Pearl Jam Debuts ‘Can’t Deny Me’ At Tour Opener In Chile

Pearl Jam held their first proper concert since August 2016 last night at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile. The South American audience saw the band’s live debut of their just-released new single “Can’t Deny Me” as well as a tribute to late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell.

Tuesday night’s concert featured a setlist that pulled from throughout the band’s lengthy career. The show began with “Release,” the closing track to their breakout 1991 debut album Ten. The main set also featured frontman Eddie Vedder leading renditions of favorites such as “Dissident,” “Even Flow,” “Corduroy” and “Given To Fly.”

Following a cover of Van Halen’s “Eruption” and the title track to Pearl Jam’s 2013 album Lightning Bolt, Vedder, reading a prepared statement and speaking in Spanish, dedicated their first performance of “Can’t Deny Me” to the students and victims of the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The main set concluded with the Ten track “Porch.”

Vedder briefly addressed the audience before the third song of the first encore, dedicating “Come Back” to his Temple Of The Dog band mate and longtime friend Chris Cornell who passed away last year. The initial encore also featured covers of “Crazy Mary” by Victoria Williams and Vedder again speaking to the audience in Spanish before launching into Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.”

The band left the stage after playing the Ten hit “Alive,” returning for a second encore led by covers of Wayne Cochran’s “Last Kiss” and The Who’s “Baba O’Riley.” Opening night in Santiago ended with the solemn Vs. track “Indifference.”

Pearl Jam performs Friday at Lollapalooza Chile. Watch audience-shot video highlights of Tuesday’s show below:

[Can’t Deny Me | Captured by Osvaldo Saez]

[Come Back | Captured by Romina Souza]

[Betterman | Captured by felipe arratia]

[Comfortably Numb | Captured by Osvaldo Faúndez]

[Baba O’Riley | Captured by frgonzal]