Pearl Jam concluded the spring US leg of their 2024 tour with a rousing hometown show in Seattle on Thursday night. Among the many highlights was a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” performed solo by frontman Eddie Vedder.
“In any other city there’s no guest list as big as the one that we have when we’re in Seattle,” Vedder said in introducing the song. “To be honest, I wish it were longer. There are certain names that I so deeply wish were on the guestlist tonight, but we lost them too early and in ways that we could never imagine. Damnit if I can’t stop thinking about them. But that’s a good thing too.”
Vedder’s version of “Hurt” is much more in line with Johnny Cash’s Grammy Award-winning ballad than Nine Inch Nails’ original. He’s performed it solo on several occasions over the years, but last night marked the first time he has done so during a Pearl Jam concert. The performance came as part of an eight-song encore that also featured “Inside Job,” “Running,” “Spin the Black Circle,” “Something Special,” “Alive,” “Rockin’ the Free World,” and “Setting Sun.” During the main portion of the set, PJ also dusted off “Pilate” and “Love Boat Captain” for the first time on their current tour.
After heading to Europe for a summer’s worth of dates, Pearl Jam will return to America for more shows in late August. If you don’t already have tickets, you can pick them up here.