Pearl Jam Busts Out Temple Of The Dog’s ‘Hunger Strike’ For 1st Time In 10 Years

Pearl Jam held the second of two concerts at Engie Stadium in Sydney, Australia on Saturday, ending their extensive Dark Matter Tour. The setlist featured a performance of “Hunger Strike,” a song by Temple of the Dog last played by Pearl Jam in 2014.

Temple Of The Dog formed in 1991 in Seattle following the death of Mother Love Bone’s Andy Wood. The band consisted of Wood’s roommate, late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, Mother Love Bone bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard, and guitarist Mike McCready. Cameron, Ament, Gossard, McCready and Eddie Vedder eventually came together as members of Pearl Jam.

Vedder contributed to Temple Of The Dog’s only album, their 1991 self-titled debut, notably providing complementary vocals to Cornell’s soaring delivery on “Hunger Strike.” On Saturday night in Sydney, Vedder sang both his and Cornell’s parts of “Hunger Strike,” while getting assistance from the audience during the latter.

Watch Pearl Jam perform “Hunger Strike” for the first time in full in a decade below:

Another Sydney surprise was in store at the onset of Saturday’s encore. Vedder went solo at the start of what would be a 10-song finale and performed a cover of “No Surrender” by Bruce Springsteen for the first time at PJ show since 2006. Vedder noted coincidences between Pearl Jam and Springsteen’s touring schedules, telling the audience:

“It was interesting, I wanted to share … back in Vancouver, a great friend of mine and brother of mine he’s playing his last show of his long tour tonight. Had I been in Seattle, I would have been there to see it, but when I saw the dates I said, ‘Bruce, you’re playing on the 22nd, the last show of the tour and we’re going to be playing on the 23rd in Australia, the last show of the tour.’

“I was texting him this morning and I realized those are the same days. We each just played the last show of our big long tours on the very same day.

“Everything about that guy is magic, and he ends the tour in Vancouver, and that’s where we started. Bruce Springsteen is magic, and he makes magic, and he works hard to make magic, and then sometimes it’s easy for him to make magic. But he also has songs of strength, things that those of us who listen and need music for that way, he has songs that we’ve been able to depend on.

“I know for him as well as us, it’s been a tricky time in our nation back home. We’re going to be OK, it’s just going to take some time, bit of a reset. But we will lean on music when words fail. As so I’m thinking about my brother.”

Watch Eddie Vedder’s solo cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “No Surrender” below: