Review and set list: Pearl Jam paid tribute to the Gaudreau brothers, shouted out JC Dobbs, and rocked Wells Fargo Center

The first song Pearl Jam played on Saturday at the sold-out Wells Fargo Center was “Long Road,” a slow-burning elegy that Eddie Vedder wrote after learning of the death of his high school drama teacher that was released on Merkin Ball, a 1995 EP that accompanied Mirror Ball, the album the band recorded with Neil Young,

It was a typical Pearl Jam opening, an unhurried deep cut on a darkened stage, obscure to outsiders but right in the wheelhouse of the band’s passionate fan base that’s intimate with the enduring band’s back catalog and fully aware that no two set lists are alike and every bruising, generous-spirited show will take unexpected turns.

“Long Road” also hits on the themes of loss and endurance baked into the band’s DNA, as well as the Seattle ensemble’s keen awareness of its own lineage as grunge-era survivors who mean to carry on the legacies of both their classic rock heroes and the DIY punk ethos that animates the community building that’s a key element of the band’s identity.

Pearl Jam has continued to survive and thrive even after so many of their grunge contemporaries have tragically fallen — most famously Kurt Cobain, but also Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley, Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, and Screaming Trees’ Mark Lanegan.

Along with those fallen comrades, Vedder could not forget Andrew Wood, the leader of Mother Love Bone, whose members included Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, and whose death in 1990 paved the way for Pearl Jam to exist.

One of the most moving moments in a 2-hour-15-minute night full of them came in the midst of the eight-song encore that included a Vedder solo-singalong version of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” (played on a guitar gifted him by Petty), as well as a tambourine-tossing take on The Who’s “Baba O’Riley.” It was a soaring, emotional mash-up of the Mother Love Bone’s “Chloe Dancer” and “Crown of Thorns.” Vedder introduced it by saying the band only played it “on special occasions.”

And what was so special about Saturday night? Well for one thing, the band was in Philadelphia.

The long road of Pearl Jam — who are touring behind Dark Matter, their new rock-solid 12th album, which they played a sizable chunk of Saturday — has frequently wound its way through the city at momentous moments in the band’s career.

In 2009, Pearl Jam played the final four shows at South Philly’s Spectrum before it was demolished, including memorably dressing up as Devo on Halloween. In 2016, the band played its 1991 debut album, Ten, from start to finish at Well Fargo Center for the only time ever to mark its 10th sellout of a Philly arena. (Monday’s second Wells Fargo show will bring the tally to 12.)

Long before that, in 1991, Pearl Jam played JC Dobbs, the tiny club on South Street. Midway through Saturday’s show, Vedder — who wore a fedora and a No. 34 Walter Payton Chicago Bears jersey marking the number of years the band has been together — reminisced about that show, which he accurately remembered was in front of “about 100 people.”

» READ MORE: Pearl Jam talks about their top Philly moments, and why they’re releasing the video of their legendary ‘Ten’ concert now

He also recalled finding a nearby basketball court to play on during the band’s down time, but did not mention that while bouncing a ball during that tour stop he put a hole in the ceiling of Dobbs’ upstairs green room. According to legend, when Nirvana came through town to play Dobbs three months later, Cobain was told Vedder made the hole and drew a circle around it and wrote “Kurt wuz here.”

Saturday’s show picked up speed quickly, heating up with “Why Go” and “Brain of J.” from 1998′s Yield and to songs “React, Respond” and the title cut from Dark Matter. It was produced by Andrew Wyatt, who also helmed the Rolling Stones’ 2023 Hackney Diamonds and has a specialty in egging on veteran bands to create music that they can be justifiably proud of, even if it doesn’t measure up to their earliest, best work.

That four-song run was marked by the thundering drums of Matt Cameron and Mike McCready’s wildcat guitar solos. Vedder, 59, stopped to pay tribute to Johnny and Matty Gaudreau, the two South Jersey-raised hockey players who were killed by a suspected drunk driver while biking in Salem County last month.

In a classic Philly sports fan reaction, Vedder was booed at first when he mentioned his friend Chris Chelios, a Flyers antagonist who played for the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings, who had spoken to him about the Gaudreau brothers.

But the mood got somber and tearful when Vedder said, “I lost my brother five years ago in something that was very immediate and traumatic. Jeff Ament lost one of his great friends in a similar fashion. And Chris told me that what made it even more tragic was that they were such good men.”

“So hearing that they came from Philly and grew up watching games in this city,” he dedicated “Given To Fly” to the Gaudreaus and held up game-worn jerseys — Johnny’s from Gloucester Catholic, and Matty’s from the Reading Royals. The Gaudreaus’ funeral will be held Monday at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Media.

Pearl Jam has a history of routing tours through swing states in presidential election years. On Saturday, after Irish songwriter Glen Hansard opened with a raucous set, and the between-bands music included songs by the Clash and PJ’s Pacific Northwest buddies Quasi, a video screen QR code connected fans to Pearl Jam’s Pledge to Vote initiative.

During the show, Vedder spoke about the band’s 1990s work with Rock the Vote and drew cheers when speaking about the focus on women’s reproductive rights as a defining issue for the band. Vedder didn’t make any spoken suggestions on who to vote for in November, but he ditched his fedora during the encore for a Comma La baseball cap.

Early on in the show, Vedder — whose sonorous voice was in fine fettle — said that he had to ask the sound woman to turn up his vocals so he could hear himself over the roar of the crowd.

Later, after the band blazed through “MFC” from Yield and “Red Mosquito” from 1998′s No Code, he stopped to appreciate how sharp his bandmates, who included touring musicians Boom Gaspar and Jeff Klinghoffer, sounded behind him.

“I’ve never said this any other place,” he said, seeking confirmation from fans standing in the pit he recognized from shows they’ve attended in Australia, Chicago and New York. “But if you heard this show on Pearl Jam Radio, you’d say to yourself, ‘Now that was a f— show I wish I was at!’”

Pearl Jam set list, Sept. 7, 2024, at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia

1. “Long Road”

2. “Low Light”

3. “Why Go”

4. “Brain of J.”

5. “React, Respond”

6. “Dark Matter”

7. “Given to Fly”

8. “Wreckage”

9. “Even Flow”

10. “Do The Evolution”

11. “MFC”

12. “Red Mosquito”

13. “Won’t Tell”

14. “Black”

15. “Breath”

16. “Running”

17. “Rearviewmirror”

Encore

18. “I Won’t Back Down”

19. “Daughter”

20. “Last Exit”

21. “Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns”

22. “State of Love and Trust”

23. “Alive”

24. “Baba O’Riley”

25. “Indifference”