There aren’t many original songs Pearl Jam hasn’t ever performed live throughout their 34-year career, but one of them was scratched off the list last night (Sept. 27) at Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Festival when the group debuted the 1999 compilation track “The Whale Song.”
Later featured on the 2003 rarities collection Lost Dogs, “The Whale Song” was written and sung by then-drummer Jack Irons during sessions for the 1998 album Yield and released the following year on the ocean conservancy benefit album M.O.M. III: Music for Our Mother Ocean.
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At Ohana, Irons’ son Zach handled vocals and guitar, with Vedder chipping in with the same backing vocals he contributed to the original studio version. Beforehand, Vedder acknowledged the many Pearl Jam fans who travel to multiple shows, and how they often have “white whale” or ultra-rare songs they’ve never seen the band play. “We’re going to sing and we hope it connects and sends vibrations to our friends under the water,” Vedder said.
Asked by SPIN in a 2022 interview why he rarely wrote more and/or sang more conventional “songs” compared to the more experimental music he’s favored in his post-Pearl Jam side projects, Irons said, “there’s a certain intimacy to having a guitar and writing words and melodies, and I didn’t like that as much as being really experimental and going weird. I’m also not a great singer or instrumentalist on a melodic instrument, so I might as well do what I think is weirdly me.”
Pearl Jam’s performance also included just the second airing of “Future Days” since 2016 and the tour debut of the rarely played Holland-Dozier-Holland-penned “Leaving Here,” which was recorded in the early 1960s by an early version of the Who known as the High Numbers.
Earlier in the day, Vedder joined Crowded House for their familiar collaboration on “Throw Your Arms Around Me.” Pearl Jam will play again at Ohana on Sunday, with Sting subbing in today as the headliner for the ailing Neil Young.
To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
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