A Full Circle Experience Seeing Pearl Jam At Wrigley Field 2024

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1984 / 1985

One morning in June of 1984, having recently completed second grade, my friends and I were hanging out in my garage. Unsupervised, like every kid over the age of five, we sat on our BMX bikes and pondered where we’d ride to next. Then we saw it. A huge truck with what looked like miles of thick cabling. Our eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Cable TV was about to be installed in our neighborhood!

During the next week, my brother and I lobbied our parents like never before, to get us cable TV. We had no clue what was on cable TV, but we knew we wanted it. Our parents said channels such as HBO and Showtime were way too expensive at $5 per month extra, but we could get basic cable, and a guy would be there to complete the installation in about one week. I immediately biked over to my friend Jamie’s house to deliver the news, life was never going to be the same!

As a kid with a collection of The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Van Halen cassettes, I stumbled upon MTV and discovered music I didn’t know existed. Equally as important, and bringing this back around to the topic at hand, I discovered WGN TV broadcast out of Chicago. What’s more, the Chicago Cubs played all 80 home games at Wrigley Field during the day. I’d never seen such a beautiful baseball stadium, with announcer Harry Caray equally as colorful. I watched every Cubs home game for the rest of the 1984 season, and learned quite a bit about baseball from commentator Steve Stone.

May 6, 1985 was a day I’ll never forget. My dad pulled me out of third grade for the day, I took my first ride on an airplane, and watched my first Cubs game at Wrigley Field. If I wasn’t converted by WGN TV the previous summer, I was fully converted to a lifelong Cubs fan as soon as I stepped into the “The Friendly Confines.”

1991

It all started with unforgettable opening chords played by Stone Gossard and a striking vocal from Eddie Vedder. 

Son, she said
Have I got a little story for you
What you thought was your daddy
Was nothin' but a 

My friend Mike and I looked at each other and said, What the fuck was that! It was Pearl Jam's "Alive." Pearl Jam's debut album Ten came out August 27, 1991 and my life was never the same. Needless to say, the start of my sophomore year in high school and the second half of 1991 was the most transformative time in my music loving life.   

Pearl Jam's Ten was busting at the seams full of music that mattered to me and the sound was like nothing I'd heard previously. In no time, I memorized every lyric on every track. These guys cared about people and stood for something. They were angry at the man. They supported women as equals, as opposed to the debaucherous and demeaning actions of my old favorite hair metal bands. I felt every lyric and every riff as if this was an album made just for me, but at the same time I felt the movement that just had to be coming. There was no way to hold this down. Everyone was going to hear this stuff very soon. 

After reading the liner notes, front to back and back to front, many times, I sent a letter into something called the Ten Club, P.O. Box 81429, Seattle, WA 88108. I wanted to be a part of whatever the club was about. It turned out to be Pearl Jam's official fan club. I received a response asking for around $10 to join the club. At the time, $10 was a bridge too far. I could either buy a CD or be a member of this club. I skipped the club membership, went back to Down in the Valley, and purchased Toad The Wet Sprocket's album Fear, also released August 27, 1991. Toad's album Fear began my decades long interest in the band and the solo work by singer Glen Phillips.

In 1992 I saw Pearl Jam perform at Harriet Island, across town in St. Paul, during Lollapalooza. By the time the band went on stage I was somehow separated from the friends I went to the show with, and there was no stopping me from getting very close to the stage to see these guys up close in person for the first time in my life.

Over the years, my love of Pearl Jam has only grown. Mike and I went to Cheap-O Records at midnight on October 19, 1993 to purchase the band’s second album Vs., then stayed up way too late listening to and trying to decipher the meaning of each track. The following day at school was worthless for both of us, but we’d have given up an entire week of school for the midnight experience we still talk about to this day.

I’ve seen the band many times here in Minnesota, the PJ20 anniversary concerts at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin, at Fenway Park, and a show in 2022 at Madison Square Garden. Pearl Jam always delivers, never “phoning in” a show or just going through the motions. The setlists are always custom for each show and by the end of the evening, every fan feels like s/he got far more than their money’s worth.

2024

Back in 1985, 1991, and most of the surrounding years, it would never have dawned on me that some of my favorite things in life could be experienced together and that the experience would be much better than the sum of the parts.

Last week my wife and I drove to Chicago, met up with my friends Mike (same Mike from 1991), Pat, Kent, Mike, my brother Dave, and sister in law Holly, to attend two Pearl Jam concerts at Wrigley Field. Few things in life are better than friends, family, Pearl Jam, and Wrigley Field combined. Heightening the experience is the fact Chicago is singer Eddie Vedder’s home town, and the band loves to play Wrigley Field. During a break in the music Vedder recalled all the places in Chicago the band has played, ending with Wrigley Field and saying, “This takes the cake.”

We entered Wrigley Field through the left field gate on Waveland Avenue, obtained our “field” wrist bands, and proceeded to walk under the bleachers and onto the field. As we all stepped on to the field, the collective goosebumps and smiles were unforgettable. Walking inches away from the storied green ivy, looking up at the rooftop seating across the street, the magnificent scoreboard with Dark Matter World Tour displayed, and the newly hung Pearl Jam flags on the left and right field foul poles, we all felt like kids without a care in the world. I turned to my friends and said, “Look at us, we’re in center field!”

Our seats for both shows were straight out from the stage, in the middle, where any self respecting audiophile would choose to sit. Without an arena roof to contain and amplify certain frequencies, the sound of this show was fantastic! There’s nothing like an outdoor concert, when the weather is beautiful, for sound quality.

The setlists for each night were wonderful. There was something for the casual fan and as Eddie said, something for the serious collector. Starting the first show with the song Release is my favorite way the band eases into a concert. Listening to the lyrics, looking up at the sky, and taking in the warm air and visceral impact of Jeff Ament’s bass is an otherworldly experience for us fans of the last 34 years of Pearl Jam.

The majority of the setlists were different for each show, with a little overlap for the new Dark Matter songs and a couple others. I was happy to hear the Dark Matter songs both nights because I’d yet to hear them live. I loved every minute of all of them, and could’ve listened for a third time.

My favorite Pearl Jam song is Given to Fly. I was elated the band played it both nights. I didn’t expect this, but was happy to throw my “arms wide open” and sing aloud like my life depended on it. Hearing and singing this song live never gets old.

In the middle of each Pearl Jam concert Eddie plays a couple songs solo. The first night was easily my favorite Eddie solo performance I’ve ever seen. As he walked out with his Gibson acoustic guitar, I removed my earplugs. I knew the sound would be just perfect this way, as he started into the song Just Breathe. As he plucked the strings and delivered the emotional lyrics, I captured a short video for my friend Maier who couldn’t make the show, and sent it off to him before the song was over. It’s Maier’s favorite Pearl Jam song, and I at least felt like I could experience it with him a little bit this way.

After Just Breathe, Eddie told an at times funny and at times tear jerking story about Tom Petty, before everyone lit up their phones and sang Tom’s I Won’t Back Down with Eddie. I will never forget listening and looking around me to see all of Wrigley Field lit up with phones. Although I’d prefer the old school Zippo lighter being held up by everyone, I understand it’s 2024. It was a very special moment, shared with 40,000 people.

The lighting and visual imagery on large screens behind the band were amazing. Every other time I’ve seen Pearl Jam, the band has had a pretty naked stage, focusing on the music much more than the effects. This tour is very different, and it was never more apparent than hearing and seeing them play Do The Evolution.

Casual fans may not realize the Do The Evolution video was originally directed by Kevin Altieri (Batman: The Animated Series) and Todd McFarlane (Spawn), premiering August 24, 1998. The accompanying video for the Dark Matter tour live shows is stunning to see on giant screens, while the band grooves extremely hard, and the crowd sings while raising its hands, “I'm a thief, I'm a liar - There's my church, I sing in the choir - (hallelujah, hallelujah).” I don’t smoke, but I felt like a cigarette after this song.

At the end of all Pearl Jam shows, Kille Noble the band’s lighting designer, flips on all the lights, enabling the band and fans to see everyone. This is always a double edged sword because we know the show is coming to an end, but it’s so damn cool to see everyone singing and having the time of their lives.

The end of these two Chicago shows was as spectacular as I could’ve ever dreamed. The first night closed with Alive and Rockin’ in the Free World. The second show closed with a mix of songs that blew my mind. It started with Alive, then Baba O’Riley, then what Vedder calls Yellow Wing, a mix of Yellow Ledbetter and Little Wing!

The following video isn’t mine, but I have to include it here, to better tell the whole story. As Alive starts, around the 4:55 mark of the video, a famous Chicago “L” train can be seen on the left, going by Wrigley Field passed the Addison stop, toward the Sheridan stop. I encourage everyone to watch the whole thing, to get the vibe, before the lights are flipped on around the eight minute mark. The video doesn’t do it justice, but at least people can see what I’m talking about, what pulls so much emotion out of me, and what my friends, family, and I will remember the rest of our lives.

Epilogue - Ishnala

On the drive home from Chicago Sunday afternoon, my wife and I stoped at the Ishnala Supper Club. Those who aren’t from the midwest may have no idea what a supper club is, and I don’t blame them. In Minnesota and Wisconsin, supper clubs are always a place for prime rib, old fashions, and an old school 1950s vibe. Ishnala is the best supper club I’ve ever visited, by a mile. The outside grounds are beautiful, right on Mirror Lake, and the inside feels like a time warp. There’s old wood paneling, animals on the wall (not my thing but I get the vibe), and a staff that’s friendliness is second to none. If you’re ever near Wisconsin Dells, or heck even if you aren’t, I highly recommend visiting Ishnala Supper Club. Even the vegetarians near us loved it.

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