Pearl Jam Drummer Matt Cameron Sits Out Show In Fort Worth

Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron was out of action last night at Dickies Arena in Forth Worth, Texas due to a case of COVID-19. Touring member Josh Klinghoffer stepped up to fill Cameron’s spot behind the kit for the full 27-song performance.

“It was either gonna be different or there was not gonna be a show,” Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder told the crowd in Fort Worth. Vedder was recovering from the flu but the band made it through the night just days after the duel illnesses led Pearl Jam to postpone last Sunday’s show in Noblesville, Indiana.

Last night wasn’t Klinghoffer’s first time on drums with Pearl Jam. The former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, who joined Pearl Jam last year as a touring member, covered for Cameron in May of 2022 at two concertsin Oakland and one in Fresno. Josh shared duties behind the kit at those shows, which came after Matt Cameron’s previous bout of COVID-19, but was on drums for the entire evening in Fort Worth.

Pearl Jam focused almost exclusively on old school material for their first of two concerts in Fort Worth last night. “Mind Your Manners,” off 2013’s Lightning Bolt, was the only song played on Wednesday debuted after 1998.

Vedder and company opened with “Oceans” from their 1991 debut album, Ten. “Oceans” was one of nine tour debuts to make the setlist at Dickies Arena. Other songs trotted out for the first time in 2023 last night included “Footsteps,” “All Those Yesterdays,” “Pilate,” “Hail, Hail” and “Satan’s Bed.” Additionally, guitarist Mike McCready offered a take on Van Halen’s “Eruption.”

Pearl Jam ended their longest show of 2023 yet with an eight-song encore. The band went with Victoria Williams’ “Crazy Mary” to start the show-closing sequence before reeling off “Wishlist,” “Do The Evolution” and “Lukin.” It was then back to Ten for “Porch” and “Alive.” A cover of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” and Vs. favorite “Indifference” punctuated the evening.

Watch fan-shot video footage from last night’s Pearl Jam show below:

Setlist (via PearlJam.com)

Set: Oceans, Footsteps, All Those Yesterdays, Daughter, Black, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Present Tense, Corduroy, Mind Your Manners, Even Flow, Given To Fly, Pilate, Hail Hail, Eruption, Satan’s Bed, Untitled, MFC, Not For You, Rearviewmirror

Encore: Crazy Mary, Wishlist, Do The Evolution, Lukin, Porch, Alive, Baba O’Riley, Indifference