If you met Eddie Vedder...what would you say?

pjtaper

Hard2IMAGINE2007VIC wrote:

So I am sure this is the million dollar question that has been asked tons of time on the board, but as time passes I am sure our answers change...
If you had the chance to meet Eddie Vedder...what do you think would say? I am sure many of us have though we would freeze up if the opportunity presented itself. I have been following the band since 1992 when I traded a Chicken Chimichanga burrito in middle school for the cassette tape version of Pearl Jam's Ten. Some kid had an uncle who worked for epic and he had like 20-30 copies of Ten he was selling for $5 at school when nobody had a clue who Pearl Jam was....I got a steal on the trade since a Chimichanga was only $2 at my school. Best bartering deal I ever made since at the time I had no idea the Journey Pearl Jam and I were about to embark upon...

Well 16 years have passed and I finally got the chance meet Eddie on 4/8/08 in Berkeley at Zellerbach Hall. Ed walked out from Zellerbach with a sharpie on one hand and a cig in the other ready to sign as he approached the group of 10 or so that was gathered. I was the first person Ed walked up to and I told him "What's up Eddie, I actually don't have anything I want you to sign and I really just want to shake your hand and say Thank You!". Ed responded by taking a drag of his cig and said "Well let me do this proper" and he handed his sharpie to his bouncer and put his cig up in his lip and he reach out with his hand to shake and we made eye contact I said "Thank you Ed for a lifetime of great music. You have no idea how much I appreciate everything you have share with us." Ed responded "No man, Thank you for listening because without you guys it's nothing." He then asked if he would see me tomorrow at Berkley night 2? and I said "Hell yeah since I drove from Phoenix." Ed said "Phoenix...that's a fuckin' hot place ehhh" I laughed and said "No doubt." I will never forget how rough his hands were, but I guess when you rock a guitar for 20+ years it will have wear on ones hands. After standing next to Ed for about 5 minutes or so as he chatted and signed other fans items, I kindly interrupted Ed and said "Eddie I changed my mind, now that I got chance to say Thanks and shake your hand and that is checked of my list of things to do in life... I think I do want you to sign something for me and I pulled out my Sunset poster that I bought that night and Eddie autographed it right above the silhouette in the yellow sun. It looks freakin' sweet and I framed it yesterday and it is hanging in my living room now. I am so glad that I took the chance to say thanks to Eddie because I kinda felt selfish for taking in all the great music over the years and never saying thanks in the 16 years they have been providing the soundtrack to my life's journeys. So back to the question.
I am curious what some of you would say to Ed if you had the chance to meet him? Or If you have met him before, I am wondering what your experience was like? Thanks for reading my post and sharing your thoughts.
See you all around the bend...

did he post a picture of the framed poster? I'd like to see it!
Great story!

halszka123

I've got it!
I would say: it's good to live in the same time as You. Wish U happiness:)
Sure, it's stupid, but that is what i really feel

smilesometimes

thanks Hard2Imagine.. awesome story. I hope I wouldn't freeze up and I'd be able to seize the moment like you did and shake his hand. Thanks for sharing!

So, solat319, what was the story behind Sniper playbill?

halszka123

sward wrote:

By the way, when people who met him say that he doesn't lose the eye contact the whole time, it's true. Not for a second.

So, where can I hide???

hoopinman

I actually ran into Eddie once in Hawaii. I have a good friend who lives in Kailua on Oahu. This was around the time of Jack Johnson's Kokua Festival when Eddie played. Apparently he had been staying with Jack at his house,which is on the North Shore...literally, on the beach at the world famous Banzai Pipeline.

Well my friend had a dog walking business and we happened to be walking dogs on the beach and Eddie was sitting out on Jack's porch. Its kinda hard to NOT miss someone as there is a huge deck out back,obviously to watch the surfers out in the water. there were no waves....but Eddie was chilling. I glanced over and noticed and told my buddy he was over there, and my friend says, "Thats Jack Johnson's house...I walk his dogs too!" And proceded to walk up to the deck to say hi to Jack and his wife. Of all things Jack introduced all of us and Eddie was as gracious as one could be. I shook his hand and obviously told him how much Pearl Jam meant to me growing up. He was as nice as could be and thanked me for the support. Then he noticed I had a smoke in my hand and asked what I smoked....Of course I just happen to smoke American Spirits, so I gave him one,proud of the fact that we smoked the same brand!!!!

anyways it was really cool to meet....and even meeting Jack was cool...cause he was about as calm and unassuming of a guy too. for someone who makes millions and still lives in the same house for the past 25 years.


the more I think of it...Ive been really blessed. Matt Chamberlain is an old freind of mine....and Dave Abruzzese was my drum mentor in high school and college....so technically Ive met 3 members of Pearl Jam...even though Chamberlain was only around for a bit.

blondieblue227

I’d just try to have a normal convo with him so it stays mellow. Then as I was leaving I’d say something mushy, like thanks for being there for me.

Spunkie

"In or out, use either door." He could take that anyway he wants.

ashtrayrock

free up the live music, man

cause we got everything else

3inputchick

Does Jill want to watch?

pearljgirl2010

I need LukinTimer to respond to this--she has one of the best meeting-ed stories ever!!

I haven't had the chance...but if it is anything like when I met Jeff, I'll probably talk realllly fast and blush and be nervous. but happy!

Hard2IMAGINE2007VIC

Holy Crap...I never expect this post to get so many views and responses! Thanks everyone for reading my post and sharing your awesome thoughts and personal experiences with me and the rest of the PJ community. Reading through all your responses, I have laughed my ass off a few times! Many of you have very creative ideas for what would come out of your mouth if you met Ed! Keep the comments and stories coming and I will try to post some pictures of my sweet Ed signed poster so you can all have a visual for what has become the "Holy Grail" on my wall.
Much respect...see you around the bend...

Clarice

Sprunkn7 wrote:

I would like to buy Eddie a drink and sit along beside him in silence sipping a cocktail watching the sunset. No words need be spoken. quote]

That´s a great idea. I would like to do the same. First of all, because could be a great moment, and second because Iwont understand one word he could say. And vice-versa.

pearljamgirl07

If I met Eddie I get down on my knees and I tell him that he is the best guy in this world.......or I 'd die of the emotion

StoneyChix

I have had the total pleasure of meeting Ed when they toured Australia back in 1998..I had gone to the Hotel they were staying at with a few friends...I had met the other guys and really wasn't planning on meeting Ed. anyway my friends and I were hanging round waiting when I noticed Ed walking towards the hotel..needless to say i shit myself and could NOT believe that he was literally right next to me.

firstly i said Hi to him and he was pretty cool, he put his hand on my shoulder and said "Y'know I'll sign whatever y'want, but no photo's" which i have to admit i was pretty bummed about but hey I was in his presence..so i had to respect what he wanted.

He signed ALL my fan club singles...while he was doing that (as wll as signing for other people) his surfboard was getting put into the van..and the only thing i could think of to say at the time was "Are y'goin surfing Ed?" he replied that he was...

I could've thought of a MILLION BIZZILIION things to say but i said that...The one precious thing i got out of meeting Ed was that he personally signed my Diary I was keeping at the time..he wrote: "Belinda, May you keep this book and many others, Eddie Vedder" and incorporated into his autograph at the time was the yield sign..

I framed it with a few other momentos from the tour and have it haingin PROUDLY in my hall...

I am so thrilled, honoured and priviliged to have met Ed, cause only God knows when an opportunity like that is gonna come around for me again...But even 10 Years later I still have the memories to keep me going and that's what Truly matters

indeed

I passed Boom walking down the sidewalk in Philly in May of '06 the day after their 2nd show at the Tweeter Center. All I could do was stop and stare. His wife(?) looked at me like I was insane. That was when I saw Boom. Can't even think about what would happen if I saw Eddie.

Hawkshore

tish wrote:

"In or out, use either door." He could take that anyway he wants.

Aww tishy you always know just the right thing to say to a guy!

coachchris

By far the best story I've ever heard of was about some guy who had Ed and his daughter walk on the elevator when he was already in it. Ed let his daughter pick "their favourite number" and press the button for the floor. The guy didn't say anything and instead just let Ed be a dad.....VERY COOL OF HIM! If anyone could supply the link to this thread I'd love to read about it again. Memory is fading me quickly :(

Hopefully this isn't touching too much on the personal side of the guys lives etc. ?

pearljgirl2010

coachchris wrote:

By far the best story I've ever heard of was about some guy who had Ed and his daughter walk on the elevator when he was already in it. Ed let his daughter pick "their favourite number" and press the button for the floor. The guy didn't say anything and instead just let Ed be a dad.....VERY COOL OF HIM! If anyone could supply the link to this thread I'd love to read about it again. Memory is fading me quickly :(

Hopefully this isn't touching too much on the personal side of the guys lives etc. ?

i heard that too--was it from Bridge School 06 or Hawaii? You've got the gist of it...it was just cool for the guy NOT to interrupt dad/daughter.

coachchris

pearljgirl2010 wrote:

i heard that too--was it from Bridge School 06 or Hawaii? You've got the gist of it...it was just cool for the guy NOT to interrupt dad/daughter.

I'm almost thinking it was the South America tour?

pearljgirl2010

coachchris wrote:

I'm almost thinking it was the South America tour?

hmmm. I don't know anymore!! but i suppose it doesn't matter, huh? :-) all I know is that it wasn't me in that elevator!

augustwest

SOLAT319 wrote:

So, people were wondering about why the playbill was called "Sniper". When I asked Ed this question, he said that since this was a theater tour, they thought that it would be a clever idea to create a playbill, you know, just like when you go to a play at a theatre you get the playbill and it has bios of everyone's involved in that production. So, the idea came from that. Then when it came to naming it, he said that they did not want to just call it a playbill. So, when you look at the bios inside, there is one for Ed's bodyguard Jesse, who is a huge dude, who used to be in Marines and special forces and on top of that, he used to be a SNIPER! So Ed thought, who better to have in the audience to interfere in case there are "youtubers" out there. Yeap, my friends, this is how much he hates those who "youtube" his shows. So, that's the story of how he came up with the name for the playbill. He might have been kidding of course, who knows :-) But all I can tell you is, when he was talking about youtube, he really did not look like he was kidding.

i love youtube

ev confuses me...

sward

SOLAT319 wrote:

Very true about the eye contact....
And how funny is that you and him were holding hands for about a minute!?!? I assume you're a guy?? Well, if not, I don't even know what to tell you...

Yes..I am a guy. Hahahaha. I left right away and called my wife excitedly, and she still teases about my man crush that day. hahah

Blind3

I'd probably say the same thing I said to him the first, and so far only,time I met him . What I said was: Hey Ed, how's it going?

catwoman

SOLAT319 wrote:

This is one of the coolest stories I've read on this board over the years!

Thank you SOLAT319! My daughter actually wrote her college admission essay about this (the essay where they ask you to write about anything). She also described how I got her & my son tickets to the 2003 concert outside of DC, and how they insisted that I go with them even though I thought I was too old to go to a rock concert. I went & had a blast, and it was an incredible bonding experience with them. I sent a copy of her essay to Deep, but it was never published (at least I don't think so -- I got inadvertently dropped from the 10C for a few months when I didn't get any email reminders to renew -- damn comcast email address). Here's one of the lines from her essay, describing our drives to the ice rink: "Pearl Jam was the soundtrack to our lives on the road, the backbone of our togetherness."

catwoman

andrew the legend wrote:

play even flow more

I love it!

dunkman

he he... here comes eddie with his ventriloquists act

rival9500

I met Ed a couple of times. I'll share the story of when I met him in Pittsburgh. It was about an hour or so after the show. It was only me and a friend. I called his name and he came over carrying a bunch of stuff including his green jacket. I had a copy of the rolling stone with him on the cover that I asked him to sign. He put his stuff down and asked to see it. When I handed it to him, he began flipping through it. He began shaking his head as he told me this was the first time he had actually seen it. He told us that it should have been the entire band on the cover, not just him. He chuckled when I said "fuck rolling stone then". He graciously signed it. I had a vintage who shirt that I wanted to give him as a gift when a random couple started freaking out and screaming "oh my god, it's eddie vedder!!!" They walked right up to him and immediately asked for a picture. His body guard (not his usual one though) immediately said no pictures. I think he signed like a dollar bill for them or something. Afterwards, Ed handed me back the rolling stone, shook my hand, said thank you and started to walk away. I said oh ed, one more thing, I handed him the shirt and told him I thought he might like it since I already had one. He unfolded it and held it up to see it. He said thank you very much and that he never had that one and walked away with it. Everyone is right about the eye contact.

As you all know, the next show in Cincinnati (which I was at), he commented on the rolling stone and wiped his ass with it. Very nice guy. Thanks for sharing all of your stories. I hope you enjoyed mine.

eldarion75

i just read all these posts..sad 'cos you guys for the most part are why the band shys away from fans. Some of these stories were really lovely, most of the people wanting to meet him though? probably the same assholes shouting stuff during his show...
go listen to Creed or something & leave ed alone..you're making us all look bad.

inhiding 1976

When I met Ed it was at the Tibetian Freedom Festival, I was in the first row of the lawn far left if you looking at the stage. If I have lawn I always go there it's close to the beer and the restrooms. I noticed a mob of people walking up from the pavilion and there was Ed with several body guards around him. He went into the pavilion to look at displays. On his way back is when he seemed to take the time to talk to people or shake hands. Finally I saw him walking back down, I made eye contact the whole time. This was pretty intimidating to me, I pussed out and broke eye contact. When he came near I reached out my hand and said "hi Ed. He said Hi and shook my hand and my girlfriends hand as well as my friend I went with. I had on my red given to fly shirt with the yellow birds, he looked at and smiled. This was a very brief encounter. Then at Lollapalooza I stage myself in the front row 6 hours before the show, and during Crazy Mary he jumped down and walked along the fence smoking a cigarette, he came very near, within arms reach and looked at us (I think) waved and went on his way.

rival9500

eldarion75 wrote:

i just read all these posts..sad 'cos you guys for the most part are why the band shys away from fans. Some of these stories were really lovely, most of the people wanting to meet him though? probably the same assholes shouting stuff during his show...
go listen to Creed or something & leave ed alone..you're making us all look bad.

no not really, these stories show how good they are to their fans. There is nothing wrong with waiting to meet someone to say thanks. These stories show that it has paid off for a lot of people and gave them really great memories.