Pearl Jam Electrifies Raleigh on "The Dark Matter Tour"

Pearl Jam unveiled their 12th studio album, Dark Matter, on April 24, 2024. The album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Rock and Alternative charts and garnered the band three Grammy nominations. Pearl Jam also announced some spring 2025 dates for “The Dark Matter Tour,” which saw the band playing five select U.S. cities. Pearl Jam played two dates in each city, both with unique setlists. It’s also interesting to note that while tickets to these events would quickly sell out, they were non-refundable and non-transferable. If the buyer was unable to use their ticket, Ticketmaster only offered a “face value exchange,” where they were able to resell for the exact value only. This ensured fans were able to obtain tickets and attend these much-anticipated concert dates.

It was so exciting to get the chance to catch Pearl Jam live on March 11, 2025, where the band was set to play Night #1 at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, NC. Pearl Jam offered unique concert merchandise (t-shirts, posters, stickers, etc.) for each show on the tour and allowed fans to buy it starting at noon that day. There were droves of people standing in line well ahead of show time just to grab memorabilia. The anticipation for this concert was so evident and there were generations of fans excitedly sporting their “new gear” in time for doors to open. I had only gotten to see Pearl Jam once in my life, I drove from my small hometown in WV down to Greensboro, NC to catch them in August 2000. It was such a great memory from my life, and I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to photograph and review them in concert almost 25 years later.

Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, which is an all-female rock band out of Australia, opened the show that night. While they only played a short set, they did an incredible job which impressed a lot of fans in attendance. Not only did they sound great, but they did a highly energetic show that helped amp up the already excited crowd. The band also conveyed their excitement to have the opportunity to bring their music to a new audience halfway around the world and they surely seemed to create many new fans out of the bunch.

When Pearl Jam finally hit the stage, they started slowly into the first track “Release,” which was on their highly successful debut album. The huge screen behind the stage was lit up, so that the crowd could only see silhouettes of the band as they flowed through the song. While part of the floor had a general admission “pit,” there were also seated sections toward the back of the floor, as well as the thousands of fans surrounding the stage in the higher-level seating. The thing I noticed about this is of course everyone stood up as soon as Pearl Jam came out on the stage. But they never sat back down! Not at all. Pearl Jam performed a full 2+ hour set that night and fans were standing up the entire time.

I didn’t get the chance to catch Night #2 in Raleigh, but I am positive it was absolutely amazing as well. Having not seen the band play live in 25 years myself, I absolutely get it. I understand why they continue to sell out not just arenas, but stadiums, everywhere they go. Their catalog is so gigantic they can easily fill 2 hours of different songs every night. This night was special for happening on Mother’s Day. Vocalist Eddie Vedder paid tributes to his own mom, as well as fans and friends, and he happily pointed out some “drunk Moms” he spotted celebrating in the crowd. (Which led to a huge roar of laughter and cheers.) He commended a fan on their 100^th Pearl Jam show and even played some requests through out the concert. It’s awesome seeing how much interaction the band made sure to have with the crowd. Not only did they sound great, but they also looked great performing, they didn’t put on the big theatrics or pyro that rock fans of accustomed to seeing at big arena shows. The thing is, they didn’t need to. All they needed to do was come out and play and everyone was immediately entranced into the whole experience.

Download/stream Dark Matter: https://pearljam.lnk.to/darkmatter

I’m Music Magazine Associate Editor/Photographer Daphne McKinney