Vs. Tour

{{Short description|1993–94 concert tour by Pearl Jam}}

{{Infobox concert

| concert_tour_name = Vs. Tour

| image =

| image_caption =

| artist = Pearl Jam

| location = United States

| type =

| album = Vs.

| start_date = October 28, 1993

| end_date = April 17, 1994

| number_of_legs = 2

| number_of_shows = 52

| last_tour = 1993 European and North American Tour
(1993)

| this_tour = Vs. Tour
(1993–94)

| next_tour = Vitalogy Tour
(1995)

}}

The Vs. Tour was a concert tour by the American rock band Pearl Jam to support its second album, Vs.

History

Pearl Jam promoted Vs. with tours in the United States in the fall of 1993 and the spring of 1994. The fall 1993 tour focused on the Western United States, while the spring 1994 tour focused on the Eastern United States. Industry insiders compared Pearl Jam's tour to the touring habits of Led Zeppelin, in that the band "ignored the press and took its music directly to the fans."DeRogatis, Jim. {{sic|Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's}}. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. {{ISBN|0-306-81271-1}}, pg. 58 During this tour the band set a cap on ticket prices in the attempt to thwart scalpers.DeRogatis, Jim. {{sic|Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's}}. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. {{ISBN|0-306-81271-1}}, pg. 59

During the tour Pearl Jam concurrently worked on its third album. Several songs from the band's third album, Vitalogy, were premiered during this tour. These include "Last Exit", "Spin the Black Circle", "Not for You", "Tremor Christ", "Nothingman", "Whipping", "Corduroy", "Satan's Bed", "Better Man", and "Immortality".[https://www.pearljam.com/music/songs Pearl Jam: Song Index]. pearljam.com.

On the evening of November 5, 1993, Pearl Jam performed before almost 25,000 fans that stood and sat through the night on the lawns of Indio, California previously rock-festival free Empire Polo Club. (This show is well known among fans because halfway through the set, fans in the pit began pelting the band with shoes, provoking Vedder and the band to walk off stage, only to come out and play the rest of the set from behind a wall of speakers.) Although band management had chosen this untested and under-developed site as part of a boycott of Ticketmaster and the Southern California auditoriums it controlled, the show established the polo club's suitability for large-scale events; Paul Tollett, whose concert promotion company Goldenvoice booked the venue, said the concert sowed the seeds for an eventual music festival there, which eventually became the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/touring/1083099/paul-tollett-goldenvoice-team-on-the-struggle-and-ultimate-success|title=Paul Tollett, Goldenvoice Team on the Struggle – And Ultimate Success – of Creating Coachella|magazine=Billboard|first=Andrew|last=Flanagan|date=November 9, 2012|access-date=April 11, 2014|archive-date=April 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407213846/http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/touring/1083099/paul-tollett-goldenvoice-team-on-the-struggle-and-ultimate-success|url-status=live}}

Pearl Jam's November 30, 1993 concert in Las Vegas at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts featured a reunion by the grunge band Green River. Participating in the reunion were Pearl Jam members Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, Mudhoney members Mark Arm and Steve Turner, and Chuck Treece, who filled in on drums for Green River drummer Alex Vincent.

Pearl Jam was outraged when it discovered after a pair of shows in Chicago in March 1994 that ticket vendor Ticketmaster had added a service charge to the tickets.Wall, Mick. "Alive". Nirvana and the Story of Grunge. Q p. 99 The band's April 3, 1994 concert in Atlanta at the Fox Theatre was broadcast live on the radio in the United States and was also eventually released as a part of the "Dissident"/Live in Atlanta box set released in Europe. On April 8, 1994, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was found dead in his home in Seattle due to an apparent suicide, which deeply affected Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder. At the band's April 8, 1994 concert in Fairfax, Virginia at the Patriot Center, Vedder proclaimed, "I don't think any of us would be in this room tonight if it weren't for Kurt Cobain."Gunderson, Edna. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090214092453/http://nirvanafreak.net/art/art75.shtml "Musical artists offer commentary on the late Kurt Cobain"]}}. Gannett News Service. Vedder later said that "the day that we found out about Kurt...I was just spinning. I was lost and didn't know if we should play, or if we should just go home, or if we should attend the services. I still have some regrets about that, even though in the end it was probably better that we played the last two weeks of the tour. I decided I would play those next two weeks and then I'd never have to play again."Marks, Craig. "Let's Get Lost". Spin. December 1994. This was Pearl Jam's last tour with drummer Dave Abbruzzese.

Following the tour, the band brought a lawsuit against Ticketmaster that accused them of being a monopoly whose anticompetitive practices allowed markup prices of more than 30%. The band's intention was to get ticket prices lowered for its fans.[http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/testimon.shtml "PJ's testimony before Congress regarding Ticketmaster"]. June 30, 1994. Pearl Jam's plans for a 1994 summer tour were cancelled as a result of a Ticketmaster boycott.{{cite web | url=http://www.ew.com/article/1994/10/28/brawls-their-courts | title=The Brawls in Their Courts | access-date=2007-09-03 | author=Gordinier, Jeff | work=Entertainment Weekly | date=1994-10-28}}

Tour dates

Information taken from various sources.{{cite web | url=http://pearljam.com/tour | title=Pearl Jam: Set Lists | access-date=2007-12-08 | publisher=Pearljam.com}}{{cite web | url=http://www.fivehorizons.com/tour/cc/index.shtml | title=The Five Horizons Concert Chronology | access-date=2007-12-08 | publisher=fivehorizons.com }}{{cite web | url=http://jr2ft.bizland.com/concert-chronology/ | title=The Pearl Jam Concert Chronology | access-date=2007-12-08 | publisher=twofeetthick.com }}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! style="width:150px;"| Date

! style="width:150px;"| City

! style="width:150px;"| Country

! style="width:250px;"| Venue

! style="width:150px;"| Opening act

colspan="5"|Warm-Up Shows
October 25, 1993

| Seattle

|rowspan="2"|United States

| Off Ramp Café

|

October 27, 1993

| Santa Cruz

| The Catalyst

| American Music Club

colspan="5"|United States Leg 1
October 28, 1993

| San Francisco

|rowspan="27"|United States

| Warfield Theatre

| rowspan="2"| Rollins Band

October 30, 1993

| San Jose

| SJSU Event Center

October 31, 1993

| Berkeley

| Hearst Greek Theatre

| Rollins Band, American Music Club

November 2, 1993

| rowspan="2"| San Diego

| rowspan="2"| Civic Theatre

| rowspan="3"| American Music Club

November 3, 1993
November 4, 1993

| West Hollywood

| Whisky a Go Go

November 5, 1993

| Indio

| Empire Polo Club

| American Music Club, Weapon of Choice, Eleven

November 6, 1993

| rowspan="2"| Mesa

| rowspan="2"| Mesa Amphitheatre

| rowspan="2"| Bill Miller, Butthole Surfers

November 7, 1993
November 9, 1993

| Albuquerque

| Convention Exhibition Hall

| rowspan="3"| Butthole Surfers

November 11, 1993

| Denton

| UNT Coliseum

November 12, 1993

| Dallas

| Moody Coliseum

November 16, 1993

| rowspan="3"| New Orleans

| rowspan="3"| Lakefront Arena

| rowspan="7"| Mudhoney

November 17, 1993
November 19, 1993
November 20, 1993

| Nacogdoches

| William R. Johnson Coliseum

November 22, 1993

| Little Rock

| Barton Coliseum

November 23, 1993

| Oklahoma City

| T&T Center

November 24, 1993

| Wichita

| Century II

November 26, 1993

| rowspan="2"| Boulder

| rowspan="2"| Balch Fieldhouse

| Urge Overkill, Mudhoney

November 27, 1993

| Mudhoney

November 30, 1993

| rowspan="2"| Las Vegas

| rowspan="2"| Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts

| rowspan="2"| Mudhoney

December 1, 1993
December 2, 1993

| Reno

| Lawlor Events Center

| Urge Overkill, Mudhoney

December 7, 1993

| rowspan="3"| Seattle

| rowspan="3"| Seattle Center Arena

| Urge Overkill, Six in the Clip

December 8, 1993

|

December 9, 1993

| Urge Overkill, Hater

colspan="5"|United States leg 2
March 6, 1994

| rowspan="2"| Denver

| rowspan="25"| United States

| rowspan="2"| Paramount Theatre

| rowspan="2"| The Frogs

March 7, 1994
March 9, 1994

| Pensacola

| Pensacola Civic Center

| L7, Follow for Now

March 10, 1994

| rowspan="2"| Chicago

| Chicago Stadium

| The Frogs, Urge Overkill

March 13, 1994

| New Regal Theater

| The Frogs, Magic Slim and the MGs

March 14, 1994

| rowspan="2"| St. Louis

| rowspan="2"| Fox Theatre

| The Frogs, Grant Lee Buffalo

March 15, 1994

| The Frogs

March 17, 1994

| West Lafayette

| Elliot Hall

| rowspan="4"| Grant Lee Buffalo

March 19, 1994

| Detroit

| Detroit Masonic Temple

March 20, 1994

| Ann Arbor

| Crisler Arena

March 22, 1994

| Cleveland

| CSU Convocation Center

March 24, 1994

| Louisville

| Louisville Gardens

| rowspan="7"| King's X

March 25, 1994

| Memphis

| Mid-South Coliseum

March 26, 1994

| Murfreesboro

| Murphy Center

March 28, 1994

| Miami

| Bayfront Amphitheater

March 29, 1994

| St. Petersburg

| Bayfront Arena

April 2, 1994

| rowspan="2"| Atlanta

| rowspan="2"| Fox Theatre

April 3, 1994
April 6, 1994

| Springfield

| Springfield Civic Center

| rowspan="7"| Mudhoney

April 7, 1994

| Rochester

| Rochester Community War Memorial

April 8, 1994

| Fairfax

| Patriot Center

April 10, 1994

| rowspan="3"| Boston

| rowspan="2"| Boston Garden

April 11, 1994
April 12, 1994

| Orpheum Theatre

April 17, 1994

| New York City

| Paramount Theatre

;Cancellations and rescheduled shows

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border="0"
November 28, 1993

|Boulder

|Balch Fieldhouse

|Cancelled

November 30, 1993

|Las Vegas

|Sands Hotel

|Moved to Aladdin Theatre

December 1, 1993

|Las Vegas

|Sands Hotel

|Moved to Aladdin Theatre

Band members

Songs performed

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;Originals

{{col-break}}

;Covers

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References