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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

This time, Spokane will be ready for Pearl Jam

Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam return to Spokane after a long absence. (Associated Press)

Last time Pearl Jam performed in Spokane it was 1993. They played the Met, which is now the Bing Crosby Theater.

To describe the scene as fans rushed to the Opera House to buy tickets as chaotic seems tame. The show was sprung on fans at the last minute, and news accounts describe the mad dash it took to snag one of the 700 tickets.

“Cars bounced off Spokane Falls Boulevard, parked illegally on the sidewalks and spun off into the dirt in the citywide frenzy to get tickets,” The Spokesman-Review reported the next day. “Ten minutes after the concert was announced, a thick line of Pearl Jam fans wrapped around the block and spilled into the Sheraton-Spokane parking lot.”

Since then, the closest Pearl Jam has been to Spokane is Missoula – bass player Jeff Ament’s old stomping grounds – or the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Wash.

So, yeah. Spokane is due.

The Seattle band, which hit it huge in the grunge era and has maintained a devoted fanbase ever since, will play at the Spokane Arena on Nov. 30, near the end of the band’s fall North American tour. Tickets – at $69.50 – go on sale through TicketsWest at 10 a.m. July 27.

Carolyn Lamberson