Pearl Jam: Fans take to social media as complaints continue over cancelled shows and tour merchandise

• Pearl Jam is expected to continue their European “Dark Matter” tour this week with shows in Barcelona (July 6/7 2024).
• But for those who were affected by their last-minute cancellations in London and Berlin, there’s still some resentment towards the band.
• Those feelings have been compounded as posters for the cancelled shows have now gone on sale through Pearl Jam’s official website.
• What have fans on social media been saying about both the cancellations and, for some, a “cash grab” similar to a previous stunt in the early ‘00s?

It would seem that for many grunge fans, there’s a bitter aftertaste from the news that Pearl Jam had to cancel their London show at the 11th hour. 

The band, who subsequently had to cancel their performance in Berlin alongside their show at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, cited medical reasons for the move, with some reviews of the band’s Manchester show picking up that lead singer Eddie Vedder didn’t look too well.

You would think that despite the disappointment that the band had to reluctantly cancel their long-awaited return to London, in support of their latest album “Dark Matter,” social media being the strange thing that it is instead saw people take exception not only over the cancellation but the “audacity” of selling posters for the shows that were cancelled too.

Visiting Pearl Jam’s Reddit when the news broke of the London cancellation on social media, there were of course calls of disappointment but also a sense of reason as to why the decision was made. 

“F**king hell, I just got tickets ten minutes ago,” the top comment on the r/PearlJam post wrote, which echoed the frustrations of a lot of other fans who were on their way to London for the show. Another wrote underneath that top comment “I had just gotten on the tube at Heathrow airport…”

“As someone who has had 3 Pearl Jam concerts cancelled on them after travelling, I feel so bad for you all,” wrote another Redditor, with another chiming in “I’m on my second” and a third also stating they were on their second cancellation by the band.”

“It’s so disappointing. On one side I hope all the best for them, they are getting on and it must be so hard for them being ill,” a more nuanced comment stated, while another described the ill-fated tour as a complete disaster.

“This UK tour has been nothing sort of a disaster. Undersold venues, ludicrous ticket prices and then Ed's voice packs up. I hope he gets better soon and the management team take a good look at what went wrong,” with other Redditors who attended the Co-Op Live show also remarking that Vedder seemed to be plagued by something by the time he took to the stage.

Perhaps there’s a curse at the Co-Op Live in Manchester after all?

Food for thought though came from the Redditor who commented: “Feels like it might be a while before they come back here, considering what a disaster it's been. This would be a shame, as the thinking shouldn't be 'We sold fewer tickets so there's no market there', but instead a bit of introspection as to why it went wrong.”

Could the tour managers for Pearl Jam therefore suffer a similar fate as those who booked The Black Keys’ ill-fated arena tour of North America?

“What's the point of selling a poster of an event that never happened?”

The look back at the comments fans on social media left regarding the London and Berlin cancellation comes as a new cause celebre has taken ahold regarding merchandise branded for the cancelled shows being sold. 

The posters are limited to 200 copies for both their London and Berlin shows, are are still considered collector items with the artist in question, Rupert Gruber, listing clients such as Marvel, Universal Music and several other big companies.

That’s not enough to satisfy those upset Pearl Jam fans on social media though, with a vocal number of people asking what’s the point in selling a poster for a shirt that didn’t occur, to paraphrase one user of X (formerly Twitter.)

“I have to laugh... Berlin cancelled a few hours before. Allegedly due to illness, the ticket price €172. I think the reason is that not enough tickets were sold. I had costs for flights and hotel and tickets for both shows. Can't understand why you didn't communicate earlier,” wrote one person underneath the X post advertising the posters.

“Shameless. I say it not for the sickness, I say it for the high ticket prices and now you can sell posters of non-concerts,” wrote another user, but there was one particular comment from what looks like a Pearl Jam stalwart regarding their previous “money-making” scheme.

“Remember milking the fans by selling a disc of every concert from 2000-2003? That took some b**ls.”

The X user refers to Pearl Jam’s run of “bootlegs” that they sold officially during their world tour at the turn of the millennium, which were available from stores such as HMV and Fopp!, rather than direct to the customer akin to many artists using Bandcamp and other Direct-To-Customer services that arose during the flux of music distribution at that time.

It does beg the question though; if I bought a T-Shirt from a tour that the band then cancelled partway through for medical reasons, am I as disingenuous for wearing it as much as I might be for buying a very good-looking art print despite a tour being cancelled after one UK show?

Those interested in picking up one of the prints can do so by visiting Pearl Jam’s official website, as the band look to continue their European tour in Barcelona this weekend - touch wood. 

Just avoid social media, Spanish Pearl Jam fans - to quote one last X user, “Whenever there’s a Tweet from the official PJ account,” followed by a GIF of a character biting their nails to a nub.

Were you affected by Pearl Jam’s 11th-hour cancellations of their London or Berlin show? Will you still be picking up an art print to commemorate what could have been? Let us know by dropping a comment down below or emailing our writer, Benjamin Jackson, with your thoughts.