Pearl Jam Delivers Muscular, Tribute-Heavy Night 2 Show at Los Angeles' Kia Forum

On the second night of a two-day visit to the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Wednesday (May 22), Pearl Jam brought the energy with a hard hitting rock show that delivered the hits.

More than 30 years after the band shot to stardom with the diamond-selling grunge classic TenEddie Vedder's voice (often mimed, never doubled) remains a vital instrument, while the rest of the band – including guitarists Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, bassist Jeff Ament and drummer Matt Cameron – boast the tight, oiled chemistry of a H line-up which, remarkably, has remained constant since Cameron joined the team in 1998.

Though he brought the firepower in spades, Wednesday night's show — which marked the final stop on Pearl Jam's Dark Matter world tour that kicked off in Vancouver, BC, earlier this month — began on a somber note when Vedder launched into “Long Road”. track from 1995 by the band Merkin Ball ER. Before the show, Vender paid tribute to his late uncle, John Vender, noting that Wednesday marked the 10th anniversary of his death. “It kind of shaped me from an early age,” Vender said from the stage. “I just had to get it out of my system before we play tonight.”

This was far from the only tribute the band played on Wednesday, bringing a melancholic undercurrent to the roughly two-and-a-half-hour set. At one point during the evening, Vedder also paid tribute to a number of iconic rock drummers who have passed away in recent years. “A couple of years ago, by accident, we lost some of the greatest of all time,” said Vader, who rattled off the names of Taylor Hawkins of the Foo Fighters, Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones and Neil Peart of Rush before entering the game. a performance of Dark matterits title track.

Later in the night, Vedder also remembered the great Tom Petty by revealing that the red guitar he was holding on stage was one the late rock star had given him years earlier. “The day before we left, [when] we were starting the tour, I went into this back room of mine and had room to get another guitar on the road… This guitar was screaming, 'Pick me, pick me,'” Vedder said before launching into a cover. of Petty's 1989 hit single “I Won't Back Down.”

Although new tracks from Dark matter Sprinkled liberally throughout the show — including “Wreckage,” “React, Respond” and show-closer “Setting Sun” — Wednesday night's set understandably leaned toward the first decade of Pearl Jam's career, when the band was at its commercial peak.

From these first albums, the muscular Ten received a particularly intense spotlight, with Vedder and company tearing down renditions of “Even Flow,” “Black,” “Alive” and fan favorite “Jeremy,” which the band performed in the background of the promotional music Production performance singles out “Do the Evolution” during an extended encore. Another highlight on Wednesday included the band's performance Vitalogy cut “Nothingman,” which served as a particularly powerful showcase of Vedder's still-remarkable voice, which retains its clarity and power moving forward more than three decades.

The night's most emotional moment came with the second-to-last song, a cover of Neil Young's “Rockin' in the Free World,” which featured special appearances from Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith (who Vedder had noted that he was at home earlier in the evening). Dark matter producer Andrew Watt on guitar. and the members of Deep Sea Diver, the Seattle-based indie rock outfit serving as the first leg of the North American tour. During the extended set, the band managed to turn the forum into a full-on dance party, with Vedder tossing tambourines with abandon into the eager hands of the satiated crowd.

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