This text initially ran in 2016 and has since been up to date; we’re dusting it off for Eddie Vedder’s birthday on December twenty third.

“Fuck.” That was the one phrase Michael Roffman texted me late Monday evening. As I shrugged off sleep to attempt to work out what precisely that meant, the remainder of his message got here by: “Tonight’s set was so a lot better.” I finished getting dressed and sank again into mattress. I knew what he was upset about. No apocalypse, no emergency, only a Pearl Jam setlist that he preferred higher than the one we bought two nights earlier at Wrigley Area.

I clicked on the setlist hyperlink, scanned down, and texted again: “Oh fuck…”

In phrases barely extra eloquent than these, we spent the subsequent hour, on and off, bemoaning that we had lined the fallacious present — like two spoiled brats who had every discovered a shiny dime at his toes however grumbled that it wasn’t 1 / 4. He regretted lacking his favourite, “State of Love and Belief,” and a few deeper Ten cuts. I turned practically inconsolable after processing the trio of “Off He Goes,” “Immortality,” and “Rearviewmirror.” Little doubt he, like myself, went to mattress fascinated about our present that ought to’ve been. By the morning, although, any disappointment or jealousy had subsided. We have been content material once more. Grateful for our expertise and completely happy for the expertise of 40,000-plus fellow followers.

I solely carry up this anecdote as a result of I feel it hints at exactly what makes being a die-hard Pearl Jam fan distinctive. On the threat of sounding creepy, I’d draw the excellence that I don’t love this band — I’m in love with this band. Following them feels extra like being in a relationship than merely being a fan of a rock band. A relationship the place a pair setlist omissions can really feel like a private slight, however a superb evening’s sleep restores motive and makes you notice simply how fortunate you’re. One the place a dud of an album ( you, Lightning Bolt) after a protracted wait can by no means be a deal breaker as a result of you’ve an excessive amount of historical past and much too many fantastic reminiscences.

I don’t suppose I’m alone in feeling that means. I’ve by no means run throughout a tighter, extra pleasant neighborhood than the Pearl Jam fan base, a number of of whom I shared a aircraft trip with the morning of final Saturday’s (August twentieth, 2016) Wrigley Area present. I knew them by their tour shirts, empty poster tubes tucked into their backpacks, and willingness to swap tales. I really feel that very same sense of household among the many congregations at exhibits, and it’s an power little doubt felt and reciprocated by the band, whether or not it’s Eddie Vedder conducting a crowd-wide sing-along, taking a second to supply phrases of encouragement to somebody he is aware of is in attendance and struggling by exhausting instances, or halting a present mid-song to ensure a feminine fan is alright, as he did at Monday evening’s live performance.

That’s the aura that wafts by a Pearl Jam present. Followers really feel like they matter as a lot because the band, and there’s an unstated pact of kinds that oversees the proceedings and adheres to the concept both everybody can have a protected, enjoyable celebration or we’ve defeated all the objective of coming collectively within the first place.

There are a whole lot of bands like Pearl Jam which were with me for the reason that early ’90s once I first began searching for out music alone, however none that I really feel this similar kind of connection to. Possibly it’s as a result of Pearl Jam isn’t only a band that I grew up with; they’re a band I grew alongside and advanced with all through the years. That separates them from so most of the different bands that may get dubbed legacy acts, in the event that they’re even nonetheless round. No person goes to a Pearl Jam present seeking to recapture their youth or bask within the fleeting heat of nostalgia. We see a middle-aged Vedder nonetheless bounding round stage and summoning an internal fireplace or Mike McCready nonetheless each bit the guitar hero, and we notice that the right here and now, a minimum of for our three hours collectively, is sufficient. That it actually does make way more sense to dwell within the current tense.

It’s on this spirit of affection and household that we humbly pieced collectively this undertaking, a romp by a catalog that has made a whole bunch of unforgettable nights attainable. If you happen to’re studying this, you’re in all probability a part of the Pearl Jam household. That being the case, be happy to remark or disagree on social media, and we’ll stay up for seeing you the subsequent time Pearl Jam rolls by city. Posters up!

— Matt Melis