Pearl Jam has been linked with the world of sports ever since ...

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Pearl Jam has been linked with the world of sports ever since originally naming itself after pro basketball player Mookie Blaylock in 1990, and that combination is helping drive the initial promo campaign for the band's upcoming 12th album, Dark Matter.

With help from the quintet's Seattle management team and the Republic marketing staff, Pearl Jam has been projecting lyrics from Dark Matter songs on the sides of venues it will visit on its upcoming world tour, while indie retailers around the globe have been sharing similar snippets on their social media accounts.

So far, frontman Eddie Vedder's words have appeared on the Jumbotrons or facades of such storied venues as Chicago's Wrigley Field, Boston's Fenway Park and Los Angeles' Kia Forum, as well as London's Waterloo Station and, during the Tottenham football match last weekend, Hotspur Stadium.

Participating record shops have included Easy Street and Silver Platters in Pearl Jam's Seattle hometown, Reckless in Chicago, Amoeba in Los Angeles and Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, plus outlets in Australia, Canada, Mexico and Spain.

The Andrew Watt-produced Dark Matter is due 4/19. The title track and lead single has been a quick hit at Rock radio since its 2/13 release and is currently #6 at Active and #12 at Alternative. It's racked up around 1m total DSP streams in its debut week. Dark Matter World Tour 2024, meanwhile, will begin 5/4 in Vancouver.

On 2/17 Vedder jammed on the PJ classic "Better Man" with fellow UMG rocker Post Malone in Shelbyville, Tennessee, at the benefit Reportin' for Duty, which raised more than $1m for the EB Research Partnership's efforts to fund research into the debilitating skin disease epidermolysis bullosa. Vedder and his wife, Jill, co-founded EBRP in 2010.