Words and Photos: Elliott Gordon
A sold-out State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, played host to Grammy Award-winning Pearl Jam’s third stop on their 2025 Dark Matter tour. With an official capacity of just over 17,000, the State Farm Arena also serves as the home venue for the Atlanta Hawks NBA franchise, became the world’s first venue to earn TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) Platinum certification for zero waste (in 2022), and was uniquely architected with large angled steel columns along the building’s exterior that spell out the word “ATLANTA.” With the evening temperatures in the pleasant mid-70s, the dense downtown crowd battled vehicle congestion, MARTA train capacity, and heavy foot traffic given that Kendrick Lamar/SZA fans were attending also that concert in the immediately adjacent Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Hailing from Denver, Colorado, punk band Dead Pioneers took to the stage in front of the early and fairly sparse audience at 7:30pm. Hand-picked for the tour by Pearl Jam’s bassist Jeff Ament, Dead Pioneers is out on the road supporting their second studio album released just a few weeks ago in PO$T AMERICAN (April 11). Anchored by Gregg Deal (lead vocals), the “indigenous fronted, unapologetically disruptive” self-described band was rounded out by Shane Zweygardt (drums), Lee Tesche (bass, also of locally-acclaimed indie band Algiers), and guitarists Josh Rivera and Abe Brennan.
Admittedly we did not get a lot of opportunity to take in Dead Pioneers, but I did catch Deal’s declaration that they were a “political band,” which would make sense when you publish punkish songs with titles like “Working Class Warfare” from their new album. The Dead Pioneers delivered an eight-song set, pulling three tracks from their 2023 self-titled debut in “Moving Day,” “Tired,” and finally “Rage,” which ended their evening. If you are looking to explore some new messaged-based, original punk music for your playlist, look no further than the Dead Pioneers.
Following a fairly reasonable equipment changeover period, the house lights came down around 8:50pm to Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Pearl Jam appearing silhouetted in front of a huge white stage screen. In their first triumphant return to Atlanta following a 13-year absence, the band launched into their highly anticipated set with “Can’t Keep” off their seventh studio album, Riot Act (2002).
Embarrassingly I will admit this was my first time seeing Pearl Jam live, and I couldn’t have been more impressed. Clearly considered one of the most influential bands of my generation to come out of the 1990s, 60-year-old Eddie Vedder and crew delivered a high octane, two-plus hour evening of rock and roll in front of an adoring capacity State Farm Arena crowd.
Spanning a creative setlist that was a mix of new material, covers, and fan favorites, Pearl Jam featured songs pulled from nine of their 12 studio albums, including two deeper cuts from Avocado in “Severed Hand” and “Inside Job.” As a more casual, radio hit Pearl Jam fan, I was super pleased they performed a bunch of songs from Ten (their 1991 debut album) in “Once,” “Even Flow,” “Alive,” “Deep,” and “Porch,” as well as a resounding, audience echoing sing-along performance of “Jeremy” late in the opening set. The venue walls shook while cell phones were held high in the air to capture the moment.
Pearl Jam also highlighted four new enjoyable tracks in “Scared of Fear,” “Wreckage,” “Dark Matter,” and “Won’t Tell,” but the mid-set inclusion of 1993’s emotional single “Daughter” from the band’s second studio album Vs. continued to set the tone for an amazing, almost intimate feeling evening with the band. However, with a catalog as deep as theirs, some better-known tunes in “Better Man,” “Yellow Ledbetter,” and “Last Kiss” sadly did not make the cut on Tuesday.
The band went a little non-traditional and proceeded with the Warren Zevon cover of “Keep Me in Your Heart” (instead of a usually expected Tom Petty cover) following a pseudo encore break, where Vedder actually exchanged “a very good bottle of wine” for an Atlanta Braves jersey with a general admission fan crammed up against the stage barrier. With the venue lights completely turned on, and Vedder tossing tambourines out into the audience, Pearl Jam put an exclamation point on their magical night with a cover of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” immediately followed by “Indifference,” the final track off Vs.
Music aside, there are also a few other poignant moments to share, including Vedder dedicating “Unthought Known” to Atlanta Braves legend Hank Aaron, as well as a pause in the show for Vedder to call out a young fan named Isaac whose mother Jennifer had apparently reached out somehow about her son’s ongoing health struggles (and was subsequently tossed a tambourine). However, and perhaps more personally emotional for the band, Vedder cracked open the champagne to celebrate Soundgarden — who’d just been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as well –granting drummer Matt Cameron the honor and distinction of his second inclusion.
Finally, in an effort to give this review proper justice, I reached out to one of my best buddies, sports journalist Andy Nesbitt, who is a life-long Pearl Jam fan. He has traveled to see the band over 40+ times, and gave Tuesday’s performance setlist an A-, only docking them for the exclusion of the tune “Black” from Ten. Pearl Jam’s currently announced limited tour run is scheduled to conclude on Sunday, May 18th, at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And if you see Andy there, buy him a beer and be sure to say hi for me!
Pearl Jam Setlist
1.) Can’t Keep
2.) Nothingman
3.) Given to Fly
4.) Once
5.) Scared of Fear
6.) Wreckage
7.) Even Flow
8.) Unthought Known
9.) Daughter
10.) Dark Matter
11.) In Hiding
12.) Not for You
13.) Won’t Tell
14.) Deep
15.) Jeremy
16.) Severed Hand
17.) Porch
Encore
18.) Keep Me in Your Heart (Warren Zevon cover)
19.) Inside Job
20.) Mind Your Manners
21.) Do the Evolution
22.) Spin the Black Circle
23.) Alive
24.) Baba O’Riley (The Who cover)
25.) Indifference
Dead Pioneers Setlist
1.) PO$T AMERICAN
2.) My Spirit Animal Ate Your Spirit Animal
3.) Moving Day
4.) Working Class Warfare
5.) Bloodletting Carnival
6.) Tired
7.) Juicy Fruit (Ode to Chief Bromden)
8.) Rage
https://pearljam.com/
https://www.deadpioneers.band/
Dark Matter US Tour 2025
April 24 — Hollywood, Florida (Hard Rock Live)
April 26 — Hollywood, Florida (Hard Rock Live)
April 29 — Atlanta, Georgia (State Farm Arena)
May 1 — Atlanta, Georgia (State Farm Arena)
May 6 — Nashville, Tennessee (Bridgestone Arena)
May 8 — Nashville, Tennessee (Bridgestone Arena)
May 11 — Raleigh, North Carolina (Lenovo Center)
May 13 — Raleigh, North Carolina (Lenovo Center)
May 16 — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (PPG Paints Arena)
May 18 — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (PPG Paints Arena)
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