PEARL JAM Show Review (A Parent's Perspective)

The Pop Punk Dad
Jun 3
3 min read

There are few bands in this world that nearly defined a generation, and I think that it's safe to say that when we're talking about the grunge movement of the early 90's, Pearl Jam is a band that definitely comes to mind. From 1991 on, Pearl Jam has dominated mainstream radio with countless hits like tracks like Even Flow, Black, Alive, Jeremy, and Yellow Ledbetter, the first four tracks alone being from their 1991 breakthrough album entitled TEN.

The legendary grunge band recently made their way on a tour of North America, hosting two-night events in a very selective number of cities, Pittsburgh being one of them. The two-night events showcased different songs each night from the grunge rockers, with deep cut tracks, dedications, stories, and more, even allowing fans to shout out songs from the crowd to play. I was fortunate enough to catch the band on night one of their residency in Pittsburgh PA, at the Pens PPG Paints Arena.

Friday, May 16th, 2025, Pearl Jam hit the stage for a nearly 3-hour set ranging 26 songs from the band's nearly 40-year catalog. Opening the show that night was only one act, Aussie riot girl punk band "Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers", a band that Pearl Jam had taken on the road with them during their last Australian tour.

With a black and white dim lit stage, Pearl Jam hit into their first track "Footsteps" with singer Eddie Vetter blasting vocals and harmonica, throwing the harmonica into the crowd to a lucky fan at the end of the track. The mood of the night definitely felt very geared towards the fans, as if it was a dedication to the fans, with the simple backlit stage that felt as though it gave homage to The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry" video, to the in between song interactions with fans, even allowing a random fan to call out a song, as they played it on the spot. The song that night was "Corduroy" off of Pearl Jam's 1994 album Vitalogy.

The night moved on with tracks like Mind Your Manners and the latest track Dark Matters, the title track from their newest album, while also diving into older, more well-known tracks like Even Flow, Daughter and Jeremy showing Pearl Jam's diversity of moving on to the new while still staying true to the old.

One of the biggest shoutouts and homages to the heritage of Pittsburgh was Pearl Jam's dedication to Pittsburgh Steelers' own Franco Harris, draping the fullback's #32 jersey over an amplifier. The set closed out with the track "Porch" from the 1991 album "Ten", with Eddie Vetter taking the stage for the first encore song of the night, a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "My City Of Ruins", with 8 more songs of the encore to go. They played an amazing rendition of "Black" with the entire audience singing along, and closing the night out with The Who's "Baba O'Riley" to which felt like a very punk rock moment when they turned the lights on to the entire sold out stadium, almost making the audience feel part of the show as they sang along the words "Teenage Wasteland", before closing out the night with 1993's "Indifference" off of their "Vs." album.

One thing is for sure, Pearl Jam is legendary. Everyone knows at least one Pearl Jam song either being a diehard 90's kid, or watching Skate 3 clips of Jesus doing a Christ Air to Even Flow. It was such an honor to be part of this show, and if you ever have the opportunity to see Pearl Jam live, it is a must.

Check out photo gallery, highlights, and more below!

GALLERY