Pearl Jam to play two ‘home shows’ to help fight homelessness

Iconic Seattle band Pearl Jam is playing their first Seattle show in five years with the goal of helping address Seattle’s homelessness crisis.

For those not paying attention, the problem is pretty dire: King County has the third-highest unsheltered population in the United States, and more than 11,000 people were tallied in last year’s point-in-time count of people experiencing homelessness.

With two shows this August, the band plans to pack Safeco Field and raise money and attention toward the issue. The band is guaranteeing a minimum of $1 million, but they hope to raise $10 million through outreach.

The shows will also spotlight specific efforts being made to address homelessness. Both those, and the specific beneficiaries of the proceeds, are to be determined.

So far they’ve queued up partnerships with a collection of Seattle-area institutions, radio stations, corporations, and government organizations—City of Seattle, the Seattle Mariners, Starbucks, Amazon, Ethan Stowell Restaurants, Port of Seattle, Visit Seattle, KISW, 107.7 The End, KEXP, and the Schultz Family Foundation—but no service providers were mentioned in the band’s announcement.

“Seattle is our hometown,” said Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard in a statement. “When there are challenges here, we want to be part of the solution.”

Tickets aren’t available yet, but the concerts are scheduled for August 8 and 10. The band expects 100,000 fans to gather for what they say is the “largest headlining concert event in Seattle since the Rolling Stones’ two-night stint at the Kingdome in 1981.”

• Pearl Jam will perform two headlining shows on August 8th and 10th in Seattle at Safeco Field [PJ]