Options
Meeting Eddie
I told Jessica that we were going to leave after the last note of the last song so I could quickly run up to the Stage Door on the side of the building near Eddie's 3 giant tour busses. Jess took off for home and I ran up the street to the temporary gates blocking the crowd that was quickly gathering to catch a glimpse of Eddie. When I got there, there was about a dozen people and I secured a good spot behind a pretty girl, next to a lady in a wheelchair and a 5 year old and her dad. And we waited. And waited. And waited. There were several security guards, crew members and staff walking in and out of the Stage Door and as each person walked out, my stomach felt butterflies, for I was about to meet one of the most influential people in my entire life, Eddie Vedder.
After about an hour, we saw Sean Penn and his wife walk out which the crowd of about 50 people mustered a low hurrah for. Then local surf star, Rob Machado, walked out with his gorgeous girl to sign an autograph on a fan's ukulele (obviously the uke was for Eddie's signature). Then Glen Hansard, the opening act, came out. He was extremely respectful and polite to the crowd with his Irish accent and pleasantries. Glen came over to my area and signed my ticket stub and I chatted with him about the song he sang with Eddie that night called Sleepless Nights. They sang it without any microphones and the entire crowd was silent as mice. Glen divulged to me that it was Ed's idea that night to sing it without any mikes and that was the first time they tried it that way. Glen admitted the difficulties singing it sans mikes and how frightening it is. I asked Glen how the tour was going since they started on the east coast; more specifically Boston. He said 'it was rowdy in Boston but now they are much tighter'. I think he was implying that the Boston crowd was a bit raucous but now the shows have been tighter from playing a lot.
About an hour and forty five minutes went by and some of the crowd dispersed. I managed to get right up to the metal barrier so when Eddie would walk out, he would come right up to me. A tall, stunning woman walked out and got on the bus. I figured it was Eddie's wife, Jill McCormick, the model. I knew then that Ed would be coming. Then a very large, muscular guy came out the door to check out the crowd and I noticed a shorter, more plain clothed guy hiding behind him. The tight black shirted muscle man stated to the small crowd that Eddie would not be signing autographs nor taking pictures with anyone. He was only going to shake a few hands. Then Eddie walked out onto to sidewalk right up to my left. The crowd clapped and started saying things like, "Hey Eddie!", "Great Show Eddie!", "Love you Eddie!". He seemed quite jovial. He was swaying and smiling and he just sat backstage for 2 hours with friends and family in his hometown so I imagine he had a coupla beers!
Eddie went immediately up to the woman in the wheelchair and recognized her and shook her hand all the while smiling and being very friendly to the receiving crowd. He came towards me and I put out my hand and asked him if I could give him a letter I wrote him. Eddie looked directly at me and his bodyguard took the letter and then I shook his hand and simply said, "Thank you Eddie. Great show." There's nothing else one can really say at that moment. In the 20 years of waiting to meet this guy, I have gone over in my head what I wanted to say but when the time came, I just said what I said. The letter really said what I wanted to relay to him.
With hands reaching over in all directions to shake Ed's hand, I stood there 3 feet from a man that basically wrote the soundtrack to my life so far. I was taken back. I thought about how many people he encounters each day over the years but this encounter for me was quite fulfilling.
As Eddie moved to my right, he stopped at the 5 year old girl waiting directly next to me. He said to the crowd that he was not going to sign autographs but would only sign one for the little girl. He got down low to talk to her in a kind, low voice asking how to spell her name and signed her concert flyer. The girl's dad was more enthralled than she was!!!
Ed then shook his was way along the barrier to stop at a high school surfer kid who was asking Eddie to play the ukulele Rob Machado signed. Eddie first refused but then took the lil 4 stringer and started playing the first 3 seconds of Can't Keep- the first song on Eddie's Ukulele Songs. The crowd went crazy over that! It was a perfect ovation for Eddie to make his way to his Limo Bus and give one last wave to the crowd.
The crowd immediately dispersed into the hot, humid San Diego morning. I was so ecstatic but had nobody to share the news with at 1am! I walked slowly to my truck, hands still shaking, face still smiling and turned the ignition to hear Eddie's voice coming from my CD player. It was a surreal moment after I had just shook the man's hand no less than 10 minutes before.
After about an hour, we saw Sean Penn and his wife walk out which the crowd of about 50 people mustered a low hurrah for. Then local surf star, Rob Machado, walked out with his gorgeous girl to sign an autograph on a fan's ukulele (obviously the uke was for Eddie's signature). Then Glen Hansard, the opening act, came out. He was extremely respectful and polite to the crowd with his Irish accent and pleasantries. Glen came over to my area and signed my ticket stub and I chatted with him about the song he sang with Eddie that night called Sleepless Nights. They sang it without any microphones and the entire crowd was silent as mice. Glen divulged to me that it was Ed's idea that night to sing it without any mikes and that was the first time they tried it that way. Glen admitted the difficulties singing it sans mikes and how frightening it is. I asked Glen how the tour was going since they started on the east coast; more specifically Boston. He said 'it was rowdy in Boston but now they are much tighter'. I think he was implying that the Boston crowd was a bit raucous but now the shows have been tighter from playing a lot.
About an hour and forty five minutes went by and some of the crowd dispersed. I managed to get right up to the metal barrier so when Eddie would walk out, he would come right up to me. A tall, stunning woman walked out and got on the bus. I figured it was Eddie's wife, Jill McCormick, the model. I knew then that Ed would be coming. Then a very large, muscular guy came out the door to check out the crowd and I noticed a shorter, more plain clothed guy hiding behind him. The tight black shirted muscle man stated to the small crowd that Eddie would not be signing autographs nor taking pictures with anyone. He was only going to shake a few hands. Then Eddie walked out onto to sidewalk right up to my left. The crowd clapped and started saying things like, "Hey Eddie!", "Great Show Eddie!", "Love you Eddie!". He seemed quite jovial. He was swaying and smiling and he just sat backstage for 2 hours with friends and family in his hometown so I imagine he had a coupla beers!
Eddie went immediately up to the woman in the wheelchair and recognized her and shook her hand all the while smiling and being very friendly to the receiving crowd. He came towards me and I put out my hand and asked him if I could give him a letter I wrote him. Eddie looked directly at me and his bodyguard took the letter and then I shook his hand and simply said, "Thank you Eddie. Great show." There's nothing else one can really say at that moment. In the 20 years of waiting to meet this guy, I have gone over in my head what I wanted to say but when the time came, I just said what I said. The letter really said what I wanted to relay to him.
With hands reaching over in all directions to shake Ed's hand, I stood there 3 feet from a man that basically wrote the soundtrack to my life so far. I was taken back. I thought about how many people he encounters each day over the years but this encounter for me was quite fulfilling.
As Eddie moved to my right, he stopped at the 5 year old girl waiting directly next to me. He said to the crowd that he was not going to sign autographs but would only sign one for the little girl. He got down low to talk to her in a kind, low voice asking how to spell her name and signed her concert flyer. The girl's dad was more enthralled than she was!!!
Ed then shook his was way along the barrier to stop at a high school surfer kid who was asking Eddie to play the ukulele Rob Machado signed. Eddie first refused but then took the lil 4 stringer and started playing the first 3 seconds of Can't Keep- the first song on Eddie's Ukulele Songs. The crowd went crazy over that! It was a perfect ovation for Eddie to make his way to his Limo Bus and give one last wave to the crowd.
The crowd immediately dispersed into the hot, humid San Diego morning. I was so ecstatic but had nobody to share the news with at 1am! I walked slowly to my truck, hands still shaking, face still smiling and turned the ignition to hear Eddie's voice coming from my CD player. It was a surreal moment after I had just shook the man's hand no less than 10 minutes before.
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
8/15/92, 9/28/96, 8/28/98, 8/29/98, 9/18/98, 8/3/00, 8/9/00, 8/10/00, 8/23/00, 8/25/00, 9/1/00, 9/2/00, 4/28/03, 6/18/03, 7/5/03, 7/6/03, 10/1/04, 10/3/05, 6/19/08, 10/27/09, 10/31/09, 5/21/10, 9/3/11, 9/4/11, 10/21/13
More to Come....
They are back together? Sorry, I know that's not the point of your post.
Congratulations, awesome story! I wish I had thought to write Ed a letter. I was so dumbstruck when I saw him that it was all I could do to squeak out a "Thank you!!". I meant to say "Thank you for doing what you do", not that he would have heard me anyway, everyone around me was reaching out and screaming.
www.myspace.com/bltzdnooki
"..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
“..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
PJ - Auckland 2009; Alpine Valley1&2 2011; Man1, Am'dam1&2, Berlin1&2, Stockholm, Oslo & Copenhagen 2012; LA, Oakland, Portland, Spokane, Calgary, Vancouver, Seattle 2013; Auckland 2014
EV - Canberra, Newcastle & Sydney 1&2 2011
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Why not (V) (°,,,,°) (V) ?
Thanks for sharing.
Edit: For Eddie's sake, I hope that was his wife getting on his bus.
fade away...
I am at peace with my lust.....for Eddie.
www.cluthelee.com
www.cluthe.com
"Rise above principal and do what's right."
6/12/08 - Tampa, FL
8/23/09 - Chicago, IL
9/28/09 - Salt Lake City, UT (11 years too long!!!)
9/03/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 1
9/04/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 2
EV intro to Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns
10/25/13 Hartford
I was there at that show. First time for me too. Changing my life for the next ten years.
Kissimmee 04/Montreal 05/Chicago 06/Gorge 06/Leeds 06/London 07/Lollapalooza 07/EV Chicago 08/EV Santa Barbara 08/Bonnaroo 08/EV @ McCartney NY 09/EV Atlanta 09/Spectrum 09 (4 shows)/Jazz Fest '10/Voices for Justice (EV) 10/Columbus 10/Noblesville 10/EV Sydney, Melbourne 11/EV Philadelphia, Detroit 11/Alpine weekend/Toronto 11 (2 shows)/Made in America 2012/Deluna Fest 2012/Missoula 2012/Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Dallas, OKC, Portland, Spokane, Vancouver, Seattle 2013/Global Citizen/Florida 16/MSG 16/Wrigley 16
Here is the review of the show-
I have been to fifteen Pearl Jam concerts in the past seventeen years and I have seen Eddie Vedder play solo four times now. Last night on July 5, 2011, my wife and I saw Eddie play at Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego. What I liked most about going to see Eddie play solo is that the venue is always smaller than a PJ show and the people tend to be older at his solo shows, making the concert more agreeable to my age (36). It was nice to see San Diego come out in full force last night to welcome home one of it’s own, Eddie Vedder.
Upon entering Copley Symphony Hall and getting our fanclub tickets at Will Call, there was a line to buy the limited edition merchandise sold solely on this Ukulele Songs tour. So my wife and I meandered around to check out the scene and decided to wait in in line to buy a rare San Diego poster while many other fans waited to buy overpriced alcohol. San Diego must be rich cause there were quite a few inebriated fans!
After scuffling through the crowd, we found our seats, which were on the floor but far up to the back and we caught most of the opening act, Glen Hansard. The Irish born guitarist/songwriter enthralled the crowd with his wide range of vocals and his intermittent style guitar playing of very soft to very loud. Glen was a great compliment to the main act. He expressed his heart felt appreciation to Eddie, his crew and of course the many Faithful fans of Pearl Jam and Eddie’s music.
Glen played for about thirty minutes and the clock started- Eddie was coming on next. There was an energy about the crowd. Maybe it was because Eddie was ‘home’ (even though he is from Chicago) and his entire family was there to watch including his mom, brother, wife, and children? Maybe it was because a few celebrities were sprinkled throughout the crowd such as Sean Penn, Rob Machado, or Bill Walton? Or maybe it was the thousands of dollars spent on booze by the concert goers!
Copley erupted when Eddie walked out on stage and jumped right into the first song on his new Ukulele album, Can’t Keep, which added to the high energy already present in the sold out, 2200 person show. With the crowd still clapping for his first tune, Eddie played the second song on his Ukulele Songs, Sleeping By Myself which brought people down to a more relaxed state.
Just before his next song, Ed frustratingly called out a guy sitting in the third row who was texting by saying, “Hey you in the third row, who the fuck are you texting?! You! You! If you want to text I can just leave right now!” This was the last thing I wanted to hear before hearing possibly the most beautiful song he recently put out named Without You which he messed up on and stopped to say, “Oh wait a minute, let me text someone really quick” to play it better. He then admitted to the crowd that one guy doesn’t represent us all and he quickly jumped back with great renditions of Without You and Broken Heart.
With Eddie’s whole family at the show, he wanted to dedicate a song he has yet to play this tour to his two year old and seven year old daughters. Hey Fahkah is a released outtake of eight seconds with Eddie ‘fahking’ up a song. Of course he daughters like to hear it for all the wrong reasons and like me, they like to hear the song and rewind it to hear it again. So Eddie graciously played it twice for his kids bringing out the dad in him. He later apologized for all his cursing, especially in front of his children and jokingly said he was thinking of making kids cd with all curse words with songs like Yo Gabba fucking Gabba! This interjection of humor is a sharp contrast to his politically, harsh comments of 20 years ago.
The crowd was enamored with the Ukulele Songs but came more Alive with Pearl Jam cuts like Love Boat Captain, I Am Mine and Off He Goes. Each song he played had a different guitar being used but one song that was worth mentioning was Better Man with Eddie playing a 1934 Martin guitar that made the song sound like a new one and unrecognizable. Poignantly, Eddie’s mom was in the crowd and I thought it was great to hear a song he wrote for her played uniquely that nobody could sing along to with Eddie recognizing her in the crowd after the song.
Eddie also thanked Sean Penn for helping with his solo career by playing several songs from Into the Wild, messing up on the popular number, Rise. The blame for the blunder accordingly to Ed was that he ‘was still paying off the expensive mandolin’ he bought for the only song played on the instrument.
Ed knows that some his fans still want to hear more popular songs such as Elderly Woman, Wish List, Just Breathe (accompanied by the San Diego Philharmonic) and Porch but enjoys pulling out deeper covers such as Bruce Springsteen’s, Open All Night and X’s, 4th of July and others by the Beatles and the Everly Brothers.
The stage was dressed with a campfire tent scene that brought only more tranquility to the crowd. Eddie has an innate ability to make people feel like they warming themselves at the campfire (unless you are texting!). That ability is maybe why he and Pearl Jam have a very strong following after 20 years such as myself.
I was fortunate enough to meet Eddie after the show outside and shake his hand for a memorable show. He was just as amiable in person. He wasn’t signing autographs but signed one for a 5 year old who waited 2 hours. He also delighted the small crowd of 50 by taking a fan’s ukulele to play the first few notes of Can’t Keep before politely ducking into his tour bus to drive onto Long Beach for the next nights show and to ‘light up the campfire’ and to sing for his friends. Thanks Eddie!
And the 5 year old girl got the autograph hey?
I either have to have kids by next time they come to aust, or steal my nephews for the night....
Sydney 14/02/2003
Sydney 07/11/2006
Sydney 18/11/2006
Sydney 22/11/2009
EV Sydney 18/03/2011
EV Sydney 19/03/2011
EV Sydney 20/03/2011
Melbourne 24/01/2014
Sydney 26/01/2014
EV Sydney 13/02/2014
Eddie Vedder Tribute Videos - Playlist
The EDvolution of Dance: youtu.be/-HtF3gRYHnE
eddievedderhallpass.tumblr.com
1996: Ft Lauderdale
1998: Birmingham
2000: Charlotte, Tampa
2003: Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix
2004: Kissimmee
2008: West Palm Beach, Bonnaroo, Columbia
2010: MSG2
2012: Music Midtown
2014: Memphis
2018: Wrigley 1, Fenway 1
2022: Nashville
2023: Ft. Worth II
"..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
“..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
I've thought about telling him something like that "Thank you for writing the soundtrack to my life". But then it has me thinking how many times he's might've heard that before, etc. And then I've thought of saying something sarcastic like "were we a shit crowd tonight?" (Eddie's called Seattle a shit crowd before). But then I wouldn't want to rub him the wrong way, since I speak in monotone for the most part, so he might not get the sarcasm. Maybe thank him for playing a specific song, like Off He Goes?
I hope to figure it out soon, but have people really waited until 1 a.m. to meet the man himself? I am considering maybe just hoping that I run into him at the grocery store or a bar in that case.
Pearl Jam:
Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Sep 21, 2009
Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, BC - Sep 25, 2011
Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Dec 6, 2013
Eddie Vedder Solo:
Benaroya Hall - Seattle, WA - Jul 15, 2011
When the time came when he walked out the door and came right up to me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNi0XrLG ... 4DA0BED8C7) and shook my hand, I had nooooooooo clue on what to say. The letter in my hand that I gave him right after said it all. It was a great night that I will remember for the rest of my life!
Yea, I think it was about then (I know I waited 2.5 hours). Granted if I'd known ahead of time it was going to be that long I don't know if I would have waited but I figured I would give it a shot, nothing stopping me from leaving if I get tired.
I'm glad I did it. Got a handshake, blurted out a "THANK YOU!!!" and had a big smile on my face for an entire week (actually, I think I still have traces of it now). I don't know if I would do it for EVERY show but it made me feel good somehow even though we barely interacted
http://www.supermansammyz.blogspot.com