While in the midst of their summer European tour, Pearl Jam crossed paths with classic rockers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in Amsterdam on Sunday (June 24). Vocalist Eddie Vedder stepped onstage during Petty’s show at the Heineken Music Hall, lending his pipes to the band on ‘The Waiting’ and ‘American Girl’ — check out the video below.
Tom Petty is no stranger to bands that emerged from the Seattle’s “grunge” scene in the early 90′s. The man even offered Dave Grohl a full-time gig as the Heartbreakers’ drummer following the death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, a job Grohl ultimately turned down to start a little band called Foo Fighters.

Petty has also forged a friendship with Pearl Jam over the years — guitarist Mike McCready can sometimes be heard playing a 12-string Rickenbacker given to him by Tom years ago. Eddie Vedder often covers Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’ during his solo sets, and has joined the band on a handful of previous occasions. The most recent guest appearance from Vedder might have been cooked up at the Isle of Wight Festival, where both PJ and Petty headlined consecutive nights.

The next stop for both acts was Amsterdam, where Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were set to perform on June 24 and Pearl Jam has a two-night stand at the Ziggo Dome on the books for June 26 and 27. Anyone who was privy to that info was probably not surprised when Vedder walked out to lend his voice on Petty’s ‘The Waiting,’ but they were no doubt delighted by the rousing take on the classic track.

While Eddie handled a majority of the vocals on their first song of the night — Petty added backup vocals on the hook and sang the song’s bridge — the same was not the case when he reappeared to split vocal duties on the set closing tune, ‘American Girl.’ Vedder’s second verse added vitality to the 1976 track and totally redeemed his drunken rendition of the song from the infamous ‘Birdman Sessions’ bootleg.

Pearl Jam’s European tour runs through the end of July, giving them a month and a half of rest before a handful of festival performances in the States. The band is also working on their tenth studio album, which bassist Jeff Ament recently said they planned to finish in October and release the disc by summer 2013 at the latest.

-loudwire.com

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers Perform ‘The Waiting’ With Eddie Vedder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCa0Tra8Fm8

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers Perform ‘American Girl’ With Eddie Vedder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2pzRgGueNM