Eddie Vedder Digs Deep Into Song, Shirt Archives in Vancouver

"There's something about the first time," said Eddie Vedder, a few songs into his set at the Centre in Vancouver, Brtish Columbia. "Whether it's good or bad. There's nothing else like it." For Vedder, this first time meant a sold out, two-night residency in a city not too far north of his native Seattle for the opening of a solo tour.

On a stage set like a living room jam session, Vedder perched on a stool in a Butthole Surfers tee he'd brought out of "semi-retirement" for the gig ("I think I wore this shirt the first time the band played," he mused). And with that, he proceeded to play songs from his rapidly expanding solo catalogue: "Guaranteed" from Into the Wild stirred the crowd, as did protest ballad "No More War," which brought Vedder to tears. Covers were plentiful, including a brilliant reworking of Emmylou Harris' version of James Taylor's "Millworker," which was nearly matched by a shot at Springsteen's "Growin' Up."

While roadies in labcoats tinkered with the instruments (guitars, a mandolin and a ukelele called "Luke" among them), Vedder played much and talked little, keeping banter swift and funny: "Thank you for the encouragement," he said after the crowd applauded a flubbed lyric. "But you don't want to promote that behaviour."

After multiple encores, Vedder — now clad in labcoat himself — welcomed opener Liam Finn back to help out on "Hard Sun" (the backing instrumental track courtesy of an onstage reel-to-reel). As his opening night drew to a close, Vedder smiled and waved goodbye. "Thanks for being here for this different kind of conversation," he said. And for the first time on this tour (and certainly not the last), Eddie Vedder got a standing ovation.

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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