Vitalogy - Tour

Tour

Pearl Jam promoted the album with tours in Asia, Oceania, and the United States in 1995. The band was joined by new drummer Jack Irons. The short tour of the United States focused on the Midwest and the West Coast. The band continued its boycott against Ticketmaster during its tour of the United States, refusing to play in Ticketmaster's venue areas, but was surprised that virtually no other bands joined it in refusing to play at Ticketmaster venues. The band chose to use alternate ticketing companies for the shows.

The tour of the United States faced various troubles. Ament said that the band and its crew had to " shows from the ground up, a venue everywhere we went." In June 1995, the band was scheduled to play at San Francisco, California's Golden Gate Park in front of 50,000 people. Before the concert Vedder was forced to stay at a hospital after suffering from the effects of food poisoning. Vedder left the hospital to play the show, however he was not able to finish and ended up performing just seven out of twenty-one songs with the band. Neil Young filled in for Vedder for the rest of the show that day. Vedder said, "That whole thing was a blur based on some bad food. It was really, really bad. Looking back at it, it doesn't seem as intense as it was, but it was horrible. I just felt not human and looking back I should have got through that show somehow, and I think the fact that Neil was there made me feel like I could get off the hook in some way and I did go out for a few songs." Because of Vedder's health the band was forced to cancel the remaining dates of its tour of the United States. Some dates were reinstated while the rest were rescheduled for the fall. About canceling the dates, Vedder said, "I think we all agreed that it had gotten insane, that it was no longer about the music." Ament later said, "We were so hardheaded about the 1995 tour. Had to prove we could tour on our own, and it pretty much killed us, killed our career."