It seems like Pearl Jam can’t get enough of Australia.
The grunge legends finished their current Australian tour in Sydney on Saturday night, and they told the crowd that they’re already considering a return trip.
Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder stopped at one point to address the crowd, asking, “We haven’t been here for 10 years, so let me ask you this question, and I’m being serious. If we were to come back next year or two years tops, will you come back?”
His question was met with a resounding roar from the crowd. Vedder added: “I talked to the guy today; he’s holding the venues.”Was it a tease? A promise? Either way, it’s hard not to feel like the seeds of a future tour are already being planted.”
So there you have it. Tone Deaf will bring you any official confirmation of a future Pearl Jam tour, but it expect it sooner rather than later.
Pearl Jam’s final tour show was memorable for another reason.
The band performed “Hunger Strike”, a song originally created by Temple of the Dog – a supergroup featuring Vedder and the late Chris Cornell.
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The performance, their first live rendition of the song in ten years, signalled a tribute to the Soundgarden frontman, who passed away in 2017.
Cornell and Vedder’s collaboration on “Hunger Strike” is legendary in rock history, with Cornell initially writing it as a filler track for the Temple of the Dog album but struggled with parts of the vocals during rehearsal.
Vedder, who was rehearsing separately with his newly forming band Pearl Jam, stepped in to sing the lower vocal parts. Their voices blended seamlessly, prompting Cornell to transform the song into a duet. This became a breakout moment, launching “Hunger Strike” to success and giving Vedder his first featured vocal performance on a record.
Revisiting “Hunger Strike” during the Sydney show was undoubtedly a moving homage to his friend and collaborator.
The Sydney show, marking the conclusion of Pearl Jam’s first tour of Australia and New Zealand in a decade, also included a surprise cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “No Surrender”, a song Vedder hadn’t performed live since 2006. The tour celebrated their latest album, Dark Matter, and featured a mix of new material and classic hits.
