Sixteen years ago on this very day, the course of Pearl Jam’s majestic career changed forever when nine people were killed during their set at Roskilde Festival in Denmark. In Cameron Crowe’s documentary about the band for their 20th anniversary, Eddie Vedder described the band’s career in two phases: Before Roskilde and After Roskilde. 

The result of the horrific event was of course the cancellation of the rest of the tour, but the scars remained for years after as the band staved off the thoughts of retirement to record Riot Act in 2002 which included “Love Boat Captain,” a song that references that night in Denmark and those nine lives that were lost. The song pops up around the end of June if and when Pearl Jam happens to be on tour, with Vedder rearranging the lyrics to reflect the time that has passed.

In 2010, as the band marked a decade since Roskilde, they found themselves on stage in Berlin where Vedder took a moment following a “Black” singalong to discuss the anniversary. “It was a completely different experience,” Vedder said of the comparison to that particular show and Roskilde. “And it continues to be the hardest day in our lives and everyone who was there agrees.” He continued, “It’s not like we’re thinking about it more today because it’s something we’ve thought about everyday.”  

The performance of “Come Back” that followed a moment of silence ranks among the most powerful performances in Pearl Jam’s history as Vedder fights through tears to get through the song. As the emotional tune reaches its peak, Vedder’s voice goes from broken to turbo-charged with emotion and pain before bassist Jeff Ament consoles the singer after the song. 

As June 30 once again falls on the opening day of the Roskilde Festival, watch that emotional moment in Pearl Jam’s history below.