# Riot Act Tour

The Riot Act Tour was a concert tour by the American rock band Pearl Jam to support its seventh album, Riot Act.

## History

Pearl Jam promoted Riot Act with tours in Australia, Japan, and North America in 2003. The tours were the band's first with keyboardist Boom Gaspar. The two legs of the North American tour focused on the Midwestern United States, the East Coast, and the West Coast. Opening acts for the tours included Johnny Marr, Sparta, Sleater-Kinney, Buzzcocks and Idlewild.
Pearl Jam received much publicity for its energetic politically charged performances during the tour. The band gave a noteworthy performance during the encore of its February 23, 2003 show in Perth at the Burswood Dome where it was joined on stage by Hunters & Collectors frontman Mark Seymour to perform "Throw Your Arms Around Me", a personal favorite of vocalist Eddie Vedder. At many shows during the 2003 North American tour, Vedder performed Riot Act's "Bu$hleaguer", a commentary on President George W. Bush, with a rubber mask of Bush, wearing it at the beginning of the song and then hanging it on a mic stand to allow him to sing. The band made news when it was reported that several fans left after Vedder had "impaled" the Bush mask on his mic stand at the band's April 1, 2003 show in Denver, Colorado at the Pepsi Center. Following a performance of the song at Pearl Jam's April 30, 2003 show in Uniondale, New York at the Nassau Coliseum, the band was met with boos from the crowd and chants of "U-S-A." Vedder responded by defending his right to free speech and the band followed with a performance of The Clash's "Know Your Rights".
The song "Arc" was performed by Vedder at nine shows during the second North American leg of the tour as a tribute to the victims of the Roskilde disaster. On the second leg of the North American tour the band performed a three-day set of Boston shows at the Tweeter Center Boston. Pearl Jam played a completely different set list each night, spanning 105 songs from its catalog with only one repeat between the three shows, the popular concert-ending "Yellow Ledbetter". In May 2003, Pearl Jam extended its North American tour by announcing that it would be playing in Mexico for the first time. Before the first concert on July 17, 2003 in Mexico City at Palacio de los Deportes, the band gave its first press conference in almost ten years. In addition, the third concert was transmitted live on radio and television to all of Latin America for free.
The Australia, Japan, and North America tours were documented by a long series of official bootlegs, all of which were available through the band's official website. A total of six bootlegs were made available in record stores: Perth, Tokyo, State College, Pennsylvania, two shows from Madison Square Garden, and Mansfield, Massachusetts. One of the four warm-up dates was released as a DVD entitled Live at the Showbox, which was made available through the band's website. The first of two shows at Madison Square Garden was released as the Live at the Garden DVD.

## Tour dates

Information taken from various sources.
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Opening acts | Live album |
| Warm-up shows ||||||
| December 5, 2002 | Seattle | United States | The Showbox | NEO | |
| December 6, 2002 | Seattle | United States | The Showbox | Steve Earle | Live at the Showbox |
| December 8, 2002 | Seattle | United States | KeyArena | Steve Earle, Brad | |
| December 9, 2002 | Seattle | United States | KeyArena | Brad, Mudhoney | |
| Pacific leg ||||||
| February 8, 2003 | Brisbane | Australia | Brisbane Entertainment Centre | Johnny Marr | |
| February 9, 2003 | Brisbane | Australia | Brisbane Entertainment Centre | Johnny Marr | |
| February 11, 2003 | Sydney | Australia | Sydney Entertainment Centre | Johnny Marr, Betchadupa | |
| February 13, 2003 | Sydney | Australia | Sydney Entertainment Centre | Johnny Marr, Betchadupa | |
| February 14, 2003 | Sydney | Australia | Sydney Entertainment Centre | Johnny Marr, Betchadupa | |
| February 16, 2003 | Adelaide | Australia | Adelaide Entertainment Centre | Johnny Marr | |
| February 18, 2003 | Melbourne | Australia | Rod Laver Arena | Johnny Marr | |
| February 19, 2003 | Melbourne | Australia | Rod Laver Arena | Johnny Marr | |
| February 20, 2003 | Melbourne | Australia | Rod Laver Arena | Johnny Marr | |
| February 23, 2003 | Perth | Australia | Burswood Dome | Johnny Marr | 2/23/03 – Perth, Australia |
| February 28, 2003 | Sendai | Japan | Izumity 21 | | |
| March 1, 2003 | Yokohama | Japan | Pacifico Yokohama | | |
| March 3, 2003 | Tokyo | Japan | Nippon Budokan | | 3/3/03 – Tokyo, Japan |
| March 4, 2003 | Osaka | Japan | Kōsei Nenkin Kaika | | |
| March 6, 2003 | Nagoya | Japan | Nagoyashi Kokaido | | |
| North America leg 1 ||||||
| April 1, 2003 | Denver | United States | Pepsi Center | Sleater-Kinney | |
| April 3, 2003 | Oklahoma City | United States | Ford Center | Sleater-Kinney | |
| April 5, 2003 | San Antonio | United States | Verizon Wireless Amphitheater | Sleater-Kinney | |
| April 6, 2003 | The Woodlands | United States | Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion | Sleater-Kinney | |
| April 8, 2003 | New Orleans | United States | UNO Lakefront Arena | Sleater-Kinney | |
| April 9, 2003 | Pelham | United States | Oak Mountain Amphitheater | Sleater-Kinney | |
| April 11, 2003 | West Palm Beach | United States | Sound Advice Amphitheatre | Sleater-Kinney | |
| April 12, 2003 | Orlando | United States | House of Blues | | |
| April 13, 2003 | Tampa | United States | St. Pete Times Forum | Sleater-Kinney | |
| April 15, 2003 | Raleigh | United States | Alltel Pavilion at Walnut Creek | Sleater-Kinney | |
| April 16, 2003 | Charlotte | United States | Verizon Wireless Amphitheater | Sleater-Kinney | |
| April 18, 2003 | Antioch | United States | AmSouth Amphitheater | Sleater-Kinney | |
| April 19, 2003 | Atlanta | United States | HiFi Buys Amphitheatre | Sparta | |
| April 21, 2003 | Lexington | United States | Rupp Arena | Sparta | |
| April 22, 2003 | St. Louis | United States | Savvis Center | Sparta | |
| April 23, 2003 | Champaign | United States | Assembly Hall | Sparta | |
| April 25, 2003 | Cleveland | United States | Gund Arena | Sparta | |
| April 26, 2003 | Pittsburgh | United States | Mellon Arena | Sparta | |
| April 28, 2003 | Philadelphia | United States | First Union Spectrum | Sparta | |
| April 29, 2003 | Albany | United States | Pepsi Arena | Sparta | |
| April 30, 2003 | Uniondale | United States | Nassau Coliseum | Sparta | |
| May 2, 2003 | Buffalo | United States | HSBC Arena | Sparta | |
| May 3, 2003 | University Park | United States | Bryce Jordan Center | Sparta | 5/3/03 – State College, Pennsylvania |
| North America leg 2 ||||||
| May 28, 2003 | Missoula | United States | Adams Fieldhouse, University of Montana | Idlewild | |
| May 30, 2003 | Vancouver | Canada | General Motors Place | Idlewild | |
| June 1, 2003 | Mountain View | United States | Shoreline Amphitheatre | Idlewild | |
| June 2, 2003 | Irvine | United States | Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre | Idlewild | |
| June 3, 2003 | Irvine | United States | Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre | Idlewild | |
| June 5, 2003 | San Diego | United States | San Diego Sports Arena | Idlewild | |
| June 6, 2003 | Las Vegas | United States | MGM Grand Arena | Idlewild | |
| June 7, 2003 | Phoenix | United States | Cricket Pavilion | Idlewild | |
| June 9, 2003 | Dallas | United States | Smirnoff Music Centre | Idlewild | |
| June 10, 2003 | Little Rock | United States | Alltel Arena | Idlewild | |
| June 12, 2003 | Bonner Springs | United States | Verizon Wireless Amphitheater | Idlewild | |
| June 13, 2003 | Council Bluffs | United States | Mid-America Center | Idlewild | |
| June 15, 2003 | Fargo | United States | Fargodome | Idlewild | |
| June 16, 2003 | Saint Paul | United States | Xcel Energy Center | Idlewild | |
| June 18, 2003 | Chicago | United States | United Center | Idlewild | |
| June 19, 2003 | Cincinnati | United States | Riverbend Music Center Cancelled | | |
| June 21, 2003 | East Troy | United States | Alpine Valley Music Theatre | Buzzcocks | |
| June 22, 2003 | Noblesville | United States | Verizon Wireless Music Center | Buzzcocks | |
| June 24, 2003 | Columbus | United States | Polaris Amphitheater | Buzzcocks | |
| June 25, 2003 | Clarkston | United States | DTE Energy Music Theatre | Buzzcocks | |
| June 26, 2003 | Clarkston | United States | DTE Energy Music Theatre | Buzzcocks | |
| June 28, 2003 | Toronto | Canada | Molson Amphitheatre | Buzzcocks | |
| June 29, 2003 | Montreal | Canada | Bell Centre | Buzzcocks | |
| July 1, 2003 | Bristow | United States | Nissan Pavilion | Buzzcocks | |
| July 2, 2003 | Mansfield | United States | Tweeter Center Boston | Buzzcocks | |
| July 3, 2003 | Mansfield | United States | Tweeter Center Boston | Buzzcocks | |
| July 5, 2003 | Camden | United States | Tweeter Center at the Waterfront | Buzzcocks | |
| July 6, 2003 | Camden | United States | Tweeter Center at the Waterfront | Buzzcocks | |
| July 8, 2003 | New York City | United States | Madison Square Garden | Buzzcocks | 7/8/03 – New York, New York |
| July 9, 2003 | New York City | United States | Madison Square Garden | Sleater-Kinney | 7/9/03 – New York, New York |
| July 11, 2003 | Mansfield | United States | Tweeter Center Boston | Sleater-Kinney | 7/11/03 – Mansfield, Massachusetts |
| July 12, 2003 | Hershey | United States | Hersheypark Stadium | Sleater-Kinney | |
| July 14, 2003 | Holmdel | United States | PNC Bank Arts Center | Sleater-Kinney | |
| July 17, 2003 | Mexico City | Mexico | Palacio de los Deportes | Sleater-Kinney | |
| July 18, 2003 | Mexico City | Mexico | Palacio de los Deportes | Sleater-Kinney | |
| July 19, 2003 | Mexico City | Mexico | Palacio de los Deportes | Sleater-Kinney | |

## Band members
### Pearl Jam

* Jeff Ament – bass guitar
* Stone Gossard – rhythm guitar
* Mike McCready – lead guitar
* Eddie Vedder – lead vocals, guitar
* Matt Cameron – drums

### Additional musicians

* Boom Gaspar – Hammond B3 and keyboards

## Live albums

February 23, 2003 Perth Australia- released June 10, 2003

## Gallery

* A ticket from the show in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on May 30, 2003.