Stewart Copeland & Benmont Tench Join Eddie Vedder In Los Angeles

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder brought his tour in support of solo album Earthling to the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles on Friday night. Vedder welcomed The Police drummer Stewart Copeland and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench for the L.A. concert.

Eddie Vedder And The Earthlings — Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, guitarist Glen Hansard, former RHCP and current Pearl Jam touring multi-instrumentalist Josh Klinghoffer, bassist Chris Chaney and guitarist Andrew Watt — got the show underway with a cover of R.E.M.’s “Drive” before Ed introduced Earthling contributor Bentmont Tench who delivered an electric piano intro to Tom Petty’s “Room At The Top” before Vedder led the band through the song off The Heartbreakers’ 1999 album Echo. Benmont would stick around for Earthling’s “Long Way.”

Vedder and company then went it alone for a number of songs off Earthling including “Invincible,” “The Dark,” “Brother The Cloud” and “The Haves.” The band then reeled off “I’m One” by The Who from their 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia. After Earthling’s “Mrs. Mills,” Eddie delivered the Pearl Jam tune “Wishlist” from their 1998 album “Yield” before his daughter Olivia Vedder joined him on a song she co-wrote with him and Hansard, “My Father’s Daughter,” which also appears on the soundtrack to the Sean Penn film Flag Day.

The tail end of the main set included a drum solo from Chad Smith as well as Earthling cuts “Try,” “Rose Of Jericho” and “Fallout Toady.” Vedder welcomed Tench once again for the Pearl Jam classic “Better Man” to bring the set to a close. Eddie and the band, along with a horn section, returned to the stage with Tench in tow for a cover of the Marvin Gaye and The Band popularized “Don’t Do It.” Next up, Benmont presided over the organ for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers classic “The Waiting” and stayed on for a cover “Isn’t It A Pity” by George Harrison, who would have celebrated his 79th birthday yesterday.

Two Pearl Jam numbers, “Dirty Frank” and “Porch,” came next before Vedder welcomed Stewart Copeland who took over for Chad Smith behind the kit for The Police classic “Message In A Bottle.” Stewart stayed on to help Eddie bring the house down with Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World” (with Smith on guitar) to put an exclamation point on the evening.

Watch fan-shot video of “Room At The Top,” “Don’t Do It” and “The Waiting” with Tench as well as Message In A Bottle” and “Free World” with Copeland below: