them as their families, so he could only imagine what Radiohead was going through having lost a member of their “family.” The 10-song encore concluded with a cover of Neil Young’s Rockin’ In The Free World that saw John Doe from opening act X play tambourine and help with backing vocals.
Check out last night’s setlist…
Pearl Jam returns to the Manchester Evening News Arena tonight.
One Response
The band actually used to play a tag of Why Can’t I touch it when they toured with the buzzcocks in 2003 during the break in better man.