Pearl Jam’s recent Sydney concert yesterday was on another level. The iconic grunge band still knows how to put on an incredible show. And some diehard grunge fans were losing their minds over one cover performance that took place at ENGIE Stadium.
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The band, fronted by Eddie Vedder, decided to cover an old classic for the first time in 10 years: “Hunger Strike” by Temple Of The Dog.
The band covered the song live way back in 2014 at Bridge School Benefit, a concert benefit held by singer/songwriter Neil Young. They performed the song with Temple Of The Dog’s late frontman Chris Cornell. Cornell also fronted the iconic grunge outfit Soundgarden. Cornell, sadly, passed away a few years later in 2017. It’s certainly understandable why it might have been hard to cover “Hunger Strike” live, considering the circumstances.
Fortunately, Pearl Jam decided to turn grief into joy with their recent performance of “Hunger Strike”. It wasn’t the only cover to make the set, either. Vedder also performed a cover of “No Surrender” by Bruce Springsteen. That track is a fan favorite that hasn’t been covered by the band in about 18 years.
You can watch the performance below via a fan video:
Pearl Jam’s Connection to Temple Of The Dog
Temple Of The Dog was only technically around for a few years between 1990 and 1992. The grunge outfit (or dare we say, supergroup) reunited off and on through the years, but the band itself only released one killer self-titled album in 1991.
Temple Of The Dog was composed of Cornell and conceived by the vocalist after the tragic death of his friend Andrew Wood, who led grunge outfits Mother Love Bone and Malfunkshun. Temple Of The Dog, in a way, was Cornell’s way to honor his friend.
But with the addition of Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Phil Harris, and Mike McCready (all of which would become part of Pearl Jam at some point), the band became more of a supergroup than anything. Eddie Vedder also provided guest vocals to the band back in the day. Phil Harris of Spoons also joined Temple Of The Dog.
Pearl Jam’s recent tour has been a hefty one. They kicked off the Dark Matter Tour in promotion of their recent album, and they’ve pulled out a few tricks on this particular trek. They performed live with actor Bradley Cooper, took a bribe from a fan, covered everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Nine Inch Nails, made a few jokes about Ted Nugent… It was a great run, and it’s sad to see that it’s over.
Photo by JOSE SENA GOULAO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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