Top Ten Pearl Jam Moments of 2025, #2

 #2, RALEIGH & PITTSBURGH

Alright, let's finally talk about the music, the shows.  2025 saw the end of the an epic, two-year tour in support of Dark Matter.  Pearl Jam closed out the tour with 4 epic shows in Raleigh, where they haven't played in 22 years (12 years since they even came to NC), and Pittsburgh, where they haven't played in 12 years (a fact that didn't get past Brad Klausen, as his poster pays homage to the 2013 poster by Munk One).

 

It may be a while before we hear from Pearl Jam again, and they seemed to know that as they opened Raleigh for the first time ever with "Setting Sun" and rolled out amazing rarities in Raleigh like "Light Years," "Hold On" (14th time ever and first since 2018), and 2025's only performance of "Waiting for Stevie."  They created a new Easter egg in Pittsburgh with the Hand Trilogy ("Severed Hand," "Upper Hand," and "Sleight of Hand") after almost doing it in Raleigh.

Other rarities in Pittsburgh included "Man of the Hour," "Low Light," and they showed love for Cornell with a performance of "Hunger Strike."  In fact, they weren't just honoring Cornell, it turns out, but we'll say more about that later.

Ultimately, it was an amazing tour, ended in an amazing fashion.  These four shows for fans who were, frankly, starving for a Pearl Jam fix were absolutely the highlight of the Dark Matter Tour.