When Pearl Jam released their 11th studio album, Gigaton, last March, there was no way of knowing just how bad the pandemic was going to be. They performed its single, “Dance of the Clairvoyants,” at a virtual COVID-19 fundraiser, but like so many other bands weren’t able to play new material in front of an audience.
On Saturday night, Pearl Jam finally got to play a number of songs off the record live during their headlining set at the Sea.Hear.Now Festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey. In addition to giving “Dance of the Clairvoyants” its proper live-debut, they also performed “Quick Escape,” “Seven O’Clock,” “Never Destination,” “Superblood Wolfmoon,” and “Take The Long Way.”
Pearl Jam also treated fans to a few covers during the 20-song set, including Bruce Springsteen’s “My City Of Ruins,” which Eddie Vedder performed solo in 2009 when the Boss was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors. They also sprinkled in a snippet of the Rolling Stones’ “Waiting On A Friend” during “Wishlist” to honor the late Charlie Watts and recruited Patti Smith Group’s Lenny Kaye for a closing cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World.”
The band has a few more shows scheduled this year, at Vedder’s Ohana Festival and its special encore weekend.
Watch footage from the show below and read our review of Gigaton here.
