Pearl Jam News

Eddie Vedder and co invite Ronnie Wood to join them in London

Pearl Jam were joined onstage by The Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood as they made their UK live comeback at London's O2 Shepherds Bush Empire last night (August 11).

Playing in front of fanclub members who packed the venue, the Seattle band saw early tracks like "Why Go" and "Diffident" rapturously received by the crowd, while poppy new single "The Fixer", from their forthcoming album, "Backspacer", also drew loud applause.

Frontman Eddie Vedder was in humorous form throughout the show, asking the crowd about the episode of reality TV show "Big Brother" he'd watched in his hotel the night before.

"It was just some people sleeping," he puzzled. "Do you know that show? I couldn't bear the tension."

Early in the set, Vedder introduced Wood onstage, who then led the band through a bluesy version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower", during which he traded licks with guitarists Mike McCready and Stone Gossard. Pearl Jam later played a lengthy version of "Even Flow" and their 1991 debut single "Alive", which provoked a mass sing-a-long from the capacity crowd. The band returned for two encores, which included fan favourite "Last Exit" and solo spot from Vedder for new song "The End". And the band also played another classic cover - The Who's "The Real Me" - with help on guitar from Pete Townshend's brother Simon, who is also a member of The Who's touring band. At the end of their two-and-a-half hour set the band then took a collective bow as a humbled Vedder thanked the crowd for their support throughout the years. Pearl Jam played: "Sometimes" "Interstellar Overdrive/'Corduroy" "The Fixer" "All Along The Watchtower" "Why Go" "Dissident" "Severed Hand" "Given To Fly" "Low Light" "Even Flow" "Present Tense" "Save You" "Down" "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town" "Brother" "Do The Evolution" "Got Some" "The End" "Inside Job" "Betterman" "Alive" "Soldier Of Love" "State Of Love And Trust" "The Real Me" "Yellow Ledbetter" For more on Pearl Jam, check out their NME.com page.