By Scott Tady

PITTSBURGH — Loose, loud, rocking and reverent — at least toward the host city’s sports legacy — Pearl Jam made a triumphant return Friday to Pittsburgh.

Eddie Vedder fired the opening salvo, blasting away on harmonica, joined by his seasoned bandmates, starting at a slow, intense pace to launch “Footsteps,” for which the stage would be shadowed in darkness. At song’s end, Vedder underhand tossed the harmonica to a third-row fan.

Next, the stage lights came up for “Low Lights,” a song spirited by one of Vedder’s long-held vocal notes.

Sporting an unbuttoned short-sleeve shirt layered over a black concert Tee that repped opening act Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, Vedder’s wide-ranging voice sounded in fine form. He’d smile often, and quickly got to buttering up  fans at a sold-out-for-months PPG Paints Arena, telling them how good it felt to be back in “The City of Champions.”

Vedder mentioned noticing the two newest Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup banners added to the rafters since the Seattle band’s last visit a dozen years ago. He also spoke highly of Steelers legend Franco Harris, making sure the cameraman for the video screens zoomed in on a closeup of the black-and-gold guitar picks emblazoned with Harris’ No. 32, which Vedder reached into the crowd and handed to a few lucky fans. Vedder went a step further, dedicating to the late-Harris an ensuing, and delightfully potent romp through “Evenflow” from Pearl Jam’s debut blockbuster album.

A spectator tossed Vedder a plastic yellow Pittsburgh Pirates replica batting helmet, which the singer wore periodically through the night, including the encore.

Vedder’s stage antics included him accidentally kicking around a corked wine bottle as he did an impressive back-bend supported somehow by the mic stand he clutched  behind him with one hand.

While the sound was a bit overamplified and muddy, you couldn’t help getting whisked away by the uplifting, exciting musical hooks achieved by Mike McCready (guitar), Matt Cameron (drums), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar) and Jeff Ament (bass).

“Corduroy” sounded fierce, with Vedder handling some of the feistiest  guitar riffage on a Fender Telecaster once owned by The Clash’s Joe Strummer.  Vedder mimicked a few Pete Townshend-style windmill guitar strokes on his gloriously battered looking new axe, which was a 60th birthday present from his bandmates. Vedder reminded the Pittsburgh faithful that the Clash were a key influence on Pearl Jam.

This tour, named after 2024’s “Dark Matter” album, included the pleasing “Don’t React, Respond” and “Wreckage,” introduced as a song about relationships, and highlighted by the melodic guitar bits from Gossard.

Keeping the vibe loose, Vedder asked the audience what song they wanted to hear next, resulting in hundreds of voices shouting lord-knows-how-many song titles.

“That’s why Democracy is messy,” Vedder joked, ultimately signaling out one woman to pick the next song. She chose “Grievance,” which Pearl Jam hasn’t played live in nearly a decade. After pausing momentarily to recall what musical key its starts in, the band ripped through “Grievance” like they’d been playing it every night of this tour.

A back-to-back shot of hits brought an acoustic-led “Daughter” then “Jeremy,” which Vedder cut short just a few seconds in, when he spotted a fan had fallen down and needed help. Paused a few moments until medical help arrived, the spectator indicated he was OK, as Vedder lightened  the mood asking to verify the fan’s mental condition by asking if he knew what day it was, then seeing if he could recite the name of the new Pope.

Vedder switched to serious mode a few breaths later, commenting it’s unfortunate there haven’t been any sensible gun laws enacted to make students safer in schools and college campuses — citing Carnegie Mellon University to localize his point –  since the 1992 release of “Jeremy,” a gripping song, inspired by a real incident, where a school student brought a gun to school, leading to tragic results.

The nine-song encore began with Vedder acoustically strumming and singing an emotional cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “My City of Ruins.” It was the first time this tour Pearl Jam played that Springsteen song, coming just hours after news reports of President  Donald Trump blasting Springsteen after the New Jersey rocker called the president’s actions “treasonous.” When Vedder finished the final notes of “My City of Ruins,” many fans chanted “Bruuuce!”

Fans lifted their voices together once more for “Alive,” trying to hit and hold the epic-length note Vedder attained on that debut album classic.

Pearl Jam gets back to action in Pittsburgh on Sunday, with a second sold-out PPG Paints Arena show. Friday night’s performance could be a concert-of-the-year contender.