Eddie Vedder/Glen Hansard – 3 Arena, Dublin – Live Review – 03/07/19
by Killian Laher

Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder rounded off his European tour in the 3 Arena.  Most of the sold out crowd showed up early to catch Glen Hansard’s set.  Hansard treated us to some early Tom Waits-style balladry (Bird of Sorrow), solo material from the Once soundtrack (When Your Mind’s Made Up), playing the songs with great energy.  After a short lecture on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, he sang an acapella version of the Palace Brothers’ Grace Beneath the Pines, the Frames’ Revelate interspersed with snatches of the Pixies’ Broken Face, and even brought on a couple of kids to sing Elvis Presley’s That’s Alright Mama.  A rousing set was brought to a close with an impassioned This Gift.

Very early on in Eddie Vedder’s set it became clear the audience were there to cheer every word he said/sang.  Introduced by a string quartet version of Alive, Vedder alternated between organ and guitar on Pearl Jam material which took in early nineties material like Indifference and Immortality, and more recent fare such as Just Breathe.  Carried by Vedder’s incredible voice, there was little he could do wrong, even covers of Tom Petty (Wild Flowers) and U2 (In God’s Country) were well received.  Bruce Springsteen’s City of Ruins wasn’t too big an ask for Vedder but arguably the most resonant songs of the night were drawn from his Into the Wild soundtrack, the likes of Guaranteed and Hard Sun had the entire audience singing along.

With Glen Hansard rejoining Vedder and co, early nineties classics such as Black and Betterman were unleashed.  Even an impromptu version of Queen’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love worked well and Eddie Vedder and Hansard combined well on Falling Slowly and a belted out The Auld Triangle.

Really Eddie Vedder could have done and said almost anything and the hero-worshipping crowd would have lapped it up.  And although Vedder’s voice spawned thousands of poor imitations in the nineties, he remains an original and powerful voice.

Set List –

Alive
Cross the River

Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
I Am Mine
Driftin’
Indifference
Just Breathe
Sometimes
Wishlist
Wildflowers (Tom Petty cover)
In God’s Country (U2 cover)
Far Behind
Guaranteed
Rise
Immortality
My City of Ruins (Bruce Springsteen cover)
Black
Corduroy
Porch

Encore:
Even Flow
Better Man
Song of Good Hope (Glen Hansard cover)
Falling Slowly (The Swell Season cover)
Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Queen cover)
The Auld Triangle (Brendan Behan cover)
Hard Sun (Indio cover)

Encore 2:
Rockin’ in the Free World (Neil Young cover)