Setlist: Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready: Corduroy, Yellow Ledbetter, Rockin' In The Free World. Eddie and Mike also did Long Road with Michael Stipe and Mike Mills of R.E.M

Eddie and Mike at the Tibetan Freedom Concert
by: Jessica Letkemann (skoopjr@aol.com)

Photo credit: Jessica Letkemann

When I bought my tickets to the Tibetan Freedom concert well over a month ago, I had no idea that I would end up staring at the stage in disbelief because Eddie Vedder was sitting up there singing and playing guitar and Mike McCready playing along and singing back-up.

I went to the Saturday concert with two friends and we stood waiting in line in the gate area where you enter the grounds for awhile. It was a little after ten a.m. and the gates had not opened yet, so I went off to take care of some business before the show. When I met up with my friends after the show, they told me that shortly after I'd left them at the gate a short bearded guy with blue eyes and a weird black wig was working his way down their line getting signatures for one of the Tibet related petitions going around. When this guy got a little closer to them, both of my friends recognized that he was Eddie (the tattoo was the clincher), but they didn't get a chance to talk to him or sign his petition because the gates opened and Ed got lost in the crowd. My friends said it was particularly cool that even though some of the people who were signing Ed's petition knew that it was him, nobody mobbed him. Hearing this story on Saturday night, I tried not to get my hopes too far up that I'd somehow see Ed the next day, because among many other things, he is often unpredictable.

Sunday was a beautiful day...warm, no clouds, bright. The monks came on stage to chant at noon and I wandered off from my seat in the bleachers to try to find a friend in the crowd. I'd barely made it out of the stage area when I heard some very familiar chords being played. I stopped and listened, then I heard Eddie's voice and I started running as fast as I possibly could to get over in front of the red stage where he and Mike, as it turned out, were playing. I managed to end up about five people back from the barricade towards the end of that first song, the new version of "Corduroy."

Ed, bearded and wearing the white-button-down shirt with designs on it that he wore all the time on the '95 tour tucked into some jeans, and Mike, also in a white button down shirt, some shades, and a black leather coat, were sitting down playing guitars. When the song ended, people started yelling out what song they wanted to hear. A lot of voices asked for "Yellow Ledbetter" and Mike soon obliged with those sweet opening notes. As far as the people in the crowd around me, most people seemed pretty psyched that almost half of Pearl Jam was up on stage playing tunes. In the crowd later in the day, I saw quite a few PJ tshirts of all varieties. Needless to say, I was beyond happy to be there experiencing it all. Before going into "Rockin' In the Free World," Ed said "That [playing Yellow Ledbetter] brought back the memory of playing that here. I remember, last tour. Okay, we got one more." It was "Rocking in the Free World."

Right after Mike played a little solo during the middle part of RITFW, Ed began talking: "Can I ask a favor?" The crowd cheered. "Can someone lend me five bucks?" Everyone laughed. "It's all I need, I'm good for it. Meet you here tomorrow." Several people up front began waving money for him. "Come on, bring it up. Let's see something," Ed stopped to grin before saying, "Show me the money... This guy's gonna lend me five bucks." Everyone claps as the security guard takes the money from the guy and Ed walks to the edge of the stage to get it from he guard. Remember, Mike is still chugging away quietly at the main riff of the RITFW verse all along. "He gave me a 20," Ed continues, holding up the bill to the crowd. .. Poor guy, I'm going to go backstage. He ain't gonna see me again for the rest of his life." Ed stops to laugh. "I still see you," Ed says to the guy. "I'll remember you. Okay, I'll ask the rest of you for less than that. Yesterday there was a lot of people and I was helping out getting some petitions signed. I guess what we're asking for is your autograph. I'm asking for, we're asking for all your autographs. There's three petitions back there, just three different ones. It's all we're asking and, I probably know jack shit about most things, but one thing I do know on a percentage basis is maybe two of you or three of you out of this crowd that we have so far will go through your whole life without having to ask for anybody's help. We all need help. Anyways, these people need our help, so... If you can..."

Then Ed went back to singing. During the end of "...Free World" Ed changed the lyrics slightly to address the reason that the concert existed, the struggle for a free Tibet. Instead of "Styrofoam and garbage for the ozone layer" he sang, "if it's made in China, it could be prison labor." By the end of the song, a lot of the people around me were singing along to the chorus. And then they left the stage. All three songs had been very mellow, lilting, powerful with Ed singing in his smaller slightly higher voice and he and Mike going at the guitars in unison, Mike adding extra touches here and there. About a half an hour later, when Pavement came on stage to do their set, it became clear that Ed and Mike had borrowed the guitars they played from Pavement.

Thinking forward a little bit to the rest of the day's performers, I sort of began hoping that Ed and Mike would come out again when Michael Stipe and Mike Mills from R.E.M. played their set. Some friends of mine went to the Tibet House benefit concert back in February at Carnegie Hall here in New York and they told me about how Michael Stipe had sung "Long Road," so I was hoping that Stipe might want to sing it again with Ed. And sure enough, three or four songs into the Stipe/Mills set, Michael Stipe introduced Ed and Mike and they all began performing "Long Road." Ed stood at a mic stand kind of far back on the stage, sort of behind Stipe and Mills. Mike stood off to the side of Ed. Stipe and Ed traded off on the verses. Mike played the chords steady and gently with Mike Mills adding a minimal but effective bassline at the end of each measure. The singing is what really made the song build. Stipe and Ed were both singing softly at first. By midsong, Ed was wailing (expressing emotions in notes rather than words and notes). Then Stipe started singing another verse with Ed singing the echo. "We all walk the long road," Stipe sang. "The long road" Ed repeated. And so on until the end of the verse where their voices joined. Ed went into a quiet falsetto at "..round, round, round." At song's end, they both sang "I have wished for so long. How I wish for you today" in very beautiful harmony (Ed singing high, and Stipe singing lower). You could hear each of their distinct voices carrying over the crowd. Priceless.

As Ed left the stage, Michael Stipe reminded the crowd who'd been singing. "Eddie Vedder," he said. "That's a wail!" Mike remained on stage playing guitar for two more songs, "Ghostrider" and "The Passenger." Mike went to town playing these two, handling the guitar like he'd gotten a touch of Neil Young in his bloodstream.

What a day.