Eddie Vedder has once again shown off his versatility as a performer, covering a bunch of tracks at Calfornia’s Ohana Music Festival over the weekend.
On Friday, the Ohana Music Festival took place at Dana Point, California for its third year in a row. With huge names on the bill, including Beck, Mumford & Sons, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, music fans were undoubtedly in the mood to witness something special.
However, a mesmerising mash-up between Pearl Jam and The Smiths was definitely not something folks were expecting.
On Saturday afternoon, The Smiths’ Johnny Marr was closing out his set when he welcomed onstage Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder to aid in performing one of his most iconic tracks.
“I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank a good friend of mine, someone who I’ve admired and who’s been good to me and who’s an inspiration,” explained Marr, as Vedder hit the stage to perform a rendition of The Smiths’ ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’.
While Eddie Vedder’s decidedly gruffer voice added a completely different vibe to the original Smiths’ tune, it was still one of those rare performances that folks will be talking about for years to come.
Then, only a few hours later, Eddie Vedder took to the stage in solo mode for a headline set that consisted mainly of covers.
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Throwing a bunch of Pearl Jam tracks into his set, Vedder also covered the likes of Warren Zevon, George Harrison, The Clash, Bruce Springsteen, and Neil Young. But of course, Eddie Vedder’s set wasn’t without a special guest either.
While he tackled a cover of Tom Petty’s ‘Wildflowers’ with The Heartbreakers guitarist Scott Thurston, it was a performance of ‘Better Man’ with Liz Phair that truly got the crowd talking.
Following on from a performance of Cat Power’s ‘Good Woman’, Vedder welcomed Liz Phair onto the stage for a brief collaboration. “That was ‘Good Woman’,” he explained. “And now I’m going to introduce you to a great woman, Liz Phair.”
“This song was really written for a man to sing, and I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a woman sing it, so this is nice.”
The pair’s performance was mat with rapturous applause from their respective fans, with many of them undoubtedly hoping that an Eddie Vedder cover set is not something that ends up becoming a rarity on the live scene.
Check out Eddie Vedder and Liz Phair performing ‘Better Man’:
Eddie Vedder @ Ohana Music Festival, California, USA 29/09/2018 Setlist
‘Unthought Known’ (Pearl Jam song)
‘Wishlist’ (Pearl Jam song)
‘Keep Me In Your Heart’ (Warren Zevon cover)
‘Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town’ (Pearl Jam song)
‘Good Woman’ (Cat Power cover)
‘Better Man’ (Pearl Jam song) (with Liz Phair)
‘I Am Mine’ (Pearl Jam song)
‘Sleeping By Myself’
‘Without You’
‘Driftin’’ (Pearl Jam song)
‘Far Behind’
‘Guaranteed’
‘Rise’
‘Just Breathe’ (Pearl Jam song)
‘Wildflowers’ (Tom Petty cover) (with Scott Thurston)
‘Room At The Top’ (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)
‘I Won’t Back Down’ (Tom Petty cover)
‘Isn’t It A Pity’ (George Harrison cover)
‘Porch’ (Pearl Jam song)
’Should I Stay Or Should I Go’ (The Clash cover)
‘Open All Night’ (Bruce Springsteen cover)
‘Hard Sun’ (Indio cover)
‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ (Neil Young cover)
