Photo Credit: Lee Butterworth

On Thursday night, Pearl Jam brought their North American tour to the Ball Arena in Denver. The Eddie Vedder-led ensemble offered various covers, ranging from material written by Pink Floyd, Neil Young, Tom Petty and The Who. Last night’s show also featured tour debuts of “Thin Air” and “Just Breathe” during the band’s second to last gig of the current tour, which is set to wrap on Oct. 7 in Las Vegas, when they make up a concert date, initially slated for May, but postponed after several band members tested positive for COVID-19. 

Pearl Jam’s Denver performance began with “Long Road” and “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” before they embarked into uncharted territory of their current tour on “Thin Air” and “Just Breathe.” They followed up with “Present Tense” before the psychedelic instrumental masterpiece, Pink Floyd’s 1967 number, “Interstellar Overdrive.” 

The single-set performance in The Centennial State continued with “Corduroy” and “Spin the Black Circle” ahead of a cover of Neil Young’s “Throw Your Hatred Down,” off 1995’s Mirror Ball. “Given to Fly” and “Who Ever Said” came next, before “Even Flow” and “Dance of the Clairvoyants.” Then, Pearl Jam visited their Gigaton repertoire on “River Cross” prior to jumping over to their 2002 studio album, Riot Act on “Save You.” 

“Better Man” landed next, then the group offered a cover of Wayne Cochran’s “Last Kiss.” The set came to a close with “Faithfull” followed by “Lukin” and ultimately “Rearviewmirror.” After a brief break from the stage, the ensemble returned for the night’s encore, which began with a take on Petty’s triumph, “I Won’t Back Down,” then a cover of Mother Love Bone’s “Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns,” before returning to their original material on “Alive.” 

Pearl Jam’s encore continued with a rendition of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” which included support by Thunderpussy. Then, for the last song of their Denver display, the band dug into “Yellow Ledbetter” off their 2003 two-disc compilation album, Lost Dogs. After last night’s memorable appearance, Eddie Vedder will headline his annual Ohana Festival on Oct. 1. Tickets remain on sale for the impending Southern California affair and can be purchased here

See the band’s complete setlist below.

Pearl Jam 

Ball Arena – Denver 

Sept. 22, 2022 

Set: Long Road, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Thin Air*, Just Breathe*, Present Tense, Interstellar Overdrive&, Corduroy, Spin the Black Circle, Throw Your Hatred Down%, Given to Fly, Who Ever Said, Even Flow, Dance of the Clairvoyants, River Cross, Save You, Better Man, Last Kiss$, Faithfully, Lukin, Rearviewmirror

Enc.: I Won’t Back Down#, Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns@, Alive, Baba O’Riley!+, Yellow Ledbetter

Notes: 

* Tour debut 

& Pink Floyd cover 

% Neil Young cover 

$ Wayne Cochran cover 

# Tom Petty cover 

@ Mother Love Bone cover 

! The Who cover 

+ With Thunderpussy 
Setlist via Setlist.FM.