Eddie Vedder at Hammersmith Apollo

Eddie Vedder 
Glen Hansard 
Hammersmith Apollo, 30 & 31 July 2012 
Firstly, there are sadly no videos of this show up on YouTube because Eddie requested no recordings and photos (which is rare, as Pearl Jam always allow this) and people were pretty respectful of this, so the cool posters will have to do instead.
A few years ago I briefly met Eddie Vedder after the taping of Pearl Jam's appearance on Jools Holland's TV show. I swear to god, as he came towards me warmly smiling, the man glowed like there was an otherworldly light surrounding him and with his beard and long hair looked just like Jesus. His charisma just kind of shined through and seeing him solo, where he was able to tell stories, sing his favourite songs and didn't have to make room for the other members of the band, just reaffimed that feeling that there is something very special about Vedder.
The first night we were up in the heavens, up in the balcony, but it was still completely magic being there. Over the years I had heard of Eddie covering all manner of cool tunes but seeing him doing a solo show for the first time (this was the first time Eddie had ever played gigs by himself in the UK or indeed Europe) it was particularly exciting to finally hear him able to stray from the Pearl Jam songbook and play some of his favourites. Both shows felt loose, free, with lots of room for spontaneous moments.This was evident from the first moment that Eddie took to the stage and began with the Daniel Johnston song Walking The Cow. About to launch into a cover of Cat Stevens' Trouble (another favourite of his to play over the years), he stops and mentions all the flashes going off from the cameras and how distracting it was. Rather than act all nasty and douchey about it, Vedder, even though he had requested no cameras, took it all like the nice guy he is and instead tells a story about how as a kid, while camping, he and his friends used to wake up people with a pillow and flashlight and whack them in the face with the pillow. He says all the cameras going off makes him feel like everyone is pulling this prank on him, so gives everyone the opportunity to take photos before going on "Look, I'll even make all the faces for you" he jokes, pulling some serious rock singer looks, which gets everyone laughing. This sweet moment gets the crowd completely on his side and they respect his wishes for the rest of the night.
The rest of the show was a delightful mix of his two solo albums (the Into The Wild soundtrack and Ukulele Songs), random tracks he had released on soundtracks and tribute albums, cool covers and a sprinkling of Pearl Jam numbers which got ecstatic response from the audience. Given he played an incredible and value-for-money set of 29 songs the first night it would take far too long to go through them all but highlights for me included an achingly beautiful version of Cat Power's A Good Woman (Eddie beforehand called Chan "a good friend and a wonderful person"), a haunting rendtion of Dead Man Walking and a beautiful Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town which was prefaced by an amusing but slightly tragic story about a old grocery bagger that Ed knows who would entertain him with tales of all the amazing places he had been travelling to. Later he discovered that "Lester the traveller" hadn't left the island in years but Ed still asks him about his adventures whenever he sees him.
That was probably one of the greatest parts of the show, other than the music, to hear his stories and see him relating to the audience whether it was something from his heart about how much it means to play the Hammersmith Apollo (or Odeon as he called it: it's old name), because of its connection with his heroes The Who, to funny tales of talking to plants and being hit on the head by a coconut ("I like to think it was offering me sustenance but maybe it was trying to kill me"). There was also lovely moments when Ed's daughters, at different times, delivered his instruments to him. "The child labour laws are really lax here," he joked. But the best moment was definitely musical when his support act, the Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, joined him on stage and they walked away from the microphones and standing at the edge of the stage, unmiked, sang the most beautiful version of the old Everly Brothers song, Sleepless Nights.
As good as the first night was, the second just completely blew it out of the water. I had been expecting a basic retread of the previous night, with a few new covers thrown into the mix just to make it sufficiently different, but boy was I wrong.
When Eddie first came out and played the Pearl Jam number Sometimes it seemed like he was going for the safe audience-pleasing set but this show was full of surprises. He performed a gorgeous version of Tom Waits' Picture In A Frame, making it sound like a old standard, and commented on Willie Nelson's cover of Just Breathe, even giving us a brief but hilarious impression of the great man, before performing the song himself. Other highlights included dedicating his song Rise to John Lydon, whose band PiL also has a great song with the same name, and telling a story about being fearful of approaching the legendary punk rocker at an airport but instead was greeted with a big hug, and giving a shout-out to Russian political prisoners and punk rock collective Pussy Riot, amusingly reminiscing about a band he remembered called the Yeastie Girls, and urging us to sign the petition to set them free. There was also a lovely moment when he revealed that he had "Clarence" written on his ukulele, in tribute to the late, great Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band, one of Vedder's biggest influences.
So far, so good (especially since we had much better seats in the stalls on the second night - it really made a massive difference I must say) but the energy and good feeling went up several notches when Eddie returned for the first encore. After talking again about the meaning for him to play the Hammersmith Odeon, he held up the very album that featured it and inspired him growing up: The Who's Quadrophenia, showing the photo of the band in the centrefold of the vinyl standing outside the venue. In tribute he then played an excellent version of I'm One from that classic album, and I'm sure his rendition would have made Pete Townshend proud.
After a few lovely songs with Glen Hansard (including a hilarious Sleepless Nights where Eddie kept forgetting the words and bursting out laughing) he then announced he had a special guest and we were pleasantly surprised to see Neil Finn walk out on the stage. I must admit, although I have great respect for the man, I don't know his music all that well so it wasn't as exciting for me as it was for many around me, but it was thrilling to see everyone go wild as they launched into a spirited version of Throw Your Arms Around Me. But I truly got excited at what happened next. As he was about to play the next song a roadie rushed on stage and whispered something into Eddie's ear and he seemed confused and ran off stage, re-appearing moments later with none other than my old mate Roger Daltrey in tow. It turns out Roger had turned up out of the blue and said that he wanted to sing a song with Eddie, even surprising him. I pretty much leapt out of my seat in excitement as Roger apologised for how unrehearsed they were. Their version of Blue, Red And Grey was undeniably ramshackle and raw but somehow it was all the better for it: just full of fun, love and laughter. It was amazing to see these two legends on stage together especially knowing just how thrilled Eddie must have been sharing the stage with one of his heroes again. Even better was the pair passionately singing The Who classic Naked Eye, and at the end all the audience were on their feet, roaring their approval.
After another encore break, Eddie returned again holding aloft a present from Zak Starkey, a cymbal with The Who's target painted on it, which he proudly described as his Olympic medal. Obviously pumped up by the good show and Roger's surprise appearance, he gathered Glen, Neil and others on stage to play a truly joyous version of Hard Sun and then a surprise version of The Byrds' So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star, which had all the crowd dancing. But just as the lights were about to go up and we thought it was at an end, Eddie ran back on stage to huge applause and played a sweet, ukulele version of Dream A Little Dream, beautifully ending the night. 
The last Pearl Jam show I went to I had become tired of just how big it had all become, it was overwhelming and felt less special than it had previously, but these stripped-down shows reminded me exactly why I loved Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder in the first place and I must admit I hope he puts the band on the back burner for a little while and concentrates on his solo endeavors as this felt so much more fun and refreshing.
Also, a word about Glen Hansard who was lovely and delightful both nights. I had seen him live years ago with his band The Frames but hadn't caught him since all his success with the movie Once and his Academy Award win (well deserved too). Well, it doesn't seem to have gone to his head and he was still full of Irish charm and performed some beautiful acoustic numbers including covers of Bruce Springsteen's Drive All Night (the first night) and a fantastic a cappella version of Daniel Johnston's Devil Town (the second night). And it goes without saying that his duet with Eddie on his song Falling Slowly was a highlight each night. He was a great addition to the shows and I'm really glad I got to see him.

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