Yeah, like you didn't have a crush on Eddie Vedder in eighth grade. It may not be "super cool" to still drool over Pearl Jam's tunes, but just about all of us have had an Eddie Vedder stage.
No one could resist the tortured crooning of the lead singer of the second-most-famous grunge band. "Jeremy" was a tearjerker, "Black" was everyone's breakup anthem in the '90s, and "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" is a radical name. Maybe we didn't get far past Ten as far as Pearl Jam was concerned, but Eddie Vedder is still a gem.
He's coming to town this May. Instead of writing a creepy love letter to Vedder, we put together a list of the five best reasons to see the man as a solo artist with his newest release, Ukelele Songs.
Cameo on Portlandia
If you haven't seen Eddie Vedder in Portlandia as both a tambourine-swinging, kissy-face tattoo and as a fantasy date, please watch it right now. Not only does Vedder know how to make fun of himself; he's also funny and still cute.
Jazz Fest 2012 with Bruce Springsteen
Eddie Vedder and his ukelele were just added to the 2012 Jazz Fest lineup with the Boss. How fancy and neat is that? It warrants a day drive northwest to New Orleans just to catch a longer version of that video up there.
Cool Friends
Vedder is like super pals with some pretty awesome people. There's Kelly Slater the surfer. The singer wrote the foreword to the new Pete Townshend book; they were buds. He was also present at Johnny Ramone's deathbed. That is all neat.
Party Pal
Max Calavera, formerly the singer of Brazilian metal band Sepultura, claims to have puked on him once. The story goes that Vedder was a good guy about it, which is pretty neat. He's a rock star; sure he's probably puked on people, but who likes getting dirty that way? No one. Yet he was still a party champ. Nicely done, Vedder.
Grunge Is Always Great
Maybe for a bit, it was dorky to like grunge, but this rock subgenre is truly nothing to poo-poo. All of that '90s angst, the flannel, the Temple of the Dog; it's classic. Vedder even made a cameo as the Citizen Dick drummer in the movie Singles (which has this writer's favorite soundtrack). Love it 'cause you should.
Eddie Vedder. Sunday, May 13, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets go on sale February 3 at 10 a.m. Visit browardcenter.org, or call 954-462-0222.
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