Live Review: Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard

The shadow of Bruce Springsteen is looming after Eddie Vedder joined The Boss onstage at his concert at AAMI Park last night to perform their opening cover of AC/DC's Highway To Hell. The pair's collaboration made headline news, which spurs Vedder's adoring fans to surge into the first of his three sold-out shows at Palais Theatre tonight.

The Pearl Jam frontman couldn't have asked for a better supporting act than longtime collaborator and The Frames founder, Glen Hansard. The versatile Irish actor, songwriter and vocalist brings a subtle capriciousness to the evening. Alone with his trusty acoustic guitar, Hansard rises to the challenge of filling the cavernous auditorium with wide-ranging vocal pitches, raging tempo and feverish strumming. “This beautiful space is not built for speakers,” he says before stepping ahead of his microphone and performing Say It To Me Now – its desperate, anguished pleas ringing crystal clear. Rapidfire string plucking and foot stomping in This Gift seals off Hansard's set and then an army of Vedder's stage hands – each decked out in white laboratory coats – scurry about laying out a paraphernalia of items seemingly gleaned from Vedder's nostalgia and travels: a faux campfire pit, boxy suitcases, fold-up chairs, an ornate upright piano and a magnetic tape recorder. Huge scenic canvas backdrops (a cobbled streetscape, a tent in the middle of desert, the horizon on the sea) add to the character of the songs that unfold.

Eddie Vedder's arrival is greeted by a standing ovation. He is nondescript and laidback, juggling guitars, a ukulele, harmonica and foot drum. His other talent is comedy when reacting to unrehearsed technical glitches: “This here is a mandolin, it's ten times more expensive than a ukulele, and ten times harder to play. And whenever I insult an instrument, it gets its revenge when I get to the bridge.” Gushing warmly several times about his time with Springsteen, he says languidly, “Hey, I'm well hung… I'm well hungover after last night!” 

In an unexpectedly touching moment, Vedder dedicates Just Breathe – a Pearl Jam number that has become a mainstay cover by Willie Nelson and his son Lukas – to two young brothers who still attended his concert in Sydney after their father had passed away the night before. “It's hard not to sing like Willie after you've heard it a few times,” Vedder reflects quietly afterwards before giving a hilarious impersonation of Nelson singing the track's opening verses, nailing the singer's distinctive high phrasing. Performing many tracks from his latest solo album Ukulele Songs, Vedder bravely takes the humble, pure sounds of the ukulele to another level, at times straddling folk, rock and alternative musical styles. The audience hangs out eagerly for favourites from his soundtrack to Into The Wild, including Rise and Guaranteed, which Vedder obliges.

Hansard reappears twice to back Vedder – including a performance of his own Oscar-winning song Falling Slowly, with Vedder admirably filling in the high notes originally sung by Marketa Irglova. The marriage between Hansard's sharp melody and Vedder's grizzly harmony is a sight and sound to behold. The duo close the night with the upbeat, rocking Hard Sun and Vedder's thumping vocals charge the atmosphere with energy as though he is a one-man rock band.  Which is just yet another talent he has.