Recap & Photo Gallery: Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field

When Pearl Jam last played Wrigley Field in the summer of 2016, something was missing. In fact, that something had an absence that was entering its second century. But when Eddie Vedder, the Seattle quintet’s lead singer, brought Tom Ricketts out midway through their Saturday night performance at the historic ballpark, the Chicago Cubs owner brought with him that which had eluded the corner of Clark and Addison for generations: A World Series trophy.

Also noticeably absent from Saturday’s concert was “All The Way,” the love letter Vedder composed (at the request of Cub great Ernie Banks) to his beloved north side ball club’s drought from acquiring celebratory hardware. The ode, which contains the fantastically hopeful chorus “Someday we’ll go all the way,” has finally been rendered irrelevant.

Their semi-annual residency at Wrigley was, for once, without longing for the seemingly unattainable. Vedder and company used the opportunity to immerse what is arguably the most rabid of fan bases with a cavalcade of rock radio staples (“Alive,” “Even Flow” and “Betterman”) deep catalog nuggets (“Alone,” “Breakerfall” and “Getaway”) for the most hardened of the hardcores and even covers of songs by The Clash (“Know Your Rights), Tom Petty (“I Wont’ Back Down”) and David Bowie (“Rebel Rebel). Of course, with Night 2 still looming (the band returns to the stage on Monday) and a reputation for completely scrambling their set list, the best one can expect is the unexpected.

Recap and photo gallery by Curt Baran; Setlist via Setlistfm.com

 

Tags: Eddie Vedder, featured, Jeff Ament, Matt Cameron, Mike McCready, Pearl Jam, Stone Gossard

Category: IE Photo Gallery, Stage Buzz