With the launch of their 12th studio album Dark Matter on April 19th 2024, all fans were eagerly waiting for the world tour to be announced, with European fans hoping for a return to their shores. When the tour was finally announced, things did not all go to plan.
It all started with the rumoured Pearl Jam tour dates
In December 2023 rumours started circling about the planned European Dark Matter Tour with many sources speculating the same locations and dates, all appeared to be consisted with previous Pearl Jam European tours. The initial tour dates circulated were as follows:
- Jun 22 Dublin
- June 25 Manchester
- Jun 28 & 29 London,
- Jul - 2 shows Berlin
- Jul 5&6 or 6&8 Barcelona
- Jul Madrid
- Jul Lisbon
The initial tour was rumoured to have 10 events, with not all dates confirmed. In London it was widely agreed that the venue would be the O2 arena, as it has the best sound and fan access in the UK, and the band have expressed their fondness of playing there, but it never happened.
Actual Pearl Jam 2024 UK/European Tour Dates Announced
Finally in February 2024 Pearl Jam released the full Dark Matter world tour dates including nine shows in the UK and Europe, this varied from the original rumoured tour dates, the major changes was the switch from two nights at the O2 in London to just one show at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The full panned UK European tour dates were announced as follows:
- Jun 22 Dublin, IE Marlay Park
- June 25 Manchester, UK Manchester Co-Op Arena
- Jun 29 London, UK Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
- Jul 02 Berlin, DE Waldbühne
- Jul 03 Berlin, DE Waldbühne
- Jul 06 Barcelona, ES Palau Sant Jordi
- Jul 08 Barcelona, ES Palau Sant Jordi
- Jul 11 Madrid, ES Mad Cool Festival
- Jul 13 Lisbon, PT NOS Alive Festival
But not all shows matched the original list and not all shows happened.
Was moving the Pearl Jam London shows from the O2 to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a mistake?
The biggest surprise about the Pearl Jam UK tour in the UK was not the welcomed return to Manchester but the decision not to play at the O2 arena. While the O2 was never officially confirmed as a venue on the tour it had been widely rumoured to be the location. The O2 is known for its brilliant sound quality, Pearl Jam have played there successfully many times before, but also the venue is super easy to get to via local transport and the London underground, both of which cannot be said for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is actually a fair way out from central London, taking a long time on the underground, but also has limited hotel options close to the venue, which were all quickly booked at inflated prices. Also being a football stadium by day the sound quality can be unpredictable and vary.
Pearl Jam 2024 Europe extortionate tour ticket prices
When the tour finally was announced and the ticket presales date revealed, only then did it become clear how expensive the tickets for all European venues would be, for all ticket types and all levels. The average ticket was between 150-180 pounds / euros, when the previous tour had been a maximum of 80 pounds / euros. This ticket price shocked fans and lead to very slow ticket sales, something very unusual for Pearl Jam shows, especially in the UK where the O2 historically sells out in the pre-sale phase.
Were the extortionate pearl jam ticket prices to blame for poor sales?
Fans could hardly believe their eyes when ticket prices in the UK started at £160 with similar ticket prices for all European shows which initially resulted in very slow sales, in fact for the London and Manchester shows tickets were still available for both venues the day before the shows. The London show had multiple tickets available and were in the end heavily discounted down to around £60, but ticket sales remained slow.
Whilst the prices had a major impact, the choice of venue certainly didn’t not help.
Ten Club membership did not really help fans on this occasion. Being a member of Pearl Jam’s fan club, Ten Club, normally guaranteed s very lucky few fans tickets and early entry, but this time very few shows were offered better seats or standing locations, and early entry was the most confusing ever and sometimes did not even happen.
Why Were the Pearl Jam European Tour tickets prices so high?
Initial blame by fans was placed firmly on Ticketmaster, a company that Pearl Jam previously had a feud with, but it later became clear that this was more about the cost of travel and touring, since the global Covid pandemic.
After the European tour completed, Lead Singer Eddie Vedder explained to the music magazine Vision, the reason behind the high prices:
“Unfortunately, that’s more complicated. After corona, everyone wanted to go back on tour as quickly as possible, and why not? That doesn’t apply to us, but many colleagues are dependent on the income from tours for their livelihood. As a result, production costs have gotten completely out of hand. You can hardly find a crew anymore, there are problems organizing buses, stages, PA systems, venues. People say: “If you don’t pay my price, no problem, someone else will pay it” This even applies to service providers that we have been working with for over 30 years.”
Whilst this explanation makes sense, it does add a worrying prospect about prices for future tours.
Which European Pearl Jam Tour dates were cancelled and why?
Very early into the Manchester show it was clear Eddie Vedder was struggling with his voice, then with an unusual band huddle mid set and set change it was clear all things were not great. The band soldiered on and the show turned more into a Mike McCready show case and a fan sing along, but still a great night. EV sated during the show that he thinks he got sick from interacting with fans at the Dublin show.
In total 3 shows were cancelled:
- Jun 29 London, UK Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
- Jul 02 Berlin, DE Waldbühne
- Jul 03 Berlin, DE Waldbühne
A full explanation for the cancellation was never given, it was sated that it was under doctors advise to protect the bands health, but it was clear that EV needed to rest his voice or risk permanent damage or cancellation of the whole remainder of the tour.
Rumour circulated that dates were cancelled due to poor ticket sales, but this has been discredited, EV was clearly ill and the cost of cancelling shows would be too much.
Was the Pearl Jam 2024 European tour actually a disaster?
Whilst the initial frustration of venues and ticket process had passed the main failure was the cancellations due to illness, but was this a failure or just a part of life, the answer is clearly the later. If the band had been fit and well, the standard of the shows would have been to the highest levels.
