Pearl Jam Welcomes Jack Johnson & Members Of MC5 In Belgium

Pearl Jam continued their European tour on Saturday night with a headlining set at Rock Werchter a multi-day music festival in Belgium. The Seattle-based rock act welcomed two sets of guests from the opposite ends of the musical spectrum for a pair of covers during their main stage appearance.

Eddie Vedder & Co. got their night going with a pair of tracks from Vs. serving up “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town” and “Animal.” After reeling off tunes from Yield, Lightning Bolt and Vitalogy the band then welcomed out their first guests of the night as Wayne Kramer the guitarist of MC5 emerged with Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), drummer Brendan Canty (Fugazi), Dug Pinnick (King’s X) and Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla) who are all members of the new touring version of the iconic proto-punk act. Vedder and Durant then led the collected ensemble through a take on the MC5’s signature song “Kick Out The Jams” playing the title-track from the Detriot band’s 1969 debut album for the first time since 2014.

After takes on fan-favorites like “Evenflow,” “Jeremy” and “Porch” the seminal grunge-era band brought out their second guest of the night as singer-songwriter Jack Johnson was welcomed to the stage. The Pearl Jam frontman got political taking aim at President Donald Trump as he asked the crowd to light up their phones to show him what a “really big crowd is.” With Vedder and Johnson on acoustic guitars, the duo teamed up on a version of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Two songs later PJ served another cover this time offering up the tour debut of the Ramones’ “I Believe in Miracles” from the punk act’s 1989 release Brain Drain. The band brought their 24-song evening to a close with “Alive” and one more cover delivering The Who’s “Baba O’Reilly.”

Watch fan-shot video and check out the full setlist below:

Setlist

Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Animal, Mind Your Manners, Do The Evolution, Interstellar Overdrive, Corduroy, Kick Out The Jams*, Habit, Given To Fly, Can’t Deny Me, Wishlist, Spin The Black Circle, Why Go, Jeremy, Lukin, Porch, Imagine**, Once, I Believe In Miracles, Black, Rearviewmirror

Encore: Alive, Baba O’Riley

* w. Wayne Kramer-guitar, Kim Thayil – guitar, Dug Pinnick – bass, Brendan Canty – tambourine, Marcus Durant – vocals, ** w. Jack Johnson