From Indio to Barcelona, Buenos Aires to Seattle — a long emotional journey through the eyes of our readers.
After we dropped our ranking of the 40 most legendary Pearl Jam shows (yep, 40 — if you made it to the bottom!), y’all hit us up with tons of comments across our social channels.
Some of you brought up gigs that weren’t even listed on the original source site, while others doubled down on shows we’d already mentioned — like Atlanta ’94, MSG ’98, and Milan 2000. But at the end of the day, what really matters is your voice.
So here’s your list — not ranked by preference, but straight up chronological.
📍May 13, 1992 – Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Iconic venue. Fired-up vibe. Pearl Jam like you’ll never see ’em again.
📍June 25, 1992 – Moderna Museets Trädgård, Stockholm, Sweden
Scandinavian summer, raw and heavy set, kicked off with an acoustic pre-set.
📍May 13, 1993 – Slim’s Café, San Francisco, CA
Tiny Cali club, explosive and intimate show — pure bootleg gold.
📍November 5, 1993 – Empire Polo Grounds, Indio, CA
“Shoe the shoeless.” This one’s pure PJ lore.
📍March 22, 1994 – CSU Convocation Center, Cleveland, OH
Their first big blowout in Cleveland. Killer 20-song setlist from Release to Porch.
📍March 5, 1995 – Flinders Park Tennis Centre, Melbourne, AU
During Go, the crowd jumps off the bleachers. The floor turns into a giant mosh pit.
📍November 21, 1996 – Palau dels Esports, Barcelona, Spain
One of the hottest stops on the No Code Euro tour.
📍September 10, 1998 – Madison Square Garden, NYC
Everyone talks about the 9/11 show — but this one the night before was straight fire too.
📍August 3, 2000 – GTE Amphitheater, Virginia Beach, VA
First show after the Roskilde tragedy. Emotional as hell.
📍October 9, 2000 – Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI
“Ice Bowl”: freezing cold night, blazing hot performance.
📍July 8, 2003 – Madison Square Garden, NYC
There’s a reason they dropped this one on DVD.
📍November 25, 2005 – Estadio Ferro, Buenos Aires, Argentina
One of the most intense PJ shows ever. Historic.
📍September 16, 2005 – Corel Centre, Ottawa, ON
Insane setlist. The band was on fire. Wildly underrated show.
📍December 4, 2005 – Praca da Apoteose, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
One of their absolute best South American gigs.
📍December 2, 2006 – Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, HI
The grand finale of the 2006 World Wide Tour. Epic stuff.
📍June 14, 2008 – Bonnaroo Festival, Manchester, TN
One of their most iconic festival performances ever.
📍October 30, 2009 – Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
Everyone talks about Halloween night, but this one the night before? Just as mind-blowing.
📍May 6, 2010 – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
Dream setlist, legendary bootleg. Enough said.
📍July 19, 2013 – Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
The “storm show” — two-hour weather delay, totally worth it. Epic night.
📍October 16, 2014 – Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI
Eddie said it’s one of the best-sounding rooms they’ve ever played.
📍July 3, 2018 – Tauron Arena, Krakow, Poland
One of the most intense Euro dates in recent years. Unforgettable set.
📍August 8, 2018 – Safeco Field, Seattle, WA
Missing for Chris, Chloe Dancer, and three killer punk covers. Peak PJ.
📍June 26, 2018 – Stadio Olimpico, Rome, IT
The longest Pearl Jam show in Italy ever. Over three hours of full-on greatness.
📍June 25, 2022 – Imola, Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
Even recent gigs like Imola carved out a place in the hearts of Italian fans.
Huge thanks to all of you who chimed in on social and shared your faves. We’ve now got a crazy, ever-growing list of legendary shows.
We’re pretty sure someone out there is still thinking, “Yo, how’d they forget that one?”. And you might be right. Hell, there’s probably 50 — maybe 100 — more that deserve a spot.
But that’s the magic of Pearl Jam. Everyone’s got their show. And everyone’s right.
Born in Reggio Emilia in 1980. He created pearljamonline.it in 2001 and wrote the first edition of “Pearl Jam Evolution” in 2009 along with his wife Daria. Since 2022, he is behind 2 podcasts: “Pearl Jam dalla A alla Z” and “Fuori Orario Not Another Podcast”. He has collaborated with Barracuda Style, HvsR, Rolling Stone, Rockol and Il Fatto Quotidiano. He continues relentlessly to try to find “beautiful melodies that say terrible things”.
Favorite song: Present Tense
Favorite album: No Code
Favorite bands/artists other than PJ: Tom Waits, Soundgarden, Ramones, Bruce Springsteen, IDLES, Fontaines D.C., The Murder Capital, Dead Kennedys, Mark Lanegan, Cat Power, R.E.M.