Eddie Vedder Concert Chronology

U.S. April Fool’s Tour 2008 | U.S. August Tour 2008 | U.S. Summer Tour 2009 | Australia 2011 | U.S. Tour 2011 | Europe 2012 | North America 2012 | 2013 | Australia 2014

April Fool’s Tour 2008

03/24/08 – Kenyon Hall, West Seattle, WA

03/25/08 – Kenyon Hall, West Seattle, WA

04/02/08 – The Centre, Vancouver, BC, CAN

set: Walking the Cow, Around the Bend, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Man of the Hour, Guaranteed, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Rise, Millworker, Goodbye, Broken Hearted, You’re True, Driftin’, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Picture in a Frame, Trouble, I Won’t Back Down, Forever Young

first encore: Society, Growing Up, No More, Porch

second encore: Hard Sun

TFT Notes: Aside from benefit and other appearances in the past, this show kicks off Eddie Vedder’s first official solo tour, presenting songs from the Into the Wild Soundtrack. More notes coming soon…

04/03/08 – The Centre, Vancouver, BC, CAN

set: Walking the Cow, Around the Bend, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Far Behind, Rise, Millworker, Goodbye, Broken Hearted, Soon Forget, Used to Work in Chicago, Drifting, Hide Your Love Away, Trouble, If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, Porch

first encore: Forever Young, Society, Lukin, No More

second encore: Arc, Hard Sun

TFT Notes: “Society” and “Hard Sun” are accompanied by Liam Finn. “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” is by Cat Stevens.

04/05/08 – SC Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, CA

set: Walking the Cow, Around the Bend, I Am Mine, Dead Man, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, Setting Forth, Far Behind, Rise, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Millworker, Broken Hearted, Goodbye, You’re True, Chicago, Driftin’, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Trouble, Forever Young, Porch

first encore: Happy Birthday (to Mike McCready), Society, Lukin, No More, Arc

second encore: Santa Cruz, Hard Sun

TFT Notes:

04/07/08 – Zellerbach Theatre, Berkeley, CA

set: Walking the Cow, Around the Bend, I Am Mine, Dead Man, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, Setting Forth, Guaranteed, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Rise, Millworker, Goodbye, Satellite, Driftin’, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, Here’s to the State of Mississippi, Trouble, If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, Parting ways, Forever Young, Porch

first encore: Society (with Jerry Hannah), Growin’ Up, Lukin, No More, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun (with Liam Finn)

TFT Notes: Jerry Hannan joins Ed for “Society”. Liam Finn, Eliza Jane Barnes and Jerry Hannan join Ed on “Hard Sun”.

04/08/08 – Zellerbach Theatre, Berkeley, CA

set: Walking the Cow, Around the Bend, I am Mine, Masters of War, Dead Man, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, Soon Forget, Broken Hearted, Setting Forth, Guaranteed, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Rise, Millworker, Driftin’, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, Trouble, Picture in a Frame, Forever Young, Porch

first encore: Society, Santa Cruz, No More, Arc

second encore: Song to Sean Penn, Hard Sun, Yellow Ledbetter, All Along The Watchtower

TFT Notes: Jerry Hannan joins Ed for “Society”. Liam Finn, Eliza Jane Barnes and Jerry Hannan join Ed on “Hard Sun”. Mike McCready and Liam Finn join Ed for “Yellow Ledbetter” and “All Along the Watchtower”.

04/10/08 – Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara, CA

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04/12/08 – Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

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04/13/08 – Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

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04/15/08 – Spreckels Theater, San Diego, CA

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04/16/08 – Spreckels Theater, San Diego, CA

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08/01/08 – Opera House: Boston, MA

set: Walking the Cow, Trouble, I Am Mine, Dead Man Walking, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, Wishlist, Setting Forth, Guaranteed (stopped), No Ceiling, Guaranteed , Far Behind, Millworker, Goodbye, Broken Hearted, Driftin’, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, I’m One, Porch

first encore: Untitled, Small Town, Society (w/ Liam Finn), Lukin, No More, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun (w/ Liam Finn on drums)

TFT Notes: Stage setup similar to West Coast tour with Ed surrounded by equipment, kickdrum, applebox floor apparatus. The batwings are there, with the Golden Globe tucked in the middle and wrapped in a black shirt. Backdrops: First is new – a giant mural that looks like an old neighborhood or village-with back of red brick buildings, a large alleyway with dumpsters, old fashioned metal trash cans. The perspective is painted in such a way that it looks like some of the buildings are coming toward you and you could walk through. It later switched to the “behind the scenes” stage backdrop, then the for “Hard Sun” it was the sea/sky landscape. Clad in a black “Devo” shirt, gray button down shirt and grayish jeans, from the beginning it seemed apparent that Ed was unwell; during the first 6 to 8 songs he was sweating, dropping chords, missing lines, blowing nose, not looking up to crowd. The first time he spoke was at the beginning of “Wishlist” when the crowd started clapping along with the beat extremely loud and he said “Ah! But can you sing it?” and the crowd did. (When he started “Wishlist”, he couldn’t get it going, then started tapping the beat. Some people tapped along, then the crowd recognized the song and everyone started clapping). Before the second verse, he turned his head to the side and ran from the beginning off mic trying to remember it. As soon as he got it, he looked up at the audience and smiled, acknowledging that he remembered. Before “I’m One”, Ed told the crowd that when he was going to work in Chicago, this was the song he sang to himself to tell authority to fuck off. Prior to “Elderly…”, he did an improv about Boston; some people were shouting out things (AGAIN with this????-Kath) and Ed commented “You can yell all you want, but I can’t hear what you’re saying” adding something like …”oh wait, I can hear you and yes I do want an omelet.” (Favorite overheard yelled-out request: “Obscure Pearl Jam rarities!”) At one point to quiet the yelling, Ed said “I thought I wouldn’t run into the screaming assholes until New York” and that got to the proud Boston crowd to quiet down. Prior to “Rise”, people started yelling out “Luuuuuke” thinking they recognized Ed’s ukulele … to which he teasingly said “mandolin….it’s a fucking mandolin!” At the beginning of “Arc”, Ed had trouble getting the in ear monitor set up, saying he’d work on “a way to do this faster tomorrow.” He started the first loop, for the 2nd loop George came out, but the song never really caught on and he let it play out while the crowd cheered. Between main set and first encore, the giant white furry Yeti came out, lab coat on, and swept the stage. Early in the first encore, Ed motioned to George Webb for a towel and wiped his face off, eliciting a hearty cheer from the Boston crowd. He motioned for Kleenex and blew his nose a couple of times. Then he wrapped the towel around his head and said “Who am I? Gimme another 10 million dollars!” (recently traded Red Sox centerfielder Manny Ramirez) Ed then finally told the crowd that he had an “issue with his health” and that he was on prescription medication. The container said “do not drive, do not operate heavy machinery” or do “anything that requires alertness. We’ll see what it’s like to play Boston when you’re not alert.” He tried to launch into the opening riffs of “Guaranteed”, but just couldn’t quite do it right, so he gave up, commenting “Some songs are more difficult to play on drugs than others” and launched into “No Ceiling”. Liam came out join Ed on “Society” with him and Ed said he was really happy that Liam could come out and do these little satellite shows, but that they haven’t played these songs since we were together in April, and he always forgets the 2nd verse, would someone in the front mind whispering it to him when he gets to it.

08/02/08 – Opera House: Boston, MA

set: Walking the Cow, Trouble, I Am Mine, Dead Man Walking, Man of the Hour, Sometimes, Masters of War, Setting Forth, Guaranteed, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Rise, Millworker, Soon Forget, Goodbye (incomplete), Driftin’, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Forever Young, Porch

first encore: Don’t Be Shy, Growin’ Up, Wishlist, Society, No More, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun (w/ Liam Finn on drums)

TFT Notes: The recorded version of “Elderly Woman” by African singer Mburu played as the curtain went up and as soon as Ed came out, the crowd started singing along with the song. “I just wanna scream HELLO…” ; after the first “hearts & thoughts” verse he commanded that everyone sit with one swoop of his hand. He then sat down with his guitar and said “Thank you. And welcome to a night at the opera.” Ed mentioned that he wanted to “see what we can do” and that he wanted to push the boundaries. After the first couple of songs, Ed remarked about the shouting that he was “not going to tolerate the shit I tolerated the night before.” After “Dead Man”, Ed retrieved some lyrics from his notebook and launched into “Sometimes”. The song developed a different vibe toward the end; where the song would normally have faded, the audience were clapping along and it transformed and strengthened the song. Ed seemed very pleased by the transformation. Again when Ed got out the mandolin for “Rise”, people were shouting “Luuuuuuuke”, and he scolded “you uncultured bastards this is a mandolin!” and later, “This is the first time your ass has been in a velvet seat, right?” He spoke of how nice the theatre was and that he’d had an opportunity to play there…and held out the mandolin, showing off how “nice” it is. He started to play “Rise” and couldn’t quite get the fingering, saying “looks nice, but I can’t play it.” Regarding the shouting, Ed said that no matter where you are in the building, in the balcony or anywhere it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, it sounds like “I’m an idiot!”. Then the first time someone shouted “I’m an idiot!” after that and it caught Ed’s ear, it made him laugh pretty hard. Before “Millworker”, Ed commented about the song’s author James Taylor “He’s a badass motherfucker. Walk up to him and say ‘hi’ and he’ll tell you to get the fuck away and you wanna know why? …… Cuz he’s a bad ass motherfucker.” He then impersonated one of his fans talking to James Taylor and kind of whimpered “But…Ed…said…to say hi.” He commented that Exxon made 11 billion dollars in the last quarter, saying “I’m so bad at math…maybe it’s my low intellect but I don’t really get this math thing” incredulous at their glut of profit. He dedicated “Soon Forget” to Exxon. He started “Goodbye” next, playing the first verse then stopped, saying it didn’t go with “Soon Forget”. For “Driftin’”, Ed got a harmonica, started playing it then said “fuck it” and tossed it. He got a second one and said he didn’t like that one either, “it must be me or something.” After “Driftin’”, he retrieved a piece of paper that George put on the clipboard; Ed dedicated “Forever Young” to a young girl named Lindsey that he met earlier that day before the soundcheck. She had given him this letter that meant a lot to him – [A run down of the letter's content, from the writer herself: "In a nutshell, I explained that I just graduated high school and in general I am disgusted by the amount of materialism and conformity in most other teenagers. I told him that his music saved me from this. I wrote that at the end of middle school I was headed down the same path- listening to pop music and obsessing over brand name clothes. I told him about the first time I ever heard Pearl Jam and how I stayed up all night listening, completely blown away. Then I used the phrase (which he read out loud) "4 years and 11 Pearl Jam concerts later.. I am a completely different person" I explained a couple other ways he changed my life that he read out loud. It was something like "Instead of listening to pop music on my ipod, I'm listening to albums like Quadrophenia on vinyl. Instead of watching tasteless reality TV, I'm playing guitar and writing music. Instead of voting for the next American Idol, I'm making sure everyone my age is registered to vote for the next president."] After the song, he pointed out Howard Zinn in the crowd (who gave him a standing ovation) and said that what the band’s music had done for Lindsey (inspiration-wise), Howard had done for him. Prior to (Bruce Springsteen cover) “Growin’ Up”, Ed remarked on how Bruce was also in town (he was playing Gillette Stadium that night) so he was surprised that we had all given up that show to come see him instead, but that we were better off because it was raining so hard. So he figured he would do a song by him for us. The crowd started going “Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce!” and Ed remarked to Howard Zinn, “Howard, I just want you to know they are chanting ‘Bruce’, they are not booing” and smiled. Before “Wishlist” Ed said “I tried this last night and liked how it went so I’m trying it again.” Instead of using the e-bow to play the solo at the song’s end, Ed sang the notes instead. He uses the apple box foot platform to drive the beat of the song. “No More” is played on an almost glowing radiantly white acoustic guitar with a red sticker by the sound hole. “Arc” continued to play as the curtain went down; Ed came out in front of it and spent a few minutes blowing kisses, shaking hands and soaking in the love from the crowd. He seemed touched and emotional by the crowd’s response.

08/04/08 – United Palace Theater, New York, NY

set: Walking Cow, Trouble, Around the Bend, I Am Mine, Dead Man, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, Sometimes, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Far Behind, Rise, Millworker, Soon Forget, Goodbye, I Used to Work in Chicago, Walk Hard (tease), Driftin’, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, Porch

first encore: Wishlist, Let My Love Open the Door, Society, Masters of War, No More, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun

TFT Notes: Notes coming soon…

08/05/08 – United Palace Theater, New York, NY

set: Walking the Cow, Trouble, Sometimes, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Man of the Hour, Setting Forth, Guaranteed, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Rise, Millworker, Goodbye, Broken Hearted, Driftin’, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Girl from North Country, Thumbing My Way, Porch

first encore: Wishlist, Here’s to the State of Mississippi, Society (w/ Liam Finn), No More, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun

TFT Notes: Notes coming soon…

08/07/08 – New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ

set: Walking the Cow, Trouble, Don’t Be Shy, Around the Bend, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Sometimes, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, Unthought Known, Driftin’, Masters of War, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Far Behind, Rise, Elderly Woman…, You’re True, Soon Forget, Forever Young, Porch

first encore: Society (with Liam Finn), Throw Your Arms Around Me (with Liam Finn), Growin’ Up, Lukin, Let My Love Open the Door, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun

TFT Notes: After “Walking the Cow”, Ed indicates the he was going to choose between the next two songs but that he’ll “just play them both”, playing Cat Stevens’ “Trouble” and “Don’t Be Shy”. There are tolerable shouts from the crowd, to which Ed says maybe later they’ll have “a little question and answer”. Someone asks “What are you drinking?” and he tells a story about drinking a lot the night before and coming up with a new song at 5AM that day. He uses a few analogies – “fruit that’s not yet ripe and “pants that need to be hemmed” – and plays a new song listed as “Unthought Known” on the setlist (three verses, three choruses) with one chorus repeating “Nothing left…” After “No Ceiling”, he puts a guy in the front row on the spot and asks him if he has a question and the guy asks “Can I request a song?”. Ed jokingly responds that he intended to give him an answer to a question, not give him a song. He makes a song request but Ed continues with “Guaranteed”. After “Rise” Ed grabs a guitar, strums a few (familiar) chords, and shakes his head realizing “I think I just played ‘Turning Japanese’ (The Vapors)”. He comments that of all the songs that could have channeled through him, he’s going to figure out why it was that song. Prior to “Elderly Woman…”, Ed says it’s “not requested but by request” and says that it’s the middle of the show and encourages the crowd to stand up for a “seventh inning stretch”, leading to a rousing version with Ed letting the crowd sing most of the lyrics. Following “You’re True”, Ed says after soundcheck he was walking around the venue and walked all the way up to the 4th tier (the venue has orchesta seating, then four vertically-tiered balconies) and recalled how he saw his first concert at the very last row in the top balcony (Springsteen at the Auditorium in Chicago). He mentions that because of the steep balconies he wasn’t going to play as many sad songs “to prevent jumpers”. He continues by mentioning he woke up and read his “first bad review” in the New York Times (of the August 5 show) that called him “brooding” and “righteous” and – after stating how Exxon/Mobile had $11 billion in profits while people couldn’t afford gas – that he’s “right” not “righteous”. “Forever Young” is dedicated to everyone whose birthday is today. Coming back from the first encore, Ed praises the venue saying that he gets asked a lot of questions at various events like barbecues and is always asked “where is the best place to play?” and for now on he’s going to say “Newark”. Getting back to the Q&A, Ed asks for another question and one fan’s asks “What are the lyrics to ‘Yellow Ledbetter’?”. The crowd roars in approval and Ed says “Wait … you mean there’s lyrics?” He then proceeds to tell the story surrounding the lyrics, saying it was written around the time of the Gulf War when “Papa Bush” was President. He knew an “alternative-looking” friend from Seattle who received a “yellow letter” when his brother died in the war. Ed was walking with this friend and there was a flag hanging from a porch on a house along the road. When the friend acknowledged the flag patriotically, the people seemed to not reciprocate his homage (“but they don’t wave”) because of his appearance. Bordering on tears, Ed wraps up the story and plays “Growin’ Up” because of the Bruce Springsteen / New Jersey connection. “Hard Sun” closes the show as the theater’s centerpiece – a large, spherical, gold/silver, illuminated chandelier – is lowered slowly over the crowd.

08/09/08 – Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Montreal, QC

set: Walking The Cow, Trouble, Sometimes, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Man Of The Hour, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Far Behind, Rise, Millworker, Goodbye, Brokenhearted, Driftin’, You’Ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Blackbird, Gone, Porch

first encore: Society (with Liam Finn), Throw Your Arms Around Me (with Liam Finn), Wishlist, Lukin, I’m One, No More, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun (w/Finn, Barnes)

TFT Notes: Ed talked before he even started playing … hit the ground talking. “Has anyone seen the Olympic opening ceremony? These people are going to rule the world!” As ever, there was a lot of shouting from the crowd; early on a guy kept calling out incessantly, “Love you Eddie!” and chanting “Eddie, Eddie!” and it went on. Finally Ed responded “It’s been established, I know my name. “Touche’” The guy responds, to laughter. Ed says, “Okay we’ll call it a draw”. He mentioned at one point that on the first solo tour, he was in a place that didn’t speak English, and that he should speak French but he won’t be tonight. Before “Millworker”, he said that this is an American story. “Goodbye” featured several misfires; he kept stopping, finally saying, “one more mistake and this guitar is going to be in pieces. I blame other things for my mistakes.” Prior to “Blackbird”, Ed said that he’s been trying this out lately and he was going to try it with us and see how it went. ” It’s not a political song. Tim Robbins (went to) the last couple of gigs and said ‘people that come to these gigs, they are really fucking good singers’ … There’s a part in this song, you might think it’s over but it’s not…but that’s when the birds come in…so feel free to sing like the birds.” The crowd responds by whistling, to which Ed comments “That’s not a bird, birds have more respect than that…that’s how you’re looking for a bird….this may work it may not, I’m gonna try it…you’ll hear the bird part.” People started clapping, he said “no no, let’s keep it quiet. It’s a quiet one.” While strumming, he commented, “so what I’ve been thinking of is actually images of more of the African-American story in the United States, all they’ve ever overcome and at the end of this song whenever I’ve been playing it to myself, like at the end everything, when I think of this story I think, I think of all the bad things that have happened, I think of them getting hosed down in the 60′s, (still strumming) I think of all the bad images I have and at the end of the song, I see this picture in my head of Barack Obama in my head with a big smile on this face…” and back into the song. [Paul McCartney, regarding the writing of "Blackbird" from The Beatles biography "Many Years From Now" by Barry Miles: I developed the melody on guitar based on the Bach piece (Bouree in E minor) and took it somewhere else, took it to another level, then I just fitted the words to it. I had in mind a black woman, rather than a bird. Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was really a song from me to a black woman, experiencing these problems in the States: 'Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope.']. When Liam joined Ed on “Society”, Ed first related a story, saying “I’ve told Liam this story, and I haven’t told anyone else this story expect my…(long pause) wife.” He said he woke up at 1 p.m., the TV was on what he thought was the shopping channel….and he saw what he thought was a wrist. But there was no watch on it. And then he realized it wasn’t a wrist it was a sex toy. The camera pulls back and he sees other things attached to this toy…he reaches to the side of the bed, puts on his glasses, and it says on the screen “3-way stimulation”. “So I took off my glasses….” Liam responds “So you called the number?” and Ed says…”I’m not here long enough to receive it”. Ed thanked Tim Robbins for introducing him to Sean that brought him to this tour. Prior to “No More”, Ed mentioned Tomas Young, telling about how Tomas had pulmonary embolism, it was 7-8 hours before he was found, and that he was coming back from this, learning to speak again, and that Ed was going to see him when he goes to Chicago. He encouraged people to write to thim, that Tomas starts every day by reading letters he gets from people.

If TFT readers would like to write, Tomas’s family will forward mail sent to him here:

Tomas Young

112 NE 113th Street

Kansas City, MO 64155

USA

Toward end of show, Ed tells the crowd that he has a little girl who is 3-1/2, then corrected himself saying she is 4. She is really smart, and they read her books with French words in them sometimes. He was telling her about playing tonight and that he was playing to a French audience, and he asked her (kind of testing her) and “how would I say thanks?” And that she got that one easily. And then he said how would you say good night, and she said, “Bon….bon….just say hi!”. At one point between songs, he says to someone in the front row “Did you find what you were searching for in your purse?” He explained that “this girl…woman” was rooting around in her purse all during the last song. He said he was really distracted because the purse was white, and on the floor in front of her, and her pants were white and it almost looked like her pants were down around her ankles. Ed leaned over with gesture of pants around ankles, blocked by his open suitcase to kind of demonstrate how it looked from his angle. Ed said “I don’t know what it is tonight”…girls with pants around ankles…sex toys, I just can’t stop talking about this. At end he told the crowd, “Montreal you’ve been great. When I go home alone and lonely, I can’t be grumpy because of you. No songs will be written tonight.”

08/10/08 – Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Montreal, QC

set: Walking The Cow, Sometimes, Around The Bend, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Man Of The Hour, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Masters Of War, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Far Behind, Rise, Soon Forget, Unthought Known, Thumbing My Way, Drifting, Forever Young, Porch

first encore: Society (w/Finn), Throw Your Arms Around Me (w/Finn), Wishlist, Girl From The North Country, Lukin, Let My Love Open The Door, No More, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun (w/Finn, Barnes)

TFT Notes: Ed walked out during the Small Town cover and proceeded to dance to it. The crowd was singing along mightily and he grinned along. He said he thought he was in Montreal for their summer, that summer is an amazing time, people fall in love in the summer. He went on to say that when they arrived on Friday morning, it was raining and it reminded him of Seattle. “Just like Seattle, but old… and French” Then he announced he was going to take the cow for a walk. Before Dead Man, he once again told the story about Stone “great guitarist.. brother” when he first heard this song. “He liked it but said maybe in the chorus, it should say “Dead Man Walking .. Around”. “He’s had some great ideas over the years but this definitely wasn’t one of them”. As usual, the loud male “Love You, Eddie” scream came early. Ed smiled and said “You sound handsome” and that he was willing to bet he wasn’t 5’2. There was a massive, very loud sing-along to his Small Town and one guy near the front turned around and conducted the crowd behind him. Ed was obviously impressed with the singing, and announced he “really needed a cigarette”. As he puffed, he said “I’m not saying that was like sex or anything.” The conducting guy hadn’t gone unnoticed by Ed and he said “this guy – here” (pointing) “turned into Leonard Bernstein” and seemed greatly amused by that. The guy said something (presumably “what do I get?”) and Ed responded “A beer with me” and asked for two beers. (George came running with them) He called the guy up, who kissed Ed soundly on the cheek (to Ed’s laughter and a bit of a recoil) and arms around each other, drank a beer with him. A short chat ensued, where apparently “Ralph told me his life story”. And brief nod to the state of the US followed with an angry and rousing “Masters of War”. Despite forgetting the first lines to a couple of the Into The Wild Songs, the guitar/mandolin/uke play was subtle and delicate but immensely powerful. Ed introduced “my friend the mandolin” when he said people were requesting uke songs and this wasn’t one. Ed announced that in the last 7-8 years he’d got about 8 uke songs and he was thinking about adding two more and putting out a 10 song uke album to “test everybody’s patience”. The new song “Unthought Known” which was “48 hours old” included the lines (paraphrasing) “the path the moon cuts for you to walk on, distant shores to welcome you”. Ed mentioned meeting a young girl Jenna that day and decided he’d bring her on stage. Waiting for this to happen he told his “good joke for you”: about a Dumb Blonde who came into a library and loudly asked for a cheeseburger. The prim, hair-pulled-back librarian bristled and whispering, told her this was a library. The dumb blonde responded, in a whisper, that she’d like a cheeseburger. He seemed to think Jenna would like this joke. Still waiting for Jenna said “it’s not like it’s her birthday or anything” when a voice from sidestage revealed it was. “You’re fucking kidding me”.. “Fuck” (at saying fuck to the young girl) and “Jiminy Cricket” came out instead. A brief chat revealed Jenna was too nervous to come on her own and “her Pop is going to join her”. Not sure who was more thrilled to be onstage with Ed singing “Forever Young” to them. After a stunning and emotional version, (tears in the voice) Ed said it was her first concert and she was now ruined. Ed wiped his face with a towel and then announced that the towel smelled “weird, really weird”. Some guy asked loudly if he could have it. And Ed responded that “it smells like you’ve already had it (long pause) a long time, your favorite towel”, and that it “smelled like cinnamon and then it didn’t” (with a grin). Requests for PJ songs had two funny responses: “When people ask for Spin the Black Circle, I feel like a prostitute who says ‘don’t touch me there…or it will be more money’” and RVM prompted a behind the head perfect rendition of the opening riffs. “Three Dylan songs tonight” brought an amazing “Girl from the North Country”. Two lovely duets with Liam and a chat that revealed they met when Liam was 11 and “who knew I’d end up looking up to him.” “Let my Love Open the Door” was spirited and joyful. “Arc” featured a rapt Ed rocking up and down as he added each harmony; the layered voices filling the room was otherworldly. A beachy Hard Sun ended, but Ed was reluctant to leave; there were kisses thrown and hands touched and long looks at an audience that was sated, “You’re very kind to a guy from West Seattle”.

08/12/08 – Massey Hall, Toronto, ON

set: Walking The Cow, Trouble, Sometimes, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Man Of The Hour, Long May You Run, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Far Behind, Rise, Here’s to the State of Mississippi, Picture in a Frame, Brokenhearted, Goodbye, Driftin’, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Last Kiss, Porch

first encore: (Believe You Me)/Wishlist, Society (w/Finn), Parting Ways (w/Finn), Elderly Woman…, The Seeker, No More, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun (w/Finn, Barnes)

TFT Notes: A very long, very loud standing ovation started the show. Ed said it was humbling and “besides, you have to be cocky to do this, come out on your own, and (we) were spoiling that.” A false start on Trouble had him commenting that he “wasn’t cocky enough”. He’s obviously a fan of Massey Hall and mentioned the “Young Neil” connection, saying “Neil Young means Massey Hall”. Then it was “Johnny Cash means Folsom Prison” and commented that there seemed to be some inmates there tonight, pointing to various audience members. Tonight’s first male “love you Eddie” was recognized by Ed to be a Brit, which seemed to please him but followed that with “but his voice in an intimate setting may be a bit rough for me.” The Neil connection continued with him saying he’d only played the next song once, for his mother’s birthday and “Long May You Run” followed. The next audience suggestion that got Ed’s attention was “Play without speakers”. Ed responded “We could try that. How about you leave, we’ll try it and if it works, we’ll let you back in.” Much audience yelling surrounded Ed’s mention of the Elgin Theatre (next door) and the “Into The Wild” premiere with the audience repeatedly correcting his pronunciation of Elgin (‘gin’ not like the drink). Ed just wasn’t getting what they were saying and when he went frontstage to have someone tell him literally in his ear the correct way of saying it, he said “bring me the head of ..Smith who told me it was the ElGIN Theatre.” A funny story followed about said premiere and how they were all dressed and having a great time, but at some point in the evening “all the liquid I’d imbibed all night was in the physical confines of my body and … needed release.” He went outside, went around the corner, “took the appropriate gear out, saw the sign on the wall and thought ‘you can’t piss on Massey Hall’” So he put the “gear” back, went around the corner to a dumpster (“no one would complain about that”) and found release. Just at that moment a fancy, well dressed couple came by and he was sure they were thinking “scumbag”. “See, this business isn’t all glamour”. A loud request for “Lukin” prompted “you can’t play Lukin on a Mandolin”, but he tried briefly, anyway. A rousing “Here’s to the State” was followed by the clarifying that “when it said ‘Find another country’, it was NOT THIS ONE”! “Let’s get romantic” brought “Picture in a Frame” and “this is the dark side of love” was “Brokenhearted” with incredibly beautiful picking. “Goodbye” followed and when “play Black” came from the crowd, he said “I just did.” Another long storytime from Ed – the “Allegro story”. The night before, during a visit to a pool hall, he took a smoke break (“cause you can’t smoke anywhere and you meet the most interesting people that way”) where he saw a guy on a bicycle, who “hadn’t bathed in a month” and came up and kept saying “Allegro”. “Ask the sound guy, he was there”. They weren’t understanding him, (“I’m not Allegro”) but then realized it wasn’t “allegro”, but “where did my leg go?” as he was missing a leg. He talked about how bad he felt for the guy and wanted to go right now and search for it. He said something along the lines of “so if any of you find a leg …” Then came the question from the crowd I’d been wondering myself, “How did he peddle?”. “Good question”, thought a minute and then demonstrated that he pushed the bike along on one leg. A previous mention of “the band and the connection to Toronto” came back a while later with a very loud “what band are you in?” to much laughter. Ed, Without missing a beat said “Stone Temple Pilots”. And then “you fuckers are getting out of hand” with a grin. A really beautiful and delicate “Believe You Me” snippet prefaced “Wishlist”. Liam’s entrance was met with “You’re looking particularly stoned tonight, Liam” who responded “well, it’s Massey Hall”. Ed – “I’m just saying that cause I’m more than a little jealous.. but I’ll catch up later”. After “Society”, Ed played charades – “We’ve been working on this: two words, a song (with charades song gesture), first word sounds like…”. And then “don’t say it” to Liam – the song: Parting Ways. An argument with himself followed about whether to play “Small Town” again “as you’ve already heard it tonight” and a short story about African singer Mburu, (“He’s 65, blind and had about 3 teeth”) who his brother and the video director of “Life Wasted” worked with and how this song was a present to his brother at the end. What seemed like an inner battle of what to play next, “I don’t know what I’m doing” produced “The Seeker”. It should be noted that Ed twice referred to checking things online but both times, hesitated, made a box gesture and instead said “on that computer thing”. The night ended with “lots of fun, the least it’s ever felt like work”!

08/13/08 – Massey Hall, Toronto, ON

set: Walking the Cow, Trouble, Sometimes, Around the Bend, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Man of the Hour, Long May You Run, Masters of War, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Far Behind, Rise, Millworker, You’re Tue, Soon Forget, Lukin, Let My Love Open the Door, Porch

first encore: Wishlist, Helpless, Society (w/Finn), Throw Your Arms Around Me (w/Finn), Elderly Woman…, No More, I Am A Patriot, Arc

second encore: Old Man, Rockin in the Free World (w/Finn,Barnes), Rockin in the Free World Hard Sun (w/Finn, Barnes)

TFT Notes: The crowd gave Ed another extended standing ovation before he even played a note. After “Sometimes” and some vigorous foot stomping, Ed turned his back to the audience, made some “adjustments” to his person and turned back around around, saying, “sorry about that, a bit of a wardrobe malfunction.” Ed told the crowd about how a guy that worked for Neil Young called Elliott (Elliott Roberts, Neil’s longtime manager) gave him a copy of a show from Massey Hall and said it was the best Neil show ever . Ed mentioned that Neil had put out the recording a couple years ago and that was his initial connection to Massey Hall. Early on, Ed caught sight of a guy in the front row wearing a Star Wars T-Shirt with Stormtroopers on it. He pointed and asked, “Why are you wearing that shirt?” They guy’s reply was unintelligible, and Ed answered aloud “I thought so, I thought that’s why” and proceeded to talk about when he and Dave Grohl were on tour with Mike Watt in 1995 and stood outside the Watt show in Toronto and bought those exact same shirts. Ed pointed to his head, as if to tell the Star Wars shirt wearer “good thinking”. He seemed to get a kick out of the obscure reference. Prior to “Dead Man”, Ed spoke of the West Memphis Three, saying that something was going to be finally happening in about 10 days (Judge David Burnett has set aside Sept. 8 – Oct 3, 2008 to hear the new evidence and all three cases). He said it was 10 years in the making, and (regarding Damien Echols) that he got to know him, visited him, looked into his eyes, and he knows he’s not guilty, he would swear on everything, he would swear on his daughter. He noted the song is about the death penalty, but the difference (between Sean Penn’s character in Dead Man Walking and Damien) is that Damien is not guilty. Prior to “Man of The Hour”, Ed explained about writing the song for the movie (Big Fish), that a lot of people when they saw the movie thought about their own fathers and relationship with father, and that he thought about Johnny Ramone. When Ed wrote the song, “he was still with us, but very ill” and it was only a matter of time. He said he still thinks of Johnny whenever he sings it. Compared to the previous night, the seemingly less “rude” crowd mostly yelled out song titles and the occasional request for “Uncle Neil” rather than trying to “talk” to Ed. He commented that there will be lots of his songs tonight, we had to wait until later in the show, right now he was in the driver’s seat. Prior to one of the “Into the Wild” songs, Ed spoke about how he got to know (Chris McCandless’s) sister and family during the making of the movie and it felt like “he” was with him during this whole experience – motioning to the physical space beside him on the stage – which he liked (Ed never actually said the name Chris McCandless when he was telling the crowd this). People yelling ‘uke’ when the mandolin came out for “Rise” prompted an introduction to the instrument. Someone let Ed know that “Losing My Religion” is also played on a mandolin since he says he only knows one song on the instrument. Prior to “Masters of War”, Ed mentioned that he can’t wait until the day the song no longer has any meaning, and that “wasn’t going to apologize for being ‘righteous’ “(obviously a reference to the NY Times review), that he “wasn’t going to apologize and certainly wasn’t going to apologize for being an artist with an opinion”. He sounded quite angry and passionate about it. Ed talked about paddle boarding on Lake Ontario, paddling on shore over to Toronto Island, saying it was the first time he’d seen the Toronto skyline from the water. It reminded him of the Seattle skyline, and that “we both have these phallic symbols”, and “they are (both) erect” phallic symbols. He noted that Toronto’s (the CN Tower) is bigger but dirtier than Seattle’s, that Toronto had been ignoring their hygienic rituals. Ed spoke about how he is “constantly” asked to play at weddings, which is frustrating, saying emphatically “I … don’t … play …weddings.” He said he hates being asked to play weddings not only ’cause “I don’t play weddings unless it’s a bandmate…” but because he hated letting them down. [The previous night, there was a woman who yelled "Play at my wedding!" to which Ed had responded how she "should be glad someone was going to marry her."] He apologized for his snide remark in response to the request the previous evening, explained that he only plays at weddings if it’s his brothers or his bandmates. Or if Neil Young asked he would play at his wedding too. But (Neil) already has a wonderful woman named Pegi, so he may play at their 50th anniversary. Prior to playing “You’re True”, Ed spoke about meeting a couple earlier in the day and that the man was “in trouble” from his wife for spending so much money on the shows. Ed wanted to make sure that everything was going to be okay because this is it for a long time and Pearl Jam are going to make a record. So this love song was “for them”, and that it was the song that Ed played at Mike McCready’s wedding…and he only played there because it was a bandmate. “Soon Forget” was next, which had been yelled out multiple times that night. There was a tease of “Lukin” (to appease yellers for the ukulele), which Ed said sounded like “Turning Japanese” by The Vapors, and so he played a few bars of that too. Massive crowd sing a long for “Let My Love Open the Door”; for the high parts/low parts in the song, Ed didn’t want to split the crowd into men and women because if the men wanted to sing the high parts then go ahead and if the women wanted to sing the low parts then that was ok too. After “Wishlist”, Liam Finn’s musical partner Eliza Jane (EJ) Barnes walked out on stage and sat down in front of the microphone. More rude comments from yellers, and Ed said “Hey, there is a lady onstage.” They do Neil Young’s “Helpless” (from the CSNY album “Déjà Vu”). Off goes EJ, and on comes Liam for “Society” and “Throw Your Arms”. “Elderly Woman” was another massive sing a long. Ed prepared to ready himself for “Arc”, and someone yelling out a song toward the front catches Ed’s ear, he says “that’s a good one” and motions for George to bring back his guitar for “Patriot”. He then does “Arc” and goes off stage. There is no curtain at Massey Hall, so the techs could be seen setting up for the encore; the microphones in the center were not moved and another seat was brought out… a bit different from usual. Ed, Liam and EJ come back out, and Liam and EJ sit down, and Liam has a guitar. Ed says “I’m going to go over here” and walks over to Liam’s drums and sits down. They go into Neil Young’s “Old Man” with Liam and EJ singing and Ed playing drums! The crowd stood in awe of the sight. (Liam and EJ played “Old Man” in their set on night 1). They finish, Liam and EJ go offstage, Ed gets a guitar, sits down in the middle of the stage and starts into “Rockin in the Free World”. Another massive sing a long… again! Liam and EJ come back for “Hard Sun”. Show ends at 11:25 p.m., nearly 2.5 hours.

08/16/08 – Warner Theater, Washington D.C.

set: Walking the Cow, Trouble, Sometimes, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Man of the Hour, Masters of War, Unthought Known, Setting Forth, Guaranteed, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Rise, Millworker, Soon Forget, Goodbye, Broken Heart, Drifting, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Lukin, Porch

first encore: Blackbird, Wishlist, Elderly Woman…, Society (w/Liam Finn), Parting Ways (w/Liam Finn), No More, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun (w/Finn & Barnes)

TFT Notes:

08/17/08 – Warner Theater, Washington D.C.

set: Sometimes, Trouble, Girl from the North Country, Around the Bend, I Am Mine, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Far Behind, Rise, You’re True, Drifting, If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, Forever Young, Porch

first encore: Here’s to the President, Blackbird, Society (w/Liam Finn), Throw Your Arms Around Me (w/Liam Finn), No More, Arc

second encore: All Along the Watchtower, Hard Sun (w/Finn & Barnes)

TFT Notes:

08/19/08 – Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, WI

set: Sometimes, Trouble, Girl from the North Country, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Man of the Hour, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Far Behind, Elderly Woman…, Millworker, Soon Forget, Broken Heart, Gone, Rise, Drifting, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Porch

first encore: Here’s to the President, Blackbird, Forever Young, I Won’t Back Down, Wishlist, Society (w/Liam Finn), Throw Your Arms Around Me (w/Liam Finn), No More, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun (w/Finn & Barnes)

TFT Notes:

08/21/08 – Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL

set: Walking the Cow, Trouble, The Ship Song, I Am Mine, Hurt, Sometimes, Man of the Hour, No More, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Far Behind, Here’s to the President, Goodbye, Drifting, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Better Man, Porch

first encore: Elderly Woman…, All the Way, Helpless (w/Barnes), Society (w/Liam Finn), Parting Ways (w/Liam Finn), Arc

second encore: Hard Sun (w/Finn & Barnes)

TFT Notes:

08/22/08 – Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL

set: Sometimes, Trouble, Girl from the North Country, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Brain Damage (partial), Masters of War, Can’t Explain, Setting Forth, Guaranteed, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Rise, Soon Forget, I’m One, Drifting, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Elderly Woman…, All The Way, Porch

first encore: Growin’ Up, Blackbird, Throw Your Arms Around Me (w/Liam Finn), Society (w/Liam Finn), Lukin, Wishlist, Let My Love Open the Door, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun (w/Finn & Barnes)

em>TFT Notes:

6/8/09 – Palace Theatre Albany, NY

opening act: Liam Finn with Eliza-Jane Barnes

set: Walking the Cow, Sometimes, Around The Bend, I Am Mine, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Far Behind, State Trooper, Girl from the North Country, Driftin’, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, Soon Forget, You’re True, Small Town, NEW Song (Just for Albany), Lukin, Porch

first encore: Society (w/ Liam) , Forever Young, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun (w/ Liam & EJ)

TFT Notes: Starting his “third” small solo tour, Ed enters to the recorded version of “Tuolumne” and greets the crowd saying he hasn’t played in awhile and – with the crowd’s help – this will be a “joint effort” and gesturing a big inhale of a “joint”. “Walking the Cow” is a familiar start, and there is no evidence of rust or cobwebs on Ed’s singing or guitar playing. “Sometimes” features the stompboard towards the end of the song and a really agressive build up to “sometimes I speak of nothing at all“. After starting “Man of The Hour”, Ed stopped immediately due to an over-amplified guitar, talking about the beauty of a ukulele being a small instrument that knows it’s place and that the guitar was trying to make too big a sound. He says he was excited to tell his 4-year-old daughter that he played a “palace” and wishes he could tell her he’d rode on a white horse. A few songs later, he asserts the “Into The Wild” are “white horse”. Ed debuts Bruce Springsteen’s “State Trooper”, from 1982′s Nebraska. He mentions that he hadn’t played the song since he was a 15-year-old. The straightforward song is met with a good response, and some clapping to the steady beat of the “driving” song. From Springsteen to Dylan, “Girl from North Country” returns, after appearing during Ed’s second tour in the fall of 2008. Ed spoke about someone showing him an article that said that Pearl Jam played the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Fieldhouse in 1993 with Neil Young and Public Enemy – which they didn’t. He said that he knew he his memory “ain’t spotless”, but “I have this feeling that if Flavor Flav and Neil Young were standing next to each other, I’d fucking remember that“. He quietly added “Neil knows what time it is” referring to Flavor Flav’s huge clock accessories. “Soon Forget” and “You’re True” are played consecutively on “Luke the Uke”. New to the stage in 2009 is a large white chair shaped out of two feet (thick? =). After “You’re True”, Ed asks if he can take a break, have a smoke and tell a story. Sitting in the chair, Ed tells a long story about one of the mid-90s Monkeywrench Radio tours where he spoke to a small group of fans in a parking lot (“I think in this area”) and left to go get them some tokens (t-shirts) for them. Upon returning a few minutes laser, he caught the group off-guard, specifically a girl who was relieving herself between two cars in the parking lot – “a full moon … leaking”. Without being seen he describes the moment of panic about whether he should announce his appearance or bail … and he chose to bail. He introduces the “Elderly Woman” as “Young Woman Pissing in an Empty Space Between Two Cars in a Small Town.” Ed sings a “new” song for “Albany” … “Albany, you look so tall to me / Like sailing in front of an endless sea / I feel like a shrunken head on a shrunken body / Albany, you can deliver me / can i get it through to you? / Oh have you come here from Utica?”. A rousing “Lukin” keeps the energy high, and “Porch” ends the set. During “Porch”, Ed’s “jam” is some light strumming on the traditional full-band jam section, slowly building up to the “Hear My Name” crescendo. It only lasts for 40s or so, but feels longer. Liam Finn joins Ed at the start of the encore for “Society”. Introducing him, he says that he was thinking of the ’70s group The Carpenters (mainly siblings Karen and Richard) who made “great music” and were like “America’s Abba”, but then mused “What if the Carpenter’s had taken acid?”. He then realized watching Liam and Eliza open that “That’s it!!”. Ed talks about he and friend paddling up the Hudson River and coming to a tressle that had three large graffiti letters “A-R-C”, which leads to “Arc”. “Hard Sun” closes with sincere remarks about the tour opener saying “thanks for your patience”.

6/9/09 – Palace Theatre Albany, NY

opening act: Liam Finn with Eliza-Jane Barnes

set: Tuolumne, Far Behind, Sometimes, Trouble, Don’t Be Shy, I Am Mine/(tag of new Sonic Youth song), Dead Man, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Picture in a Frame, Driftin’, Hide Your Love Away, Soon Forget, Growin’ Up, Open All Night (Springsteen), Lukin, Porch

first encore: Albany Song, Society, Throw Your Arms Around Me, Parting Ways, Wishlist, Arc, Hard Sun

second encore: Hard Sun

TFT Notes: With the curtain closed, the familiar opening of “Tuolumne” starts. However, when the curtain opens, Ed is actually playing it live instead of the pre-recorded version. Therefore, fans this night saw the live debut of “Tuolumne”. Towards the end, Ed muffs a chord and we get the familiar “ah, fuck!”. “Far Behind” is next, and Ed has trouble with a few more chords in the second chorus – muff count: 2-for-2. An eventually stellar “Sometimes” is started then then stopped because of some misplayed chords – muff-count: 3-for-3. Ed greets fans from “the little apple” – non-American geography lesson: Albany is the capital of the state of New York, however its size is dwarfed by sibling New York City aka “The Big Apple”. A sweet and flawless “Trouble” is next, and Ed plays the wrong chords to the last line “Haven’t got a lot of time” – Getting frustrated at messing up some chords, Ed does a machine-gun barrage of the last C-major chord. Muff count: 4-for-4. Another Cat Stevens number “Don’t Be Shy” is next, with Ed saying it’s “another one by somebody I recently met”. Keeping score, “Don’t Be Shy” was perfect, so muff-count is 4-for-5. Ed comments on a newpaper review from the previous night “From what I read in the paper, obviously I was drunk last night. (Joking that he wasn’t that drunk) That reporter has never seen me drunk. But I probably would rather him designate all the mistakes that occurred last night between my brain and my hands to being drunk than just not having played for nine months … so yeah, I was fucking hammered!.” After “I Am Mine”, Ed tags about a minute of a new Sonic Youth song from 2009′s Eternal with lyrics “Don’t need to hide / there’s no need to hide / Don’t you see”. Matter-of-fact comments are made about the next few songs. “Dead Man” … “this is from a film” and after that “No Ceiling” … “this is also from a film”. Ed keeps playing but stops singing “Guaranteed” before the “wind in my hair” verse because he forgets the lyrics, and adds commentary “determined not to fuck this up like I did last night, when I was so horribly drunk”. A story is told about he and a friend recently navigating Round Lake just north of Albany, and how they were “two of the most lost surfers that there ever were”. He tells a story about reading an article on how swimming Hudson River is cautioned near Albany “where sewage plants do not yet disinfect their outflow into the river.” The article mentions it would take $13mil to fix and that “I think we should start coming up with the money”, to great applause, and that since the 1970s they’ve “cleaned up most of the corporate pollution and now it’s just human piss and shit”. Glad that the Palace is filled with “quality people” in attendance, Ed likens the old buildings in this historic city to the rings of a tree stump. “Growing Up” is played by request, and Ed mentions a conversation he had with his mother to see if he had any upstate New York family roots, and he discovers he does in Little Falls. The double-artist-block continues with a second by Bruce Springsteen “Open All Night”, another from 1979′s Nebraska. The encore opens with Ed revisiting his Albany improv “Albany, The Song”. This night’s lyrics are “Albany, I’ll keep my memories / This theater, these people, these things I will miss / Like paddling the Hudson in your shit and your piss (laughter) / Albany … you will remain close to me / Yeah I’ll toast you later with a shot / I’ll also be toasting to Ithaca (applause)”. The urination theme continues with Ed welcoming Liam Finn on stage and they banter about how many people they observed pissing in the parking lot – “not even onto the wheels, but the actual cars – check your cars for piss!”. Liam Finn complements great versions of “Society” and “Throw Your Arms Around Me” (Ed kissing 155 places). Ed breaks out a 5-minute version of “Parting Ways” for the first time since last tour, but this time without Liam. “Wishlist” is turned around as wishing he was “as fortunate as Albany”. “Arc” – noticably sung a half-note lower than normal, but musically still powerful – finishes out a nice encore. “Hard Sun” closes, and Ed thanks the crowd for “5 days and 2 shows” in Albany and “hope things go great for ya, thanks for making them go great for me”.

6/11/09: Philadelphia, PA, Tower Theatre

opening act: Liam Finn with Eliza-Jane Barnes

set: Walking the Cow, (Brain Damage)/Sometimes, Around the Bend, I Am Mine, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, Far Behind, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Driftin’, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, (“Story Time”), The Kids are Alright, Last Kiss, Atlantic City, Lukin, Porch

first encore: Society, Throw Your Arms Around Me, (Let’s Go Phillies chant), Forever Young, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun

TFT Notes: “And away we go” starts Ed with the regular opener “Walking The Cow”. “Sometimes” gets a new tag: Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage” with Ed singing the first verse. Ed name-checks the Philly venues Pearl Jam has played in the past, and goes out of his way to mention the Spectrum which Pearl Jam will play in October, but at the time was barely a rumor. Ed can’t get the lyrics to “Guaranteed” right and randomly sings “And they call the wind Fernando” which is an interesting mashup of a song “They call the wind Mariah” from the musical “Paint Your Wagon” and Abba’s “Fernando” (“between you and me, sometimes I like to dress like a woman and sing those songs”). He then plays and sings a snippet from “Fernando”. Ed seems visibly frustrated by the sound throughout the set, but his song renditions are solid. After “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”, Ed asks if he can take a break and tell a story, calling it “Uncle Ed’s story time with beer and a smoke”. During “story time” in which he sat in the “two feet” chair, he told a story about how after a Lakers game once, he, Sean Penn and Jack Nicholson hit a bar to have a few drinks. A woman who Ed described as a “human version of Jessica Rabbit” approached Jack, and asked him in a sexy southern accent, “Hey Jack, do you want to dance?” Jack raised an eyebrow above his dark shades and said, “Sweetheart, you picked the wrong verb.” “The Kids Are Alright” is dedicated to a friend “Peter” in the audience. “Last Kiss” lyrics are forgotten, so the crowd sings the ending-”Oh”s as a nice “middle verse” until Ed recovers. Before “Throw Your Arms Around Me”, Ed remarks how he’s glad Spring is finally here, and this leads a hilarious take on the seasons with Liam.

Ed: Spring is when plants grow and love grows and it seems like people fall in love in the Spring, always. Spring is like “foreplay”. Summer is like “fucking”. And so if that’s the case, Fall is like “Getting married, settling down”. But Winter is like “fucking divorce”. Liam: I thought you were gonng to say, “Winter is more fucking”. It’s the polar opposite … “more fucking” Ed: I suggest more fucking or you get a divorce. (mimics a relationship conversation) “Why are we getting a divorce? Because we’re not fucking enough. Irreconcibal fucking.” So here is a song about summer which in a way is a song about fucking.

“Throw Your Arms Around Me” is once again elevated with Liam’s complimentary touch and Ed kissing in 155 places. A fan yells out the local baseball score “6-3 Phillies!!” to big cheers (the yelling of the Yankees score is met with boos). Ed congratulates the Phillies on their World Series win, leading to a “Let’s Go Phillies” chant by the crowd. Ed picks up on this and improvs a quick song “Let’s Go Phillies / Let’s do it again / All we want is to fuckin’ win / All we want is to do it again”. Prior to “Forever Young”, Ed mentions that the three people he cares about the most weren’t there, and that it was his daughter Olivia’s 5th birthday and he was sad to be missing it. He dedicated the song to her. A gorgeous version of “Arc” (albeit with a lot of crowd hooting and whistling) and “Hard Sun” close out a nice opener in Philly.

6/12/09: Philadelphia, PA, Tower Theatre

opening act: Liam Finn with Eliza-Jane Barnes

set: Walking the Cow, (Brain Damage)/Sometimes, Trouble, Girl from the North Country, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Far Behind, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Picture in a Frame, State Trooper, Driftin’, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Elderly Woman…, Porch

first encore: Society, Soon Forget, Wishlist, The End, Arc

second encore: Hard Sun

TFT Notes: The second of two Philly shows start much like the first, with “Walking The Cow” and “(Brain Damage)/Sometimes”, with the latter including a very focused and mesmerizing section “Sometimes I reach to myself, here, God / myself, here, God / I can feel you God” and a stomping/clapping finish. This night seems particularly full of crowd outbursts, screams and constant chatter during songs. I’ve been taking pain killers, because I’m alive”. Injured his thumb in an axe-throwing contest, new hobby with his daughter. the “axes of evil”. Ed’s tech, George Webb, comes out and Ed says “That guy that was just up here? You see him? He’s an asshole”. Later, before “Picture in a Frame”, Ed dedicates the romantic song to George becaues he “just can’t live with the hate”. Ed told a story about bumping into Eric Clapton at his Philly hotel. Ed was carrying what he calls the “whitest guitar ever”, a Clapton model white Martin / Fujiwara guitar with nice pick-ups and inlays. He said his elevator went down six floors, the doors opened, and who was standing there but Eric Clapton. [Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood also played Philly June 12]. Now excited, Ed said he anxiously wanted to know the story behind the guitar. Ed: “Hello Eric”. Eric: “Hello Ed “. Ed: “What’s the story behind this guitar?”, this Eric Clapton model guitar? Eric to Ed: “It’s just a guitar”, leaving Ed flummoxed. Ed spoke poignantly of how it is just a guitar because anyone can pick it up, place their hands in the right positions, and learn to play. A rousing “Porch” closes the set, complete with a lot of foot-stomping and lots of fan-clapping and -singing. Before “Society”, Ed gives out some thanks to the crew and a longtime Philadelphia promoter named Jeff, and Ed stutters through some other comments about the crowd, amongst more crowd outbursts, screams and even a few fights. Ed remarks that he’s known Liam so long ago that he “hadn’t even reached my full height yet”. While warming up on the Uke, Ed strums a few chords and realizes it’s similar to “Lukin” and plays a line or two of the song before stopping. He then realizes that what he just played was similar to the intro of the ’80s hit “Turning Japanese” (The Vapors) and plays the chorus to that as well. During the encore, Ed mentioned how every once in a while he gets a letter that impacts him spoke about a letter that he had received that night from a fan, in which the fan wrote of how love of the band brought he and a friend together, then that friend introduced the man to his now wife and mother of his two sons. The band’s anti-war activism inspired the man to volunteer for a group called the Yellow Ribbon Club, an organization that shows support to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by shipping them care packages and raising money for U.S. military hospitals. Not knowing the same fan and his wife were front row center, he figured it out after seeing the wife crying and the two clutching one another while he told the story. He had the fan and his wife stand and spotlighted the couple, coming down to hug them both and kiss the wife’s hand. Ed hadn’t heard of the organization, but said that the letter in turn inspired him and that the band would contribute to the club. Unknown at the time of its debut, “The End” is the finale of the then upcoming Pearl Jam album Backspacer. “You might want to be quiet if you want to hear this” is his only intro and the song’s subdued, emotional tone is immediately evident. Another stellar “Arc” closes out the first encore. As is custom now, Ed performs his various iterations of the chant for about four minutes and waves and exits the stage while the loops continue for another minute or so. Ed returns with EJ and Liam to close with “Hard Sun”.

6/14/09: Baltimore, MD Lyric Opera House

Set list: Walking the Cow, (Brain Damage intro) Sometimes, Don’t Be Shy, I Am Mine, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, Gone, Far Behind, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Broken Hearted, Soon Forget, Atlantic City, Driftin’, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, Elderly Woman…, Porch

1st Encore: Society (w/Jerry Hannan), Golden State , The End, Arc (stopped), I Am A Patriot

2nd Encore: Santa Cruz (w/Liam Finn), Hard Sun

TFT Notes: Ed sprints through the first four songs before taking a pause, and the crowd yells its usual requests, but he replies “It’s such a good room, you can just say it … you don’t have to yell like a drunken asshole. (crowd laughs) Sometimes people yell … and are just generally uncouth. It’s doesn’t really me but it annoys the others around them so I guess it’s my job to say something. (cheers) And it’s not even like you have the excuse that it’s Friday night in Philadelphia. It’s a Sunday night and it’s in Baltimore!” A fan asks for “Gone” and Ed asks for “about four minutes to learn it.” He ponders it, fiddling with the chords, then decides to go for it to the crowd’s delight, explaining the song is about “getting the fuck out of a bad situation. And if this song turns out to be a bad situation, I’m in a car going quick, and I’m gonna take it off the road into a ditch, I promise you that. (laughter)”. “Gone” turns into an exercise in Ed asking for lyrics help and the crowd obliging. “No Ceiling” is about “sleeping with no roof”. “Broken Hearted”, rarely played, for Ed “seems like a good idea but we’ve all had those before” (referencing the earlier “Gone” adventure). Ed jokes that “Soon Forget” was going to be called “Just a Fucking Asshole”. A fan keeps yelling songs that usually get played later in the set and Ed says the guy’s “living about 15 minutes ahead of all the rest of us (laughter)”. Ed thanks the “fine people” in the crowd and is humbled because he never envisioned he’d one day play “an Opera House”, playing “Atlantic City” which he used to practice in his bedroom, dreaming of the day of playing places like this. Ed mentions “Driftin’” is from a Christmas single and that if the crowd is lucky, they’ll get two more of those tonight (later “Golden State” and “Santa Cruz”). Ed tells about the writing of “Elderly Woman” during the “Vs.” recording sessions in San Francisco, when the rest of the band was staying in a “communal house” – “(laughing) remember, this was before ‘The Real World’ came out” – while he stayed in an old sauna-type room complete with a little PA system. He came out to play the song one day and Stone happened to be out on the deck and asked “Hey … what was that?” and Ed wonders if Stone hadn’t heard it, what fate the song would have had. “Porch” ends a fun first set with lots of crowd-yelling and “shush-es” from those around them, but fun interaction between Ed and the crowd. “Society” does not include Liam Finn, but instead the songwriter Jerry Hannan! Eliza-Jane Barnes then joins Ed for “Golden State”, the X song which Ed recorded with Sleater-Kinney’s Corin Tucker. Before “The End”, many yell “shut up!” to all the screamers, and Ed agrees “Yeah, this would be a good time”. Ed stops “Arc” about a minute in, after he starts it in a higher key and can’t seem to adjust for some of the intricate harmonies. Ed takes a request, and starts “Patriot”, explaining that (stopping “Arc”) hadn’t happened before and didn’t want to be “fakin’ it”. Ed walked off stage and the crowd seemed quiet rather than cheering him to come back, perhaps since Ed had told them to keep it down so many times during the night. He returned for the encore, saying “You know, you could see the guys up here adjusting stuff so you knew I was coming back out here. But it was pretty fucking quiet. You gotta make some noise to get the guy back out here.” The place then erupts in applause to which Ed says, “Be quiet, make noise, do this, do that. Seriously, this has been a great evening.” “Liam Finn” joins Ed for “Santa Cruz”.

6/15/09: Baltimore, MD Lyric Opera House

Set list: Walking the Cow, (Brain Damage intro) -> Sometimes, Trouble, Around The Bend, I Am Mine, Far Behind, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Picture In A Frame, You’re True, Open All Night (Springsteen), Driftin’, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Let My Love Open The Door, Parting Ways, Small Town, Porch

1st encore: Society (with Jerry Hannan), Throw Your Arms Around Me (with Liam Finn), Golden State (with Eliza), Forever Young, Wishlist, Arc

2nd encore: Hard Sun

TFT Notes: After coming on stage, sitting down, and imploring the audience to do the same, Eddie began the show by running through “Walking the Cow”, “(Brain Damage)/Sometimes:, followed by “Trouble”. The requests and heckling began around this time and Eddie responded in kind by informing the crowd that he’s working on a new song and the words are “I’m from Baltimore and I’m an asshole,” which turned out to be “Around The Bend”, followed by “I Am Mine”, after which Eddie addressed the crowd again: “We are without questions indeed in an opera house. I guess I’ve got a little bit of an opera to play in Into the Wild… and the beginning of the story goes like this.” He then launched into an animated version of “Far Behind”, followed by “No Ceiling”. Before playing a sparkling version of “Guaranteed”, he told the crowd a story about his daughter: “When my daughter was about two and a half I would play this around the house, and she was aware of the story, or at least of two things, that there was a young man travelling, and that there was a bear. She would ask about the bear, was it a nice bear, a mean bear, a talking bear? Then one day I sing that line ‘don’t get any closer or I might have to go’ and she says ‘why did you say that?.’ I repeated it, and she said ‘I know WHAT you said, I want to know WHY you’re saying it.’ She’s two-and-a-half! I said, ‘I’m not saying it, the young man is saying it on the screen.’ Well that didn’t help at all. She said ‘WHY is he saying it?’ and she has big eyes of worry. So I’m thinking ‘uh, well, it’s about problems with intimacy and…’ (crowd laughs) Luckily, before I said that, I said ‘it’s the bear, he’s talking to the bear.’” “Rise” followed. Eddie then addressed the crowd again: “I should mention, not that I’m looking for excuses. Those songs were a little more important to me tonight for a real good reason. They got some attention, and some good things were said about those songs and it was all fine and good with me. But the one thing that really meant a lot to me was that Chris McCandless’s sister, Carine, she had a deep appreciation for them and that was what meant the most to me from anything I heard. And she hasn’t had a chance to see me play these until tonight; she’s here.” Eddie continued to inform the crowd that “She has a gorgeous family, and we’ve taken some pictures before, and I have one at home, and this one is going to be dedicated to her,” as he immediately launched into the first chord of Tom Waits’ song “Picture in a Frame”. Before playing “You’re True” Eddie announced: “Look am me now! I’m playing a ukulele in an opera house. Anything’s possible!” He continued to banter a bit about the summertime, and summer love, “which is really just: I wanna fuck that person.” With a horrified look, Eddie buried his face in his hands for a few seconds, and said: “Carine, I’m so sorry. I know the kids are here tonight. Yes, uncle Eddie has a potty mouth.” “Open All Night” (Bruce Springsteen) was introduced as “I’ve been playing a few songs off this record (Nebraska), it seems like every night. Tonight it’s this one.” Pulling out the harmonica, Eddie played “Driftin’”, followed by “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”, as the crowd took over the chorus of the song at Eddie’s behest. Ed followed this up with Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open the Door”, before moving straight into “Parting Ways”. Next was “Elderly Woman…” which the entire crowd sung along with the whole way through, including a thunderous “Hello!” and the outro chorus which the crowd was urged to “sing it higher.” “Porch” followed, and was likewise a sing-along the entire way through to end off the first set. The first encore featured Jerry Hannan with Eddie on “Society”, a song written by Hannan (who was in Baltimore because he was playing the 8×10 club later that night. Rumors that Eddie would show up proved false.) Eddie then welcomed Liam Finn onto the stage for “Throw Your Arms Around Me” and the two singers harmonized beautifully on the song, followed by Eliza-Jane Barnes who joined Eddie on “Golden State”. “Forever Young” and “Wishlist” were next, after which Eddie decided to attempt “Arc” despite having been forced to stop halfway through the previous night. Arc was brilliantly successful, and after Eddie finished layering on all the vocal tracks, he let it continue to play as he shook hands with everyone in the first few rows. The show ended with “Hard Sun” as Liam (drums) and Eliza (vocals) joined Eddie to finish off a stellar performance. Overall, the show featured minimal heckling (except for a guy who kept screaming for “State of Love and Trust”) and requests, though at one point, Eddie did take a piece of paper to and wrote down the requests that fans were shouting to him before crumpling the paper and throwing it over his shoulder. (Thanks to Ariel at http://troubledsoulsunite.blogspot.com/)

6/17/09 Nashville, TN, Ryman Auditorium

Set list: Walking the Cow, Sometimes w/Brain Damage Intro, Trouble, Thumbing My Way, Gone, Far Behind, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Poor Girl, You Are True, Driftin’, Hide Your Love Away, Betterman (Nashville Style), Let My Love Open The Door, Small Town, Porch

1st encore: Society (with Jerry), Throw Your Arms Around Me (with Liam), Golden State with EJ, Believe You Me (part), Wishlist, Arc

2nd encore: Hard Sun with Liam and EJ

TFT Notes: The Ryman Auditorium is an historic venue in Nashville, TN – over 100 years old and hosted the famous “Grand Ole Opry” broadcasts for over 30 years in the mid-1900s. Before “Trouble”, Ed addresses some shouters “Alright, I heard ya … in fact it’s probably a little early to get loud and boisterous. Lot of spirits and energies in this legendary room. I’d like to attenuate my musical receptors to the things that are coming off the walls, rather than two guys who were getting 2-for-1 drinks at the fucking happy hour down the street. (crowd cheers) So i’ll just tune in to the whispers of legends and we’ll talk later.” Before a flawless and audience-attentive “Thumbing My Way”, Ed says “because of where we are, I might just try a few things I haven’t been trying lately … that means they might not be that great. (crowd laughs)”. He starts the Into The Wild songs and dedicates one to a young girl named “Lily” becaues it “seems like she has a good mom, so she won’t do anything rash, but here’s a kid who did.” When looking for Lily in the crowd, he starts a dialogue with a parent in the audience whose child is also named “Lily”, but not the one Ed is looking for – “a different Lily … you got me on a technicality, i don’t know her last name. (Crowd laughs)”. Finally the right Lily is seen with some light – “meet me after we’ll have a beer”. After “Rise”, Ed says about his Mandolin – “I can feel as I was plying it that it’s never been so excited”. “Poor Girl” – a X original which Ed performed live with the Supersuckers before – is debuted at an EV tour. Ed talks about legend Johnny Cash, “We did something in ’92 bob dylan, I was talking to Chrissie Hynde, we were kinda saying goodbye and turned the corner and there was this guy and he said (voice impersonation) ‘Hello Chrissie, I’m Johnny Cash’. And I didn’t even want to meet him, that was good enough for me (crowd laughs). That was also the night I met Chrissie Hynde for the first time and she said ‘Oh are you that guy … I was driving in and heard (“Masters of War”) on the radio and it was good’ (and Ed replied) ‘Oh, that’s good because I couldn’t hear myself and I …’ (cutting Ed off) ‘I just gave you a fucking complement, just go with it’. (Crowd laughs) She doesn’t really take shit, that woman. She doesn’t suffer fools gladly.” After a female in the crowd screams to Eddie, he remarks “the nice thing about the small room here is that you don’t have to scream like some freaked-out banchee. (crowd laughs) Based on the history of this building … (someone yells “Freebird”) … Typical, throw him out! (laughs) That fucking joke was old before I was born and they hadn’t even recorded it yet. (laughs) To go with the history of the building here, I actually did the setlist tonight in fucking calligraphy (crowd ooohs). So not only did I spend about an hour just thinking what to play, I spent another 1-1/2 hours just writing the damn fucking thing, so I’m not taking any requests at this point. (Crowd laughs)”. He speaks about a friend who asked him “What do you do after a gig, you must have a lot of adrenaline” and he goes on to say that “most nights I just go back to the hotel and do calligraphy (laughs)” to which the friend replied “Oh, so that’s what you call it”(laughs, and Ed insists “no, I do fucking calligraphy!”) into a rousing “Driftin’”. Ed talks about how Van “The Man” Morrison played recently and didn’t play “the hits” and how the legendary Roy Acuff would tell them “play the song that got you here”, leading to Ed “Better Man” in nashville tuning. “Better Man” turns the song in a different melodic direction, and the crowd listens intently to the debut of this superb alternate version. During the encore, Ed gives heartfelt thanks and “playing here was one of the things I never dreamt of as a kid. It hit me when I was in the back little room they had me in, (I) looked up and there was a picture of Minnie Pearl. And I think it’s OK to mention this – I don’t remember Minnie Pearl being … she looked hot! (crowd laughs). (The picture) was either taken when she was a lot younger than I remember her, or I’ve been on tour too long” (laughs). “Society” is again performed with Jerry Hannon. When they get to the solo, they both start it! They quickly recover and Ed jokes afterwards that two guitarists usually say “let me play the solo, let me play the solo” and that he and Jerry “thought we got saddled with it but we both played it.” Liam Finn joins “Ed for Throw Your Arms Around Me” (Number of places kissed: 196). Elize-Jane Barnes then joined Ed for “Golden State”. Who could possibly have predicted a verse plus of old school EV/Bad Radio song “Believe You Me”? After the first “I do believe, Ed sang “I… I… I… don’t remember the rest.” A spicily tempoed “Wishlist” rounded out the show, Ed’s “ooooing” and “ooohhing” nicely replacing the usual e-bow guitar part. “Arc” was truly an appropriate hymn to put a period on the night. An enthusiastically delivered “Hard Sun’ with Liam and EJ sent the crowd home. As the house lights came on and the crowd exited, the outro PA music was an intrumental version of “The End”, hinting at the studio version of the song to be released in September.

Kathy’s Krazee Notes from Nashville

6/18/09 Nashville, TN, Ryman Auditorium

Set list: Far Behind, Brain Damage/Sometimes, Sometimes Reprise, Girl From North Country, I am Mine, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, Dead Man, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Soon Forget, Driftin’, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, Wishlist, Lukin, Porch

1st encore: Society w/Jerry, Throw Your Arms Around Me w/Liam, Golden State w/Eliza Jane, Small Town, The End, Arc

2nd encore: Hard Sun with Liam and EJ & Lilly, aged 10

TFT Notes:

6/20/09 Orpheum Theatre Memphis, TN

main set: Walking the Cow, Brain Damage/Sometimes, Sometimes (reprise-singalong) Last Kiss, Betterman (lullaby version), Millworker, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Rise, You’re True, Drifting, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, Can’t Help Falling in Love, Let My Love Open the Door, Wishlist, Porch

1st encore: Golden State w/ E.J., Society w/ Liam, Throw Your Arms Around Me w/ Liam, Small Town, Forever Young, Arc

2nd encore: Santa Cruz w/ Liam on drums, Hard Sun

TFT Notes:

6/23/09 Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Atlanta, GA

main set: Walking the Cow , Trouble, Brain Damage/Sometimes, I Am Mine, Dead Man, Small Town, I Am A Patriot, Far Behind, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Growin’ Up, Picture In A Frame, Driftin’, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, Let My Love Open The Door, Lukin, Porch

1st encore: Soon Forget, Society (w/ Liam Finn), Throw Your Arms Around Me (w/Liam Finn), The Golden State (w/ Eliza-Jane Barnes), Believe You Me snippet/ Wishlist, Forever Young , Arc

2nd encore: Hard Sun (w/Liam Finn & Eliza Jane Barnes)

TFT Notes:

6/24/09 – Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Atlanta, GA

Set list: Don’t Be Shy, Brain Damage/Sometimes, Girl From the North Country, Betterman (new version), Untitled->Gone, No Ceiling, Rise, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Driftin’, Millworker, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, I Won’t Back Down, Bobby Jean (Bruce Sprigsteen), Small Town, Wishlist, Porch

1st encore: Society (w/ Liam Finn), Throw Your Arms Around Me (w/ Liam Finn), ‘Till the Rivers All Run Dry (w/ Liam Finn), The Golden State (w/ Eliza-Jane Barnes), The End (New Song)

2nd encore: Hard Sun (w/Liam Finn & Eliza-Jane Barnes)

TFT Notes:

6/29/09 – Castle Theater, Maui, HI

Set list: Walking The Cow, (Brain Damage)/Sometimes, Around the Bend, I Am Mine, Betterman, Far Behind, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Millworker, Last Kiss, You’re True, Open All Night (Springsteen), Driftin’, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, Patriot, Elderly Woman…, Porch

1st encore: Society, Throw Your Arms Around Me, ‘Til the Rivers All Run Dry, Golden State, Wishlist, Speed of Sound, Arc

2nd encore: Hard Sun

TFT Notes: Ed debuts “Speed of Sound” which is “a piece of fruit that just fell off the tree” and Ed felt “compelled to play it (in Maui) because the tree happened to be on this island.” He mentions he recently recorded in Hawaii with Ron Wood – which had the audience thinking they were getting the song from that collaboration – but the recent announcement of the Backspacer tracklisting confirmed the song as a PJ original.

07/01/09 – Hawaii Theatre, Honolulu, HI

Set list: Walking the Cow, (Brain Damage)/Sometimes, Don’t Be Shy, Girl From North Country, Elderly Woman…, Picture in A Frame, Far Behind, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Driftin’, Soon Forget, Can’t Keep, Betterman, Bobby Jean (Springsteen), You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Let My Love Open the Door, Millworker (instrumental), Lukin, Porch

1st encore: Society, Throw Your Arms Around Me, Till the Rivers All Run Dry, Golden State, Forever Young, The End, Arc

2nd encore: Hawaii ’78, Hard Sun

TFT Notes: Boom joins Ed for “Hawaii ’78″

07/02/09 – Hawaii Theatre, Honolulu, HI

Set list: Trouble, Sometimes, I Am Mine, Dead Man, I’m Open, Man of the Hour, Wishlist, Gone, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Rise, Millworker, Broken Hearted, You’re True, State Trooper, 4th of July, I Won’t Back Down, Her Majesty (Beatles), I Used to Work in Chicago, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Speed of Sound, Porch

1st encore: Can’t Help Falling in Love, Society, Throw Your Arms Around Me, Golden State, Elderly Woman…, Arc

2nd encore: Santa Cruz, Crazy Mary, Hawaii ’78, Hard Sun

TFT Notes: Longest show of the tour with more cover song debuts. “4th of July” by X is played with lyric change to “On the stairs I smoke a cigarette alone / Hawaiian kids are shootin’ fireworks below”. The Beatles’ “Her Majesty” is also played.

2011 Australia Tour

03/10/2011: QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Walking the Cow (Daniel Johnston), Trouble (Cat Stevens), Sometimes, Brain Damage(Pink Floyd) / I Am Mine, Drifting, Man of the Hour, Can’t Keep, Sleeping By Myself, Far Behind, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Unthought Known, Just Breathe, Elderly Woman, Lukin, Porch

1st Encore: Golden State (w/EJ Barnes), Society, Open All Night (Springsteen), Betterman (ukulele), Needle and the Damage Done (Neil Young), The End2nd Encore: Hard Sun (w/EJ Barnes & Cecelia Herbert)

TFT Notes: After “Trouble”, during which Ed forgot lyrics, he said “sometimes when you really feel a song, that’s when you fuck ‘em up.” New ukulele song “Sleeping By Myself” debuts, which Ed claims was “finished a week ago”. Amongst the celebrities in attendance: Surfer Mick Fanning, and Wolfmother lead singer/guitarist Andrew Stockdale. Despite seemingly intense concentration and commitment to playing, mistakes caused Ed to interrupt some songs; markedly after a glaring mistake in “Trouble”, he asked the crowd “Shall I try to get back into it?” to which the crowd responds with much cheering encouragement. Mentions that now he is a parent, he is getting up at 6 in the morning, that he always had the midnight shift at work and even on days off he still gets up at 6 a.m. and “can you tell I just woke up?”. He jokes about how the left and right sides of his brain are blaming each other, doing two separate things, and how he’s the parent in between telling them to calm down -to which they respond in defense, “You’re the one who raised us.” Ed spoke about the recent intense and devastating flooding in Queensland, that he was thinking about the people affected – and that he was glad that everyone seems to be doing okay. The now common trend of some in the audience feeling compelled to yell requests; Ed comments at one point after someone in the balcony shouts that “I can’t hear anything up here, or maybe I’m just hearing what i choose to hear.” Stops “No Ceiling” short, dismissing it by reminding the crowd the song had “30 seconds left anyway.” At one point, Ed mentions that while in Australia he’s had a bunch of mosquito bites, and was happy they got the blood, but they should “take the blood, just don’t leave the itchiness. You can have the blood!” Some in the crowd clapping loudly reminds Ed of trying to kill mosquitos with the same gesture. “Elderly” seems to channel the “shouting request” types, and the unifying energy seems to significantly elevate the crowd’s energy level. After a particularly intense and emotive acoustic version of “Betterman”, someone in the audience yelled “That was beautiful, Ed!” to which he replied, ” Thank you very much. First night of a new tour – that’s exactly the kind of support you appreciate.” Prior to “Needle and the Damage Done”, Ed comments: “There was a, um… the first tour our group ever went on was with another band. It all seemed… I mean, it’s still new and exciting, but you have to work at ways to make it new and exciting. It was just a trip. It was just mind-blowing, starting out. I’d never actually been, like, in a band, and on tour. I’d played little shows here and there. But this was, like, the real thing. There was another band that we were with, and they had records out, and I was kind of looking at them to see how to behave. It was pretty intense. There was a guy in that group – the group was Alice In Chains, that we toured with. [Crowd cheers.] The guy who played bass in that band, his name was Mike Starr. Our orbits changed a long, long time ago. We hadn’t seen him for years. He’d been going through a rough time for quite some time. Uh, yeah. I don’t know if you heard, but he’s no longer with us, as of yesterday. I’ve just been thinking about him. A lot. I don’t know what anybody could have done. It’s just really sad when life, and living life, and all that the planet and the people on it have to offer; and all that you can offer it, and them. It’s too bad when sobriety’s just not enough to keep you alive.” The tape machine failed for “Hard Sun”, much to Ed’s frustration, and a tech came out to put the tape back in, giving hints that it was a lost cause and might not work – he pressed a button and it worked! The crowd joined in singing with fervor on the choruses. A good split jump at the end finishes the show with a kick. Even after house lights come up, Ed’s abrupt departure after songs end leave the crowd still cheering 10 minutes later. Notes thanks to Tanya Rosina, Laurie Hester, Message board posters ThreeFish10, Bris_Johnno, Princess KJ, and The Vine website reviewer Andrew McMillen

03/12/2011: QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Don’t Be Shy-(Cat Stevens), Around The Bend, Brain Damage-(Pink Floyd), Sometimes, Just Breathe, I’m Open, Man Of The Hour, Dead Man, Driftin’, Millworker-(James Taylor, Without You (New Song),Can’t Keep, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Rise, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away-(Lennon, McCartney), Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town

1st encore: You Can Close Your Eyes w/ EJ Barnes-(James Taylor), The Golden State w/ EJ Barnes-(John Doe), Off He Goes, Betterman, Unthought Known, Porch

2nd encore: Hard Sun w/ EJ Barnes & Cecilia Herbert-(Gordon Peterson)

TFT Notes: Amongst the celebrities in attendance: Kelly Slater, Australian surfer Trevor Hendy, and several from the surfing community. Clad in jeans, a navy short-sleeved shirt, dark blue T-shirt and suit jacket, Ed took the stage to a standing ovation, which seemed to humble him. When he introduced a ukulele he called“Duke” (perhaps a companion to “Luke”), he mentioned that it was a gift from Mike McCready. He seemed emotional when he spoke early in the set about the recent earthquake and tsunami devastation in Japan; a short time later he paused for a long moment before singing the first line of “Man of The Hour” – “Tidal waves don’t beg forgiveness, crashed then on their way.” Prior to introducing “Millworker”, a song chronicling the story of a millworker with three mouths to feed and the hardships of a factory job and the sacrifices made, Ed mentions how people in the U.S. have been affected by the difficult economic downturn. A more humorous story related later, Ed told the crowd about a trip he had taken to Australia previously, and that he had his picture taken with a large, relaxed kangaroo. Ed said the size of the balls was huge – then added “Yeah. The kangaroo’s were huge too” – to much laughter. An appropriate comment was made to attempt to quiet the audience shout-outs, saying “How about if I do the talking, and you shut the fuck up!” – which served to encouragement the crowd to erupt with shouts. He spoke of his upcoming ukulele album, mentioning that Kelly Slater has had it for a few years, and told Ed to do something with it, and that it would be out in early summer. At one point in the show, he threw a pick to a guy who missed it, and the guy yelled out “Oh I’ve waited 20 years for that” then Ed let the man come onstage to get a pick himself. Strong audience singing along during “Hide Your Love” and “Elderly”. Prior to “Golden State”, he gave respect to John Doe, and described the song as a love song, albeit a slightly dark one; he added “love has to be dark sometimes” so you know when its light. “Off He Goes” was a shouted fan request, and Ed said the crowd was lucky since he’d never played it solo before. For “Hard Sun”, Ed brought about 8 people from the front row up onto the stage to incite the remainder of the crowd to stand up and get into it as well – which they did. Notes thanks to Tanya Rosina and Official message board posts from SH17171, DropTheLeash, LittleFootsteps & Princess KJ

Poster

3/13/2011: QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Girl From The North Country-(Bob Dylan), Just Breathe, Picture In A Frame-Brennan/Waits, Sometimes, I Am Mine, Betterman, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away-(Lennon, McCartney), Speed Of Sound, Millworker-(James Taylor), You’re True, Light Today (New Song), Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Rise, Unthought Known, Porch

1st Encore: The Golden State w/ EJ Barnes-(John Doe), Tonight You Belong To Me w/ EJ Barnes,(Rose/David),Soon Forget, Society w/ Andrew Stockdale-(Jerry Hannan), Wishlist, The End, Arc

2nd Encore: Hard Sun w/ EJ Barnes, Cecilia Herbert, Andrew Stockdale-(Gordon Peterson)

TFT Notes: Noted celebrity in attendance: Aussie surf legend (and close Vedder pal) Mark Richards. Ed’s attire for the evening was dark grey corduroys, a peace symbol T-Shirt underneath a red & green themed flannel shirt. The set started off with a tender grouping of songs. To address the crowd shout-outs, specifically a particularly vocal man in the 4th row, garnered a response from Ed: “ I could hear you a lot better if you move to the last row”. The remainder of the audience applauded vigorously, which quieted the offending person. “Picture in a Frame” was dedicated to “those who have been in a relationship for more than 10 years… or should I say 12 years, cause that 11th year can be a bitch.” He apologized, and said he wasn’t referring to the woman, but the relationship. Prior to “You’reTrue”, Ed spoke about the uke, and how happy it sounded, but that (when) he was depressed, he just wanted to take the uke down with him, and so managed to write some depressing songs. But this one was when he was coming back to more positive side and that it helped (fuel the positive tone of the song) that he was falling in love. Ed also mentioned the band will start recording again in a couple of months. A man in the audience gave Ed a “Live on Ten Legs”, complete with a note and $5 to get the guys signatures and send it back to him. Ed showed how it had a sticker on it he’d never seen, saying, “Moderate effect”, and said they were going to start recording, but that he hoped they did better on the new album so it would have more than a moderate effect. Prior to “Rise, he teased that he was going to “skip the mandolin song, but if you want me to play it…” to much cheering. Just as the opening rhythmic strums of “Porch” began, a few seasoned solo show hardcores in the lower rows stood; Ed saw them and encouraged “You can stand up if you want to” and the crowd got on their feet. “Soon Forget” was an audience request, with many lyrical flubs – but the audience cheered him on anyway. Considerable crowd yelling at the start of “Arc” was nearly completely quieted early on by Ed making a stopping gesture with his hand. Thanks to Laurie Hester, Tanya Rosina and Official Message Board posts from Princess KJ, Krystle

Poster

03/15/2011: Royal Theater, Canberra, ACT, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Walking The Cow, Brain Damage, Sometimes, Just Breathe, Elderly Woman…, Parting Ways, Unthought Known, I’m Open, Better Man, Millworker, Masters of War, Rise, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Sleeping By Myself, Can’t Keep, One Country, Porch

first encore: You Can Close Your Eyes, Throw Your Arms Around Me, Society, Immortality, Wishlist, The End

second encore: Hard Sun

03/16/2011: Civic Theatre, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Girl From The North Country, Trouble, Brain Damage, Sometimes, Just Breathe, I Am Mine, Thumbing My Way, Unthought Known, Without You, Broken Heart, Masters Of War, Setting Forth, Far Behind, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Santa Cruz, Porch, Better Days

first encore: Long May You Run, The Golden State, Society, Off He Goes, Wishlist, The End, Arc

second encore: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Hard Sun

03/18/2011: State Theatre, Sydney, NSW, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Don’t Be Shy, Around The Bend, Sometimes, Dead Man, Picture In A Frame, Just Breathe, Unthought Known, Sleeping By Myself, You’re True, Setting Forth, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Society, Better Man, Let My Love Open The Door, Lukin, Porch

first encore: Elderly Woman…, Golden State, Growin’ Up, Immortality, The End

second encore: Rockin’ In The Free World, Hard Sun

03/19/2011: State Theatre, Sydney, NSW, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Long Road, Sometimes, Elderly Woman…, Driftin’, Parting Ways, Thumbing My Way, Can’t Keep, Without You, Millworker, Setting Forth, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Rise, Just Breathe, Lukin, Porch, Better Days

first encore: You Can Close Your Eyes, The Golden State, Society, I Am A Patriot, Wishlist, Crazy Mary

second encore: Rockin’ In The Free World, Hard Sun

03/20/2011: State Theatre, Sydney, NSW, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Sometimes, Elderly Woman…, Just Breathe, My City of Ruins, I Am Mine, I’m Open, Better Man, I Believe In Miracles, Can’t Keep, Longing To Belong, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Rise, Unthought Known, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Porch

first encore: Tonight You Belong To Me, The Golden State, Society, Behind Blue Eyes, Wishlist, Forever Young, The End, Arc

second encore: Rockin’ In The Free World, Hard Sun

03/24/2011: Palais Theatre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Don’t Be Shy, Around The Bend, Hurt, Brain Damage, Sometimes, I Am Mine, Elderly Woman…, Just Breathe, Sleeping By Myself, Without You, No Ceiling, Society, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Rise, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Unthought Known, Porch

first encore: Tonight You Belong To Me, You Can Close Your Eyes, The Golden State, Better Man, Wishlist, Dead Man, The End, Arc (partial), Immortality, Better Days

second encore: Rockin’ In The Free World, Hard Sun

03/25/2011: Palais Theatre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Long Road, Sometimes, Thumbing My Way, Elderly Woman… , Picture In A Frame, Man Of The Hour, Just Breathe, Driftin’, You’re True, Soon Forget, Light Years, Setting Forth, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Rise, Off He Goes, Lukin, Porch

first encore: Tonight You Belong To Me, The Golden State, Society, The Kids Are Alright-(Pete Townshend), I Am A Patriot, Wishlist, Arc

second encore: Crazy Mary, Rockin’ in the Free World, Hard Sun

03/27/2011: Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, SA, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Walking The Cow, Needle & The Damage Done, Speed Of Sound, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Unthought Known, Just Breathe, I Am Mine, I’m Open, Man Of The Hour, Goodbye, Longing To Belong, Can’t Keep, Society, Setting Forth, Guaranteed, Gone, Rise, The Ship Song, Immortality, Porch

first encore: Tonight You Belong To Me, The Golden State, Untitled -> Last Kiss, Open All Night, The End, Better Days

second encore: Throw Your Arms Around Me, Hard Sun

03/28/2011: Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, SA, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Sometimes, Trouble, Dead Man, Betterman, Millworker, Elderly Woman…, No Ceiling, Society, Sleeping By Myself, Light Today, Soon Forget, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Rise, Blackbird, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Lukin, Porch

first encore: You Can Close Your Eyes, The Golden State, Picture In A Frame, Wishlist, No More, Arc

second encore: Crazy Mary, I Got You, Hard Sun

03/31/2011: Riverside Theatre, Perth, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Picture In A Frame, Sometimes, Girl From The North Country, Around The Bend, I Am Mine, Just Breathe, Betterman, Sleeping By Myself, Without You, Can’t Keep, Off He Goes, Millworker (partial, instrumental), Setting Forth, Society, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Rise, I Used To Work In Chicago, Unthought Known, Porch

first encore: Tonight You Belong To Me, The Golden State, Wishlist, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Elderly Woman…, The End, Better Days

second encore: Rockin’ in the Free World, Hard Sun

04/01/2011: Riverside Theatre, Perth, Australia

opening act: Evil J & Saint Cecilia

set: Long Road, Don’t Be Shy, Brain Damage, Sometimes, Throw Your Arms Around Me, Just Breathe, Millworker, Unthought Known, Betterman, Can’t Keep, Light Today, Soon Forget, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Needle and The Damage Done, Immortality, Lukin, Porch

first encore: Tonight You Belong To Me, You Can Close Your Eyes, The Golden State, Society, I Am A Patriot, Elderly Woman…, Crazy Mary, Arc

second encore: Rockin’ in the Free World, Hard Sun

US Tour 2011

06/15/2011: Providence Performing Arts Center, Providence, RI, USA

opening act: Glen Hansard

set: Sleeping By Myself, Without You, Broken Heart, You’re True, Light Today, Can’t Keep, Sometimes, Just Breathe, I Am Mine, Better Man, No Ceiling, Far Behind, Rise, Unthought Known, The End, Arc

first encore: You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Throw Your Arms Around Me, Elderly Woman …, Sleepless Nights, Society, Forever Young, Porch

second encore: Hard Sun

TFT Notes: Glen Hansard joins Ed for “Society” and the debut on this tour of “Sleepless Nights”. “Rise” is dedicated to the Boston Bruins (“Black and Gold”) who were playing the NHL Stanley Cup Final game at the same time as the concert (Providence is near Boston).

Eddie Vedder

06/16/2011: Citi Wang Theatre, Boston, MA, USA

Opening act: Glen Hansard

Set: Waving Palms, Can’t Keep, Sleeping By Myself, Without You, More Than You Know, Goodbye, Light Today, Dead Man Walking, Speed Of Sound, Just Breathe, Around The Bend, I Am Mine, Setting Forth, No Ceiling, Guaranteed, Rise, Unthought Known, Immortality, Arc

First Encore: Wishlist, Open All Night, Sleepless Nights w/ Glen Hansard, Society w/ Glen Hansard, Crazy Mary, Porch

Second Encore: Hard Sun w/ Glen Hansard

TFT Notes: Glen Hansard joins Ed for “Society”,”Sleepless Nights” and “Hard Sun”. “Arc” is dedicated to Howard Zinn as a prayer. Props are given to the Boston Bruins in honour of their NHL Stanley Cup Final win and some champagne is popped by Ed in their honour. First outing of “Speed of Sound” for the tour.

06/18/2011: Bushnell Memorial Hall, Hartford, CT, USA

Opening act: Glen Hansard

Set: Waving Palms, Can’t Keep, Sleeping By Myself, Without You, More Than You Know, Goodbye, Broken Heart, Light Today, Trouble, Sometimes, Just Breathe, I Am Mine, Betterman (for Clarence Clemons), Long Nights w/ Glen Hansard playing bass, Far Behind, Guaranteed, Rise, Immortality, Unthought Known, The End, Arc

First Encore: Wishlist, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Sleepless Nights w/ Glen Hansard, Society w/ Glen Hans