Pearl Jam Tour Plays Sold Out Show At Fenway Park: Former Red Sox Pitcher Bronson Arroyo Joins The Jam

Pearl Jam played to another sold out house, Friday night at Fenway Park in Boston. The entire tour is sold out, but fans can still get tickets for lead singer Eddie Vedder’s solo performances. There are only two of those shows still to come, though, one in Dana Point, California, on August 27 and one in Central Park in New York City on September 24, according to the list of tour dates on their website. Fans can see this year’s full concert in the video below.

Bronson Arroyo, formerly a pitcher for the Red Sox, was invited to join the band onstage to help out with a song. Back in 2005, Arroyo released and album called Covering the Bases. It was an album of assorted rock cover tunes performed by the famous pitcher, that included “Black,” a classic Pearl Jam hit. According to Cut 4, Major League Baseball Bronson played the song “Black” along with the band.

Pearl Jam lived up to their reputation with an exceptionally unpredictable, and delightfully lengthy, show. They played their hearts out for well over three hours, not only playing their own music but an unusually large number of well-chosen cover songs, that definitely stirred the excited crowd. The band has been playing longer at their shows this year. They seem determined to give their audience much more than their money’s worth of music and fun.

Pearl Jam played some incredibly long sets spiced up with so many older songs they have updated. Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” made their set list for the first time since 2008, according to the Rolling Stone. They also included “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd and the Beatles song “I Got A Feeling” into their specular jam session. They even squeezed in Steven Van Zandt’s “I Am a Patriot” and “Baba O’Riley” by the Who.

Joe Perry got a very special shout out from Eddie Vedder after the band played “Draw The Line” by Aerosmith.

“That was for Joe Perry. We’re thinking about you.”

Joe Perry collapsed onstage back in July during a concert with his new supergroup band, Hollywood Vampires. Though Perry returned to the tour only two weeks later, joining his band mates Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp, he is still in everyone’s thoughts. Fans and musicians alike are concerned for his continued recovery, even as he continues to tour.

Pearl Jam definitely loves Boston, just as much as their Boston audience adores them. Eddie Vedder expressed his appreciation to the loyal audience, nostalgically recalling past shows and tour dates from long ago. He also made reference to playing a bigger venue this time through. Vedder seemed to be proud of moving up to bigger venues, but at the same time, nostalgic about the old nightclub days.

“Boston’s always been good to us, from the Orpheum back in the day to all the Garden shows, this is just one more level, so we can’t thank you enough.”

Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder was full of nostalgia as he displayed some old Polaroid photos on the big screens. He recalled more intimate shows in small clubs, with photos of the small but enthusiastic audiences they used to play for in their early years as a band, according to the Boston Globe.

Eddie Vedder made sure everyone got in on the act. Kevin Youkilis got a cameo on the ukulele, and veteran sportswriter Peter Gammon unexpectedly ended up on stage for a while, as well, according to the Boston Globe.

Pearl Jam dedicated “Faithful” to David Ortiz and “Down” to Howard Zinn. as Eddie Vedder continued to reminisce, about rock and roll and baseball in the short breaks between the intense music.

[Photo by Samir Hussein/Getty Images]