Vedder Rocks Lauderdale

Looks like I'm in for quite a show tonight...

On Friday night at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam’s restless, iconoclastic frontman, answered that question with a celebration of his own. In a 30-song performance that approached three hours and many more instances of euphoria, Vedder drew deeply from the Pearl Jam catalog, his solo material and his wide circle of friends. Ostensibly touring to promote his 2011 album, “Ukulele Songs,” and playing the first of two makeup dates originally scheduled for May but postponed because of injury, Vedder quickly dispelled any notion that the show would consist of little more than him strumming and plucking the four-string instrument while offering token nods to his still-very-active day-job band. If there was a nostalgic glow to some of the older material (“Porch” was accompanied by an anecdote about Pearl Jam’s first South Florida show, in April 1992, at Miami Beach’s Cameo Theater), Vedder nonetheless appeared to be living in the moment. And he refused to let the audience leave his side.

[Sun-Sentinel]




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