The Backspacer Tour was a concert tour by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Pearl Jam to support its ninth studio album, ''

Backspacer ''Backspacer'' is the ninth studio album by the American rock band Pearl Jam, released on September 20, 2009. The band members started writing instrumental and demo tracks in 2007, and got together the following year to work on an album. It w ...

'' (2009). Fifty-six shows were played, across North America, Europe and Oceania.

History

Pearl Jam promoted ''Backspacer'' with tours in Europe, North America and Oceania in 2009 and further legs in North America and Europe in 2010. In August 2009, Pearl Jam headlined the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, which was preceded by five shows in Europe and three in North America. This tour preceded the release of Pearl Jam's 2009 album, ''

''. On August 11, 2009, the band played an intimate show at the

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

in London. The band was joined onstage by

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

guitarist

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a ...

to play a cover of "

All Along the Watchtower "All Along the Watchtower" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from his eighth studio album, '' John Wesley Harding'' (1967). The song was written by Dylan and produced by Bob Johnston. The song's lyrics, which in its original ve ...

". Later that night the band was joined by

Simon Townshend Simon Townshend (; born 10 October 1960) is a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of the Who's guitarist Pete Townshend, and is most associated with The Who and the various side projects of its original members ...

, younger brother of

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

, to perform

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

's " The Real Me". On August 21, 2009, the band played in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (sometimes written Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Ted Leo + Pharmacists, or TL/Rx) are an American rock band formed in 1999 in Washington, D.C. They have released six full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. ...

were scheduled to be the support band, but Leo was unable to attend, after being stuck at the border. This resulted in vocalist Eddie Vedder taking to the stage to cover

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

's " Sugar Mountain" and "

The Needle and the Damage Done "The Needle and the Damage Done" is a 1972 song by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young. The lyrics describe the effects of heroin addiction on musicians Young knew, including his friend and Crazy Horse bandmate Danny Whitten, who would ...

". Guitarist

Mike McCready Michael David McCready (born April 5, 1966) is an American musician who serves as the lead guitarist for the rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the band. McCready ...

then played two songs, followed by guitarist

Stone Gossard Stone Carpenter Gossard (born July 20, 1966) is an American musician who serves as a guitarist and songwriter for the rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the band. ...

covering " You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" by Johnny Thunders, before The Pharmacists played their set. In October 2009, Pearl Jam headlined the

Austin City Limits Music Festival The Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas on two consecutive three-day weekends. Inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series of the same name, the festival is produced by Austin-base ...

. The Austin City Limits appearance took place amidst the fourteen-date North American leg of the tour. On October 6, 2009, the band played in Los Angeles at the

Gibson Amphitheatre Universal Amphitheatre (later known as Gibson Amphitheatre) was an indoor amphitheatre located in Los Angeles, California within Universal City. It was built as an outdoor venue, opening in the summer of 1972 with a production of ''Jesus Christ ...

. They were joined onstage by former

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yama ...

frontman

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave ...

to perform the

Temple of the Dog Temple of the Dog was an American rock supergroup that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. It was conceived by vocalist Chris Cornell of Soundgarden as a tribute to his friend, the late Andrew Wood, lead singer of the bands Malfunkshun ...

song "

Hunger Strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

". This was followed with an appearance by

Alice In Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

guitarist

Jerry Cantrell Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. (born March 18, 1966) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains. The band rose to internation ...

on "

Alive Alive may refer to: *Life Books, comics and periodicals * ''Alive'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Scott Sigler * '' Alive: The Final Evolution'', a 2003 shonen manga by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka * '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', ...

". Pearl Jam was the final band that performed at the

Wachovia Spectrum The Spectrum (later known as CoreStates Spectrum, First Union Spectrum and Wachovia Spectrum) was an indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Opened in September 1967 as part of what is now known as the South Philadelphia Spo ...

with four shows that took place on October 27–28 and October 30–31. At the final show at the Spectrum, the band played the song "Bugs" from their 1994 album ''

Vitalogy ''Vitalogy'' is the third studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, released on November 22, 1994, on Epic Records. Pearl Jam wrote and recorded ''Vitalogy'' while touring behind its previous album '' Vs.'' (1993). The music on the record is ...

'' for the first time. The band also performed a cover of Devo's "Whip It" in full costume. An additional leg consisting of a tour of Oceania took place afterward. The band played at the

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of visitors to New ...

on May 1, 2010. They then played twelve dates in America in the same month and completed a second European leg in July 2010. While most shows on the 2010 US leg were met with positive reviews, Dan Aquilante of the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' commenting on the first night at Madison Square Garden, said the lyrics were "mostly indiscernible" and "were little more than garbled jibber-jabber". At the show at the O₂ in Dublin, a fan broke his arm in three places, after he jumped off the balcony and landed on the canopy above the mixing desk. Official bootlegs are available for this tour through the band's official website in FLAC,

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

, and CD formats.

Opening acts

*Gomez — 2009 European leg (excluding August 11) *The Pharmacists — August 21, 2009 *Bad Religion — August 23 & 24, 2009 and October 30 & 31, 2009 *Ben Harper and Relentless7 — September 21, 2009 – October 9, 2009 (excluding October 4), Oceania, 2010 European tour (excluding festival dates) *Social Distortion — October 27 & 28, 2009 *Liam Finn — Oceania *Band of Horses — 2010 North America leg (excluding May 20) *The Black Keys — May 20, 2010

Tour dates

;Festivals and other miscellaneous performances *This concert was a part of " Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival" *This concert was a part of "

" *This concert was a part of "

Hard Rock Calling Calling Festival (formerly Hyde Park Calling and Hard Rock Calling) was an annual music festival, formerly held in Hyde Park, London, from 2006 until 2012, and from 2013 in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London. In September 2013, Hard Rock In ...

" *This concert was a part of "Rock In Park Festival" *This concert was a part of "

Open'er Festival The Open'er Festival is a music festival which takes place on the north coast of Poland, in Gdynia. It is one of the biggest annual music festivals in Poland. The first edition of the festival was organized in Warsaw in 2002 as ''Open Air Festi ...

" *This concert was a part of " Main Square Festival" *This concert was a part of " Rock Werchter" *This concert was a part of " Heineken Jammin' Festival" *This concert was a part of " BBK Live Festival" *This concert was a part of "

Optimus Alive! NOS Alive (formerly Optimus Alive! and Optimus Alive) is an annual music and arts festival held in the Algés riverside, close to Lisbon, in Portugal. It is organized since 2007 by the Portuguese live entertainment company Everything is New. It ...

Band members

;Pearl Jam *

Jeff Ament Jeffrey Allen Ament (born March 10, 1963) is an American musician and songwriter who is best known as the bassist of the American rock band Pearl Jam, which he co-founded alongside Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder. Prior to his wo ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

– rhythm guitar *

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

* Eddie Vedder – lead vocals,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

Matt Cameron Matthew David Cameron (born November 28, 1962) is an American musician who is the drummer for the rock band Pearl Jam. He first gained fame as the drummer for Seattle-based rock band Soundgarden, which he joined in 1986. He appeared on each of ...

– drums ;Additional musicians *

Boom Gaspar Kenneth E. "Boom" Gaspar (born February 3, 1953) is an American musician. He has performed as a keyboardist with American rock band Pearl Jam since 2002. Biography Early life Boom Gaspar grew up in Waimānalo, Hawaii. He started playing music ...

–

Hammond B3 Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia * Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in S ...

and keyboards

Gallery

File:ShepherdsBushEmpire.jpg, Pearl Jam fans outside the

, London, England on August 11, 2009 File:PearlJamShepherdsBush01.jpg, Pearl Jam in London, England on August 11, 2009 File:PearlJamShepherdsBush02.jpg, Pearl Jam in London, England on August 11, 2009 File:PearlJamShepherdsBush03.jpg, Pearl Jam, with

, performing "

" in London, England on August 11, 2009 File:PearlJamManchester09-01.jpg, Pearl Jam in Manchester, England on August 17, 2009 File:PearlJamManchester09-02.jpg, Pearl Jam in Manchester, England on August 17, 2009 File:PearlJamManchester09-03.jpg, Pearl Jam in Manchester, England on August 17, 2009 File:PearlJamManchester09-04.jpg, Pearl Jam in Manchester, England on August 17, 2009 File:PearlJamAdelaide2009-01.jpg, Pearl Jam in Adelaide, Australia on November 17, 2009 File:PearlJamAdelaide2009-02.jpg, Pearl Jam in Adelaide, Australia on November 17, 2009 File:PearlJamMelbourne2009-01.jpg, Pearl Jam in Melbourne, Australia on November 20, 2009 File:PearlJamMelbourne2009-02.jpg, Eddie Vedder in Melbourne, Australia on November 20, 2009 File:PearlJamSydney2009-01.jpg,

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

and Eddie Vedder covering "

Under Pressure "Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's 1982 album ''Hot Space''. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, ...

" in Sydney, Australia on November 22, 2009 File:PearlJamSydney2009-02.jpg, Eddie Vedder in Sydney, Australia on November 22, 2009 File:PearlJamBrisbane2009-01.jpg, Ben Harper and Eddie Vedder covering "Under Pressure" in Brisbane, Australia on November 25, 2009 File:PearlJamBrisbane2009-02.jpg, Pearl Jam in Brisbane, Australia on November 25, 2009 File:PearlJam-MSG1-2010.jpg, Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden on May 20, 2010 File:PearlJam-MSG1-2010-2.jpg, Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden on May 20, 2010 File:PearlJam-MSG2-2010-a.jpg, Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden on May 21, 2010 File:PearlJam-MSG2-2010b.jpg, Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden on May 21, 2010

References

{{Pearl Jam 2009 concert tours 2010 concert tours Pearl Jam concert tours