Photo: Simon Sarin
During Eddie Vedder's mammoth 30-song set on the first of two dates live at Hammersmith Apollo, the Pearl Jam singer made a special tribute to Soundgarden legend Chris Cornell.
Perched on a stool in front of a starry backdrop used to bring to life the Into The Wild Soundtrack songs, Vedder took a brave, deep breath and proceeded to say the following about his late friend:
"I haven't really been talking about some things and now it feels like it's almost conspicuous because I lost a close friend of mine, somebody that you love," he said as applause rippled around the crowd commending his courage.
"I'll say this, too. I grew up the oldest of four boys and I lost my brother two years ago in a tragic accident and after that and losing a few other people I'm just not good at it, meaning I have not been willing to accept the reality and that's just how I'm dealing with it. And so I want to be there for our family, I want to be there for our community and my brothers in the band, and certainly the brothers in his band. I know these things will take time and my friend is going to be gone forever and those things will take time and I send my love to everyone that was affected by it back home and up here, appreciate so deeply the support and good thoughts of a man who wasn't just a friend, he was someone I looked up to like an older brother.
"Two nights after the news we were sleeping in this old cabin near the water, a place he would have love, and all these memories all started coming in at about 1.30am. They woke me up, they were memories I would think about all the time and if they were muscles they were big muscles and then I couldn't stop the memories and trying to sleep it was like if the neighbours had music playing and I couldn't stop it. But it was fine because then it got into little memories and it kept going and going and going and I realised how lucky I was to have hours worth. If each of these memories was a quick one and I had hours o them . So how fortunate was I and I want to be grateful rather than sad and I'm still thinking about those memories and I will live with those memories in my heart and I will love him forever."
The speech was part of an emotional evening where conveying love to grieving people was extended to the London attacks: "I'm proud to be in this town at this time and be around strong people and to be leaned on and lean on you as well," said the inimatble genius of a singer/songwriter.
Lighter moments were in abundance, too. The first of many standing ovations throughout the set came when Vedder played his jovial song dedicated to the ukele that included such lines as: "It takes about an hour to teach someone to play the ukele/ about the same time that it takes to build a standard pipe bong/ you do the math/ so play your favourite cover song/ especially if the words are wrong / because even if your grades are bad / it doesn't mean you're failing."
Vedder's fondness of playing at The Hammersmith Apollo, an intimate venue by his standards, was also alluded to. He nostalgically explained he used to roll joints in the Quadrophenia gatefold record that had a picture of The Who walking out of The Hammersmith.
Things got a bit more serious when he began talking about Trump, but had a good piece of advice: "God damn I miss Barack Obama. Isn't it interesting, [because] if he says something negative towards what you're doing - or let's say the Mayor of London or something - then you know you're doing the right thing. It's an incredible barometer, it's like the north star but pointed to hell."
Musically the set was as well crafted and sublime visually as they come. A shifting backdrop used to evoke the differing themes from his back-catalogue gave it a theatrical edge. Having other musicians, particularly the Red Limo String quartet, and the irresistibly beautiful vocals of Glen Hansard come in and out was a great touch, and blew all expectations in terms of how many stops he'd pull out to make a solo set enthralling. Vedder himself never kept to one thing, he brought within him an array of string instruments, a cajon he used with his foot, and an analog tape machine.
The set was built in a way that seemed to draw in the audience more and more as it went on providing surprises at every turn, and the strict no phones rule seemed to help everyone get in the zone. A cover of The Beatles 'Here Comes The Sun' goes down well before his road crew, dressed in matching lab coats, come on stage to set up a camp fire prop to go with the starry backdrop as he plays a medley of Into The Wild songs, during which he thanks Sean Penn for "inventing this job" for him.
Following that, an array of Peal Jam's songs are mixed in with covers of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and David Bowie. After a roaring rendition of 'Rockin' In The Free World' that a Vedder show just wouldn't be complete without. The surprise - and real goosebump moment - came as the opening chords to 'Hard Sun' hit. It's here he pressed play on his tape machine that plays the analog backing track. The whole touring crew got together on stage and embraced the heaviness, and the seated crowd rushed to the front to stand and celebrate an emotional evening for Vedder and one that will live in the mind of Gigwise forever. What a stunning gig.
