His deep knowledge of the Pearl Jam catalog helped kick the show into a higher gear when the musicians played “Dirty Frank,” a 1992 Pearl Jam B-side inspired by the band’s formative time touring with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Long Island native Watt was clearly living out a dream playing with his musical hero Vedder, especially in front of an audience of friends and family. Photographer Danny Clinch joined the group to play harmonica on the ultra-fast song “Try,” filling the big shoes of Stevie Wonder, whose solo on the album incarnation of the song qualifies as one of his most unusual recorded guest appearances. Mills,” the studio version of which features none other than Ringo Starr on the skins. The long sustained notes at the end of the latter two songs were a potent reminder that at 57, Vedder still has one of the best and instantly recognizable voices in rock ’n’ roll.Īlthough Smith’s thunderous drumming was often the loudest sound in the room, the other musicians did right by everything from The Who’s “I’m One” to the piano ballad “The Haves” (dedicated to Vedder’s wife, Jill) and the unabashed Beatles homage “Mrs.
“We all share an affinity for the songs.”įrom there, it was four cuts from “Earthling” that offered a tasty cross-section of the album’s sound: the chugging, major-key “The Dark,” the synth-flecked, roof-raising “Invincible,” the knowing Petty nod “Long Way” and the powerful rocker “Brother the Cloud,” which sure seems to be about the 2017 suicide of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell. “They made one record - a truly, truly magnificent record,” Vedder said. The first real eye-opener came next, as the group dusted off Liverpool band the La’s’ “Timeless Melody” - a song Pearl Jam used to cover in the early aughts, but hadn’t played itself since 2004. 11, while also offering up several manna-from-heaven rarities for the scores of Pearl Jam die-hards in attendance (the performance was recorded for future broadcast on SiriusXM’s Pearl Jam radio channel).īacked by guitarist Andrew Watt (who also produced and co-wrote the material on “Earthling”), Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, that band’s former guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney and solo troubadour in his own right Glen Hansard, Vedder and his Earthlings eased into the show with covers of R.E.M.’s “Drive” and Tom Petty’s “Room at the Top,” an appropriate amalgam of the influences that have informed Vedder’s creative ethos since his early days. On Friday, it was all a balancing act he pulled off nicely: debuting a bunch of fresh material, most of which won’t be released until the “Earthling” album arrives on Feb. For Vedder, it’s a big departure from his past decade’s worth of solo touring, in which he’s largely played on his own in stripped-down, acoustic settings. Few frontmen of bands this popular have formed new solo projects while their original groups are still active (Jerry Garcia and Thom Yorke come to mind). Indeed, this is something of a first for both parties in their 30-plus-year Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career.
“We had some difficult times getting here, and if you feel the same, now is all that we have worked for,” he told the crowd during the second of two sold-out shows to start the three-week run.įor some, it may seem a bit strange seeing an Eddie Vedder-led rock show without his Pearl Jam bandmates. Since last May, the Pearl Jam frontman unexpectedly recorded an album with a new group of musicians and is now on the road with them for his first performances in indoor venues since July 2018.
On the basis of his solo show at New York’s Beacon Theater on Friday night, Eddie Vedder hasn’t lost his sense of spontaneity.
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