Sporting a jersey of Chicago Bears legend Walter Payton, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder led his band through a pair of memorable nights at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.
Though the grunge band is often known as a Seattle group, Vedder was born in the nearby lakefront city of Evanston and has never been shy to take pride in his hometown.
That might be one reason this trip to the 110-year-old ball park is Pearl Jam's fourth.
“I know other musicians... you know we talk," he told the capacity crowd at the second-oldest park in the major leagues (Boston's Fenway is two years older).
"They all say Wrigley Field is one of their favorite places on the planet to play,” the 59-year-old singer said and then dated himself by remembering aloud about watching Cubs games on a black-and-white TV on WGN as a kid. And now how powerful it is to know all eyes are on him there in that very same historic outfield.
“I’ve been choked up, it’s hard to sing tonight,” he said while listing off a dozen names of Cubs he's loved over the years from Jose Cardenal, Ernie Banks, and Ryan Dempster to Kerry Wood and Ian Happ.
Then the singer said how grateful he is to be there on their Dark Matter Tour.
Before playing Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down," Vedder reminisced about getting a call from the now-passed leader of The Heartbreakers.
"Hey Eddie, guess where I'm at?" he said imitating Petty's super cool, almost stony tone.
"And I said 'Wrigley Field!?' And he said, 'Don't you know it.' And he said, 'I wish you were here.'"
With his voice cracking, pushing back the tears, Vedder said, "all these years later, it’s me wishing he was here.”
Then Vedder asked the crowd to help make a moment. "If there's such a thing as the heavens, maybe we can light it up with our phones down here and maybe he could see us?"
And very much like the Cub fans have done at Wrigley throughout time, Pearl Jam's fans at the famous field at 1060 W. Addison obliged happily.
Vedder has been wearing that #34 Bears jersey not just as a tribute to Walter "Sweetness" Payton, arguably the greatest running back ever in the NFL, but because this Dark Matter Tour is the 34th anniversary of the band.
The day Petty made that call in 2017, he ended up putting on a Cubs jersey with the number 40 to celebrate his 40th year with The Heartbreakers (no offense, Willson Contreras).
There's an excellent chance Petty's visit to the corner of Clark and Addison is what inspired Vedder to rock the Sweetness jersey on this tour. Hopefully someone asks him.
One petty bit of fact checking: When introducing the band, Vedder name-checked the small but vital club across the street from the ball park.
“If you were in Wrigleyville in 1987 at the Cubby Bear maybe you saw [drummer Matt Cameron] for the first time in a group he’s still in called Soundgarden.”
In the emotion of being there, it's easy to understand why Eddie might mix up the years, but according to our records, Soundgarden only played the Cubby Bear once, and that was in 1989.
An honest mistake.
The second night of the engagement was just as lovely. There was a special guest as well as a live debut.
The guest was Walter Payton's son Jarret, who was also an NFL player for a brief time. Since his father's untimely death, Jarret has been a worthy spokesperson for his memory and a great reminder of why his dad earned his nickname.
Jarret joined Eddie on stage after Vedder told a great story about meeting Walter at the Bears training camp in Lake Forrest. 12-year-old Vedder got lucky and caught the great tailback and had something for him to autograph. Payton asked his name. He said, "Eddie."
"That's my brother's name," the Hall of Famer said.
"I know," Vedder replied, starstruck.
During the encore of night two, Vedder invited opener Glen Hansard up to join him in a duet.
Hansard was in the Irish groups The Frames and Swell Season.
Together they played a gentle version of "Falling Slowly," which was a live debut, and one we hope audiences get to hear again soon.
People may get that chance because Glen and his band will be supporting Pearl Jam in seven upcoming gigs in some other famous sports arenas, winding up at the aforementioned Fenway.
Get your tickets on the Pearl Jam website.
Sept 3- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Sept 4- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Sept 7- Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Sept 9- Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Sept 12- CFG Bank Arena, Baltimore, MD
Sept 15- Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Sept 17- Fenway Park, Boston, MA
